BLACK+DECKER HCUA525JP Cordless 2-in-1 Stick Vacuum, Powerseries Pro 20V Pet Vacuum, Purple

Why did you pick this product vs others?:Super portable. Plenty of power and suction to get my 1000 sqft condo clean weekly. I’ve had it 5 years now and it still runs well. I take it out on cleaning jobs too so it gets a good work out continually. Nice for cleaning cars too!

Great product holding up very well after lots of use

I had a smaller stick vac that had what looked like a dustbuster attached. It was easy to use, but not the greatest for suction and battery power, but it was great for small quick pick ups. I realized I was using the stick vac most of the time instead of of my canister vac because it is too bulky. So I decided to get a bigger vac and it is very good. It is heavier than my old one, but I think in the long run it will serve me better since that is mostly what I use. The canister to use for small pickups is a little more work to use, but it does have a long hose so it doesn't have to be taken out of the vacuum to use.I didn't find the instruction manual to be very helpful. I asked for one that I could download that might explain things better but so far no response. I still can't figure out how to connect the extra attachments to the vacuum so I don't have to go get one to use. I do like it very much and it is very powerful, so much so that it takes the garbage and it is rolled u[ in a ball in the bin of the vacuum. I would recomend this vac.

We loved this vacuum for the first couple of months but then it started breaking. We have 8 dogs inside 4 of them are long haired. We vacuumed once or twice a day and every time the hair would wrap around the edge of the brush and it started melting the roller. We had to stop and clean it out and let it cool down before we could even turn it on again. It did that for 3 weeks before the brush stopped turning all together.

I first purchased this B&D pet vacuum in 2018 or 2019 and it is amazing for being a cordless. So great that I just purchased another one for the other part of the house. It picks up cat litter effortlessly and maintains full power until without warning it will suddenly stop when the battery is drained which is great because I don’t have to re-vacuum an area because of reduced suction. It’s very versatile with its swivel power head and removable handheld vacuum. Only small annoyance is having to pull out animal hair from upper rim of the bagless container when emptying. The filter is easy to rinse and needs to be done often if you have animals. So…I decided to purchase another one this year (2022) and that one had a bad motor with poor suction. Amazon, as usual, immediately provided an exchange and this one appears okay so far but I have only used it once for a few minutes so the jury is still out but this motor has the expected suction power. I have had a few cordless upright vacuums and this one is by far superior and glides easily over bare floors. I don’t have regular carpets but my house is full of various throw rugs and 8x10 individual thicker rugs and it does great on those. It’s not comparable to electrical power vacs, but that shouldn’t be expected. This is lightweight and I am disabled with back problems and joint issues and I am able to do quite a bit with this one. I can’t handle the new stick ones with the motor just below the handle, too top heavy. In my opinion, this has great engineering and quality overall and I consider myself to have high expectations when it comes to vacuums and dealing with pet hair and dust in a desert.

TL/DR: Overall, pretty disappointed. First, with the missing parts at delivery and now with it totally broken. Then with a “pet hair” specific vacuum getting so clogged with pet hair that I had to take it apart after five uses and now the flimsy electronics don’t work.I purchased a “used, like new” option to save some money. The package arrived damaged and missing several pieces, including the charging cord, so I had to order that separately at an additional cost. But the vacuum itself didn’t seem to have been used.I was pretty happy with it the first few times I used it - lightweight, suction seemed powerful, canister really easy to empty, filters easy to wash and swap out. Pet hair didn’t get tangled around the brush so much as it just got clogged, but it was easy enough to clean out.Around use 5, though, pet hair was getting so wrapped around the brush that I had to stop vacuuming and clean it out several times. Then one of the rubber bristles came unattached, and the brush stopped spinning/rolling altogether. I decided to give it a “deep clean” to really get all their hair out and make sure there were no clogs.Well, after doing that - taking the brush out and cleaning out hair that had gotten stuck throughout the head - the brush won’t roll at all. I’m guessing the electronics that power the roller are so flimsy that basic, careful maintenance disrupted or disconnected the wires to the point that I can’t get it to work properly anymore. It’s so cheaply made, getting it repaired by a professional will cost more than the product itself (which I’ve already had significant issues with in just a few uses).This product is $200 MSRP and I can get a Dyson V8 for $350. The Dyson is clearly a much better value for cost, performance, and longevity, so I will be purchasing one of those vacuums to replace this recent purchase.For the record: I have four pets (two medium sized dogs and two cats) which is why I’m searching for a vacuum designed to handle pet hair. I have a very small house (750ish square feet) that I keep clean (ie, I’m not vacuuming once a month when things are beyond filthy. I vacuum at least twice a week so nothing gets out of hand for a good vacuum to handle). I have an old Shark that does a decent job, but the canister is so incredibly tiny and the battery life really quite limited that it’s just not the right fit for my needs. It’d be great for a studio apartment with no pets and no exterior doors for dirt to get in.