- Dyson has launched the Dyson Car+Boat handheld vacuum
- It has many of the same features as Dyson’s full-sized stick vacuums
- Available in US now for $199.99, and in the UK from 4 Feb at £249.99
I’ve been waiting for Dyson to release a handheld vacuum, and my patience has finally paid off: today, the brand unveiled the Dyson Car+Boat, and it looks set to outshine the rest of the best handheld vacuums currently on the market.
The Car+Boat looks like someone took a Dyson stick vacuum and shrunk it in the wash. You can’t really tell from the press photos, but this thing is dinky. That pint-sized build packs a punch though – this handheld model has a lot in common with the best Dyson cordless vacuums from the wider range, including powerful suction, useful detail tools, advanced filtration and a long battery life. Unfortunately, the similarity also extends to the price – its list price is $199.99 / £249.99, which is cheaper than the cheapest Dyson stick vacuum, but much more expensive than your average car vacuum.
Before I get too far into it, I’ll be clear that despite being called the Car+Boat, this is not a wet-dry vacuum. It’s just a regular handheld vacuum, aimed at people who might own a boat. Dyson is nothing if not aware of its target market. Other things its designed to tackle include dirt, debris, allergens, pet hair, upholstery and bedding.
Let’s start with battery life, which is the bit that I’m probably most excited about. Most cordless handheld vacuums offer you a maximum of 30 minutes of cleaning, but sometimes it’s more like 15 minutes. Here you have a full 50 minutes, which is up there with the best full-sized cordless vacuums on the market – and, in fact, longer than you’ll get with the Dyson V8 .
That accounts for the fact that cleaning cars, furniture and, uh, boats, is fiddly. It takes time to do it properly, and there’s nothing more annoying than running out of juice once you’ve wedged yourself into a footwell. With nearly an hour of cleaning, you have time to get into every nook and cranny.
Dyson also promises top-notch suction. The proof will be in the testing (a full review is in the works) but the specs look promising – the motor spins at 110,000rpm, same as on the V8, which is the oldest Dyson stick vacuum in the current lineup. There’s a fully sealed filtration system that can capture 99.99% of particles as small as 0.3 microns (the same as all but the very newest and most expensive Dyson stick vacuum). That includes dust mites, pet dander and other allergens.
The Dyson vacuum attachments are similar to those you’ll get with a full-sized stick vac, too. There’s a Mini Motorized Tool for pulling up stubborn dirt and sticky hair, a 2-in-1 Combination Tool (pictured above) that combines a dusting brush and wide nozzle, and a Crevice Tool for edges and narrow gaps.
While this is the only dedicated handheld in the current Dyson lineup, its not the first handheld from the brand. Most recently, there was the Dyson Humdinger, which has just been discontinued in the US, and which left the UK lineup back in 2022. Of course, any of Dyson’s cordless stick vacuums can be used in handheld mode by removing the floor wand and adding a detail tool, but the main vacuum unit tends to be too bulky and heavy to be an ideal choice as a car vacuum.
The Dyson Car+Boat is available in the US from today (29 January) at Dyson.com, and will go on sale at third-party retailers the first week of February. It has a list price of $199.99. In the UK, it will go on sale at Dyson.co.uk from 4 February, with a list price of £249.99.
