Dyson Ball Animal 3 Extra  Vacuum Review

This vacuum delivers great performance on bare floors. Unlike most other conventional upright vacuums, its bristled brushroll doesn't scatter around larger debris on hard floors. Instead, it aids performance, directing both fine debris like sand and bulky debris like cereal towards its suction inlet. That said, a small amount of debris can remain trapped in the floorhead and fall back out when the vacuum is turned off.

Performance on high-pile carpet is decent. The vacuum is powerful enough to draw out fine debris embedded deep within carpet fibers, but the floorhead's bulky design can make it struggle with material pressed up against walls or corners.

This vacuum does a satisfactory job of removing debris from low-pile carpet. Its powerful suction motor, combined with the good surface agitation from its powered floorhead, allows it to clear away the vast majority of fine debris like sand within a single pass, though a small amount can be left behind. Its floorhead also sits high enough to roll over bulky debris like cereal so that the vacuum can suck it up. However, the floorhead's bulky design can make it struggle with debris pushed up against walls.

This vacuum does a fantastic job of removing pet hair from low-pile carpet. It can clear away long and short strands of hair within a single back-and-forth pass, with only a tiny amount of hair remaining.

The Extra variant of the Dyson Ball Animal 3 does a fantastic job cleaning pet hair from furniture using the Stair tool, which is effectively a straight-suction upholstery tool with a lint strip across the rear of the suction inlet. It requires minimal effort to move around and clears short and long strands of hair. You can also use the turbo brush attachment, but the lighter weight of the Stair tool makes it easier to use.

This vacuum does a superb job of cleaning debris from cracks. Its powerful motor and height-adjustable floorhead help it draw away debris from shallow and medium-depth cracks when using its floorhead. Be careful not to set the floorhead too low when cleaning linoleum or hardwood floors, as the rotating brushroll can create microscratches on delicate surfaces.

The Dyson Ball Animal 3 is reasonably well-built. It's mainly made out of plastic. Compared to the Dyson Ball Animal 2, its redesigned floorhead sees a significant improvement in overall build quality. It's smaller but features a thicker, removable brushroll with closer-spaced nylon bristles, along with a series of detangling vanes that help reduce the chance of hair getting tangled within the mechanism. That said, it does share several weak points with its predecessor. The vacuum's semi-spherical wheels and clear plastic dirt compartment feel flimsy.

Out-of-the-box setup is a little finicky. You'll need to put together quite a few components when taking it out of the box, and while it uses a series of easy-clip mechanisms to attach parts to each other, they're of a different, less user-friendly design than the clips on other Dyson vacuums like the Dyson V11.

• Dyson Ball Animal 3 vacuum body
• Dirt compartment
• Cyclone
• Wand
• Post-motor HEPA filter (located inside the main body)
• Pre-motor filter
• Motorbar vacuum head
• Tangle-free turbine tool (not included with Ball Animal 3 variant)
• Combination soft bristle brush/crevice tool
• Stair/upholstery tool
• Pet grooming tool (not included with Ball Animal 3 or Ball Animal 3+ variants)
• Tool storage clip
• User guide

The following accessories are exclusive to the Ball Animal 3 Complete variant:

• Reach under tool
• Articulating hard floor tool
• Multi-angle brush tool
• Carbon fiber soft dusting brush
• Mattress tool
• Tool holder
• Tool bag

The Dyson Ball Animal 3 is fairly easy to store, especially for a vacuum of this type. It's a little shorter than other bagless uprights, like the Shark Rotator Lift-Away ADV, but also a little thicker, so it might be hard to push it to the back of a closet. Thankfully, onboard storage for its combination and stair/upholstery tool is available. Unfortunately, you'll have to wind up its cord manually, as there's no automatic cord retraction system, which is disappointing for a vacuum at this high price point.

The dirt compartment is well-sized. It's the same size as the one in the older Dyson Ball Animal 2, and there's a max fill line to show how close it is to being full.

The Dyson Ball Animal 3 is a corded vacuum with no battery.

User maintenance isn't very hard.

• Dirt compartment/Cyclone/Lint filter: Removing the dirt compartment is fairly simple. You can pull it from the vacuum by pressing the red release clip just above the handle. Pressing the clip again once the dustbin has been removed opens its bottom cover, allowing you to dump any debris into a waiting trash bin. You can also remove the cyclone and lint filter from there and clear away any stuck-on debris. You should empty the dustbin regularly. You can also wash it with water, but remove the cyclone first.
• Brushroll: Unlike its predecessor, the Dyson Ball Animal 2, the brushroll can be removed by rotating the cover on the side of the floorhead, enabling you to pull it free of its axle. Clean it as needed, though the plastic detangling vanes at the back of the floorhead are very effective at capturing any hair that could get tangled within the mechanism. Some hair might get caught on the brushroll bearing, but it's pretty easy to clean out.
• Pre-motor filter: The pre-motor filter is located on the inside of the dirt compartment cover and can be unclipped from the lid and pulled out. The manufacturer recommends washing it under running water once a month, and you must let it dry for 24 hours before using it again.
• Post-motor HEPA filter: The post-motor filter is located on the inside of the left side of the ball unit, and you have to unscrew the side cover to access it. Like the pre-filter, you should wash it with water once a month and leave it to dry for at least 24 hours before reinstalling it.

All the same, if you don't want to wash filters periodically, you might want to consider a bagged vacuum instead. Check out the SEBO FELIX if you're looking for something with even fewer maintenance requirements.

The Dyson Ball Animal 3 incurs virtually no recurring costs. If the filters are well-maintained, they won't need replacing.

If you do need replacements, you can buy a new pre-motor filter here and a new HEPA filter here.

The Dyson Ball Animal 3 has a couple of quality-of-life features. Unlike the Dyson Ball Animal 2, you can manually toggle between three different surface settings using the slider on its floorhead, which changes the head height and its suction force. The leftmost setting is intended for hard surfaces and embedded dirt and debris; the center setting is for cleaning solid debris from low-pile carpet; and the rightmost setting is for cleaning high-pile carpet. You can see a video of the vacuum head being toggled through these settings here. You can also turn the brushroll off to avoid scratching bare floors and scattering debris everywhere. Like its predecessor, suction is directed through the hose when positioned at a fully upright angle. You need to tilt the vacuum backward to direct the suction through the floorhead.

Even though this vacuum is mainly plastic, it's quite heavy for a vacuum of this type, which can make it a bit of a hassle to pick up and carry. That said, it feels lightweight in your hand when pushing it around.

Maneuverability is good, especially for a vacuum of this type. The Dyson's ball-shaped articulating wheel mechanism makes it easier to maneuver around obstacles than most conventional uprights. Still, the floorhead doesn't pivot all that smoothly, which makes it a little unwieldy to use in tight spaces.

Since the Extra variant of this vacuum doesn't include a slimline hard-floor tool, it can be tricky to maneuver under tables and chairs. You can easily swap between the included tools thanks to the onboard storage clip. Compared to the Dyson Ball Animal 2, which could get caught on shag-pile rugs and drag them around, it's easier to maneuver on thick carpeted floors thanks to the redesigned floorhead with manually adjustable surface configurations. Be aware that you'll need to crouch over the floorhead to change modes and that the vacuum can still sometimes get stuck on shag-pile carpeting.

This vacuum has an impressively long range. Its power cord is long enough to clean faraway areas without having to swap outlets, and its hose offers more than enough additional slack to make cleaning on top of shelves and dressers pretty easy.

The Dyson Ball Animal 3 exerts great suction power through its floorhead. With the Motorbar floorhead set to its hard floor configuration, it generates a relatively tight seal against the ground, allowing it to draw away debris embedded in carpet fibers or cracks and crevices. Its raw motor suction, measured directly from the floorhead, is also very potent, enabling it to clear away stubborn debris with its hose and array of attachments.

This vacuum has great airflow. It won't have any trouble lifting away heavier debris or larger messes. That said, you should still consider a canister model like the Miele Complete C3 Alize if raw airflow performance is what you're after.

This vacuum is on the noisier side. It's substantially louder than premium models like the SEBO Airbelt D4, and the sound of it running is sufficient to drown out most conversations happening within the same room.

This vacuum has no impact on stains, which isn't surprising since this isn't what it's designed for.

This vacuum isn't designed to deal with liquid spills.