The Miele Dynamic U1 PowerLine is a corded upright vacuum with impressive build quality. It delivers superb cleaning performance on bare floors and does a great job of picking up various kinds of debris on both low and high-pile carpet. It's extremely simple to maintain, with an intuitive design that makes it easy to take apart and reassemble. There's a few quality of life enhancements, including an on-board tool rack, a self-adjusting vacuum head, and an adjustable suction level. That said, its filters and dirtbag are disposable, so recurring costs are a little higher than bagless vacuums. It's also quite heavy and isn't ideal for cleaning stairs. Still, if you're looking for an upright vacuum that can easily handle various surface types, this is a good choice.
Our Verdict
The Miele Dynamic U1 PowerLine is excellent for bare floors. It has no trouble picking up pet hair to larger debris like cereal as well as finer debris like rice. It's very well-built and extremely easy to maintain, though its disposable filters and dirtbag increase its recurring costs. It also has a long power cord and is decently maneuverable, so you can navigate tighter areas with more grace than its bulky size would suggest.
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Outstanding pet hair cleaning capability.
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Impressive build quality.
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Outstanding ease of maintenance.
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Great large debris-clearing capability.
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Bulky upright design.
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High recurring costs.
The Miele Dynamic U1 PowerLine is great for low-pile carpet. It picks up pet hair and large debris without issue, though finer debris like baking soda may take an extra pass to completely suck up. However, performance remains consistent as the generously-sized dirtbag fills up, which is useful when taking care of larger messes. It feels impressively well-built and features an intuitive design that makes it easy to access the various wear items on the vacuum, including the filters and dirtbag.
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Outstanding pet hair cleaning capability.
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Impressive build quality.
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Outstanding ease of maintenance.
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Great large debris-clearing capability.
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Bulky upright design.
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Fine debris may take some extra passes to clear.
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High recurring costs.
The Miele Dynamic U1 PowerLine delivers impressive performance on high-pile carpet. It rolls smoothly on shag carpeting and feels fairly maneuverable thanks to its swiveling head and long power cord. The vacuum head self-adjusts to suit varying floor types and you can set the suction level to suit more fragile surfaces. User maintenance is a breeze and it feels very sturdy, though its disposable filters and dirt bags make it more expensive to take care of than true bagless vacuums.
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Outstanding pet hair cleaning capability.
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Impressive build quality.
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Outstanding ease of maintenance.
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Great large debris-clearing capability.
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Bulky upright design.
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Fine debris may take some extra passes to clear.
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High recurring costs.
The Miele Dynamic U1 PowerLine is amazing for clearing pet hair. It picks up pet hair with impressive efficacy on everything from hardwood floors to shag carpeting. It also feels very premium and is outstandingly easy to maintain, though it does have somewhat high recurring costs due to the disposable filters and dirtbag. The brushroll also isn't removable under normal circumstances, so you have to clear hair wraps by hand.
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Outstanding pet hair cleaning capability.
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Impressive build quality.
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Outstanding ease of maintenance.
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Great large debris-clearing capability.
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High recurring costs.
The Miele Dynamic U1 PowerLine is sub-par for stairs, in no small part due to its bulky upright design. It's quite heavy, so carrying it up and down flights of stairs can be tiring, even if it has a carrying handle. Thankfully, it has a long power cord, so you can cover large areas. It also offers consistently great cleaning performance across a range of surface types.
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Impressive build quality.
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On-board tool storage.
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Great large debris-clearing capability.
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Bulky upright design.
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Fine debris may take some extra passes to clear.
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High recurring costs.
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Heavy weight.
The Miele Dynamic U1 PowerLine is a corded upright that isn't suitable for cleaning cars.
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Impressive build quality.
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Great large debris-clearing capability.
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High recurring costs.
- 7.6 Bare Floor
- 7.8 Low-Pile Carpet
- 7.7 High-Pile Carpet
- 7.7 Pets
- 6.0 Stairs
- 6.1 Cars
- 5.0 Workshop
- Updated Aug 23, 2022: This vacuum's suction force has been retested with a more accurate manometer. The test results for the 'Maximum Suction' and 'Normal Suction' fields have been updated. All relevant scores have been updated.
- Updated Aug 05, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 1.1.
- Updated Jun 06, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 1.0.
- Updated Sep 09, 2020: Review published.
- Updated Aug 28, 2020: Early access published.
- Updated Aug 17, 2020: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Aug 14, 2020: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Jul 20, 2020: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Miele Dynamic U1 is available in a couple of different variants, though we expect similar performance for most as they share the same basic features and tools.
| Model Name | Color | Included Brushes and Tools | Extra Features | Notes | |
| PowerLine | Lotus White | Upholstery tool, crevice tool, dusting tool, turbo brush | LED Headlight | Seems to be identically equipped to the Cat & Dog | |
| Maverick | Obsidian Black | Upholstery tool, crevice tool, dusting tool | Doesn't come with an LED headlight or HEPA filter, but HEPA filter can be installed later | ||
| Fresh Air | Mango Red | Upholstery tool, crevice tool, dusting tool | LED Headlight, HEPA Filter | ||
| Cat & Dog | Lotus White | Upholstery tool, crevice tool, dusting tool, turbo brush | LED Headlight | Doesn't come with a HEPA filter, but HEPA filter can be installed later | |
| Jazz | Canary Yellow | Upholstery tool, crevice tool, dusting tool | LED Headlight, HEPA Filter | ||
| Twist | Sprint Blue | Upholstery tool, crevice tool, dusting tool | Doesn't come with an LED headlight or HEPA filter, but HEPA filter can be installed later | ||
| AutoEco | Deep Black | Upholstery tool, crevice tool, dusting tool | LED Headlight, HEPA Filter | Features +/- controls to adjust power level across six levels instead of a rotary dial with four levels |
If someone comes across a Miele Dynamic U1 model that isn't found or is differently configured to the variants in the above table, let us know in the discussions so that we can update our review.
Compared To Other Vacuums
The Miele Dynamic U1 PowerLine is a corded upright vacuum with great cleaning performance across a range of surfaces and impressively solid build quality. It's surprisingly maneuverable in tight spaces due to its long power cord and swiveling vacuum head, not to mention the on-board tool storage and easily accessible controls for suction power and brushroll engagement. That said, its filters and dirtbag are disposable, so recurring costs are higher than bagless vacuums like the Dyson Ball Animal 2 and Shark APEX Upright. If you're looking for other options, check out our list of recommendations of the best vacuums, the best vacuums for high-pile carpet, and the best vacuums for pet hair.
The Miele Dynamic U1 PowerLine is a better upright vacuum than the BISSELL PowerForce Helix. The Miele is more effective at clearing all kinds of debris on bare and carpeted floors, much sturdier-feeling, easier to maintain, and offers greater maneuverability in tight spaces. It also comes with more specialized cleaning brushes. That said, the BISSELL is cheaper to maintain and much lighter.
The Dyson Ball Animal 2 and Miele Dynamic U1 PowerLine are very similarly-performing upright vacuums. The Dyson employs a bagless design with a HEPA filter, so it has virtually no recurring costs and can filter out allergens more effectively. It's also lighter and consequently easier to carry around and maneuver in tight spots. The Miele is much better built, easier to maintain, and has a much larger dirt compartment.
The Miele Dynamic U1 PowerLine and the Shark Navigator Lift-Away Speed have different advantages, so you may prefer one or the other depending on your needs. The Miele has superior performance on bare floors and carpeted surfaces, and it's significantly better built. It's also easier to maintain and comes with a few more tools and brushes. That said, the Shark can be used in a handheld configuration and incurs virtually no recurring costs due to its bagless design and reusable filters.
The Miele Dynamic U1 PowerLine is more effective on most surfaces than the Shark APEX Upright. It does a better job of clearing debris on carpeted floors, is easier to maintain, much more solid feeling, and has a longer power cord. However, the Shark can be used as a handheld vacuum, so it can clean harder-to-reach spots and stairs more easily than the Miele. It's also much more cost-effective to maintain and has slightly better performance on bare floors.
The Miele Dynamic U1 PowerLine performs better overall on most surface types than the Eureka FloorRover. It also feels much better built and is incredibly easy to maintain. That said, the Miele doesn't have a HEPA filter like the Eureka does, and it incurs significantly higher recurring costs.
The Miele Dynamic U1 PowerLine is better overall than the Kenmore Intuition Bagged. The Miele is much better built, far easier to maintain, and has a much longer overall range. It also performs better on carpeted floors and is more maneuverable, though it's substantially heavier than the Kenmore. The Kenmore is also slightly easier to store, incurs fewer recurring costs, and comes with an allergen-trapping HEPA filter.
The Miele Dynamic U1 PowerLine is a significantly better upright vacuum than the Sanitaire PROFESSIONAL Upright. It offers better performance on all surface types, comes with a turbo brush, and it has more quality of life features. It feels significantly better-built too and its dirt compartment is larger.
Test Results
The Miele Dynamic U1 is an amazingly well-built vacuum. It's mostly made of dense, high-grade plastic, though the telescopic wand features aluminum construction and a matte rubber grip. Meanwhile, the rubber-finish wheels roll very smoothly on their axles. The head release latch also operates very smoothly. The vacuum itself is very easy to put together, as parts clip together in a way that's very intuitive.
The Miele Dynamic U1 is exceptionally easy to maintain, with a design that makes it very easy to access its parts.
Unfortunately, the vacuum head's hard brushroll isn't removable under normal circumstances, as the user manual doesn't provide any instructions for in-depth maintenance of this sort. If you do need to remove the brushroll, you can access it by flipping the vacuum over and unscrewing the bottom plate. Otherwise, you can remove stuck debris and hair wraps by hand.
The Miele Dynamic U1 has three parts that need to be replaced regularly. The dirtbag needs to be thrown out and replaced once it's full. The pre-motor filter needs to be swapped out after going through four dirtbags. The post-motor filter also has a recommended service life of 50 hours, though you can see if it needs to be replaced by looking at its indicator strip. If it turns red, you need to install a new filter. All these parts are available on Miele's website, with U AirClean 3D dirtbags coming in packages of four. If you'd prefer a vacuum with fewer recurring costs, consider the Eureka FloorRover.
The Miele Dynamic U1 is decently easy to store. While it's a fairly tall and bulky machine overall, it makes the most of its size by including an on-board tool storage rack with designated spots for the crevice tool, upholstery cleaner, and soft bristle brush.
The Miele U1's dirt compartment is impressively spacious. We measured 4.2L of capacity, which is some way off the advertised 6L, but it's still quite large overall. The bag features an indicator that turns red to let you know once it's reached max capacity.
- Vacuum body
- Handle with power cable
- Vacuum hose with handle
- 1x Bag
- 1x Post-motor Filter
- 1x Pre-motor filter
- Crevice tool
- Upholstery tool
- Soft bristle brush
- Turbo brush
- User guide
The Miele Dynamic U1 has a good range. The power cord is very long, allowing you to cover large rooms without switching outlets. The hose is also quite long, so you shouldn't struggle too much when trying to reach high-up shelves and furniture.
This vacuum has middling portability. It's very heavy, though it comes with a carrying handle to help you bring it up and down flights of stairs.
The Miele Dynamic U1 doesn't have a battery.
The Miele U1 has quite a few quality of life features. The power button is located prominently on the handle. Just under that is the brushroll on/off button, which toggles brushroll engagement to prevent you from scratching bare floors. The suction power can be adjusted four ways on a rotary dial, with settings for 'Smooth', 'Low Pile', 'Deep Pile', and 'Curtains'. 'Smooth' is the highest power setting, intended for bare floors, while 'Curtains' is the lowest and is meant for more delicate surfaces. The vacuum head height automatically changes to suit different surface types.
The Miele Dynamic U1 comes with a couple of extra tools. The on-board storage rack accommodates the crevice tool, soft-bristle brush, and upholstery tool. This vacuum also comes with a turbo brush and extension wand.
The Miele Dynamic U1 can be used in a semi-hand-held configuration with the vacuum hose head attached.
The Miele Dynamic U1 delivers outstanding performance on bare floors. It has very little trouble clearing everything from pet hair to larger debris like cereal. Performance remains consistent as the dirtbag fills up, which is helpful when cleaning larger messes.
The Miele U1's performance on low-pile carpet is excellent. It has no trouble picking up pet hair on this kind of surface. It also picks up the majority of larger debris but has a little bit more trouble sucking up finer debris like baking soda.
The Miele Dynamic U1's performance on high-pile carpet is impressive. Similarly to its capability on low-pile carpet, this vacuum picks up pet hair without an issue and clears most large debris without needing too many extra passes. That said, it struggles slightly with finer particles like baking soda on shag carpet. It performs significantly better on this surface than the Sanitaire PROFESSIONAL Upright, though.
The Miele U1's maneuverability is decent. Its heavy weight and bulky size make it a little tricky to use in cramped spaces, but the swiveling vacuum head, smoothly-rotating wheels, and long power cable help in this regard. Controls are easy to manipulate while you're on the move and the accessories clip onto the vacuum body, so you can quickly attach a new brush to the wand if you need to clean a hard-to-reach area or a piece of furniture. Unfortunately, the bulky lower vacuum body can be an obstruction when cleaning low-lying furniture. Thankfully, it doesn't get stuck on rug tassels, though it will push them around if you don't try to keep the rug in place.
