Dyson Ball Animal 3 Extra/Complete Vacuum Review

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 uses a thicker removable brushroll with closer-spaced nylon bristles, not to mention a series of detangling vanes that help reduce the chances 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-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 does use a series of easy-clip mechanisms to attach parts to each other, they're of a different, less user-friendly design compared to the clips used on other Dyson vacuums like the Dyson V11.

User maintenance isn't very hard.

• Dirt compartment/Cyclone/Lint filter: Removing the dirt compartment is a fairly simple process. 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, though 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 when it comes to 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 water once a month, and you have to 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 left to dry for at least 24 hours before reinstalling it.

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 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 give you an idea of how close it is to being filled.

• 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

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.

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

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

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 change the head height and its suction force. The leftmost setting is intended for hard surfaces and embedded dirt and debris, the center for cleaning solid debris from low-pile carpet, and the rightmost setting is meant 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.

The Extra variant of the Dyson Ball Animal 3 has several attachments. There's a dedicated grooming tool for sucking away loose hair, dander, and dead skin from your pet, a crevice tool with a slide-on soft-bristle dusting brush, a turbo brush for cleaning fabric and carpeted surfaces, and a dedicated stair/upholstery tool. It also comes with a telescopic wand to help extend your reach.

The Complete variant of this vacuum comes with all of these attachments, along with a slim soft bristle dusting brush that you can use to clean fine dust from delicate surfaces like TV screens, an articulating pure suction floorhead for cleaning messes on hard floors, a reach under tool for cleaning awkward spaces, a multi-angle brush for cleaning on top of shelves, and a wider-nozzle upholstery tool.

You can use this vacuum in a semi-handheld configuration by leaving it completely upright, which causes suction to be diverted through the wand. If you want an upright vacuum but find yourself cleaning hard-to-reach areas often, you might want to consider an upright with a detachable canister unit, like the Shark Stratos Upright.

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, only to fall back out again 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 means that it can struggle with material that's pressed up against walls or corners.

This vacuum does a satisfactory job of dealing with debris on 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 means it can struggle with debris pushed up close to walls.

This vacuum does a fantastic job of dealing with pet hair on 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 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 of things. It's substantially louder than premium models like the SEBO Airbelt D4 Premium, and the sound of it running is sufficient to drown out most conversation happening within the same room.

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 come with 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.

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 great job of sealing in fine particles. It has a five-stage filtration system with an onboard HEPA filter. Altogether, the manufacturer advertises the vacuum as able to trap 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 microns.

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 since the rotating brushroll can create micro-scratches on delicate surfaces.

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.