BISSELL PowerForce Helix Vacuum Review

Build quality is mediocre. The vacuum's mainly hard plastic construction flexes and creaks while in use and has a couple of obvious weak points, like its floorhead wheels, brushroll cover, and dirt compartment.

Out-of-the-box assembly isn't too difficult, though you do still need to attach the handle to the vacuum's body with a pair of screws.

The BISSELL PowerForce Helix can be a bit of a hassle to clean.

• Dirt compartment/Cyclone: The dirt compartment can be easily clipped or unclipped from the vacuum. The cyclone is attached to its top cover, and you can twist it free of its housing, though you can also access it from the bottom of the dirt compartment. The dirt compartment needs regular emptying. You can clean the cyclone with warm water and a mild detergent if necessary, though the manufacturer doesn't give a specific maintenance interval.
• Brushroll: Accessing the brushroll is a bit of a hassle, as you need to unscrew six screws to take off the brush guard; you'll have even more trouble accessing the roller if you accidentally strip any of these plastic screws, so avoid applying too much torque when removing them. While you can pull away any tangled hair by hand, it's a lot easier to use a pair of scissors since longer strands of hair tend to get wrapped pretty tight around the roller. It's also worth noting that it's somewhat hard to properly line up the brushroll so that it fits properly within its housing. You can also remove the brushroll belt if you want to check for damage or to see if it's been stretched out.
• Pre-motor filter: The foam filter is located in the dirt compartment's top cover. You have to wash it with warm water when necessary.

You must air-dry any part that's washed with water for 24 hours before putting it back into the vacuum.

Recurring costs are low.

• Pre-motor filter: This part needs to be replaced every six to eight months, depending on your usage and maintenance habits. A replacement can be purchased here.

The BISSELL PowerForce Helix is decently easy to store. While it takes up a bit of space, you can store its tools directly on the vacuum's body. You'll have to wind up its cord manually, which can be a bit of a nuisance considering its length.

The dirt compartment is great. It's made of clear plastic, and there's also a clearly visible max fill line, so you can easily tell how full it is at a glance. Although it's advertised as holding up to 1L of debris, its actual measured capacity is closer to 1.5L. If you want a budget-friendly bagless vacuum with an even larger dustbin, you could consider the Dirt Devil Endura Max.

• Main body
• Vacuum handle
• Dirt compartment
• Inner cyclone
• Crevice tool
• Extension wand
• Soft bristle brush
• Turbo brush
• Lower cord wrap
• Filter cover
• Pre-motor filter (foam)
• User guide

This vacuum has a mediocre range. While the power cord is fairly long, its hose is very short, even when stretched out, which makes it difficult to clean hard-to-reach spots like shelves.

This vacuum is pretty portable. Despite its somewhat bulky size, much lighter than other full-size bagless uprights like the BISSELL CleanView Swivel. It also has a built-in carrying handle, which makes transporting from room to room even easier.

This vacuum has a few quality-of-life features. There's an on/off switch at the bottom of the vacuum as well as a body/head release latch so you can place the head in a more convenient position. There's also a five-level surface-type adjustment dial on the floorhead. These surface settings range from 'I', best suited for bare floors and low pile carpet, to 'IIIII', intended for very dense high-pile carpet. You can easily adjust the dial if you're having a hard time pushing the vacuum.

Note: The brushroll keeps spinning, even when the vacuum is upright, and it can damage delicate, easily scratched surfaces if you don't raise it.

The BISSELL PowerForce Helix comes with a couple of extra tools. You can store the crevice tool inside the extension wand, and there's also a soft-bristle brush for cleaning more delicate objects like lampshades.

You can clean hard-to-reach areas using the vacuum's hose in its semi-handheld configuration.

This vacuum's performance on hard floors is alright, with a few caveats. You can't turn its brushroll off, so fine and small debris tends to be flung outwards by its rotation, forcing you to clean up afterward. Some debris can also get caught in its floorhead instead of being sucked into its dustbin; this debris will back out again once you shut the vacuum off. On the upside, it does quite well in clearing away larger debris like cereal.

Debris pickup performance on low-pile carpet is middling. Its floorhead doesn't provide enough surface agitation to lift away fine debris left in carpet fibers, and its brushroll can pulverize large but brittle debris like cereal before flinging a small amount of remnants outwards.

This vacuum's performance on low-pile carpet is sub-par. It isn't so bad at dealing with larger debris, like whole chunks of cereal, but even when set to the right height, its floorhead doesn't provide enough surface agitation to dig deep into carpet fibers and lift away finer debris.

This vacuum's pet hair pickup performance on low-pile carpet is alright. It'll clear away lightweight strands that haven't been pressed into carpet fibers very deeply, but you'll need to spend quite a bit of extra time cleaning to deal with any strands that are pressed in a little deeper.

This vacuum exerts little in the way of suction force at its floorhead, which is too high above the ground to generate a tight seal. Thankfully, its height-adjustable brushroll helps provide a good amount of surface agitation to most surfaces, so its lack of suction output isn't too noticeable when deep-cleaning surfaces like high-pile carpeting.

Airflow performance is impressive, especially for a cheaper vacuum. The BISSELL PowerForce Helix isn't far off more expensive models like the Dyson Ball Animal 2 in this regard, and it won't have much trouble lifting heavier debris.

This is a pretty noisy vacuum, as it can easily mask nearby conversation if it's running within the same room. The bulk of the noise comes from the vacuum's brushroll, which is always spinning.

The BISSELL PowerForce Helix has sub-par maneuverability. Since it doesn't have a rotating head like the Kenmore Intuition Bagged, you need to make larger-radius turns to navigate around obstacles. It can be difficult to get underneath tables or chairs due to its bulky dirt compartment. While it's easier to clean furniture if you're cleaning with the hose, the vacuum can still tip over or have its brushroll catch on carpets and rugs. Unlike the Hoover WindTunnel Tempo Bagged, which has a brushroll you can turn on and off, rug tassels can get stuck in BISSELL's brushroll, forcing you to turn the vacuum off to clear any obstructions.

The vacuum's brushroll continuously spins when upright. The head has to be placed in a higher setting to avoid damaging bare floors like hardwood or vinyl. Changing the head levels can be a little inconvenient as you need to crouch to reach the dial.

This vacuum is decently effective when clearing pet hair on furniture. Its soft-bristle brush is somewhat effective when collecting pet hair on fabric, though hair does tend to collect in its bristles very easily, forcing you to clean it periodically. A turbo brush or a straight-suction upholstery tool would be more efficient for this kind of task.

This vacuum does a terrible job of sealing in allergens. It lacks a HEPA filter and doesn't have a sealed construction, so fine particles can escape from its exhaust and gaps in its body.

This vacuum does a poor job of cleaning cracks. It doesn't generate enough suction power to draw out debris from crevices, and its brushroll is a little too high to scrape out material in deeper cracks. Use the vacuum in its semi-handheld configuration with its crevice tool for this kind of task.

This vacuum has no impact on dried-on stains.