I tried the super-thin Dyson PencilVac – here are 8 things I loved about it 

In an increasingly crowded vacuum cleaner market, Dyson has proved its commitment to stay king of the vacs this year by announcing the PencilVac, and V16 Piston Animal vacuums.

I saw all of these models at the Dyson Unveiled Event in Berlin last week and managed to get some hands-on time using the PencilVac – here are the things I liked most about it.

1) Hair hater 

The new and cute-sounding Dyson Fluffycones cleaner head has four conical brush bars in two brush bars, which have been designed to eject hairs as they are picked up, so it doesn’t get chance to wrap around the brush bar. 

2) Multi-directional 

The Dyson PencilVac has four cones in two brush bars, one behind the other and these rotate in opposite directions meaning the cleaner is incredibly low effort to use – the head just glides effortlessly across the floor and, from my short hands-on experience, cleaned impeccably both forwards and backwards. 

3) Go-getter

As it’s just 38mm in diameter – the same as the handle on the Dyson Supersonic r hairdryer, it’s easy to get into the small gaps where dust and debris can settle. I was impressed also with how the design enables it to lay flat on the ground, flattening to just 95mm to get under your furniture, too.

4) Dirt illumination

I never thought I’d be the type of person to get excited about the illumination of dirt, but here we are… The PencilVac has laser-like illumination both in front and behind of its cleaner head, which shows up everything on the floor – I was impressed by how much you can see with this additional light – and you have proof it’s been gobbled up while you vacuum. 

5) Super sucker 

For a super-small vacuum, I was impressed by how much suction the PencilVac has – it’s powered by Dyson’s new Hyperdymium 140k motor (which has a diameter of just 28mm). It spins at 140,000RPM to generate 55AW of suction and made light work of the mess I put on the floor when I tried it. 

6) Dust compressor

With such a small body, my thoughts when I first saw it was: is it going to forever need emptying? Thanks to a clever new dust compressing system, which uses air to compresses dust to maximise the bin capacity, it not a worry at all as it holds five times more dust than its 0.8L capacity. 

7) Useful LCD 

The addition of an LCD screen provides surprisingly useful – quickly check the power mode you have selected and your remaining run time as you go. 

8) First connected model

I love the fact that this is Dyson’s first connected vacuum. Connecting to the app, users will get real time maintenance alerts and helpful tips, including how and when to clean the filter. 

• Dyson has four new vacs but the Spot+Scrub Ai robot is the one I can’t wait to try