Last Updated On December 28th, 2020
If you’ve been looking for the perfect V7 Animal review, we’re here to help.
When it comes to choosing a vacuum cleaner these days, it seems like there are so many options on the market. It can be impossible to figure out where to start.
Dyson V7 Animal Review
Fortunately, reviews like this one can help you to figure out what kind of features you can expect from market-leading competitors.
For instance, the Dyson V7 Animal is one of the most powerful cordless handheld stick hoovers on the market. Equipped with all the power you would expect from the Animal series, the V7 is slightly smaller than the V8, and a heck of a lot quieter than the V6.
Although it’s not the most high-strength cleaner in Dyson’s arsenal, the Dyson V7 vacuum lives up to the company’s name by providing excellent no-compromise cleaning.
The question is, will this be the right hoover for you?
To find out, we’ll be looking at:
- Design
- Usability
- Cleaning performance
- Manoeuvrability
- Accessories
- Noise
- Battery Life
Read on for your complete scrutiny of the Dyson V7 Animal cordless vacuum cleaner.
Features and Benefits
Lightweight, reliable, and brimming with power – the Dyson V7 device can transform your cleaning routine at the press of a button. It comes with supreme pet-hair cleaning capabilities and can tackle hard floors just as easily as plush carpets.
Like other Dyson vacuums with the V7 name, this model comes with two cleaning settings. Thus, it can split apart easily into a handheld device if you want to get rid of furniture crumbs or dust on the stairs. However, it’s turbo mode will seriously reduce your available battery time, and you’ll find that it can struggle with some larger pieces of debris – particularly on hard floors.
1. Design
One of the most common things you’ll notice about Dyson vacuum cleaners – cordless or otherwise – is that they’re very lightweight. The Dyson V7 Animal is no exception to this rule. This device is only 2.5kg heavy, which means that you can zip around your house in just several minutes, without feeling weighed down.
The Dyson V7 model is even lighter if you just use the handheld aspect of the vacuum so that you can grab hard-to-reach areas with no problem. According to Dyson, this model comes with 75% more brush bar power than the V6 cordless (that’s the part at the bottom of the main vacuum). Additionally, there’s no cord to get in the way when you’re trying to move quickly between rooms.
There’s plenty of additional tools included to help with dirt removal too. For instance, there’s a stiff-bristle brush for scrubbing at tough spots and a combination tool for your chairs and furnishings. One thing you might not appreciate quite as much about the Dyson V7 design is that it doesn’t come with a vast dust canister. However, the same could be said for most stick vacuum cleaners. If you want the freedom of a 2-in-1 hoover, you might have to compromise with more trips to the bin.
2. Usability
In terms of simplicity, The Dyson V7 Animal goes above and beyond. As mentioned above, there’s no cord, so you can clean all the different areas of your home without having to worry about being close to an outlet. This feature is particularly useful for people who don’t have a lot of outlets in their home too. Additionally, there’s 75% more suction power than you’d get from the V6.
When used as a stick vacuum, the stiff nylon bristles on the brush head will help you to get rid of even ground-in dirt. What’s more, like the rest of the Animal series, you can expect this cordless device to be brilliant at dealing with pet hair.
One particularly handy feature for usability is the easy dirt release button. Rather than getting your hands dirty when it’s time to empty your vacuum cleaner, just press a button and the dirt ejector will shove trapped debris out of the cylinder, saving you time and effort.
When you get close to edges, skirting boards and other difficult to reach areas, the Max suction functionality on the Dyson V7 cleaner is particularly good at dragging in debris. You can usually grab dirt that’s about a centimetre away. What’s more, when you’re done cleaning for the day, all you need to do is pop your hoover back into its convenient docking/charging station.
The station will charge your vacuum when you’re not using it, so you’re always ready to go when you need to clean something.
3. Cleaning Performance
Any V7 Animal review wouldn’t be complete without a look at cleaning performance.
As you might expect, this incredible tool comes with all the power of Dyson Animal built-in technology. Even as a cordless machine, you don’t have to compromise on suction power. The direct-drive suction head is excellent at picking up dirt from virtually any type of floor, including hard floors. Just make sure that the battery is fully charged before you use it!
The extra accessories also make getting into difficult parts of your home simpler. For instance, there’s a crevice tool that will specifically lift grime away from your skirting boards. The handheld version of the vacuum is also incredibly well-rounded. All you need to do is push a button to remove the handheld from the rest of the machine and start cleaning your curtains, furnishings, or even your car seats.
You might have slightly more trouble when it comes to cleaning large pieces of debris on hard floors, particularly with the lower suction setting. The bristles of the main brush seem to have a habit of flicking things out of the way of the suction. However, you can always go over a second time to clean up things that you missed to pick up. Alternatively, there’s the option to switch over to max mode for power if you prefer to get everything first-time around.
4. Manoeuvrability
There are many things that make the V7 Animal cordless vacuum an impressive tool. However, one of the most fantastic features of all is how lightweight and easy-to-move this machine is. Dysons are always great at delivering lightweight tools, but the V7 Animal takes the cake. You can potentially get around your entire house in about 20 minutes or less.
The stick part of the vacuum cleaner is long enough that you can easily reach the ceilings – even if they’re more than 10 foot high. Plus, because the device is so lightweight, you’ll have no problems raising it right above your head to get cobwebs. You don’t even need to switch to the handheld if you don’t want to.
Speaking of the handheld vacuum, that’s a particularly lightweight piece of kit too – great for cleaning out your vehicle or other hard-to-get-to areas without a lot of outlets available.
5. Accessories
Another aspect of the Dyson V7 model that’s pretty appealing is the fact that it comes with a wide range of accessories to improve your cleaning experience.
There are 5 cleaning tools provided with your machine in total, including the tube cylinder which turns your device into a stick vacuum. The primary suction tool is the Direct Drive cleaner head from Dyson, which comes with a brush bar powered by an electric motor. The brush head comes with both soft and harder bristles to cater to different kinds of debris.
For smaller spaces and upholstery, there’s also a mini motorised tool available with a brush bar that includes its own internal motor. This miniature bar doesn’t have the same articulating neck as the bigger item, but it’s still great at picking up pet hair and other smaller debris.
The three non-powered accessories included with the Dyson V7 Animal are:
- A soft dusting brush tool – great for getting hard-to-reach areas, shelves, and high-up surfaces
- The wide nozzle with a slide-down dusting brush for quick clean-ups
- A crevice tool with a unique nozzle that helps you to get into difficult-to-reach spaces
All of the non-powered tools provided with your Animal device can either clip directly onto the extension tube or the handheld unit, depending on your needs.
6. Noise
Another highly lovable feature of the V7 cordless is the fact that it’s a lot quieter than the V8. The pitch tone is a lot less aggressive than you’ll get from the V6 too. Although the V7 is still excellent at giving you a high-quality amount of power, you’ll only get about 66DB of noise on maximum power. That’s not enough to provide you with too much of a headache.
When you consider that the Animal’s motor spins at over 120,000rpm when it’s on max mode, it’s pretty impressive that it can provide such a quiet experience.
7. Battery Life
As with all of the stick handheld cleaners from Dyson, the power from the Dyson V7 Animal comes in two stages – maximum and normal. You can select which power mode you want by moving a slide switch on the upper head of the machine.
When you’re running the normal suction mode, you can usually get around 30 minutes of battery time out of your vacuum. That might not sound like a lot, but it should be enough to get around at least most of your house – if not all of it. The built-in battery charges on the dock that comes with your V7 Animal and it usually takes around 3.5 hours to get to full. Unfortunately, the battery isn’t removable, so you won’t be able to grab a spare one just in case you want to double your cleaning time.
On the other hand, if you switch the V7 cordless to “Max” mode, then you’ll get a significant increase in suction, but you’ll lose a lot of your battery time, too. As in, you should have about 6 and a half minutes on average to clean your house in max power mode.
Obviously, Dyson doesn’t intend for its customers to complete their entire home with this mode, just deal with a few hard-to-manage areas.
Is the Dyson V7 Animal Right for You?
If you’re looking for a vacuum cleaner that you can rely on to get the job done every time, there’s very little downside to choosing a Dyson. The Dyson V7 cordless vacuum lives up to its well-known brand, providing excellent suction power and convenience for a range of homeowners.
From what we learned during our V7 Animal review, we would recommend this model for people who:
- Want to be able to switch between a stick vacuum and a handheld vacuum easily. You can jump back and forth between designs depending on the functionality that you need.
- Need a lightweight but sturdy clean. The Dyson V7 Animal is an incredible piece of technology, excellent at picking up dirt and debris around your home. Furthermore, it’s also very lightweight and easy to use too.
- Don’t need a lot of high-power cleaning. If you’ve got a lot of kids to pick up after or pets, then you might need something with a cord so that you don’t have to worry about losing battery life.
Alternatively, if you have a considerable home, you’re looking for a stronger and more robust cleaner, or you just don’t like running backwards and forwards to empty the dust canister – then the Dyson V7 Animal might not be your ideal option. Nevertheless, we think it’s an excellent piece of cleaning equipment. What are your thoughts?