The Dyson V9 Motorbar is an ultra-lightweight cordless stick vacuum that converts to a handheld for quick jobs. It has an LCD screen that displays battery life, power mode, and maintenance alerts, and you can cycle between three suction settings: Eco, Med, and Boost. The Motorbar floorhead has a built-in hair removal feature that automatically clears hair from the brushroll as it spins, helping reduce tangles. The battery is removable and user-replaceable, and you can store the vacuum in an included wall-mounted dock. A separately available Submarine wet-cleaning head is also compatible with the V9, letting you convert it into a mop.
Our Verdict
The Dyson V9 Motorbar is an adequate option for cleaning a house, though this isn't really what it's designed for. It's extremely lightweight, making it easy to grab for quick cleanups and carry between rooms. Battery life is decent, but it isn't long enough to allow you to clean a large home. Particle filtration while you clean is outstanding, so dust and allergens stay out of the air. However, cleaning performance is only decent across most surfaces, and if your home has a lot of hard flooring, you'll notice debris left behind along walls. The tiny dustbin fills up fast, which means more trips to the trash, and emptying it kicks up a noticeable dust cloud. Pet hair pickup is only decent on carpet, so it might not be the best option if you have pets that shed heavily.
Extremely lightweight and easy to carry.
Outstanding particle filtration performance.
Tiny dustbin requires frequent emptying.
Leaves debris behind along baseboards.
The Dyson V9 Motorbar is a very good option for cleaning a small apartment. It stores compactly on a wall-mounted dock and weighs under five pounds, so it's easy to tuck into a closet or lean against a wall in a tight space. Air quality while cleaning is excellent, which matters more in a smaller home where dust has less room to dissipate. Carpet and bare floor pickup are decent, but you may need the occasional extra pass for bigger messes.
Extremely lightweight and easy to carry.
Outstanding particle filtration performance.
Wall-mounted dock makes for compact storage.
Emptying the dustbin releases dust into the air.
The Dyson V9 Motorbar is a great vacuum for cleaning stairs. At under five pounds, you can carry it up and down a full staircase without fatigue, and it's even lighter in handheld mode when you detach the wand. The cordless design means no cable to trip over or reposition as you move between steps, and its outstanding filtration system keeps dust out of the air in what's often a tight, enclosed space. The downside is that bare floor and carpet pickup are decent but not great, so you may need to do multiple passes for a thorough clean.
Extremely lightweight and easy to carry.
Cordless design eliminates cable management on stairs.
Mediocre debris pickup means dirt may remain along edges.
The Dyson V9 Motorbar is decent for cleaning a car. In handheld mode, it weighs under three pounds, making it easy to maneuver inside a vehicle. The crevice tool reaches between seats and into tight spots like console gaps and door pockets, and you don't need to worry about cord length since it's fully cordless. While its floorhead diffuses much of its suction when cleaning flooring, it won't have too much trouble dealing with embedded debris on car mats or seats when used with its narrow-nozzle crevice tool or upholstery tool.
Extremely lightweight and easy to carry.
Very lightweight in handheld mode.
Cordless, so you don't need to park near an outlet.
Suction is too weak for deep cleaning car upholstery thoroughly.
The Dyson V9 Motorbar offers mediocre bare floor pickup. It handles everyday dust and debris on open floor space without scattering it around, but it struggles along baseboards and in the gaps between floorboards due to poor suction. If your home has hardwood or tile with visible grout lines or cracks, expect some debris to be left behind. You'll likely need to use Boost mode for cracks, which drains the battery much faster. Alternatively, you could use the crevice tool, though it's not a practical solution for larger spaces.
Doesn't scatter or push much debris around on open floor space.
Leaves debris behind along baseboards.
Struggles to clean out cracks and gaps between floorboards.
The Dyson V9 Motorbar offers decent carpet pickup. It handles everyday debris on both high- and low-pile carpets reasonably well, making it suitable for regular maintenance. However, since there's no height adjustment on the floorhead, it can't adapt to different carpet thicknesses. It also tends to leave debris along baseboards. The floorhead can also drag pieces of larger debris back and crush them without fully picking them up.
Handles everyday debris on both carpet types for regular maintenance.
Leaves debris behind along baseboards.
Lack of height adjustment limits performance on thicker carpets.
The Dyson V9 Motorbar's ability to pick up pet hair from carpets is okay. When vacuuming at a normal speed, it fails to lift hair thoroughly, though it does a better job if you work slowly. On furniture, the Med setting doesn't offer strong enough suction to pull embedded hair from upholstery, and switching to Boost blows loose hair around. The brushroll's built-in de-tangling feature is a practical convenience for households with shedding pets, though you do need to clean it manually if hair builds up too much.
Brushroll de-tangling feature reduces manual hair cleanup.
Leaves noticeable pet hair on carpet at normal cleaning speed.
Struggles to remove embedded pet hair from furniture.
The Dyson V9 Motorbar offers impressive air quality control. The filter captures nearly all fine particles while you clean, so dust and allergens stay trapped inside the vacuum rather than circulating back into your home. This is especially helpful for allergy sufferers or households with pets. Emptying the dustbin is a different story, though. Like all bagless vacuums, emptying this one releases a visible cloud of fine dust. This is particularly troublesome given how often the tiny compartment needs to be emptied. If you're sensitive to airborne dust, empty the bin outdoors or into a sealed bag.
Outstanding particle filtration performance.
Performance Usages
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Dyson V9 is available in two variants that differ only in the included attachments. We bought and tested the V9 Motorbar. Here's the label. We also purchased and performed additional tests with the Submarine floorhead, so our results are valid for both models.
| Model Name | Accessories Included |
| Dyson V9 Motorbar | Motorbar floorhead, Hair Screw tool, Crevice tool, Combination tool |
| Dyson V9 Submarine Extra | Motorbar floorhead, Submarine wet roller head, Hair Screw tool, Crevice tool, Combination tool, Up-top adapter, Upholstery tool, Soft dusting brush |
If you find another variant of this vacuum, let us know in the comments below so that we can update our review.
Popular Vacuum Comparisons
The Dyson V9 Motorbar is a lightweight cordless stick vacuum from Dyson's slim product branch, succeeding models like the Dyson Digital Slim and Dyson Micro 1.5kg. It shares a platform with the Digital Slim and has a similar feature set and performance. Rather than competing with the brand's higher-powered flagships like the Dyson Gen5outsize and the Dyson V15 Detect, it prioritizes portability, weighing under five pounds and converting easily to a handheld for quick jobs. It isn't designed for whole-home cleaning, due to its weaker motor, lower-capacity battery, and much smaller dustbin. Instead, it's intended for people who want something light and easy to grab for daily maintenance, particularly in smaller spaces or homes with mostly hard floors. That said, when it comes to cleaning performance alone, more affordable options like the Shark Cordless Pet IX141 outperform it on most surfaces.
For other options, see our recommendations for the best cordless stick vacuums, the best vacuums for hardwood floors, and the best vacuums.
The Dyson V9 Motorbar and Dyson V8 are both lightweight, cordless Dyson vacuums, but they have different advantages. The V9 has a more modern feature set, with an LCD screen and a built-in brushroll hair removal feature that the V8 lacks. The V8 has a slightly smaller dirt compartment and a shorter maximum runtime, but it delivers better pet hair pickup on carpet, making it the stronger choice if you have shedding pets.
The Dyson V9 Motorbar and Dyson V15 Detect are both cordless stick vacuums from Dyson, but they sit in different parts of the brand's lineup. The V15 is the stronger cleaner across the board and comes with features the V9 lacks, like a particle sensor, automatic suction adjustment, and a laser-equipped bare floor head. However, the V9 is worth considering if you're looking for something lightweight and portable. It weighs about two pounds less than the V15, which makes a real difference if you're carrying it between floors.
The Dyson V9 Motorbar and Shark Stratos Cordless IZ862H are both cordless stick vacuums, but the Shark offers better overall debris pickup performance. It also has a folding wand that lets you clean under low furniture without crouching, automatic suction adjustment, and noticeably sturdier build quality. Its longer maximum runtime gives you more flexibility for larger cleaning sessions. The V9's main advantage is weight. It's significantly lighter than the Shark, making it easier to carry between rooms and more comfortable for above-floor cleaning in handheld mode. It also stores more compactly on a wall-mounted dock.
The Dyson V9 Motorbar and Dyson Digital Slim are both cordless stick vacuums that share the same basic mechanics. Where the newer V9 improves on the Digital Slim is comfort: it has a longer extension wand, which makes a noticeable difference. The Digital Slim's shorter wand forces most people to slouch and overextend their arms, whereas the V9 lets you stand more naturally while you're cleaning. Debris pickup performance is similar across the board, with the V9 edging ahead on bare floors and high-pile carpets. The Digital Slim does slightly better with pet hair on carpet and furniture, where its Combination tool manages to clear a bit more hair than the V9's setup.
Test Results
The Dyson V9 Motorbar delivers mediocre performance on bare floors. When using the Med setting, it handles most debris without scattering it around, and corners stay reasonably clean. However, it leaves noticeably more debris along baseboards, and some debris gets dragged back across the floor as you pull the vacuum toward you.
High-pile carpet pickup is decent on the Boost setting. The V9 pulls most debris out of deeper fibers, though it scatters some in the process and leaves a bit behind along baseboards and corners. An additional pass on Med resulted in even more fine debris left behind. The floorhead doesn't offer height adjustment, which limits its ability to adapt to thicker carpets.
Low-pile carpet pickup is decent when using the Boost setting. The V9 picks up most debris effectively, but the floorhead can drag around larger debris and crush it without actually picking up the remnants. Because there's no height or gap adjustment on the floorhead, it struggles along baseboards, leaving some debris behind where the carpet meets the wall.
Pet hair pickup on carpet is decent on the Boost setting, but it can't compete with top-performing models like the Dyson V15 Detect. The floorhead's design creates visible airflow gaps, leaving a row-like pattern of cleaned and uncleaned areas. Slowing your pace dramatically improves results, allowing you to remove nearly every strand of hair, but this isn't practical for cleaning larger areas.
Pet hair removal from furniture is mediocre using the Hair Screw tool on Med power. The suction isn't strong enough to pull embedded hairs from upholstery, even after multiple passes. Performance drops even further as the dustbin fills up. Switching to Boost mode offers a notable improvement, but the exhaust is strong enough to blow loose pet hair off the furniture while you clean in this configuration.
Using Med suction, the Dyson V9 does a mediocre job clearing debris from cracks and crevices. It picks up some debris from between floorboards and along grout lines, but the low suction power means the floorhead can't hold onto everything it pulls up. When the brushroll stops spinning, debris that was partially lifted tends to fall back onto the floor. A second pass on Boost results in noticeably better performance. If you have a lot of gaps in your flooring, you'll likely need to use Boost regularly, which can cut into battery life. Alternatively, you can use the Crevice tool, but it's not a practical solution for larger rooms.
Like most Dyson stick vacuums, the V9's build quality is just adequate. It's made almost entirely from plastic, with the only metal component being the wand shaft. The body uses a glossy finish that tarnishes and scratches easily, and the transparent dustbin loses its clarity quickly with use. The construction doesn't feel very sturdy, and the dustbin's seal actually broke off during testing, so we had to replace the unit.
On the bright side, assembly is straightforward. All the parts click into each other securely, though these click connections tend to loosen over time on Dyson vacuums.
Vacuum parts:
- Dock
- 2x mounting screws (with anchors)
- Dock mounting plate
- Extension wand
- Vacuum
- Battery pack
- Charger
- Dustbin
- Washable filter
- Combination tool
- Motorbar floor head with removable brush roller
- Hair screw tool (motorized brush with removable brushroll and cover)
- Crevice tool
Documentation:
- Dyson benefits card
- Quick start pamphlet (V9 Motorbar)
- Dock mounting instructions
- Safety instructions
- Regulatory compliance and safety instructions
Submarine variant extras (if applicable):
- Submarine clean water cap
- Submarine wastewater drip tray
- Submarine wastewater and clean water assembly
- Submarine motor and neck attachment assembly
- Wet roller
- Motorbar brush roller
- Submarine drip tray
- Up-top adapter
- Upholstery tool (mattress-focused)
- Soft dusting brush
- Quick start pamphlet (V9 Submarine)
The Dyson V9 Motorbar is compact and stores easily on a wall-mounted dock with two attachment points for the vacuum and wand. There's no on-board tool storage, so you'll need to keep attachments separately or use the dock's mounting area.
The V9's dirt compartment is disappointingly small, so you'll have to empty it often. Dyson lists a capacity of 0.10 gal (0.38 L), but if you only fill it to the marked line, you get roughly half the advertised capacity. You can technically fill it beyond the line, but Dyson warns that this increases how often you need to clean the filter.
This vacuum's battery life is mediocre. While you get nearly an hour of operation on Eco mode, with the Motorbar floorhead on Boost, that drops to under 10 minutes. The LCD screen on the vacuum displays an estimated battery life countdown, which helps you plan your cleaning sessions, though actual runtime tends to be a bit shorter than the display suggests.
Maintaining the V9 is a fairly straightforward process, with three parts that need regular attention.
- Filter: The filter twists off easily and can be washed with water, but it needs a full 24 hours to dry before you put it back in.
- Motorbar brushroll: A built-in hair removal feature handles everyday shedding from people and pets without tangling. In households with long hair or heavy shedders, hair can build up faster than the feature can clear it, eventually clogging the roll.
- Dustbin: Hair gets trapped in the narrow opening above the dustbin, and pulling the bin out doesn't reach it. You'll need to clear it by hand, which can be tedious.
If you have the Submarine Extra variant, you'll also need to maintain the wet roller.
- Submarine floorhead: It's relatively easy to clean, but make sure not to flip the vacuum over while the head is attached because the dirty water compartment can spill. You can see the full cleaning process here.
Review the manual for more maintenance info.
The standard Motorbar variant has virtually no recurring costs because the filter doesn't need to be replaced as long as it's cleaned according to the manufacturer's recommendations.
If you own the Submarine variant, you will need to periodically replace the roller on the Submarine floorhead.
The Dyson V9 has several quality-of-life features to improve the user experience. You cycle through the three power settings, Eco, Med, and Boost, by pressing a button on the body. The LCD screen shows your current power level, estimated battery life, and any maintenance alerts. Unlike some other recent Dyson vacuums, like the Dyson Gen5detect, this model uses a trigger rather than a power button. The trigger is easy to activate, though holding it down continuously can become uncomfortable over extended cleaning sessions.
The Dyson V9 is extremely lightweight, with a lower total weight than most other cordless Dyson models. If you use the Submarine floorhead, keep in mind that it adds noticeable weight. The head alone weighs about 3 lbs, and once both water tanks are full, it reaches around 4.5 lbs, which is close to the weight of the entire vacuum on its own.
This vacuum is easy to maneuver, and the wand is long enough that you don't have to hunch over while cleaning, though you still need to crouch to clean under low furniture like couches. On furniture, the Combination tool makes switching between hard surfaces and upholstery simple, and the Hair Screw tool moves around couch cushions easily. The floorhead steers well around obstacles and pushes electrical cords out of the way rather than getting tangled in them. It can get caught on tasseled rugs, but luckily, freeing it is easy.
Since this is a cordless vacuum, the Dyson V9's range is only limited by the remaining battery life and the space left in its dirt compartment.
The Dyson V9 Motorbar features an outstanding filtration system that keeps your air clean as you vacuum. The filter captures 99.99% of particles as small as 0.3 microns on Boost, and 99.97% on all other modes. While the filter technically meets HEPA performance standards, Dyson doesn't officially market it as a HEPA filter.
Like most bagless vacuums, emptying the dustbin releases a visible cloud of fine dust and debris. This poses even more of an issue for the V9 than some of its competitors, though, because the bin is so small and needs to be emptied frequently. If you have allergies or respiratory sensitivities, consider emptying the bin outdoors to minimize exposure.
As a lightweight, lower-powered machine, the V9 produces significantly less suction than Dyson's larger cordless models. In practice, low suction doesn't always translate directly to poor cleaning, since the floorhead design and brushroll still contribute to debris pickup. However, the weak suction shows up in tasks that rely more on raw power, like cleaning cracks, removing embedded pet hair from upholstery, and deep-cleaning carpets. That said, the maximum hose suction is actually quite high, so you'll get higher suction when using attachments like the crevice or upholstery tool.
The V9's airflow is adequate, but it can't match the performance of more powerful models like the Dyson V15 Detect. As a result, it will struggle more with tasks like lifting small debris from carpet fibers.
The Dyson V9 Motorbar is a relatively quiet vacuum. Sound levels are comparable whether you're vacuuming hard floors or carpets, and it's louder on Boost mode than on Med or Eco.
This vacuum does a decent job cleaning stains with the Submarine floorhead in Wet-Cleaning mode. The mop removes most stains from hard floors, with some traces remaining.
The Dyson V9 offers mediocre water pickup using the Submarine head. It can pick up most spilled liquids, but it takes many back-and-forth passes to get it all. The head also leaks water as you clean, leaving the floor quite wet and requiring extra passes to clean up what it spills. Like the Dyson V15s Detect Submarine, the Submarine head also leaks when you lift it off the floor, so make sure to keep it flat until you're done.