In use, the system is clear, informative and simple to use. It doesn’t detect carpet or switch power modes automatically but it’s easy enough to do this manually.

The other consideration is that using 'Boost' mode on this vacuum means that battery life goes down to 12 minutes. It's a useful mode to have and one that I enjoy using in especially hair-prone areas, but make sure not to have it turned to 'Boost' all of the time if you're conscious of using up the battery. Care and maintenance Granted, it might not have the odour-repelling features and the snazzy look of the Shark, but it's a solidly built vacuum that can banish dust and dirt from your space. It's also super user friendly, and fans of the Hoover brand will find the transition to cordlessness very freeing. Should you buy the Hoover Cordless Vacuum Cleaner with ANTI-TWIST™ HF9? The other downside of the HF9 was that the body was quite heavy. We didn’t really notice it in the upright mode but the handheld mode definitely got our muscles aching. But it’s no surprise as at 3.4kg, it’s nearly double the weight of other cordless models we’ve tested in the past. MaintenanceI also like the nozzle and brush head attachments, which allow you to carry out a multitude of cleaning tasks. All are easily switched too, while the vac can also be downsized by removing the long tube if you want to give things like the sofa or venetian blinds a once over. The best thing about the Hoover HF9 is it can stand up on its own, unlike many cordless vacuums that you need to lay down or lean on a piece of furniture when you take a break Emptying the collection bin is straightforward, too. It’s positioned to the side of the extension wand, so can be removed without having to take off any attachments. It unclips with a button at the top, while a second button at the bottom releases the door and lets the dust, dirt and debris fall out. The side-loading of the suction pipe has its pros and cons. Yes, you can empty it without removing attachments, but it means fluff and dirt needs to pass through a tight u-bend as it transitions from the upward pipe to the bottom of the collection bin. We usually vacuum once a week, and sometimes more if needed. To test the HF9, we allowed a full week to let the dust settle so there was plenty to clean. The light on the front of the suction head showed us exactly where the dust was while the wheels made manoeuvring the device easy. The suction head was also able to twist sideways to get into tight spots, which we thought was a great feature.

In terms of size, the device is fairly standard, standing upright at 260 x 210 x 1,110mm (WDH). It weighs 3.4kg: the handheld unit is around 2kg, with the floor head and wand making up the remainder. Take the Cheerios on hard floor test out of the equation, however, and the rest of the results are technically perfect. There were some elements left behind on a single pass, but not enough to register more than 1g of weight on my kitchen scales. Above the buttons is a simple screen with icons showing what mode you’re in (carpet or hard-floor) and whether Turbo is engaged. The rest of the display shows the number of minutes of cleaning left on the device before the battery runs out. If the vacuum is plugged in, it will display the percentage of charge the battery has available instead. Finally, there’s the flour on carpet test. Here, the Hoover HF9 also performed magnificently. It collected the entire spill in terms of weight, and I couldn’t see any remaining particles when I inspected it, either.

How we tested

The HF9 came with an instruction leaflet but we didn’t find it particularly helpful. It was one of those Ikea-style universal ones where all of the instructions were in picture form, so some of it was difficult to interpret. And althought it was straightforward enough to assemble without said instructions, for troubleshooting we would have preferred more information. Hoover suggests that you call them when there is an error flashing on the LED display. Another frustrating flaw is if I stored the Hoover unplugged – but still with a good amount of charge left – it often won’t turn on. The first few times it happened I thought the battery had run down, but on plugging it into the mains charger I saw it always had over 70% left, and would only turn on after it had been plugged in a few minutes. I didn’t have particularly high hopes for the hard floor Cheerio test. The HF9 doesn’t have a soft roller, which is the usual path to performing well in this test. However, to its credit, Hoover’s floor head designers have built two funnels into the front of the head, which allowed the suction to capture some of the Cheerios and let them pass underneath.

The battery is a 4,000mAh unit, which takes around 3hrs 30mins to charge. It’s easily removable, so can be swapped with a second device if you have the dual battery model, and it can be charged either in situ when installed in the vacuum or separately. If there’s one thing that’s slightly disappointing, it’s the battery life. As you can see from the chart below, some vacuum cleaners at this kind of price come with enough power to clean for an hour on their lightest settings. With no Economy setting on this vacuum, there’s no option to reduce the suction down to eke out a few more minutes.It’s never good to leave lithium-ion batteries constantly charging as it wears down the overall capacity of the cell much faster than regular use and charging. Because of this, I am put off recommending the HF9 wholeheartedly, along with its inability to slurp up stubborn fluff in carpets. Price and availability