Dyson’s brand new vacuum has scrapped some of their most iconic features — and I love it more than ever before

Dyson V16 Piston Animal Vacuum: £749.99 at Dyson UK

The Piston Animal is now available to buy from Dyson. Other retailers will have stock in time, but this is a really reliable place to pick yours up.

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Dyson has long been the pioneer of vacuum technology. Bag-less, cordless, and powerful, they’ve done it all. And with the launch of the Dyson V16 Piston Animal Vacuum, they’ve done it again, but in a completely unexpected way.

The Dyson V16 Animal Piston officially launches today, but I got some unofficial insights into how this was designed and then I even got to do some housework with it pre-launch. The designers told me “we went back to basics and reassessed all the things that people find annoying about vacuuming” and the results are this. Possibly (and almost definitely) one of the best vacuums I’ve ever used.

One of the most exciting elements of the Dyson V16 Animal Piston is how different it is from all the other Dyson vacuums that I’ve tested (and loved). The trigger, the bin, the attachments, and the floor head are all different in ways you won’t have experienced before. So, let’s see what the experts say about them and how I found them in practice.

Dyson V16 Piston Animal Vacuum Launch: what do you need to know

If you’re not one for deep cleans and deep dives, here’s a quick summary of the new Dyson V16 Animal. The motor is stronger then ever; one floor head covers all floor types; you can change accessories without having to bend down; the LED sensor is still here; the bin has a special compacting device; and the submarine floor head is better than ever. These (and lots of other special features) add up to make something that’s seriously impressive. It’s the Ferrari of vacuums.

A dive into the details of the Dyson V16 Piston Animal Vacuum

Here's for the people who really love their vacuums and want to know more. Dyson's V16 Piston Animal Vacuum is designed to cover whole home cleaning, but in their easiest format yet and the way that they plan on doing this is with a few key changes:

• The motor: labelled the new Dyson Hyperdymium motor, this boasts 900W 315AW of powerful suction that doesn't relent, even on the toughest tasks. It's 50% more power dense than its predecessor
• The floorhead: a new conical All Floor Cones Sense cleaner has been designed to detangle long hair, sense changed in floor types, and adjust suction power and brush bar speed, all illuminated by Dyson's signature LED sensor
• The dust bin: fitted with a CleanCompactor, you can compress dust and debris to store up to 30 days woth of vaumming dust and the bin can wipe clean too
• The cleaner head: if you buy the Submarine version, the new head uses hydration and agitation to remove spills from hard floors better than ever

Asaph Ooi, Head of Floorcare Engineering at Dyson says “Today’s homes need cleaning solutions that keep up with busy lives, without compromising on
performance. Dyson engineers solve the problems others ignore, and we thrive on the challenge of
creating better technology," after explaining all the new, clever features in the same way that you see above, he says " these technologies combine into a single vacuum, offering a powerful, uninterrupted
cleaning experience that adapts to real life messes.”

If, like me, you have some questions about these changes., I think I have the answer for you. My first one was, why the conical floorhead? Asaph explained that the conical shape makes it impossible for long hairs to wrap and tangle. They encourage hair migration to the thin, outer edges of the floorhead which then sucks up knots of hair. After testing this in their studio, this was all true. I didn't have to cut or pull a single hair of the vacuum.

The next question I asked was, what's actually different about the power? Well, Dyson has borrowed from the clever motor design in their hairdryers to make a motor that's 50% more power dense. Combined with their cyclone technology (which has another five added in), you can get a great boost when vacuuming, as well as an impressive run time of 70 minutes.

And what about the app? The techy people might have been wondering what's happened with the MyDyson app and the answer is: quite a lot. You can access settings, maintenance alerts, guides on how to clean the filter and when, as well as step-by-step care guidance. It's a really great way to enhance your experience with the Dyson.

Finally, you'll be thinking "is there anything else I'm missing?" And the answer is yes. I could go on for a long time about all these changes (I had hours with the Dyson team looking at them and talking about them), but the key ones you won't want to miss are the HEPA filtration, which is a dully-sealed, five-stage filter system that can filter particles as small as 0.1 microns (the size of allergens, bacteria, and viruses). There's also the LED illumination, and a remote release cleaner head that lets you change which attachment you're using without bending down. And don't forget that the trigger has gone. That was a gripe lots of people had with older Dysons.

How does the Dyson V16 Piston Animal Vacuum compare to their other models?

Sometimes, it can be hard to tell the difference between all of Dyson's latest launches. The good news is that the Dyson V16 Piston Animal Vacuum is pretty distinctly different from its predecessors, but to make it easy for you, I've created a comparison with my favourite Dyson vacuums.

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Having spoken with Dyson's team and given this a run myself, I can say that their promise of it being 'engineered for every home' is completely true. It's an expensive addition to their collection, but one that I'm swept up with.