If you’re looking for a premium cordless vacuum with all the latest technology, there are a few brands that stand out. The best known of these are Dyson and Samsung.
In the past 13 months, both brands have released a new flagship cordless vacuum: the Dyson Gen5detect and the Samsung Bespoke Jet AI.
Both models are similarly priced and both come with a plethora of features and accessories. But if you’re considering buying one, which luxury vacuum should you buy?
We’ll break it down for you, by specs and features.
Weight
Whether vacuuming is a pain or not will have a big impact on how much you enjoy or hate cleaning.
Custom AI Jet: 2.98 kg/6.7 lb
Gen5 Detection: 3.5 kg/7.7 lb
The Bespoke Jet AI is the clear winner here, although both vacuums are comfortable to use on hard floors. The Gen5detect is arguably a little less manoeuvrable, especially on carpet. Still, when I used either vacuum in handheld mode for overhead cleaning, I found both quite heavy after a period of use.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Battery life
Gen5 Detection:At full charge, the model we tested has a range of 76 minutes in Eco mode, 39 in Medium/Auto and 7 minutes in Boost mode (which you will only need for quick accelerations of a few seconds).
Custom AI Jet:On a full charge, the test model showed an hour of runtime, but only with a non-motorized tool set to minimum. With the carpet cleaning head, from a full battery, we got about 42 minutes in Min mode, 36 in AI mode, 24 in Mid mode, 14 minutes in Max mode, and 10 in Jet mode. The hard floor head showed similar cleaning times.
Both of these vacuums have excellent battery life – and in fact, much longer than you’ll need.
However, the Bespoke Jet AI comes with a second battery and a separate charger, so you always have a spare battery ready to go. The Gen5detect has a swappable battery, but it only comes with one. If you want a second one, it will set you back £129/$129.99.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Suction
Gen5 Detection: The Gen5detect has a suction power of 262 AW (air watts), compared to 230 AW for the V15 Detect. It is noticeably more powerful than previous models. It makes vacuuming quick and easy because you don’t have to saw back and forth to get everything.
Custom AI Jet:Samsung claims the Bespoke Jet AI has 280AW of suction, which, on paper at least, makes it more powerful than the Gen5detect.
They’re both among the most powerful cordless vacuums you can buy, but after testing them out, we’d say the Gen5detect has the edge when it comes to pickup. This may be due to a superior floor head design.
Display and detection
This is where both vacuums offer something very different from their competitors.
The Gen5detect has a color LCD display that shows which vacuum mode you are in, how many minutes of vacuum time are left in that mode, and, very unusually, the number and size of dust and dirt particles you are vacuuming.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
The display works in conjunction with an acoustic sensor that detects and measures particles. Dyson included this feature partly to show you how effective the vacuum is. But it also has a practical function.
Put the Gen5detect in Auto mode and the suction will automatically adapt to the conditions around it. In short, when it encounters more dust, it will increase the power, without you having to change the settings.
The Bespoke Jet AI has a simpler, easy-to-read monochrome display that tells you the suction mode and time remaining in minutes.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
It doesn’t give you any on-screen indication of how hard the vacuum is working, but it does have similar sensor technology.
Choose AI mode and the vacuum will increase suction and rotation speed when moving from hard floors to carpet, or when it encounters more dirt to pick up. Again, this means you won’t need to adjust the settings yourself to tackle a spill or dusty corner.
Cleaning accessories
Both vacuums come with an equally generous number of high-quality cleaning accessories.
Gen5 Detection:
- Vacuum body, with a 0.77 L tank
- Wand with flat nozzle in line
- Fluffy optical cleaning head for hard floors (with green laser)
- Main Digital Power Bar Cleaning Head
- Hair screw tool (for cleaning upholstery and stairs. As the name suggests, it is ideal for removing hair from surfaces)
- Nozzle and brush combination tool
- Low reach articulated adapter
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Samsung’s Custom AI Jet:
- Vacuum body, with a 0.5 L tank
- Telescopic wand that you can adjust to your height while vacuuming
- Slim+ LED brush, with headlights
- Active dual head, with headlights and soft roller for hard floors and nylon bristle bar for carpets
- Motorized pet tool with rubber fins to remove hair from sofas and upholstery
- Crevice tool
- Brush Tool
- Flexible tool (a joint to create an angle between the cleaning tool and the vacuum cleaner body)
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Best Features
Gen5 Detection
The Gen5detect has two standout features. The first is its green laser, which does the same thing as the LED lights on a regular vacuum cleaner, but is much more effective: dust and hair glow in a way that makes them impossible to spot.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
The second item is an inline crevice tool. If you are vacuuming and need to clean a hard to reach area, simply remove the wand and the crevice tool is already in place, allowing you to instantly remove dust.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Samsung’s Custom AI Jet
The most notable feature of the Bespoke Jet AI is the Clean Station. This is a charging stand that automatically and very efficiently empties the vacuum bin using powerful suction when you plug it into the docking station. Inside the docking station is a vacuum bag, which you will need to change every 1-2 months. This effectively transforms the Bespoke Jet AI from a bagless system to a bagged system, which is a huge benefit for people with allergies or asthma.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Design
While both vacuums have a typical stick vacuum shape, they are very different thanks to their color combinations. The Gen5detect is bold and multi-colored, while the Bespoke Jet AI features a minimalist palette of black with silver accents.
There is no winner here, just preference.
Price
Gen5 Detection:In the UK, this vacuum cleaner was priced at £849.99 at launch, but you can now buy it for less. At the time of writing, it costs £749 from Very, £749.99 from Currys and £769.99 direct from Dyson.
Custom AI Jet:The UK launch price is also down from £1,000. You can now buy it from Samsung for £799, while Argos is selling it for £899.
At this point, the Gen5detect is the more affordable option, but there’s only £50 between the two closest deals at the moment, and the Gen5detect has been available for longer. We expect prices for both vacuums to fluctuate depending on sales periods and offers from different retailers, so it’s worth checking before you buy.
In the US, the Gen5detect has held steady at its launch price of $949.99. You can buy it at Best Buy, Target, or directly from Dyson. The Bespoke Jet AI is not yet available in the US.
Verdict
We hope the detailed comparisons above will help you choose the best model for you. Both vacuums are excellent and the key point of difference between them is probably the self-emptying cleaning station, which makes vacuuming even easier. But you will pay a little more for this feature and you will have to find the space to place it.
For more in-depth reviews of how each vacuum cleaner was used, check out our reviews of the Dyson Gen5detect and Samsung Bespoke Jet AI . Or for more vacuum recommendations at every price point, check out our roundup of the best vacuums we’ve tested
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