Dyson Omni-glide review: a great compact vac for tight corners

The Dyson Omni-glide review for those in a rush: at last something genuinely new in the world of cordless vacs, this lightweight Dyson makes vacuuming fun again.

Dyson has been a bit quiet of late with not a lot of products since the all-conquering V11 cordless stick vac. But like buses, you wait ages and… You may already have read about the amazing new Dyson V15 Detect with its dust-vision laser light. If you haven’t you really should.

But before you go off on a tangent, stick with me so I can tell you about another cracking new product from the Dyson stable – the cutest, littlest hard floor-specific stick vac in the kingdom of suck. Where the V15 Detect is just a refinement of the long-standing and successful best cordless vacuum cleaner template, the Omni-glide is something new and – at least by vacuum cleaner standards – fun.

It’s called the Omni-glide and it has just launched in the UK. Here’s the gist of it.

Dyson Omni-glide review: price and availability

Dyson Omni-glide is on sale in the USA and is a thoroughly affordable $399.99. In the UK it has just gone on sale and is £349.99, it's worth checking our Dyson discount codes for further reductions. In Australia, for some reason, it is just about to go on sale (May 27) and will cost AUS$599.99.

• Price not appearing here automatically in the UK? Shop at the Dyson Store.

Dyson Omni-glide review: design

Although its motor and bin section is a substantial 49cm in length, the Omni-glide’s overall stature is slim, really slim (just 8cm at its widest point). In fact, it is, to all intents and purposes, the V10 or 11 shrunk to a fraction of the size and weight (it’s a truly svelte 1.9kgs). However, instead of a pistol grip with battery on the bottom, the Omni-glide’s battery is housed in long smooth, shaft-like handle that feels really comfortable in the hand.

I personally think this is the most endearing little stick vac on the market right now and I adore its silky purple finish and telltale Dyson design flourishes. I can see it being a true little workhorse, especially in handheld mode, and the most perfect vac for the car, but more on that below.

Now, as you might expect given its diminutive dimensions, the bin is tiny – 0.190-litres or 0.05 of a gallon if you’re American. That is no larger than a coffee mug, which means it will need to be emptied on a regular basis, especially if you have cats and dogs. But this is no problem in my book because opening the bin is actually quite pleasing; like its larger brethren, the bin articulates downwards to eject all the detritus. It just means a few more visits to the bin than the norm. 

Dyson calls it ‘hygienic bin emptying’ and I second that because you don’t need to stick your fingers in to prise out any obstreperous pet hair. And you have to do it so frequently, nothing has time to rot and fester. Let's emphasise the positive here!

Dyson Omni-glide review: features

Compared with other Dyson vacs, the Omni-glide is quite sparse on features – but that also makes it incredibly easy to use. For instance, there are just two buttons on the handle, one to turn it on in default Eco mode and a button above it to select maximum suction. If you quickly blip the power button, it also makes a 'pew pew' sound – just like a laser gun.  But I digress. 

The twist-fit filter system simply slides off the slim handle like a sleeve to be rinsed under the tap. Incredibly, you can easily remove the battery on this vac by sliding the latch on its rear. 

The Omni-glide’s manual – or rather a concertina'd sheet of paper – illustrates nothing that you wouldn’t already know about the product just from fiddling with it. Indeed, the most comprehensive part of the manual is the long-winded pictorial explanation for mounting the small battery charger-cum-wall mount.

One of the main reasons this vac is so light in the hand – just 1.9kg weight (4.18lbs) – is because it’s fitted with a tiny Hyperdymium motor that spins at up to 105,000rpm to produce ample suction for its size. 

According to the blurb, the Omni-glide’s eight cyclones – the area where the suction magic happens – ‘generate forces of 98,000g to remove microscopic dust from the airflow’. Who’d want to be a piece of dust against those odds?

Dyson Omni-glide review: using the Omni-glide in stick configuration

All modern stick vacs are expected to come with a tranche of accessories and that’s certainly the case here. First and foremost, there’s the rather excellent motorised Omnidirectional twin roller that gives the vac its name. You will come to love using this admittedly small head (just 21cm across) because it literally glides across hard floors and over rugs with masterful ease. It can swivel on its axis and be used at any angle, even side to side, to reach areas that the majority of other vacs will almost certainly struggle to deal with. Its low 5cm profile means it can also reach low under sofas, cupboards, what have you.

To test it out I threw some rice and sand on the kitchen floor, selected Eco mode and the roller collected every last grain, even in the corners. Nuff said. Another major bonus when used in full stick mode is how light the Omni-glide feels in the hand. Now I’m a big fan of both the V10 and V11 but they do feel really heavy on the wrist and forearm, especially when vacuuming two or three rooms at a time. By contrast this one is an absolute breeze to use. I simply let my arm drop to the side while holding the shaft and rocked it backwards and forwards, with a twist of the wrist here and there to make the head turn 90˚. Honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever had such an effortless vacuuming session. It was as if the two soft velvety rollers were helping pull it along, which they probably were. As a handy byproduct, these rollers also buffed and shined the floor at the same time. At least they seemed to.

Pushing it a bit beyond its limits, I then tried the roller head on some shallow-pile carpet around a drum kit and it handled the beech tree husks I’d trampled in with surprising efficiency. And without me having to move any drum stands out of the way. Like a dodgem it sauntered its way around all the obstacles without the need for any of the hand tools. 

Speaking of which…

Dyson Omni-glide review: using the Omni-glide in handheld mode

The Dyson V7 and V8 have always been Dyson’s best models for handheld cleaning duties. But not any more, not since this whippersnapper came along with its slim shape and light-as-a-feather feel.

For handheld cleaning, the Omni-glide comes with a set of four tools: a small motorised head, a standard nozzle with integral brush and a general do-it-all float head. I found the small 14cm motorised mini head was perfect for stairs, removing hair from the dog beds and cleaning the filthy carpets in the car.

Most stick vacs easily convert to handheld but this one is arguably the lightest on the market right now and that’s an important consideration in my book.

Dyson Omni-glide review: battery life

As mentioned above, the Omni-glide’s battery can be easily removed and this is a majorly good thing because it means you can buy an extra one to double the running time. Dyson quotes a run timer of up to 18 minutes in Eco (ie default) mode and I’m pretty sure that’s an accurate assessment. 

However, at times you will need to engage Max mode when doing the car, the dog bed or down the back off the sofa so I tested the running time myself and, blow me down with a feather if it didn't continue running, with the motorised head fitted, for exactly 8 minutes and 45 seconds. 

Given the tiny size of the battery, that’s about five minutes more than I expected and a testament to how far battery technology has advanced in only the past year or so.

Dyson Omni-glide review: verdict

Arguably no Dyson product is cheap, but the Omni-glide is certainly at the more affordable end of House of Dyson's finest selection, and it's worth every penny. 

I can’t think of an easier, more effortless vac to use on hard floors. It just sails over them and is so amazingly controllable. In fact it’s the first stick vac I’ve used that genuinely competes with the Gtech AirRam – a vac that only works as an upright for practicality, performance and ease of use. And yet it goes a step further than that by being the best little hand vac you'll find in all of Retail Land. 

Whether you buy the Omni-glide as a backup vac or your main cleaner in a smaller, all-hard-floor home, I am confident you won't feel short-changed. You may even come to feel like vacuum cleaning with the Omni-glide is a joy rather than a chore. 

Dyson Omni-glide review: Also consider

We aren't really aware of any other device from a major manufacturer quite like this petite and jolly cordless vac. So its nearest rivals are probably the old skool of more lightweight Dyson vacs. By that we mean the veteran Dyson V8 Absolute and the Dyson V7 Absolute, which is a slightly less powerful, slightly cheaper vac that looks identical to the V8 at a glance. No, we don't get it either.

For those who only want a handheld, there's also the Dyson V7 Trigger, which has no extension tube, and so cannot dabble in moonlighting as a stand-up vac.

None of these vacs can really hold a candle to the much newer and considerably nippier Omni-glide, however.

• More of the best stick vacs for your perusal