6 of the best handheld vacuum cleaners to clear dust, debris, and pet hair at home

Investing in one of the best handheld vacuum cleaners means you'll always have a lightweight workhorse appliance on hand for accidents or routine maintenance saving you time and effort.

These vacuums are especially useful if you have children or pets, and need to tidy up a lot. Pet hair? Spilled snacks? A good handheld vacuum can handle it all. Plus, they're small enough to fit in tiny spaces like stairs and corners.

We've found some of the best vacuum cleaners are the ones that take up the smallest space. Here's a glance at the best handheld vacuum cleaners you can buy this year. 

The best handheld vacuums

The quick list

The best handheld vacuum cleaners you can buy in 2024

The best handheld vacuum you can buy

The Prosenic S1 promises up to 30 minutes of power (the longest in our guide) to remove tracked-in dirt in the car or crumbs deep in your couch cushions. In practice, our reviewer confirmed it lasted 26 minutes on the lower setting, which is pretty good. And, when it comes time to charge, the S1 can be housed on its charging dock or via its USB-C cable.

The S1 did a great job in our tests of picking up particles big and small. Our reviewer Millie found the two suction modes were plenty for dealing with an array of messes, though choosing the lower power setting definitely helped the vacuum run for much longer. The brush nozzle was excellent for working on upholstery, while the crevice nozzle was unrivaled for reaching corners in her high-ceiling home. 

If you're looking for a budget-friendly alternative to this, we think the Brigii Crevice Vacuum offers similar features for less money.

Read our full Proscenic S1 handheld vacuum review.

The best handheld vacuum for pet owners

We do like a Shark vacuum cleaner, especially when it's reasonably priced, cordless, and handheld. But this particular model rivals some of the best vacuums for pet hair). While many spot cleaners have simple attachments, this one is built for cat and dog owners as its self-cleaning brush makes cleaning pet beds and upholstery so easy. This feature is the the star of the show, preventing hair from getting wrapped around the roller. However, our reviewer Jen warns users to be careful when using this smaller tool on large clumps of hair. 

Read our full Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro+ review.

The best handheld vacuum for small homes

The Eufy HomeVac H30 Mate by Anker is about the size of a bottle of wine, meaning it can easily fit in a desk drawer or under a car seat for quick clean-ups. For such a small vacuum — it's powerful. During our tests, our reviewer found that dust, crumbs, and even compost from a toppled-over houseplant were tackled in a single pass.

This vacuum comes with a mini-motorized pet brush and a two-in-one crevice tool. the latter was useful for getting into tight, awkward spaces and was best used in our tester's car to clean the trunk. She found the mini motorized pet brush was good for handling stray hairs on the upholstery that she couldn't even see were there.

The best affordable handheld vacuum

If you don’t want to spend as much on a handheld vacuum as you would on a full-sized one, then you can expect the affordable Dirt Devil Scorpion to get the little jobs done well. You'll never have to remember to keep it charged either — just plug it in and clean!  

Our reviewer Alex felt a noticeable difference in power, noting that it had more suction than any other handheld she had tried. This vacuum comes with a crevice tool which is great for reaching into corners. You can also use its hose to clean, which she recommends for banishing dust and dirt on stairs, upholstered furniture and, rugs, too. Overall, it proved to be an ideal purchase for sucking up crumbs from car seats and vacuuming underneath furniture.

Read our full Dirt Devil Scorpion review.

The best handheld vacuum for large homes

The Hoover ONEPWR Cordless offers plenty of power in a lightweight model, with an XL dirt cup if you'd prefer to go a little longer before emptying your handheld, or if you have a large home to keep clean. It doesn't offer the best suction from the vacuums on our list, but it does have the biggest dust cup capacity out of all of the cordless devices.

Daily cleaning became easier once our reviewer Alex had the Hoover ONEPWR Cordless in her life. It took her seconds to insert the battery into the model and she found it handy for everything from countertop clean-ups to getting rid of dust on window sills. Alex found that she could go for pretty long stretches without needing to empty the dust compartment too, which is a testament to this model's large capacity. On the contrary, she wouldn't recommend using the crevice tool for long periods of time, as it reduced the suction power. The attachment can, however, live on board for your convenience.

While it doesn't come with a charging dock, it is easy to store inside a cupboard. Also, rather than plugging in this handheld to a charger or slipping it into a dock, you only need to charge the battery and then place it into the unit before you start cleaning.

Read our full Hoover ONEPWR review.

The best handheld vacuum for your car

Definitely the best-looking of all the handheld vacuums we've tested, the Shark Wandvac Power Pet blends style and ergonomics for a futuristic look. And, since it comes with handy attachments, we rate it as the best pick for car cleaning and small kitchen tidying. The only reason it's last on our list is because it has a tiny dust cup.

Our reviewer Christina uses it to clean her Toyota after muddy dog walks in the forest. She mostly uses the duster crevice tool, and because the vacuum is so light at 1.5 pounds, her arms do not get sore.

The one real drawback is that lasts a mere eight minutes on boost mode, which is below average for a handheld vac. But for quick jobs, it does well and looks great whether in action, or charging. We've also tested its predecessor, the Shark WV201 but we found that this one boasted better suction and we preferred its accessories.

Read our full Shark Wandvac Power Pet review.

Compare these handheld vacuums

FAQs

Six things to consider when choosing a handheld vacuum

When you're looking to buy the best handheld vacuum for your household, there are a few factors to consider:

1. Weight
Cleaning power aside, we consider the small size and manageable weight to be the most vital feature of portable vacuums. If your handheld is too heavy and bulky, you might as well get an upright vacuum for its greater cleaning power, and use the attachments for spot-cleaning jobs. Most handheld vacuums weigh 2–3 lbs.

2. Corded vs. cordless
Cordless vacuums will offer more flexibility, but be mindful that their batteries will need to be charged for a few hours whilst corded vacs are tethered to a power outlet and run off the electricity source in your home.

3. How long do you need to clean?
Handheld vacuums don't have the same battery power as their larger counterparts.  A runtime of 10–20 minutes is typical, so if you find yourself routinely needing to clean for longer, we recommend looking for a lightweight, easy-to-maneuver upright or stick vacuum cleaner with appropriate accessories.

4. Attachments
Most handheld vacuums should come with a crevice tool, but other nice-to-have attachments might include specialty brushes for carpets and pet hair, dusting brushes, and hoses for added reach. 

5. Level of suction
Handheld vacuums can differ widely in suction capabilities, and sometimes get a bad rap for not being powerful enough. That being said, a 12-volt product should be sufficient for light housework. A premium handheld vacuum will have multiple suction settings.

6. Dust bin capacity
Typically, the lighter the vacuum, the smaller the dust bin. A standard dust bin size for a handheld vac seems to be about 10–20 ounces, but the bins on micro models can be as small as three ounces. Look for designs with transparent containers so you can see how much debris accumulates as you clean.

How we test handheld vacuums

At Real Homes, we think it's important to have hands-on experience with the products we recommend. So, as part of our testing protocol, we've tried all of these handheld vacuums out at home for at least two months to give you our honest verdict.

These vacs been busy lifting dirt and debris, and we've also performed tests with pantry staples, from oatmeal to cereal, to see how impressive each vacuum's suction is. Alongside evaluating suction power, we analyze the ease of setup and use, versatility, and runtime. Beyond reviewing, we compare stats, including price and weight, which is how we rank these handheld vacs. All the specifics can be found in our guide on how we test vacuum cleaners.

Meet our handheld vacuum testers below:

Christina Chrysostomou

Christina is the acting head ecommerce editor at Real Homes and she tested the Shark Wandvac Power Pet.

Jennifer (Jen) Oksien

Jen is now the editor over at Top Ten Reviews. Previously, she has written for Real Homes and Homes & Gardens as our appliances editor. She has tested the Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus and Eufy Homevac H30 Mate.

Millie Fender

Millie is our head of reviews at Real Homes. She tested the Proscenic S1 Handheld Vacuum.

Alexandra Pamias

Alexandra is our contributing editor and a former journalist. She has tried out the classic Dirt Devil Scorpion+ and the Hoover ONEPWR, and was well equipped to try out these two pet-perfect vacs while cleaning up after her cat, Dish.