Hoover HFX Cordless Vacuum Review: Corner Genius

The Hoover HFX can reach places other vacuums cannot reach. With its Corner Genie mode designed to get into hard-to-reach places, the HFX is the best vacuum we’ve tested for cleaning cluttered areas.

Design and build

• Three cleaning modes
• Compact storage mode
• Large trash can

Buy the HFX and you’ll get a lot of stuff. There are so many things, in fact, that it is at first difficult to understand how it all fits together.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Indeed, the HFX is a modular vacuum cleaner that you can use in one of three formations: as a regular carpet or hard floor cleaner, with an anti-tangle brush bar and LED headlights; as a portable tool, with a combination brush or crevice tool; and as a full-size vacuum optimized for corners, edges and tricky bits.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

The accompanying instruction booklet is just as complicated. While this is amply illustrated by the type of blandly reassuring images you see on airplane safety cards designed to alleviate your fear of death by fireball, there are just so much illustrations that it’s not particularly useful until you decipher what’s going on.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Once that’s done, the HFX is easy to assemble and use, but keep in mind that there are a lot of parts to store. Still, it comes with a stand that you can attach to the wall and a drawstring bag for accessories. And the vacuum itself can fold in half for more compact storage. Break it down and a carry handle appears for easy portability.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Still, it’s far from the lightest vacuum cleaner we’ve used. With the main cleaner head in place, its weight is 3.65 kg/8 lbs. This makes it heavier than Dyson’s flagship Gen5detect, although the vacuum head helps support its weight when in use. But we do not recommend it for elderly or frail users. However, if you use it in corner cleaning mode, it only weighs 2.4 kg/5.3 lbs, which is really very light.

It also has a large 1.2 liter dustbin that expels dust when you open it. The best part is that it opens like a shotgun – something I’m thankfully not too mature to appreciate. It is still a very long trash can and if you vacuum up a lot of pet hair it will probably get stuck and you will have to dig it out with a wand.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Will HFX last? The vacuum cleaner is quite robustly built, but I had problems with the dustbin getting stuck on several occasions and didn’t always find it easy to put the parts in place.

Performance and Features

• Cleaning timer display
• Maximum runtime of 30 minutes
• 3.5 hour charge time

The HFX is comfortable to hold, with a molded handle. It’s also simple to use. Just above the grip are three buttons that are easily accessible with your thumb: power, turbo, and mode.

Turn on the vacuum and you’ll immediately see how many minutes of vacuuming you have left, displayed on a clear digital screen.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

If the main cleaner head is attached, press the mode button and you can switch between cleaning hard floors and cleaning carpets. You will notice that hard flooring mode, being less energy intensive, will allow you a few extra minutes of cleaning. If the main cleaner head is not connected, this button will do nothing.

The turbo button toggles between normal and increased power. Use the normal setting and you will get approximately 30 minutes of cleaning time. This doesn’t compare well to high-end vacuums, which will give you an hour of cleaning time. However, in turbo mode you’ll get 14 minutes of battery life, which is in line with – or better than – high-end models.

In standard suction mode, it’s a pretty solid vacuum – although solid is really the word. Its usage is heavy and after a while you can feel the drag on your wrist and hand, despite the comfortable grip. It’s also not great at cleaning all the way to the edges – but that’s of course where the Corner Genie mode comes in.

The headlights are of good quality, however. They really brighten up pets’ fur, so much so that it’s more effective to vacuum in the dark to get a good clean. The roller’s anti-twist fins are also good, although it’s not a flawless system.

However, remove the main cleaner head and the perspective is completely different. You don’t need to attach the Corner Genie – it’s already in place. At the end of the cleaning nozzle there are two small wheels which make it very easy to maneuver. (Still, they can get stuck in pet fur, which means you’ll need to get in there periodically with nail scissors.)

Corner Genie mode is the best reason to buy the HFX. You can vacuum the side of the refrigerator, behind the sofa without dragging furniture, along baseboards and under chairs, all without having to bend down. The suction is also excellent. I found that I preferred to keep it in this mode for quick cleaning.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Still, the end of the Corner Genie will come into contact with your floor. It has a velvet strip, but there are also two hard plastic protrusions, and if these get scratched or damaged, so will your flooring.

Hoover doesn’t provide information on suction power, but the HFX seems effective, especially in Corner Genie mode.

Pricing and availability

At the time of writing, the Hoover HFX is a fairly expensive purchase. It doesn’t come close to the newer Dyson models, but it’s clearly outside the budget category, with an RRP of £449. You can buy it for this price at John Lewis, Amazon and Hoover.

We expect its price to drop to £349 sooner or later, in which case it’s a good buy. As of this writing, however, the way to save is to opt for the Pets Edition, which comes with an additional mini motorized cleaner head. It is usually priced at £469, but is currently offered by John Lewis, Amazon or directly from Hoover for £369.

The Hoover HFX is not yet available in the United States. For a more affordable small wireless you can buy in the UK and US, check out our review of the Shark Detect Pro.

If this isn’t the vacuum for you, take a look at all of our top recommendations in our roundup of the best vacuums we’ve tested.

Should you buy the Hoover HFX?

At its full price, we think the Hoover HXF is a bit overpriced for what it offers – in particular, we don’t think it will last as long as models such as the Halo Capsule similar. But if you can buy it cheaply and have a cluttered home or lots of hard-to-clean corners and spots, its usefulness might outweigh other concerns and it might just be the perfect vacuum for you.

Specifications

• Weight: 3.65kg
• Dimensions: (H)112 x (L)20 x (D)25 m
• Bin capacity: 1.19 L
• Duration: 30 minutes
• Charging time: 3.5 hours