The BISSELL Featherweight Stick vacuum is a basic corded upright model that can be used in a handheld configuration. It's extremely lightweight, weighing less than 3 lbs, and is very easy to carry around. It can be converted from an upright stick to a handheld very easily by unclipping its aluminum wand. Unfortunately, the BISSELL Featherweight Stick isn't very powerful, with a 2A (240W) motor.
Our Verdict
The BISSELL Featherweight Stick vacuum is adequate for bare floors. It's very easy to carry around, as long as you're aware of its short power cord length, and it's simple to maintain, with few parts that require cleaning. It does a reasonable job of clearing debris on hard floors, but you'll have to empty its dirt compartment frequently.
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Feels lightweight.
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Easy to maintain and virtually free of recurring costs.
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Easily switches to a more maneuverable handheld configuration.
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Small dirt compartment means frequent emptying.
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Cheap build quality.
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Short power cord.
The BISSELL Featherweight Stick vacuum is sub-par for low-pile carpets. While its low weight makes it easy to carry around, it does a poor job cleaning low-pile carpets, and its pet hair pickup is terrible. At least its simple bagless design makes it easy to maintain and virtually free of recurring costs.
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Feels lightweight.
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Easy to maintain and virtually free of recurring costs.
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Easily switches to a more maneuverable handheld configuration.
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Small dirt compartment means frequent emptying.
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Cheap build quality.
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Short power cord.
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Poor performance on carpets.
The BISSELL Featherweight Stick is inadequate for high-pile carpets. Its performance on high-pile carpets is poor due to the poor agitation of the floorhead, low suction, and low airflow. Fortunately, it's a simple machine to maintain and incurs very little long-term cost, as it doesn't have parts that need scheduled replacing.
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Feels lightweight.
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Easy to maintain and virtually free of recurring costs.
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Easily switches to a more maneuverable handheld configuration.
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Small dirt compartment means frequent emptying.
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Cheap build quality.
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Short power cord.
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Poor performance on carpets.
The BISSELL Featherweight Stick vacuum is a poor choice for cleaning pet hair. It's very bad at clearing pet hair from carpet but passable at cleaning pet hair from furniture, though you have to use the crevice tool. The vacuum's poor quality filtration and lack of a HEPA filter mean it won't contain allergens and will instead blow them into the air. However, as long as it's properly taken care of, this vacuum has virtually no recurring costs, and it's fairly simple to clean and maintain.
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Feels lightweight.
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Easy to maintain and virtually free of recurring costs.
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Easily switches to a more maneuverable handheld configuration.
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Cheap build quality.
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Short power cord.
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Very low airflow.
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Poor performance on carpets.
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Low quality filtration, no HEPA filter.
The BISSELL Featherweight Stick is okay for cleaning stairs. It weighs very little and can be used in a handheld configuration, making it easy to carry up and down flights of stairs. That said, you have to keep its short power cord length in mind if you have a large flight of stairs. It should also be noted that it performs best on bare floors and struggles when clearing debris on carpeted surfaces.
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Feels lightweight.
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Easy to maintain and virtually free of recurring costs.
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Easily switches to a more maneuverable handheld configuration.
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Small dirt compartment means frequent emptying.
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Cheap build quality.
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Short power cord.
The BISSELL Featherweight Stick is reasonable for cleaning cars. Its ability to be used as a handheld vacuum and included crevice tool make it easy to clean small, hard-to-reach areas. Its performance on low-pile automotive carpets is poor, though. You also have to stay quite close to an electrical outlet or use an extension cord, as the vacuum's power cord is quite short.
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Feels lightweight.
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Easy to maintain and virtually free of recurring costs.
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Easily switches to a more maneuverable handheld configuration.
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Small dirt compartment means frequent emptying.
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Cheap build quality.
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Short power cord.
The BISSELL Featherweight Stick is a bad choice for cleaning the workshop. It's not designed for this task. Hard, sharp, and abrasive debris found in a workshop will damage its internal components. Its small dirt compartment will fill quickly, needing regular emptying, and its low airflow will make picking up workshop debris difficult.
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Feels lightweight.
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Easy to maintain and virtually free of recurring costs.
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Easily switches to a more maneuverable handheld configuration.
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Small dirt compartment means frequent emptying.
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Cheap build quality.
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Short power cord.
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Very low airflow.
- 6.8 Bare Floor
- 5.8 Low-Pile Carpet
- 5.4 High-Pile Carpet
- 5.2 Pets
- 6.7 Stairs
- 6.8 Cars
- 3.8 Workshop
Changelog
- Updated Jul 09, 2024: We've converted this review to Test Bench 1.3. We've overhauled our floor performance tests and added new 'Hard Floor Pick-Up,' 'High-Pile Carpet Pick-Up,' 'Low-Pile Carpet Pick-Up,' and 'Pet-Hair Pick-Up' tests. You can see the full changelog here.
- Updated Dec 14, 2023: We've converted this review to Test Bench 1.2. This update builds on our previous 'Suction' test with a new 'Airflow' test that more accurately measures a vacuum's ability to generate air movement. If you'd like to see an in-depth look at the reasoning and methodology behind this change, you can see our full changelog here..
- Updated Nov 25, 2022: We've changed the full product name to 'BISSELL Featherweight Stick' in order for the review to encompass all model variants.
- Updated Nov 03, 2022: This vacuum's suction force has been retested with a more accurate manometer. The test results for the 'Maximum Suction' and 'Normal Suction' fields have been updated. All relevant scores and text have been updated.
- Updated Aug 03, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 1.1.
Check Price
Differences Between Sizes And Variants
There are four variations of the BISSELL Featherweight Stick vacuum, which differ only in terms of color, so we expect all variations to perform similarly in our testing. See our unit's label.
| Model Number | Color | Included Brushes and Tools |
|---|---|---|
| 2033M | Black | Crevice tool |
| 2033 | Blue | Crevice tool |
| 20334 | Purple | Crevice tool |
| 20336 | Lime | Crevice tool |
If you come across a variant of this vacuum that's different from ours, let us know in the comments so we can update our review.
Compared To Other Vacuums
The BISSELL Featherweight Stick vacuum is an acceptable no-frills vacuum. It's very lightweight and portable overall, easy to maintain and clean, and does an adequate job on bare floors. That said, its performance on carpeted floors is poor, and its short power cord and lack of maneuverability-enhancing features like a swiveling head mean that it's not as easy to use in small areas as the Black+Decker 16V MAX dustbuster Cordless Hand Vacuum or the BISSELL Adapt Ion.
If you'd like to see alternatives, check out our recommendations for the best budget and cheap vacuums, the best handheld vacuums, and the best lightweight vacuums.
The BISSELL Adapt Ion Pet/XRT and the BISSELL Featherweight Stick are upright/handheld vacuums with different advantages. The Featherweight performs better on bare floors, has a bigger dirt compartment, is easier to maintain, and feels lighter in your hand. Conversely, the better-built Adapt Ion Pet is substantially more maneuverable and versatile thanks to its cordless design and included selection of brushes and cleaning heads.
The Shark ION P50 Cord-Free Powered Lift-Away is a stronger performer in most categories than the BISSELL Featherweight Stick. The Shark is better built, has a larger dirt compartment, and clears debris more consistently as its dirt compartment fills. Its cordless design also makes it more maneuverable, while its broader selection of tools and accessories makes it more versatile. Meanwhile, the corded BISSELL is easier to maintain and much easier to carry around, courtesy of its lightweight plastic construction. Some users may prefer the hassle-free nature of its corded design, too.
The Black+Decker 16V MAX dustbuster Cordless Hand Vacuum and the BISSELL Featherweight Stick suit different uses. The handheld-only Black+Decker is better at cleaning stairs and cars due to its more maneuverable, compact, cordless design. It's better built, not to mention more effective in picking up debris on bare floors and high-pile carpets. On the other hand, the BISSELL is more comfortable to use in large areas because it can be used as a stick vacuum and because it's corded, with virtually indefinite runtime. It's also easier to maintain and has much lower recurring costs.
The Shark WANDVAC and the BISSELL Featherweight Stick are suited for different tasks. The Shark is better for spot cleaning, as its cordless handheld design allows you to navigate tight spaces more easily. It's also better built, more effective on carpeted surfaces, and superior when capturing fine allergens, which is a handy addition for pet owners. Meanwhile, the BISSELL is superior when cleaning large areas of bare floors, as its corded design gives you an effectively unlimited runtime. It's also even easier to maintain.
The BISSELL Featherweight Stick and the eufy HomeVac H11 have different strengths and weaknesses, which isn't surprising given their drastically different designs. The BISSELL is a corded upright/handheld vacuum that's better suited for cleaning larger areas due to its theoretically indefinite runtime. The handheld eufy feels much sturdier and is better for spot cleaning, as its cordless, extremely lightweight design makes it much easier to clean the hard-to-reach areas of your home or the inside of your car.
Test Results
This vacuum has mediocre build quality. Its all-plastic construction feels cheap in some areas, with the handle feeling like it could snap if moderate pressure is applied during operation. The wheels also feel flimsy, as does the dirt compartment cover. That said, this vacuum employs a very simple design, making it easy to switch configuration from stick to handheld.
The vacuum is quite easy to maintain. It doesn't have many parts that require maintenance, and all parts are quite simple to access.
To access the dirt compartment, you need to remove the vacuum head and body via the prominent gray release clip. From there, you can pull the compartment off, but be careful not to spill any debris, as the dirt compartment's cover isn't especially effective at keeping things contained. The compartment can be washed with warm water and detergent if necessary.
The dirt cup filter is inside the dirt compartment and can simply be pulled out. You can clean it by either shaking it over a garbage can or by washing it in warm water and detergent, if necessary. It should be cleaned after every use of the vacuum.
You can remove visibly stuck debris on the pre-motor mesh filter by hand whenever necessary, as no maintenance interval is listed.
Any component listed as water-washable must be left to dry completely before it can be reinstalled.
You can also look at the product manual, which describes the maintenance tasks.
This vacuum has virtually no recurring costs. So long as its parts are well taken care of, they shouldn't need replacing. If the dirt cup or filters break or are damaged, both are available on BISSELL's website — here's the dirt cup, and here's a filter pack containing two pre-motor filters and two main filters.
This vacuum has passable storage capabilities. While it’s fairly narrow, its handle doesn't fold, meaning that it’s too tall to store underneath low-lying shelves in a closet.
The dirt compartment is fairly small, meaning that it requires frequent emptying, and lacks a fill line to let you know when it’s full. Also, it should be noted that despite its small entry cover, debris can still fall out of the dirt compartment when removing it from the head.
- BISSELL Featherweight Stick 2033 vacuum body
- Vacuum head
- Vacuum handle stick
- Dirt compartment
- Crevice tool
- Pre-motor filter mesh filter
- Dirt cup filter
- User guide
This vacuum has a poor range. It’s a corded vacuum with a very short power cable, so you may have to swap outlets if you’re cleaning a large area. If you don't mind using a handheld vacuum, take a look at the Shark WANDVAC, which has a cordless design that allows it to be carried almost anywhere.
The vacuum is outstandingly portable. It feels light in the hand and features two carrying handles, one on the vacuum body and one on the stick, so carrying it around the house is quite easy, as long as you keep its short power cord in mind.
This is a corded vacuum and doesn’t have a battery.
This is a no-frills vacuum. The sole control is a power on/off button, which some may find located too low to reach when the vacuum is used in its upright configuration.
The BISSELL Featherweight Stick vacuum only comes with a crevice tool to help you clean small, hard-to-reach areas.
The BISSELL Featherweight Stick can be used as a corded handheld vacuum.
This vacuum's hard floor performance is reasonable. Most fine, medium, and large debris is picked up. Some debris at the edges of the floorhead gets pushed around and scattered rather than picked up, and the floorhead retains a few pieces of large debris that get deposited to the floor once the floorhead is picked up.
The BISSELL Featherweight Stick's high-pile carpet pickup is poor. The vacuum lacks the suction, and the floorhead lacks the agitation necessary to pick up embedded fine material, though most medium and large debris does get removed.
The vacuum's low-pile carpet performance is bad. There's insufficient agitation to dislodge particles, and the suction and airflow are too low to pick up fine material. The floorhead only removes material positioned at its center, leaving fine and medium debris at its edges. This means it also leaves most of the debris along walls.
Pet hair removal is terrible. The vacuum barely affects pet hair at all, smearing it into low-pile carpets. It just doesn't have the suction, airflow, or agitation necessary to pick up pet hair from carpets.
This vacuum's suction is poor. It can only exert suction over a tiny area, and this low rating was only achieved by placing this spot directly over the testing hole.
However, since the BISSELL's floorhead sits low to the floor, it can generate a tight seal with hard surfaces, resulting in higher suction numbers than more powerful vacuums like the Shark Pet/Rocket Pro Cordless.
This vacuum has very low airflow. The motor's not very powerful, despite being corded, so it will struggle with heavier debris.
The vacuum is impressively quiet. It shouldn't prove to be too disruptive to conversation even in the same room and won't annoy other household members.
This vacuum is adequately maneuverable. While the vacuum itself is very light, its lack of a rotating head makes it difficult to navigate tight areas. Meanwhile, the short power cable is a nuisance if you're trying to clean a large area.
To get underneath a sofa, you need to crouch or kneel, and it's important to be mindful of its somewhat bulky dirt compartment which can occasionally get in the way of low-lying obstructions like coffee tables. Rug tassels can also get sucked into the head, so you'll need to turn the machine off to remove the obstruction yourself.
Thankfully, it's simple to swap the vacuum to its handheld configuration, which makes it easy to clean furniture. That said, if you prefer the ergonomics of a canister vacuum, you may want to consider the budget-friendly BISSELL Zing Bagless Canister.
This vacuum has mediocre performance in removing pet hair from furniture. The crevice tool has to be used; otherwise, the vacuum body will just push the pet hair into the furniture fabric rather than remove it.
It does a passable job with the crevice tool, but because the crevice tool's opening is so narrow, it requires many passes. It's a lot of work and not an ideal way to remove pet hair from furniture.
This vacuum has a primitive filtration system and lacks a HEPA filter, so it blows fine particles out of its exhaust and into the room. This is not good for allergy sufferers.
This vacuum does a passable job on cracks. When vacuuming fine particles from cracks, the filter clogs quickly and must be removed and shaken out to resume vacuuming. The lack of suction and poor airflow limit its performance.
The vacuum did a better job with the floorhead removed but the task was more difficult since the vacuum body needed to be tilted at a precise angle to form a seal with the floor. It's easiest to do this with the vacuum configured as a handheld, but this means you have to bend over or kneel.
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Comments
BISSELL Featherweight Stick: Main Discussion
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- 21010
Hi RtingsUser5049778,
The Roku Streambar SE is still in testing. Once the review is published, you can use the soundbar comparison tool here to compare between the different Roku Streambars. Keep in mind the older models are on an older methodology, so some of the results will be harder to compare directly.
Thanks, Matt
Edited 6 months ago: Comparison tool link - 21010
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