Dyson V8 Animal Vacuum Review

The Dyson V8 Animal's build quality is just okay. It looks good, but aside from its lightweight metal wand, it's entirely made of plastic and doesn't feel extremely sturdy. The dirt compartment is made of see-through plastic and feels particularly fragile, like it may break if dropped. On the plus side, it's really easy to assemble, and it has a button you can push to unclip parts or tools, so taking it apart is simple, too.

This vacuum is somewhat easy to maintain. While several parts need maintenance, each is easy to access.

• Dirt compartment: The dirt compartment is fairly small and needs frequent emptying. Unfortunately, debris can spread while you're emptying it.
• Filter A: This filter needs to be washed once a month with cold water.
• Filter B (HEPA): The HEPA filter also needs to be washed once a month with cold water.
• Lint screen: Depending on your usage, you need to clean this screen when necessary by removing the lint from it.
• Motorized head and tool: When necessary, you can clean the motorized head and tool by removing debris or tangled hair.
• Turbo brush: Just like the motorized head and toll, you have to remove debris and tangled hair from the turbo brush when necessary.

Any part that you wash with water should be allowed to dry thoroughly for 24 hours before being reinstalled in the vacuum.

The Dyson V8 Animal vacuum incurs virtually no recurring costs. Just like other Dyson vacuums like the Dyson V11 Animal and Dyson V7 Animal, it uses a bagless design, so you don't need to worry about buying dirtbags. The filters shouldn't need to be replaced as long as they're properly maintained. However, if any part breaks or gets lost, you can buy replacements directly from the manufacturer's website.

The Dyson V8 Animal is alright to store. It has a wall rack station that holds it upright when it's not in use. The station has on-board storage for only two tools, so, unfortunately, you need to find somewhere else to store the rest of them.

The Dyson V8 Animal has a reasonably-sized dirt compartment. It's quite small, which is to be expected for a lightweight stick/handheld vacuum, and it needs to be emptied fairly frequently. Luckily, there's an indicator to let you know when the compartment's full.

• Dyson V8 Animal vacuum
• Dirt compartment
• Lint/dust screen
• Filter
• Main vacuum head
• Wand
• Pre-motor filter
• Post-motor (HEPA) filter
• Vacuum User Guide
• Various tools and brushes
  • Brushroll
  • Soft dusting brush
  • Upholstery and hard bristle brush tool
  • Turbo brush
  • Crevice tool
  • Tool holder
  • 180 degree pivot extender tool
• Docking station
  • Installation manual
  • Screws
  • Charger

The Dyson V8 Animal is a cordless vacuum, which gives you unlimited range, as long as you have battery life remaining and room left in the dirt compartment. If you're looking for a comparable stick/handheld vacuum with a corded design, consider the Shark Vertex UltraLight Corded.

The Dyson V8 Animal is very portable. This vacuum is lighter than the Dyson V11 Animal, and it doesn't feel very heavy in your hand. It also has a carrying handle so you can bring the vacuum up and down stairs.

This vacuum's battery performance is alright. If you set it to its most powerful suction setting, 'MAX', the battery is depleted in less than 10 minutes. However, if you use the lower power setting, 'Powerful Suction' mode, it provides just over 40 minutes of continuous use, which should be enough to get you through cleaning a few rooms. If you're looking for a cordless stick/handheld vacuum with a better battery performance, consider the LG CordZero A9 Ultimate.

The Dyson V8 Animal doesn't have many extra features to make your cleaning experience easier. It has a rotating head, which helps it maneuver around obstacles, and you can manually choose between two suction power settings. Consider the JASHEN V16 if you're looking for a stick/handheld vacuum with more bells and whistles, as it has a headlight to help you see in dark areas as well as an easy on/off switch.

This vacuum comes with a few tools and brushes that can help with different cleaning jobs. There's a hard bristle brush that retracts to become an upholstery brush. Unlike the Shark Rocket Pet Pro, there's also a unique 180-degree extension tool to help you clean hard-to-reach places. You can clip all the tools to the wand or the vacuum. If you're looking for a similar Dyson-brand vacuum with even more tools and brushes, check out the Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute.

You can use this vacuum as either a stick vacuum or in its handheld mode by detaching the wand.

This vacuum has a fantastic performance on bare floors. It can pick up pet hair and small debris like rice easily. While it also cleans up large debris like cereal, unfortunately, some of it can get launched to the sides or backward.

The Dyson V8 Animal vacuum is excellent for low-pile carpet. It can clean up pet hair without a problem. It can also pick up most small or large debris consistently, even as the dirt compartment fills. However, small debris like sand can get stuck in the small half-circle wheel of the motorhead ball.

The Dyson V8 Animal has a very good performance on high-pile carpets. It easily clears pet hair but isn't as effective at sucking up debris, so it may take more than one pass for it to properly clean these surfaces. Like on low-pile carpets, finer debris like sand can get stuck in the small half-circle wheel of the motorhead ball. On the plus side, the vacuum doesn't lose much suction as its dirt compartment fills. If you want something similar with better performance on high-pile carpet, check out the Dyson V7 Animal.

This vacuum has good maneuverability. Its slim size and rotating head make it easy to maneuver in tight areas and around obstacles. It comes with tools and brushes that help with cleaning furniture, stairs, and other awkward areas but lacks onboard storage for them, which is a little inconvenient. Also, you may need to crouch down to properly clean under low furniture like couches and coffee tables. The vacuum also tends to get stuck on rug tassels, but fortunately, it can push electric cords out of the way without much trouble.

This vacuum has no automation features.