For the freedom of wire-free cleaning, the best cordless vacuum cleaners can’t be beaten. Also known as stick vacuum cleaners, a cordless model will make it easy to reach every corner of your home, and they even come with attachments to convert them into handheld vacuums for car interiors and the crevices of your sofa or stairs.
Each and every one of the best cordless vacuum cleaners in our guide has been tried and tested by the Ideal Home team. That’s why every model comes complete with a rating and score out of five, as well as some hands-on pros and cons. We tried these models in our own homes, so they’ve had to contend with clutter, pet hair, hard floors and carpet. That’s how we know they’re good enough to deserve a spot in your home, and while a lot of them come with our Ideal Home Approved badge, keep in mind that there are many vacuums that didn’t make the cut for our expert guide.
Some of the best cordless vacuum cleaners in our guide also feature in our guide to the best vacuum cleaners. While they may not be quite as powerful as a corded model, they more than make up for it in lightweight design, attachment selection, and convenient use. Keep reading for our top picks.
Best cordless vacuum overall
Bagged or bagless? Bagless
Dust tank capacity: 0.7 litres
Weight: 4.58 kg
Reasons to buy:
• Double up on batteries
• Shift from carpet to hard floors with ease
• Power designed for deep-cleaning
Reasons to avoid:
• It won’t stand upright
The Shark IZ300UK Anti Hair Wrap Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner is a new drop from Shark, and it really blew us away when we put it to the test. First off, the PowerFins function means that rubber fins reach deep into carpets to pick up dust, crumbs, and scary amounts of deep-rooted pet hair with each and every pass. This is particularly good on carpet, but if you want to toggle to use on hard floors, you can use the smart display panel to switch over to a different floor type. That requires no switching out attachments, and there’s no need to even bend over.
We loved how easy it is to store this vacuum. It has a hinge in the middle which, with the press of a button, bends the stick forward to fold it in on itself securely. It will stand unsupported when packed away, but you can’t leave it standing up unsupported when you’re midway through using.
The control panel at the top of the Shark IZ300UK Anti Hair Wrap Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner shows power levels and allows you to switch from Eco mode to regular and max power. It’s advertised to have 60 minutes of battery life, but that’s on Eco mode. On the regular setting we found that it lasted just over half an hour, which was still plenty impressive.
You can buy the Shark IZ300UKT for an added pet attachment, or the IZ320UK for two batteries. For all the bells and whistles, try the IZ320UKT. It has a pet attachment and two batteries, but other than that it’s the same vacuum as the IZ300UK.
Read our full Shark IZ300UK Anti Hair Wrap Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner review
Best cordless vacuum for battery life
Bagged or bagless? Bagless
Dust tank capacity: 0.8Ltrs
Weight: 2.9kg
Reasons to buy:
• Decent tool selection
• Pivots to reach under furniture
• One of the most powerful vacuums we’ve tested
Reasons to avoid:
• Switching out brush rolls is fiddly
The Beko Powerclean has a similar design to some of the best Shark vacuum cleaners, featuring an elbow feature that can bend down to reach under furniture without making you reach so far. It’s immensely powerful, too. There are three strength modes, but we found that we hardly needed to use the stronger settings because the lower mode was more than capable of tackling most messes.
With the Beko Powerclean, you get a good range of attachments, including the crevice tool, carpet and hard floor brushes, mini motorised brush head, flexible extension, and dusting tool. Switching out the tools is easy enough, but you need to twist a little screw attachment to remove the brush rolls and switch between hard floor and carpet. This takes a minute or so, but we also experienced that both carpet and hard floor attachments were versatile enough to do a good sweep of the entire home without switching.
The vacuum has a stand included, with a groove to hold the vacuum handle and charge it when not in use. Charging takes three hours, and the battery life is about 45 minutes. Controls work with a thumb trigger, and above this are the plus and minus buttons you’ll need to adjust strength.
From the LED headlights to the incredibly strong suction the Beko Powerclean VRT94929VI Cordless Vacuum Cleaner seriously wowed us. Unfortunately, it can be tricky to find it in stock.
Ideal Home’s rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Read our full Beko Powerclean VRT94929VI Cordless Vacuum Cleaner review
Best cordless vacuum on a budget
Bagged or bagless? Bagless
Dust tank capacity: 0.6L
Weight: 3.1kg
Reasons to buy:
• Comfortable to use
• Impressive on high and low power modes
• Removable battery for east charging
Reasons to avoid:
• Small bin capacity
This stick-style cordless vacuum cleaner has a slight design difference to most of the vacuums in our guide: the cyclone cylinder sits sideways. But the thing that really stands out is its comfy grip. It’s perfectly shaped and has a soft touch. It feels nice enough in the hand that its 3.1kg weight doesn’t feel too heavy.
Buttons are under your thumb and responsive. One turns it on and off, another cycles between the two power settings (it remembers which one you were on last time) and the third turns on the floorhead’s powered brush and headlights.
It boasts triple filtration and runtime is quoted as 45 minutes but it will be much less on high power, using the floorhead. Its vacuuming was impressive on both power settings.
Tools are impressive too. It comes with a crevice nozzle and dusting brush, both of which are well designed. But at the time of writing it also came with a free Cordless ProKit 2 accessory pack.
This gives you an extendible, flexible crevice nozzle for tricky gaps, an upholstery tool, a stiff brush for tough dirt and a stretch hose so you can use the tools without the weight of the cleaner in your hand. The toolkit comes with a fabric storage bag too, but it would have been great if this could clip to the Vax.
The battery comes off and docks in a charger. And the Vax comes with a wall mount, so you can hang it up when not in use. Meanwhile, the 0.6-litre capacity dust canister isn’t large but it comes off easily and then is straightforward to empty.
We were really impressed with the Vax’s comfort, array of tools and cleaning performance for a mid-priced machine.
Ideal Home’s rating 5 out of 5 stars
Best high-tech Dyson vacuum
Image credit: Dyson
Bagged or bagless? Bagless
Dust tank capacity: 1.75Ltrs
Weight: 3.1kg
Reasons to buy:
• Amazing laser tech
• Display shows realtime cleaning stats
• Large dust tank
• Powerful attachments
Reasons to avoid:
• Trigger controls
The Dyson V15 Detect is Dyson’s latest entry into the cordless vacuum game, and while it’s a pricey one, it’s fair to say it wowed us in testing. For a start, the laser soft roller is a genius creation that illuminates dust and dirt that maybe be otherwise invisible, making for satisfying efficiency in picking up every last speck from your floor.
We also enjoyed the display, which shows a bar chart of the particles you’re picking up as you clean, and has information on the different sizes of each piece. We’ve got no idea how it figures that out, but it’s pretty cool.
Empyting is easy thanks to the ejector, and the motorised hard brush for carpets is also ace for getting deep into the fibres of your floors and picking up pet hair. Our one gripe is the trigger controls, because you need to press it down continuously when you clean. It’s not difficult whatsoever, but won’t be to everyone’s liking.
Ideal Home’s rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Best cordless vacuum for the power of a corded model
![Shark Cordless Upright Vacuum Cleaner [ICZ300UKT] Anti Hair Wrap, PowerFins, Powered Lift-Away, Pet Hair, Blue](https://ksassets.timeincuk.net/wp/uploads/sites/56/2021/07/Shark-ICZ300UKT-IH.jpg)
Bagged or bagless? Bagless
Dust tank capacity: 0.6Ltrs
Weight: 6.2kg
Reasons to buy:
• Seriously high power
• Liftaway design for cleaning cars or stairs
• Capable of tackling the whole home
Reasons to avoid:
• Heavy design
We know it looks like many of Shark’s upright vacuum cleaners, but the Shark ICZ300UKT Anti Hair Wrap Cordless Upright Vacuum Cleaner is completely cordless, with all the power we’re used to seeing on corded alternatives. It’s got a front-facing dustbin that’s connected to the filter and battery, and you can lift this away to remove the cleaning unit from the stick and carry the vacuum up the stairs or out to the car.
For a cordless vacuum, the power is astounding. It was brilliant on pet hair, and while it’s definitely one of the heaviest options on the market, it’s up to heavy-duty work and could rival a corded vacuum in cleaning up the whole home. We found the control panel easy to toggle, and even the eco power mode, which is the lowest of the three settings, was plenty on tiled floors.
The brush head is a little clunky and it definitely lacks the nimble motions of stick vacuums, but if you want a cordless vacuum cleaner to stay on top of a busy home with different floor types, you’ll love how easily you can switch between hard and soft floors with the touch of a button.
Read our full Shark ICZ300UKT Anti Hair Wrap Cordless Upright Vacuum Cleaner review
Ideal Home’s rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Best cordless vacuum for power
Bagged or bagless? Bagless
Dust tank capacity: 0.7ltrs
Weight: 2.97kg
Reasons to buy:
• Impressive runtime
• Very powerful
• Easy to empty
Reasons to avoid:
• A bit hefty
The Dyson V11 Absolute promises twice the suction (at the cleaner head) of any cordless vacuum cleaner. But it also costs twice as much as competitors. So is it worth the money?
We found that the 60-minute battery life holds true as advertised. Not only did it pick up the dirt we could see, it managed to catch a lot of invisible dust from carpets and even hard floors. We love the look, which is as high-quality as you would expect from an expensive Dyson vac. It doesn’t take the number one spot because it’s undeniably expensive compared to some other five-star options.
Attachments include a fluffy hard floor roller and four smaller accessories. The fluffy roller did well on wooden floors, but what we loved was the high torque floorhead which cuts back on power when working on hard floors and automatically increases it on carpets. You can monitor this with the bright display, which also shows how many minutes are left in your current mode. Not quite done? Just switch to a lower setting to make the most of your vacuum life.
Capacity is higher than ever and it’s easy to empty. But the run time and power controls are the stars of the show. If money’s no object, buy the V11: you won’t be disappointed.
Ideal Home’s rating 5 out of 5 stars
Best cordless vacuum cleaner and mop combo
Bagged or bagless? Bagless
Dust tank capacity: 0.55 litres
Weight: 6.6kg
Reasons to buy:
• Quiet use
• Smart LCD display
• Mop attachment
Reasons to avoid:
• Heavy and not the cheapest
A mop and cordless vacuum rolled into one, the Roidmi RS60 has a high-quality, weighty feel that isn’t burdensome, but does feel like it’s designed to last. Other attachments include a mattress cleaner, soft roller, and crevice tool. There’s even a pet brush, which is designed to literally suck up the hair from your pet as you brush it. A smart idea, if you can get your cat or dog to cooperate.
It has a medium-sized dustbin of 0.55 litres, which does require regular emptying, but is easy to eject once you’ve removed the stick attachment. One of the most impressive things was the battery life, which lasted over an hour in testing, making it more than adequate for large homes.
The LCD display shows which of the three power modes you’ve opted for, and when you’re done cleaning, it even displays the amount of calories burned. The on button is lower down than the button that you use to switch modes, which we did find a little fiddly, but it’s useful if you switch between different power modes on a regular basis. While it’s not cheap, it’s a quality pick.
Ideal Home’s rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Read our full Roidmi RS60 review
Best cordless vacuum cleaner for large homes
Bagged or bagless? Bagless
Dust tank capacity: 1.7ltrs
Weight: 3.5kg
Reasons to buy:
• Powerful suction
• Easy to manoever
• Large dust tank and floorhead
Reasons to avoid:
• Not great on rugs
The Dyson V11 Outsize has re-engineered the Absolute to include a 150% larger bin, 25% bigger cleaner head, with up to 60 minutes of runtime. It also offers 20% more suction compared to the V10, which was a popular model just a couple of years ago.
Our reviewer was impressed from the start since the vac arrived in packaging made from recyclable cardboard, and how easy it was to assemble. It also already arrives with 20% of it’s 60-minute battery life so if you just can’t wait to take the V11 Outsize for a walk around the home, then this allows you to do just that. We found that this battery life – when fully charged – was more than suffice for whipping around a 2-bed terraced home. You also have the ability to adjust the cleaning modes which can make a difference to the battery life, and noise level.
It performed exceptionally well on large rugs and hard flooring (with the soft roller head attached). The suction is really good and the larger floorhead helps to cover more ground, quickly. Turning to a smaller rug with a 60cm dia, however, the cordless vac either wanted to move it around or just grind to a halt.
Using with the attachments such as the mini motorized tool and combination tool were useful around the home, across all levels, but there are 11 tools in total to opt for to give you yet more freedom to clean. There is no way to store these attachments on board the stick vacuum cleaner, however, so finding some suitable cupboard space for this would be useful. And lifting up the vac to use as a handheld is slightly heavier than previous models because of the enlarged dust tank although it’s not too uncomfortable.
Ideal Home’s rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Best designed cordless vacuum cleaner
Bagged or bagless? Bagless
Dust tank capacity: 0.4ltrs
Weight: 3.2kg
Reasons to buy:
• Impressive design details
• Versatile attachments
• Easy to mount on the dock
Reasons to avoid:
• Tricky to empty the bin
The Bissell ICON 25V really impressed us. It performs really well and the design includes impressive attention to detail.
Bright headlights on the floorhead illuminate cleaning. Run time is up to 50 minutes but it will be much less on high power. There are three power levels and the medium one is fine most of the time, but the vac doesn’t remember your last setting, it always starts at top whack, which reduces battery life.
The floorhead claims to beat the problem of hair tangles and we certainly didn’t manage to get it badly tangled. It’s also smaller than the Shark Anti Hair Wrap IZ251UKT floorhead. The 0.4 litre bin isn’t the easiest to empty but it’s ok.
Weighing in at 3.2kg, the design is a top-heavy stick that converts to handheld. It comes with just one tool, a crevice nozzle that converts to a brush. That’s great: you only really need those two tools. Though ironically the designers have given you space to store multiple tools at the charging dock.
We were even bowled over by tiny design details. For example, built into the inside of the dock is a little spirit level, to make it very easy to mount the dock level. Another one: the tip of the crevice tool lights up when it’s in use. We could go on. It’s a mid-priced cleaner but the performance and design combine to impress.
Ideal Home’s rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Best cordless vacuum cleaner for small homes
Image credit: Dyson
Bagged or bagless? Bagless
Dust tank capacity: 0.1Ltr
Weight: 1.5kg
Reasons to buy:
• Lightweight
• Glides across hard floors
• Impressive power
Reasons to avoid:
• Not for carpets
The Dyson Micro 1.5kg is part of a new fleet of cordless vacuum cleaners from Dyson. It’s the lightest and smallest cordless vacuum in this guide, and with an entry-level price when compared to other Dyson models. The vacuum is very powerful, and we were impressed with the way hair didn’t get stuck around the roller brush.
Attachments include a soft roller cleaner head, mini motorised tool, and combination tool. While there is no roller for carpets, the mini motorised tool worked well on rugs and car upholstery in testing. We found that the battery life was just shy of half an hour, which is a way off Dyson’s 50 minute promise, but because the vacuum glides so effortlessly across floors, it made quick work of kitchen floors and hallway dirt and dust.
While it’s probably not a top pick for large homes thanks to the small size of the dustbin, the Dyson Micro is well suited to flats and would also be a great pick for those who have an upright or canister vacuums for their heavy duty cleans, but want something for those midweek sweeps that can sit pretty when not in use.
Ideal Home’s rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Read our full Dyson Micro 1.5kg review
Best cordless vacuum cleaner for affordable power
Bagged or bagless? Bagless
Dust tank capacity: 0.6Ltrs
Weight: 3kg
Reasons to buy:
• Great for quick cleans and small homes
• Reminds us of the Dyson, at a much lower price
• The trigger doesn’t need to be held down
Reasons to avoid:
• No charging wall bracket included
The Vax Blade 32V’s cyclonic stick design is reminiscent of Dyson handhelds, but the chamber is horizontal. Tip it to one side and press a button to empty. Twist the other side to remove the washable filter.
Handling is similar to the Dyson V11 Absolute in terms of size, feel and excellent manoeuvrability. But it comes with just one big brush head and two detail tools (a brush and a crevice tool). Fewer tools then, less to store, but we miss the Dyson V11 Absolute’s soft head for hard floors.
The trigger is under your thumb and you just press it once, you don’t have to hold it down. Lights indicate charge and there are two extra buttons: one turns boost mode off (the default is on, which increases suction but halves battery life), the other makes the brush bar spin (the default is off).
Cleaning is impressive. It could replace the main vacuum cleaner in a small home and is superb for stairs and quick clean-ups.
Again it’s too top-heavy to stand up on its own. It comes with a very simple wall bracket that doesn’t include the charger – you’ll have to plug it in each time.
Ideal Home’s rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Best workhorse cordless vacuum
Bagged or bagless? Bagless
Dust tank capacity: 0.4Ltrs
Weight: 4.1kg
Reasons to buy:
• Great for tangle-free cleaning
• Easy storage
• Plenty of attachments
Reasons to avoid:
• Lacking in maneuverability
The Shark Anti Hair Wrap IZ251UKT is big and heavy (4.1kg) enough that you might forget it’s cordless. So although it’s a top-heavy stick design, you won’t be waving it around. But you’ll also forget because the cleaning power is impressive. Its multi-stage powered floorhead whips up dust and hairs brilliantly and boasts ok headlights.
Battery life is up to 40 minutes and we tested the pet version that comes with two batteries, so you can double it. It also comes with a host of accessories, but that isn’t necessarily a good thing: where are you supposed to store them? There’s a crevice nozzle, brush, upholstery tool, an adjustable thin wand that’s good for getting behind radiators and under furniture, and because it’s the pet model a small motorised turbo brush too.
The bulky floorhead does a great job of cleaning: the combination of powered brushes seems to lift everything. They’re also designed not to get tangled with long hairs and our test bore this out. There are two power settings under your thumb, one for hard floors and one for carpets. But you can also pull a trigger with your index finger for a temporary power boost.
Just as impressive was storage: push a button halfway down the tube and the whole vac folds in half so you can stow it away in a cupboard.
It makes a good handheld vac too, and the dust canister is easy to empty once you remove the tube to convert it. But with the tube, we found the machine too heavy for it to feel easy in the hand for cobwebs.
In all, with two batteries and powerful cleaning, it makes a good replacement for a corded upright cleaner. You don’t have to plug it in but it’s not really lighter or more manoeuvrable than a corded model.
Ideal Home’s rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Best lightweight cordless vacuum cleaner
Bagged or bagless? Bagged
Dust tank capacity: 1.6Ltrs
Weight: 2.6kg
Reasons to buy:
• Very lightweight
• Generous tank size
• Ideal dustbin for those who want a bagged vacuum
Reasons to avoid:
• Fiddly to control
This new contender has an unusual design, with a lightweight (2.6kg) carbon fibre body and curvaceous styling. The handle is unusually positioned at the top too.
It’s a stick-style cleaner with a powered floorhead (no headlights) and two tools: a crevice nozzle and a dusting brush. They push on to the cleaner with the tube for cobwebs and awkward corners, or straight onto the body for use as a handheld vac.
It’s a bagged cleaner with a decent capacity of 1.6 litres. It comes with 53 compostable paper bags, enough to last years. The run time is up to 60 minutes, but will be much less on high power, using the floorhead.
The controls are good. A power button under your thumb turns it on and it always starts at the middle one of the three power settings. You press the other yellow button to cycle between them. This works well as you rarely need the top setting and the low setting is a bit weedy.
The thin blue button in between turns the powered brushes of the floorhead on. Every time you turn the vac on, you have to push this again. That’s a bit annoying.
Also annoying is the way the floorhead easily clicks to lock at 90 degrees… this top-heavy cleaner can’t stand up by itself, so what’s the point? It’s annoying when it happens mid-cleaning.
But the floorhead cleans well, with and without the brushes spinning. And we love the fact that the Halo Capsule is lightweight. Even the charger is petite. It leaves us wishing that the tube was in two pieces, so that the whole cleaner could pack down into a small kitchen cupboard: that would be novel.
Ideal Home’s rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Image credit: Vax
Budget around £150 for a good-quality cordless with decent cleaning power. But you can spend more than three times as much on premium models. More money can buy you powerful suction, longer battery life or better tools.
Some of the best cordless vacuums we tested came in at the £250 mark. If you can afford it though, it’s worth spending the extra money. More power and longer battery lives will pay off in the long-run, and the convenience of a cordless vacuum won’t be outweighed by limited power.
Bagged vs bagless?
It’s a tricky choice. On the one hand, bagless vacuums reduce the environmental impact and the expense of buying vacuum bags, only to throw them away. However, removing dirt from a bagless vacuum isn’t without its challenges. Hair can get wrapped around the filter and you’ll likely let off a bit of a dust cloud. Of course, brands like Dyson are constantly developing solutions to this. The new Dyson range has ejector technology that makes emptying the dustbin completely hands-free. For this tech though, you will have to pay.
Charging your cordless vacuum
It can take anywhere from three to six hours to charge a cordless vacuum in-between uses. If you plan on using it as your main vacuum cleaner, you need to opt for one with the battery life to make it through your home before you have to recharge, or you’ll have to go back later for different rooms.
Some cordless vacuums come with replaceable batteries, meaning you can switch out for a new, fully-charged battery if the one you’re using dies. We did text every vacuum in this guide for battery life, the most successful being the Dyson V11 Absolute with a mighty 60 minutes.
The post Best cordless vacuum cleaners 2022: top stick vacuum reviews appeared first on Ideal Home.
If you love fresh coffee but don’t want the fuss of grinding and brewing your own beans, look no further than the best pod coffee machines. These nifty machines are designed to sit pretty on your kitchen counter, with mess-free brewing and next-to-no maintenance. Simply find your favourite pod and slot it into place for espresso in a jiffy. We’ve reviewed each and every one of the best pod coffee machines in our guide, from Nespresso, Lavazza, Tassimo, Sage, and Dualit. There’s even an entry from Grind, with a sustainable design that’s as functional as it is beautiful.
While they are a lot less hands-on, the best pod coffee machines still deliver on the delicious taste you’d expect from many of the best coffee machines. They’re also a lot more space-efficient than the best bean-to-cup coffee machines, and cost a fair deal less than a swanky number from Sage or Jura.
Around £50-£80 should secure you an entry-level pod coffee machine but the thing to be most aware of is the system you’re buying into. None are compatible with the others, so investigate the cost of pods when looking at coffee machines.
Spend more than £100 and you’re likely to have the option of frothing and warming milk, either in a separate appliance or with a wand. Premium pod coffee machines can cost up to £400, thanks to additional features, a more robust construction and eye-catching design.
Best pod coffee machine overall
Type: Lavazza
Capacity: 1.1 litres
Dimensions: L50.3 x W18.8 x H35.2 cm
Reasons to buy:
• So convenient to use
• Decent water tank size
• Dishwasher-safe cup included
• No splashes
Reasons to avoid:
• None!
Love cappuccinos but not the mess and clean-up that goes with frothing and decanting hot foamed milk? Then the Deséa is the pod coffee machine for you.
Compact, yet with a good-sized 1.1-litre water tank, and compatible with the brand’s eco-friendly compostable capsules, it comes with a dishwasher-safe glass cup that serves as both your frothing vessel and mug.
This means that you can fill the cup with milk, slot it into the machine, add a capsule, and the machine will do the rest, producing a café-worthy latte or cappuccino with a single button press. There’s no pouring or splashes – so you can walk away and return to find a drink that’s ready to go.
It’s not just convenience that the Deséa has in spades, it also comes with more options than the average pod coffee machine. For example, there’s a button for more foam, a coffee temperature boost and a cleaning cycle that can be run to make sure that your first beverage will always be as good as the last.
Its five milk programmes include hot and cold frothing for making hot chocolate or milkshakes, plus there’s a choice of espresso, long espresso, long coffee and a free dose for those who like their drink just so.
A final reason to love it is how quiet it is during operation – a mere 43dB during coffee delivery. Perhaps the only downsides to be aware of are that capsule disposal isn’t automatic, so you’ll still have to remember to raise the lever at the end to release the pod into the integral bin, and that the frothing boost button isn’t suitable for larger volumes of milk as it’ll overflow.
Ideal Home’s rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Best sustainable pod coffee machine
Type: Nespresso-compatible
Capacity: 1.2 litres
Dimensions: 39.2 x 30.4 x 22.4 cm
Reasons to buy:
• Sustainable metal design
• Adjustable coffee length
• Easy (and fun) controls
Reasons to avoid:
• The exterior marks easily
Sustainability isn’t something we often associate with pod coffee machines, but the Grind One pod coffee machine is designed with just this in mind. Made in Stockholm in a partnership with Sjöstrand, it’s designed to be an antidote to plastic pod coffee machines, and the metal design really does feel built to last and stay out of landfill. The Grind pods are also made with plastic-free and compostible packaging, but all the convenience of a normal coffee pod.
At 22cm wide, this is a neat option for any kitchen, but it’s not the smallest pod coffee machine in our guide. A step away from the curves of options from Tassimo and Lavazza, the Grind One is block-like and simple in its design. The metal exterior is very smart though, and it has Grind’s classic logo on the front which pairs perfectly with the Grind pod coffee container.
It has two preset coffee lengths, but the Grind One will allow you to adjust the length of these presets by simply holding the button down, which is perfect for those who like a longer drink. You can buy it with a matching Grind milk frother or on its own. Or, take a look at our other best milk frother picks for more options.
Ideal Home’s rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Best smart pod coffee machine
Image credit: Lavazza
Type: Lavazza
Capacity: 1.1 litres
Dimensions: 44 x 21.5 x 35 cm
Reasons to buy:
• It’s seriously smart
• Very easy to use
• Can be app or voice controlled
Reasons to avoid:
• You need the app to make the most of it
Combining the best pod coffee machine and the best smart speaker, the Lavazza Voicy has a lot going for it. It’s the latest release from Lavazza’s A Modo Mio range, and comes with a box of the different coffee flavour pods available to help you experiment and decide which is the right one for you. We thought they all tasted amazing, and while you do need to take them to specific sites, they can be composted as part of an eco-conscious scheme.
You can ask Alexa to make you a coffee, long coffee, hot coffee, or your favourite coffee (which can be chosen using the Lavazza app). While there are only two coffee preset buttons, you can change what type of coffee they make using the app. This adjusts the length of the brew, and we found that the pods are certainly potent enough to make a delicious and rich americano.
Yes, it’s a pricey choice, but we found that everything about the Voicy feels very high quality. Of course you need to add a pod and a cup before even using Alexa, but it’s still very handy to be able to use the in-built speaker to play music, tell you the weather, or even a joke.
Ideal Home’s rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Read our full Lavazza Voicy review
Best pod coffee machine for everyday luxury
Type: Nespresso
Capacity: 1.1 litres
Dimensions: W14 x D38 x H32 cm
Reasons to buy:
• Premium coffee but not too pricey
• Sleek design
• Makes coffee quickly
Reasons to avoid:
• On the noisy side
If you’re the sort of person who opts for bedlinen with a high thread count, bone china on the table and beautifully scented candles, the VertuoPlus is the coffee machine for you.
The reason is simple – it delivers that little bit of a treat everyday – in this case, by dispensing rich, generous cups of aromatic coffee, topped with the sort of rich crema that feels more like a dessert than a drink.
Even using it feels indulgent, from the capsule holder that opens automatically with a gentle nudge and closes with the same action, to the chunky chrome cup platform that can be positioned at four heights, so you can accommodate tall glasses and shorter mugs.
There’s just one button on the top, which functions as the on-off, brew button or will run a deep cleaning programme. Each capsule has a barcode around the rim that’s read by the machine, so you don’t even have to adjust the volume for espresso or longer drinks (there are five drink sizes, each of which can be adjusted between 10-500ml).
When it’s finished brewing, simply open the capsule holder and the used pod slides backwards to drop into a used pod container at the back.
It was a little noisy while brewing, making a whirling sound, and took under a minute to make a 230ml mug of coffee, and about 30 seconds for 150ml. Also, if you love foamed fresh milk on top of your frothy drink, you’ll have to invest in one with an Aeroccino3, as the VertuoPlus is purely a coffee maker. Plus none of its parts are dishwasher-safe.
However, for generous mugs of joe, on-point espresso and luscious lungos that are as good for entertaining as they are on a daily basis, the VertuoPlus is a sleek solution.
Ideal Home’s rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Best pod coffee machine for custom features
Type: Tassimo
Capacity: 1.3 litres
Dimensions: 39.79 x 31.5 x 26.4 cm
Reasons to buy:
• So many coffee options
• Make milky drinks and even hot chocolates
• Setup was speedy
• Self-clean mode
Reasons to avoid:
• Low in pressure
Select from three different strengths (think of them as ranging from all-day sipping to wake up now), three different volumes and even three temperatures – great for extra-hot drink lovers with the Bosch Tassimo My Way 2.
To make it even easier to get your ideal Americano, it’ll store up to four personalised settings, so you won’t have to constantly reset the machine to the way you like your coffee. Of course, this being Tassimo, it’ll also make tea, hot chocolate and a range of other drinks, so it’s good for a busy household who all like something different.
If you’ve used a Tassimo machine before, you’ll know it’s all about the barcodes. Each T-disc is placed into the My Way so it can read it and dispense an appropriate amount of water (keeping espressos short for example), with pressure as required.
Its warm-up time was almost instant (no waiting around for a thermoblock meant it initialised in 10 seconds), and its flow heater could keep going drink after drink without pauses to recover. It doesn’t froth fresh milk, offering creamer discs or combined discs instead, but they may not be for everyone.
A final reason to love it is that it’s low-maintenance. There’s a self-cleaning function, so your coffee will always taste great, and its parts are dishwasher safe.
Ideal Home’s rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Read the full Bosch Tassimo My Way 2 review
Best pod coffee machine compact, stylish features
Type: Lavazza
Capacity: 0.6 litres
Dimensions: 33 x 12.4 x 21 cm
Reasons to buy:
• Compact and stylish design
• Automatically shuts off
• Only one button for convenience
Reasons to avoid:
• Remember to lift up the lever
Lavazza makes some seriously high-quality machines, so the Lavazza A Modo Mio Jolie is a very high-value machine when you look at its sub-£50 price. We were impressed to find that this compact coffee machine makes a delicious brew, and because there’s only one button, using it couldn’t be easier.
This coffee machine is seriously tiny, so it’s perfect for offices, small kitchens, or even as a spare you use when you want a speedy brew. It’s compatible with the full A Modo Mio coffee capsule line, so while you can only have one length of coffee, it does have lots of flavours to choose from. The machine will also automatically run another cycle when the first one finishes, so you can make your coffee longer by just leaving it to pour again. Don’t forget to lift up the lever though, or it will keep going until the auto shut-off kicks in.
Ideal Home’s rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Read the full Lavazza A Modo Mio Jolie review
Best pod coffee machine for latte lovers
Type: Nespresso
Capacity: 1.5 litres
Dimensions: H30.8 x W17.1 x D39.3cm
Reasons to buy:
• Comes with all the charm of a traditional coffee machine
• Use the steam wand to make milky drinks
• Very powerful
Reasons to avoid:
• Quite expensive
The Sage Nespresso Creatista Uno brews delicious espressos using Nespresso’s high quality and recyclable pods, but there’s no need to buy a separate frother if you want a cappuccino. It has an in-built milk wand and comes with a jug for straightforward brewing.
This machine heats up in just three seconds, and the 19 bar pressure yielded some seriously professional-quality coffee. There are three drinks sizes; petite ristretto (25ml volume), classic espresso (40ml), and longer lungo (110ml).
Cleaning is easy, with a regular wipe-down required and a monthly deep clean. The deep clean is prompted by an LED light, so you won’t forget about it.
During testing, the machine proved to be incredibly intuitive to use, plus the large water tank (which can be positioned at the back or either side if you’re short on space) meant it didn’t have to refilled as frequently as some compact machines.
Ideal Home’s rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Best pod coffee machine for different types of coffee
Type: Lavazza
Capacity: 1 litre
Dimensions: 42.3 x 18.8 x 35.2 cm
Reasons to buy:
• Narrow design
• Four length options
• Adjustable temperature
Reasons to avoid:
• A heavy option
The third Lavazza option in our guide is the Idola. It’s like the Desea, but without the milk frother wand, so if you like a black coffee or just prefer your milk when it’s not steamed, the Idola is the one for you. It has four length options and you can also add to or decrease the temperature of your coffee. That’s great for making an iced coffee, or if you’re heading out the door and want your drink to stay warm for longer, you can just give it a bump in temperature.
We loved the touch pad interface, which felt very stylish, and the exterior of the machine looked sleek on the kitchen counters. It’s a little more hefty than other machines though, so opt for the Jolie if you plan on moving your machine around.
Ideal Home’s rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Read the full Lavazza A Modo Mio Idola review
Type: illy
Capacity: 0.8 litres
Dimensions: 29.8 x 10 x 25.4 cm
Reasons to buy:
• Sleek design
• Amazing espresso
• Plenty of colours to choose from
Reasons to avoid:
• Restrictive pod options
The illy Iperespresso Y3.3 makes a mean espresso or americano. It arrived with a box full of classico roast and intense brew options, and both tasted rich and aromatic when testing. The quality of this coffee is excellent, but because there’s no option to make a milky coffee you may find that it’s a little restrictive. Of course, you can pair it with a milk frother to get your morning latte, and it’s a lovely compact option for small homes.
Available in red, white, black and blue, this coffee machine is only 10cm wide, so it’s well-suited to smaller homes and even offices or bedrooms. Cleaning is easy, too, but the drip tray cannot be removed which means you need to wash by hand and not in the dishwasher.
As you can see with the two buttons on the front of the machine, there’s either an espresso or americano option with this machine. The tall cups take only 45 seconds to brew, so it’s great for speedy drinks between zoom calls.
Ideal Home’s rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Best pod coffee machine for commitment-phobes
Type: Most coffee types
Capacity: 1.5 litres
Dimensions: 37.9 x 32.79 x 28.8 cm
Reasons to buy:
• You can drink most coffee types
• Drip tray indicator
• Temperature can be altered
Reasons to avoid:
• Grounds can get messy
Are you the sort of person who likes the idea of a pod coffee machine but you can’t fix yourself to one system? Those clever folk at Dualit have the answer for you.
The Espress-Auto is a multi-brew 19 bar pump pressure pod coffee machine. This means that not only will it make coffee from Nespresso capsules and ESE pods, you can also pop in alternatives.
This includes tea capsules, its own NX capsules or even ground coffee, giving you freedom those with a single-pod system don’t benefit from.
There’s two buttons for single or double espresso and one for tea (which raises the temperature of the water and extracts for longer). This can be altered for warmer or cooler, too. An easy to clean steam wand is on hand for frothing milk and the water tank is a generous 1.5 litres.
There’s even a handy ‘drip tray full’ indicator to let you know when to empty the coffee machine dregs.
Its auto-off is a rather long 30 minutes, however, so it’s probably best to remember to switch the coffee machine off after use. During testing, using the ground coffee was the most tricky and messy part. However, aside from that, all the coffee brewed was velvety smooth and of a consistently high quality.
Ideal Home’s rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Anyone who’s ever tried to use an espresso machine only to end up with soggy grounds and a dribble of brown liquid will have learnt their lesson. The biggest appeal of pod coffee machines is that you don’t need expertise to make a great espresso.
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Instead, each capsule contains exactly the right amount of ground coffee, arranged so all you need to do is press a button.
Less costly and bulky than bean-to-cup machines, pod coffee makers also often take up less room on a worktop. This makes them a good fit for small kitchens, home offices and even bedrooms.
Every pod machine will have a refillable water tank so check its size before you buy. Anything less than a litre will require more frequent topping up, especially if you prefer long drinks. Some can be filled in-situ (for moments when you realise the water’s about to run out). Others will need to removed – if you have a small kitchen sink or short tap, check that you can fit the tank below the spout easily.
This is how much force the machine uses to pump the water through the pod. Look for a minimum of 15 for a pro-style crema, though machines designed to handle a wide range of drinks can be lower.
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There are two ways a pod coffee machines can make frothy cappuccinos, lattes and flat whites. The first is by using dried or UHT milk pods – these are great if you don’t have access to a fridge but may not be to everyone’s taste. The other is by a separate or conjoined milk frother, such as the Aeroccino that often accompanies Nespresso machines.
Great for those who like an espresso in the morning, but a latte at weekends, some machines have a choice of different-sized beverages. Often there is the ability to adjust the amount of water dispensed to suit your taste. You may also be able to save your favourite settings to create easily reproduced personalised drinks. The latest crop of coffee machines can even be controlled by an app, so you can set them to brew the moment you step out of the shower.
Check there’s enough room for your favourite cup beneath the spout. Some pod coffee machines have narrow platforms that won’t accommodate big mugs. Espresso fans should look for spouts that drop down or adjustable cup platforms that raise smaller cups towards the spout. This not only helps prevent splashes on the worktop, but makes for a thicker crema on your espresso.
Image credit: Dualit
Most of the mainstream pod coffee machines can make basic milky drinks, but it’s common to find those that can produce anything from a chai latte to a caramel macchiato. Some coffee machines can also make cold drinks, such as chilled tea or coffee. There’s the option of branded drinks with the Tassimo T-Disc coffee system.
Machines that use ESE pods (which resemble a round teabag) will only brew coffee or tea, while other systems favour a variety of single-origin coffee types rather than a range of drinks.
Image credit: Darren Chung
Check if your coffee pods can be recycled to help cut down on waste. For example, Nespresso coffee pods are made of infinitely recyclable aluminium.
If you live in a hard water area, make sure your coffee machine has descaling alerts. Regular descaling is essential to keep your pod machine running smoothly.
Your pod coffee machine’s thermoblock (the part that heats the water) can be an energy guzzler. Choose a model that will switch itself off after a few minutes of non-use. This may be referred to as an eco mode.
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A clean coffee machine is a happy one, so buy one that’s easily maintained by a rinse cycle and with removable parts for cleaning, such as the drip tray. This will be especially relevant if your coffee machine uses milk pods, which can smell if not regularly cleaned away.
The post Best pod coffee machine 2022: espresso with the touch of a button appeared first on Ideal Home.
