Which vacuum do professionals use? You'd be surprised at how retro their recommendation is

If you ever get the chance to ask a professional which vacuum they rely on, be it a carpet cleaner, a domestic cleaner, even a vacuum engineer, you should take it. Those answers are worth their weight in clean carpets.

I’ve been asking that question for years, and while a few familiar brands crop up time and again, one name kept resurfacing with almost boring consistency: SEBO. The German brand has been producing variations of the same upright vacuum for decades, and at first glance, it shows. The SEBO X7’s boxy, no-nonsense design feels like a throwback and that’s entirely intentional. SEBO works on a simple philosophy: if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it.

After the fifth recommendation, this time from professional carpet cleaners brought in to undo the chaos our dog had inflicted on the house, I finally relented. The SEBO X7 went into our dedicated testing facility to see whether its professional reputation as one of the best vacuums of all time really holds up under domestic scrutiny.

SEBO Automatic X7 Vacuum review

Who would the SEBO Automatic X7 Vacuum suit?

The SEBO X7 will not be for everyone. And that’s not a flaw, it’s clarity. As you’ll have guessed from the retro styling, this is a corded, upright, bagged vacuum that prioritises performance and longevity over convenience features or modern aesthetics. If you’ve been tempted away from corded vacuums in recent years, it’s worth noting that the X7’s extra-long power cable gives you excellent reach, making it far less restrictive than you might expect.

It’s particularly well suited to large homes with lots of carpet, where consistent suction and wide cleaning paths matter more than portability. Whilst this is heavy (and that's definitely worth factoring into your decision) it covers deep, satisfying cleaning better than any other vacuum that I've tested. This means that large homes, pet homes, and busy homes alike will really benefit from the features on the SEBO Automatic X7 Vacuum.

I've talked a lot about the retro design of the SEBO and, whilst it might not be the easiest to store or carry upstairs, some of the more dated elements have their silver linings. A good example of this is allergy sufferers. Thanks to its sealed, bagged system which traps dust far more effectively than bagless designs, you'll be able to breathe easier and vacuum with less concern.

My one word of caution: this is a big, heavy vacuum. That heft makes it superb for demanding, whole-house cleans, but less appealing if you want something quick to grab or easy to carry up and down stairs. There’s also no dedicated carry handle, which you’ll notice if you live across multiple floors.

Unboxing the SEBO Automatic X7 Vacuum

Given its professional reputation, you might expect excessive packaging or difficult setup, but SEBO keeps things refreshingly simple.

The box is only marginally larger than the vacuum itself, with accessories neatly tucked alongside the main body and spare bags slotted underneath. All three included tools (a crevice tool, upholstery nozzle and dusting brush) store neatly on board. There’s no rummaging in cupboards or hunting for attachments mid-clean, which keeps the whole experience streamlined and efficient. Whilst there is some soft plastic packaging and polystyrene, though the majority is recyclable and easy to dispose of.

As a bagged vacuum, the X7 does require familiarising yourself with the bag compartment. Helpfully, SEBO pre-fits a bag and includes spares in the box, so you can start vacuuming immediately without a trip to the shops.

What is the SEBO Automatic X7 Vacuum like to use?

As someone on the smaller side, I didn’t expect to enjoy using such a large upright vacuum as much as I did. While carrying it upstairs requires a bit of effort, actual cleaning feels surprisingly natural.

The ergonomic handle, smooth-rolling wheels and automatic height-adjusting floor head make it easy to move across different floor types without fiddling with settings. That auto-adjustment alone saves significant time when moving between rooms, and it’s a feature that I was surprised to find myself appreciating.

On a general note, it's worth mentioning that this is impressively nimble. It reclines fully to 180 degrees, allowing the floor head to stay flat while cleaning under sofas, beds and kitchen islands, areas where bulky uprights often struggle. You can see in the image above, it's doing an impressive job of staying flat, reaching deep under the kitchen island.

My formal tests were where the SEBO Automatic X7’s professional DNA really shows. It doesn’t rely on gimmicks; instead, it delivers consistent suction, excellent agitation and reliable results, pass after pass. The first test that I put it though was vacuuming up flour and sugar from the floor. I scatter 100g on hard wood floor, carpet, stone, and linoleum to see how the SEBO handles all the different terrains. The answer, although boringly consistent, is reassuring: the SEBO barely blinks. In just one pass, I picked up all the flour and sugar in the SEBO Automatic X7's path. Even on deep pile carpets where I expect for there to be some residue, this confidently and completely lifted all the flour and sugar up.

I will say that it was noisy whilst doing it, but that wouldn't be authentic to the retro charm if you didn't need to shout above 86 dB of suction power to be heard, would it?

My next test is on muesli and granola. Whilst you might not be throwing 100g of cereal around your house, this is the perfect way to test how your vacuum tackles larger pieces of dirt, be it cereal, kibble, or mud, tracked around the house.

As with all vacuums, the SEBO Automatic X7 started by pushing the cereal around a little. The front formed a plough that pushed the cereal around. On hard floors, I found that it scattered some oats to the side too. However, as I slowed down my passes, I was able to lift all the cereal from each surface within a maximum of three movements.

It's at this point that the little extra tools came in handy. I had huge chunks of granola to pick up and, whilst you'd probably do this by hand, I was curious to see whether the suction power on the SEBO Automatic X7 is strong enough to make the attempt. The answer is, yes. It absolutely is.

The third and final formal test that I put the SEBO Automatic X7 through is vacuuming up hair. In my house, we have two, long haired ladies and a large 40kg dog who never seems to stop shedding her coat. Team that with 30g of hair extensions scattered around the house and you've got yourself a challenge. Or, what would be a challenge if your vacuum wasn't as powerful as the SEBO Automatic X7. This whipped hair up like it was nothing. I watched the hair extensions spin off surfaces, both soft and hard, in the blink of an eye. The SEBO Automatic X7 didn't even get the hair tangled in the rollers. This was one of the greatest, most impressive features of the SEBO. It's the best performance I've seen - and I've tested a lot of vacuums.

I like to expand the tests into a whole-home clean, so I took the SEBO Automatic X7 through every floor of our five bed townhouse. It was nimble enough to fit under radiators, the light did a fantastic job at showing up dirt that was hiding under sofas and kitchen islands, and, thanks to the long cord, I didn't find myself needing to charge or fiddle around with the SEBO Automatic X7 at all.

The only downside is that this is a cumbersome vacuum. It's big, it's heavy, and I have a tight spiral staircase, so I knocked the walls and cursed a fair bit when moving this around. It's worth it for the clean, but if you're nor famous for your strength or spacial awareness, it's worth taking note of.

Cleaning and maintaining the SEBO Automatic X7 Vacuum

After a whole day vacuuming up dirt, debris, and hair, I expected to see a bit of a mess around the rollers and on the floorhead, but it was surprisingly clean. If I hadn't seen all the dirt get suctioned into the bag myself, I almost wouldn't have believed that this had done any work at all.

Without the need to cut hair out of rollers or stick a battery pack on charge, there's very little to do. The dust bin bag capacity in the SEBO Automatic X7 Vacuum is 5.3-litres, which is huge when you think of Dyson and Shark cordless vacuums which range between 04-0.8L. Put it this way, I didn't need to empty the bag in the whole week of testing - and I was putting it through some serious paces.

How does the SEBO Automatic X7 Vacuum compare?

When you stack the SEBO Automatic X7 up against a standard corded upright, the differences in design philosophy and performance become immediately clear. The SEBO feels like the vacuum equivalent of a precision tool: its self-adjusting brush head adapts to different pile heights automatically, meaning you don’t have to fiddle with settings as you move from low-pile rugs to deep carpet, whereas many traditional uprights still require manual height adjustment and can struggle to maintain consistent suction across surfaces.

In everyday cleaning, the X7’s filtration system stands out too: medical-grade bags and HEPA-level filtration really minimise airborne dust, which is a boon in homes with allergy sufferers, most basic uprights rely on cyclonic bins that can spit fine dust back into the room. The cord on the SEBO is long enough to reduce plug swapping, just like an everyday upright, but where a bargain upright might lose suction as the bag fills or clog on larger debris, the X7’s proven airflow design keeps performance steady from the first minute to the last.

If you’re comparing it to something like a mid-range household upright, which capable but unremarkable, the SEBO feels like a professional standard: smoother transitions, more consistent pick-up across debris types, and a build that’s engineered for longevity rather than just price-point convenience. For someone who vacuums frequently or lives in a larger home with varied floor types, that reliability difference quickly becomes worth the investment; by contrast, a basic upright might suit a small space or infrequent use, but it simply doesn’t deliver the same level of control or finish.

Should you buy the SEBO Automatic X7 Vacuum vacuum?

The SEBO X7 isn’t trying to be trendy, it’s trying to be exceptionally good at vacuuming. And that’s exactly why professionals trust it. If you want a lightweight, cordless cleaner for quick touch-ups, this isn’t it. But if you’re looking for a vacuum that can handle serious dirt, heavy foot traffic and pet hair day after day, and keep doing so for years, the SEBO X7 more than earns its reputation.

It’s old-school in the best possible way: built to work hard, built to last, and built with cleaning, not convenience shortcuts, at the centre.

How we test vacuums

At woman&home we have a series of tests that we put every vacuum through in order to write a review. These span from vacuuming up flour, sugar, and cereal, right through to tangles of hair extensions. I make sure to cover a range of floor types, including hard wood, linoleum, and soft rugs and carpets, so that, whatever your home, you can work out whether this is the vacuum for you.

I like our reviews to talk about the look, feel, noise level, and maintenance elements that come with every vacuum too. That way, when you're choosing which one to buy, you can compare this, holistically to different models on the market.

If you're curious to find out more, you can read all about what goes on behind the scenes on our dedicated page for how we test vacuums.