The 5 Best Upright Vacuums of 2025

The best upright vacuum we've tested is the Dyson Ball Animal 3. This bagless upright vacuum has a powerful suction motor and delivers exceptional cleaning performance on various floor types. The top-range Complete variant can be found through their storefront on Walmart or directly from Dyson's website and comes with a wide assortment of attachments for handheld use, including a mini turbo brush, a multi-angle brush, and even a dedicated pet grooming tool.

Its floorhead has three suction gate settings, so it's easy to adapt to everything from high-pile carpets to flat surfaces like hardwood or laminate. The floorhead also features a set of plastic combs that capture long hair, which helps reduce tangles. There's also a brushroll off switch, so you can clean hard floors without worrying about scattering large debris everywhere. You can also easily free the vacuum if it gets stuck on thicker carpeting.

Unfortunately, build quality isn't a strong point, as the vacuum's mainly plastic body creaks and flexes slightly while in use. You'll also need to roll back its power cord manually when you're done cleaning, which is a disappointing omission for such an expensive vacuum and can be a bit annoying since the cord is so long. While the Dyson vacuum's ball-shaped wheel makes it fairly maneuverable for an upright, it's still a bulky and heavy machine, and you might find it a bit of a hassle to grab from a closet and use for smaller cleaning jobs.

If you're looking for something less expensive and more portable, the Shark Stratos Upright is a great choice. It shares a common design with other Shark vacuums with its 'Lift-Away' design, which lets you detach its canister body from the floorhead and carry it around in one hand while cleaning tight spots with the hose in the other. This makes it a better option for cleaning tight, out of reach areas than the larger, bulkier Dyson Ball Animal 3. However, it doesn't perform as well as the Dyson on carpets, and you can't change its brushroll height, so it tends to get stuck on surfaces like shag carpeting more frequently. One of the Shark's more unique selling points is its odor neutralization system; a replaceable cartridge in its floorhead emits a detergent-like scent as you clean. However, it can become a tad overwhelming if you vacuum regularly, and could be a downside if you're sensitive to scents.

While the Shark's attachment set isn't as varied as the Dyson's, it still comes with a miniature turbo brush, an upholstery nozzle, and a crevice tool, which will cover many of your needs. The vacuum's primary brushroll has a set of integrated fins that effectively prevent hair from getting wrapped around the roller, similar to the Dyson vacuum's anti-tangle combs. However, unlike the Dyson, the roller isn't removable, so cleaning it is a bit of a hassle.

Our pick for the mid-range is the Shark Performance Plus Lift-Away, available only from Costco and Walmart. It uses the same dual-roller DuoClean floorhead design as the Shark Stratos Upright, which effectively prevents hair from getting tangled in the mechanism, and includes the odor-neutralizing floorhead-mounted cartridge. Its reconfigurable 'Lift-Away' chassis also lets you pick up and carry the canister unit separately from its floorhead. Unlike the Stratos, the Performance Plus only has a power socket at the base of the canister unit, so you can't use the motorized head when the vacuum is in its Lift-Away configuration. Despite a weaker suction motor, actual debris-pickup performance is comparable to that of the Stratos.

Unfortunately, while there are two different speed settings for its brushroll, you can't change its floorhead height, and it can get bogged down on shag-pile rugs and similar surfaces. The primary brushroll can't be removed, making it hard to pull out stuck-on debris and tangled hair. On the upside, you can detach and easily clean the secondary soft roller. If you have trouble getting the Shark Performance Plus Lift-Away or want a bigger dirt compartment, consider the Shark Navigator Lift-Away Pet. It sports a larger 0.37-gallon dirt compartment while being almost a full pound lighter; however, its suction isn't as good because the floorhead doesn't seal as well to the ground, so it has more trouble picking up dirt from crevices and cracks.

The Kenmore Intuition Bagged is the best upright vacuum cleaner we've tested at a lower mid-range price point. It incurs higher ownership costs than bagless alternatives like the Shark Performance Plus Lift-Away since you'll need to occasionally replace its disposable filters and dirtbag. However, it's cheaper up-front, and since it uses dirtbags that seal in debris and has a separate HEPA filter, it offers superb filtration performance. Better yet, you can release its dirtbag from its internal compartment with the press of a latch, so you won't dirty your hands when taking it out.

While the Kenmore's debris-pickup performance isn't as impressive as any of our more expensive picks above, it still delivers solid overall performance on carpets and bare floors. It also has a brushroll off switch, preventing it from scattering larger debris on hard flooring. Additionally, like Shark's series of 'Lift-Away' upright vacuums, you can disconnect its canister unit from the floorhead and carry it around, making it easier to clean hard-to-reach areas with the hose.

Unfortunately, there's no way of adjusting the floorhead height, so it can easily get stuck cleaning thick, high-pile carpeting. Its bulky dirtbag compartment also makes cleaning under tables and chairs difficult. If you've got plenty of thick carpeting to clean, check out the BISSELL Pet Hair Eraser Turbo Plus, which performs better on that surface type. The downside is the BISSEL feels flimsier, and its bagless design is more demanding (but cheaper) in terms of maintenance since you'll need to empty its dustbin and clean its filters regularly.

Consider the BISSELL PowerForce Helix if you're looking for an upright vacuum at a budget-friendly price. Right off the bat, it's crucial to note that this vacuum feels cheap and toy-like, even when compared to our previous pick, the Kenmore Intuition Bagged, though this isn't much of a surprise given its low price. It also does a terrible job of sealing fine allergens. Still, if all you're after is performance on a budget, it's worth a look.

It has a floorhead with five levels of height adjustment, enabling you to adapt rapidly to various carpet-pile heights, which is a rare feature at this price point. It's also powerful enough to lift away debris embedded deep within low- and high-pile carpeting with ease. Unfortunately, there's no brushroll off switch, so be careful when cleaning around obstructions like rug tassels, which can get wrapped around its brushroll and trapped in its floorhead quite easily. Taking out its brushroll for regular cleaning is also a bit of a hassle since you'll need to remove a few screws to pull it out.