Vacuum cleaner features ranked from 'essential' to 'unnecessary', by a professional tester

From headlamps to air intake sliders

17 Dec 2025, 13:05 · TechRadar

Opinion By Ruth Hamilton published 17 December 2025

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Vacuum cleaner designs might be getting slightly out of control. As a dedicated vacuum reviewer (I manage TechRadar's official best vacuum ranking) I spend plenty of time testing different models with different features, so I know which additions will make a difference to your cleaning routine, and which are just unnecessary gimmicks.

Below, I've listed the features you should be prioritizing when choosing a vacuum, and those that you can basically ignore. I've focused on just the floorhead features here, because extending it to the entire vacuum would be far too big a topic for a single article. (Am I in too deep? Possibly.) Here's my official list of vacuum floorhead features, ranked...

Vacuum floorhead features – essentials

An anti-tangle roller

If you live with anyone with hair, you need a floorhead with anti-tangle features. And I don't mean Rapunzel-length locks – if you'd cut it with scissors rather than clippers, I'd prioritize this.

On older vacuums, hair was basically left to do its own thing, which invariably meant it would wrap around the brushroll like a thick, cozy hair duvet. After every clean, you'd have to take to the roller with a pair of scissors, and hack the hair away. Not ideal.

Most modern vacuums have anti-tangle features built in (Image credit: Future)

The good news is that most modern vacuums don't have this problem – they tend to have an anti-tangle roller as standard and pretty much all that I've tried work well. Approaches to this vary by brand, so there's nothing specific to look for, beyond some kind of reference to being 'anti-tangle' in the product listing.

Dyson has come up with a specific method where, on its very newest vacuums, it uses tapering, cone-shaped rollers rather than straight-edged ones. This works well but has an unfortunate side effect (which I'll cover in my next point) that means it's worth avoiding.

A straight front edge

A niche one, but don't underestimate the importance of a straight front edge on your floorhead. As far as I'm aware, the only vacuums not to have this are Dyson's newest options, where the brand has used cone-shaped rollers and brought the front of the vacuum to a slight point as a result.

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