Hoover HF9 cordless vacuum cleaner review: Budget but buggy

When a brand is so big that it becomes the common name for the products it makes, you know it’s a big deal. But Hoover isn’t necessarily the market leader in vacuum cleaners anymore, thanks to Dyson.

But it took a leaf out of Dyson’s book by developing its own cordless, bagless cleaners. I’ve been vacuuming my apartment for a few months with the Hoover HF9, a powerful vacuum that’s reasonably priced but has a few quirks.

Design and build

• Sector loaded
• Stand up alone
• Easy to clean

The best thing about the design of the Hoover HF9 is that it can stand on its own, unlike many cordless vacuums that you have to put on the floor or lean against furniture every time you take a break to to vacuum.

It looks like a long, mechanical human leg with a little foot at the bottom to keep it straight – if that’s not too weird an image.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

Its upright shape helped a lot to easily store the otherwise bulky device in a corner of my small apartment instead of having to wedge it into a closet. However, it does come with a wall mount, if you can find a discreet place to hang it.

I was surprised to read in the HF9 manual that you’re only supposed to hold the Hoover upright momentarily, and storage should always be by wall mount. but I couldn’t find any reason not to store it as a standalone.

The red, gray and metal design of the device I tested is harmless, and there is also a blue version.

The design is well thought out and simply modular, with two connection points in the tree. The top clearance makes it easier to empty the dust bin or attach one of the included cleaning tools to use the vacuum as a cordless handheld for stairs, couches, or in the car.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

A bottom foot release switch lets you attach the same tools to reach clean objects like cobwebs or get dust off the tops of baseboards.

It feels sturdy and premium in regular use, the head turning easily with the necessarily one-handed operation to get under low obstacles like sofas and cabinets and around sharp corners.

There are even some nice little headlights that really help, especially on hardwood floors, to make sure you have all the dust in the dark corners of a room.

The easily removable battery can be charged separately from the vacuum or while connected to the device. I found the dust bin a bit small and had to empty the vacuum after two or three complete runs of my six-room apartment, but it’s very easy to release it and empty it straight into a trash can.

The roller is a single brush design and can be easily released for cleaning by removing the top of the head and popping the roller out.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

Performance

• Three suction modes
• Cannot grab rooted stubborn fibers
• Often won’t turn on unless plugged in first

I found the HF9 perfectly powerful enough for most dust and dirt around my apartment. It has three modes: hard floor, carpet and turbo.

A switch toggles between hard and mat, and you can activate the turbo when using either. Going to the mat reduces the remaining battery life counter on the screen by a few minutes, while activating turbo mode suggests you’ll only get around 12 minutes of use on a full charge.

The battery takes three and a half hours to recharge from empty.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

You can hold it with either hand to push it, easily operating all the buttons within reach of your thumb. It’s nice and simple.

The Hoover doesn’t have a soft brush for hardwood floors, but I didn’t see any damage on mine, and the turbo mode is good for giving heavy carpets a nice spring cleaning. When I caught the tassels from a rug in the head, the device quickly turned off and it was easy to untangle.

That’s thanks to the anti-twist design on the HF9’s headstock, which ensures that cables, cords and, most importantly, hair don’t get wrapped around it. It works exceptionally well.

My biggest issue with the Hoover is that it couldn’t remove synthetic down fibers from my low-pile bedroom rug. I had a comforter that was annoyingly losing white insulation into light fluffy clouds, which were then trampled into the rug.

Henry Burrell / Foundry

Despite repeated runs and extreme use of turbo mode, the HF9 couldn’t grab those fibers, meaning I had to get down on my knees and pick up dozens of pieces of white lint from the carpet. I don’t know if it’s because the roller only has one line of relatively short hairs, but whatever the reason, it was extremely annoying and – for my use – a reason not to buy the thing.

Another frustrating flaw is that if I store the Hoover unplugged – but still with a fair amount of charge remaining – it often won’t turn on. The first few times this happened I thought the battery was drained, but when I plugged it into the mains charger I saw it still had over 70% left and it wouldn’t drain. turned on only after being plugged in within minutes.

It is never good to leave lithium-ion batteries on charge all the time as this depletes the overall cell capacity much faster than regular use and charging. For this reason, I’m discouraged from wholeheartedly recommending the HF9, as well as its inability to pick up stubborn lint in carpets.

Price and availability

The Hoover HF9 model I tested has an RRP of £379 and it’s currently available at that price from Currys and Amazon UK. However, at the time of writing the best price is £295 direct from Hoover.

You can register the product at the time of purchase to take advantage of Hoover’s five-year manufacturer’s warranty.

The HF9 is not available in the United States.

Verdict

The Hoover HF9 is an inexpensive cordless vacuum that’s great for hardwood floors and general dust around the house on rugs and carpets. It’s also versatile, with two cleaning tools included and a handheld mode. Plus, he can stand on his own.

But in my testing, it couldn’t pick up stubborn fibers that had been walked on in fairly low-pile carpet, and the unit wouldn’t turn on consistently even when loaded, prompting me to plug in to wake it up.

It’s a shame because it’s a decent vacuum, but those two issues are enough for me to knock a few stars off our rating.

For vacuum recommendations and to see our top picks, take a look at our roundup of the best vacuums we’ve tested.