Statistics suggest that 40% of the population only cleans the floor when there’s visible dust and dirt. But this perception is highly subjective: visibility varies across materials, colors, and lighting conditions. My recent experience with a cordless vacuum cleaner, however, proved that even when we think a surface is clean, we’re likely mistaken.
At home, we clean our floors regularly: a robot vacuum runs through the entryway and kitchen daily, covering the entire house every other day. Additionally, we conduct a deep clean once a week using a cordless vacuum and mop. Thus, I always felt our floors were reasonably clean. That’s why I was astounded when I tried out the Gen5detect vacuum, Dyson’s most powerful stick vacuum to date, and saw what was truly on the floor.
The key lies in one of its cleaning heads: the Fluffy Optic. Featuring a soft velvet brush and a green light along one side, this head illuminates the floor, revealing even the tiniest particle.
The Illuminating Evolution of Vacuum Cleaners: Dyson Gen5detect
It’s not the first vacuum cleaner to resort to lighting to facilitate cleaning. In fact, there are multiple models on the market that incorporate LEDs in their heads (such as the Conga RockStar 2700 Advance, Philips SpeedPro Max, or Rowenta X-Force Flex 8.60, to name a few examples). And it’s not even Dyson’s first attempt at this technology. But the evolution with the Gen5detect model is astounding.
There isn’t much technical information available: the company explains that it has been redesigned compared to previous versions to be twice as bright and cover more floor surface, and it’s designed to sit as low as possible on the head cover so that it only illuminates the dirt. In practice, on the head, we only see that one side is somewhat different from the other, and there is a small light at the bottom. But nothing particularly attention-grabbing if we don’t know what it is, until the button is pressed to start the vacuum: at that moment, it automatically lights up like a green laser, extending from the side to the entire front area of the floor.
The Illuminating All-Seeing Light
The fact that it’s not located in the center or distributed throughout the head means that on the left side (looking from the front), the light is more powerful, although the visibility in front of the entire vacuum is correct. And the first time you try it, the amazement is evident: it shows every hair, speck of dust, fluff, or food residue; it even reveals footprints that were completely invisible until then.
Combined with a high suction power (262 air watts), three usage modes, and a battery life that approaches an hour—depending on the selected mode and the head used—it leaves the feeling that it’s one of the most effective vacuum cleaners we’ve ever used, both on ceramic floors and wooden floors, and even in the car. It’s also one of the most expensive vacuum cleaners I’ve ever tried: its price is close to 1,000 euros for the model that includes more brushes and accessories.