The Dyson Humdinger is a remarkably lightweight cordless handheld vacuum. It comes with a worktop tool, a mini turbo brush, and a crevice tool with a soft bristle brush. These tools make it easy to switch from cleaning floors to cleaning furniture, tables, and shelves. It's easy to maintain and has virtually no recurring costs. However, it has a very small dirt compartment and limited battery life, making it only suitable for spot cleaning.
Our Verdict
The Dyson Humdinger is decent for spot cleaning bare floors. It does a great job picking up debris from hard floors, but it's not intended for cleaning an entire floor due to its size, limited battery life, and lack of a floorhead. It's easy to maintain with virtually no recurring costs and feels decently well-built. However, it has a very small dirt compartment that needs frequent emptying.
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No recurring costs.
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Incredibly lightweight.
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Very small dirt compartment.
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Limited battery life.
The Dyson Humdinger is good for cleaning small messes on low-pile carpets. It handles fine, medium, and large debris well. There are no recurring costs and it's simple to maintain. However, it has a very small dirt compartment and a disappointing battery life.
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No recurring costs.
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Incredibly lightweight.
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Good performance on low-pile carpet.
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Very small dirt compartment.
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Limited battery life.
The Dyson Humdinger is decent for spot cleaning high-pile carpets. It cleans fine, medium, and large debris easily but doesn't clean pet hair as well. It's easy to maintain and has no recurring costs, but its dirt compartment is very small, so you need to empty it frequently when cleaning larger messes.
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No recurring costs.
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Incredibly lightweight.
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Very small dirt compartment.
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Limited battery life.
The Dyson Humdinger is an adequate choice for clearing small pet hair deposits off floors, carpets, and furniture. Its performance in cleaning pet hair off carpets is okay though a few passes will be required. It has a motorized turbo brush to clean pet hair from fabrics and upholstery, but some fine hairs get left behind. It's easy to remove its brushroll to clear any hair wraps though.
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Incredibly lightweight.
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Includes turbo brush for cleaning pet hair.
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Very small dirt compartment.
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Limited battery life.
The Dyson Humdinger is excellent for cleaning small staircases. It's incredibly light and portable, making it easy to carry up and down stairs. It does a great job on bare floors and a good job on carpet. However, its dirt compartment is very small, and it's only suited to spot cleaning.
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No recurring costs.
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Incredibly lightweight.
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Easy to maneuver.
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Very small dirt compartment.
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Limited battery life.
The Dyson Humdinger is a great option for spot cleaning cars. It's incredibly small and lightweight, making it easy to maneuver inside a car. It has a few tools to help, including a turbo brush to deep clean fabrics and a crevice tool for tight spots. It's also easy to maintain, but it has a very small dirt compartment and limited battery life.
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No recurring costs.
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Incredibly lightweight.
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Easy to maneuver.
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Very small dirt compartment.
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Limited battery life.
The Dyson Humdinger is inadequate for the workshop. It's not designed for this task and will be damaged. Its small dirt compartment will fill very quickly and its internal components will be damaged by hard, sharp, and abrasive debris like wood and metal shavings.
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Incredibly lightweight.
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Very small dirt compartment.
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Limited battery life.
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Unsuitable for workshop debris.
- 7.3 Bare Floor
- 7.5 Low-Pile Carpet
- 7.4 High-Pile Carpet
- 6.8 Pets
- 8.8 Stairs
- 8.2 Cars
- 5.1 Workshop
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Updated Feb 24, 2025:
We've rewritten this review to describe the new Test Bench 1.3 test results and adjusted our performance ratings based on these tests.
- Updated Jul 23, 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 Oct 11, 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 Jul 28, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 1.1.
- Updated Apr 27, 2022: Converted to Test Bench 1.0.
- Updated Sep 02, 2021: Review published.
- Updated Aug 27, 2021: Early access published.
- Updated Aug 20, 2021: Our testers have started testing this product.
- Updated Aug 18, 2021: The product has arrived in our lab, and our testers will start evaluating it soon.
- Updated Aug 10, 2021: We've purchased the product and are waiting for it to arrive in our lab.
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Differences Between Sizes And Variants
The Dyson Humdinger comes in one color variant: 'Nickel.' You can see our unit's label here.
Some later packages sold under the same name come equipped with Dyson's conical hair screw tool rather than a straight turbo brush. The hair screw tool will improve performance on pet hair and resist tangling. See the Dyson V8 review, the Dyson V12 Detect Slim review, or the Dyson V15 Detect review.
Let us know in the comments if you come across another variant, and we'll update our review.
Compared To Other Vacuums
The Dyson Humdinger is a cordless handheld vacuum that stands out due to its exceptionally lightweight design. Like other handheld vacuums, it's more suited to spot cleaning. It does a great job on bare floors with all debris types. However, it has a very small dirt compartment because of its portable design, which means you have to empty it more frequently. It also has a very short battery life, typical of a small handheld vacuum designed for spot cleaning only.
For other options, check out our recommendations for the best handheld vacuums, the best vacuums for pet hair, and the best vacuums.
The Dyson Humdinger and the Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro+ are both great cordless handheld vacuums. The Shark feels better built, has a larger dirt compartment, and performs slightly better on all surface types. The Dyson has a HEPA filter to reduce allergens and has virtually no recurring costs.
The Dyson V15 Detect is more versatile than the Dyson Humdinger, though they're meant for different uses. The V15 is a stick vacuum you can reconfigure into a handheld vacuum, so it's better suited to cleaning larger spaces. Meanwhile, the Humdinger is a remarkably lightweight handheld vacuum that's more suited to quick spot cleaning. The V15 has more parts to maintain but has a notably larger dirt compartment. It also performs better overall on all surface types than the Humdinger.
The Dyson Humdinger is slightly better than the Shark WANDVAC. The Dyson has fewer parts that require regular maintenance, is equipped with a larger dustbin, has a suction power adjustment feature, and comes with a motorized turbo brush. It also performs better on bare floors and high-pile carpet. Meanwhile, the Shark is a little lighter, feels better built, and does a better job clearing pet hair and fine debris like baking soda from low-pile carpet.
The Dyson Humdinger and the Eureka Mighty Mite are different vacuums, each better suited to different uses. The Dyson is a cordless handheld vacuum that's great for spot-cleaning small messes or cleaning hard-to-reach areas. Meanwhile, the Eureka is a corded canister vacuum, so it's not limited by battery life and has a much larger dirt compartment, making it better for cleaning larger spaces. The Eureka has more recurring costs than the Dyson since it uses disposable dirtbags.
The HoLife HM036E and the Dyson Humdinger perform quite similarly overall. The HoLife performs a bit better on bare floors and low-pile carpets and has longer battery life. Its dirt compartment is slightly larger, too. On the other hand, the Dyson performs better on high-pile carpets and has fewer recurring costs.
Test Results
The vacuum feels decently put together. It's made of plastic, with parts that clip together easily and well-placed controls on the top of the vacuum. That said, it doesn't feel the most sturdy, particularly the clear plastic dirt compartment, which looks as if it could crack if dropped and has a flimsy lid.
This vacuum has a few parts that need regular maintenance, but they're easy to access.
To empty the dirt compartment, you need to remove the attached brush or tool, which is a bit inconvenient. You can also unclip it from the body for cleaning, as needed.
You can unlock the motorized brush head by using a coin to remove the side cover and access its brushroll, which you can slide out to clean any debris or hair wraps.
You can remove the HEPA filter by unlocking it from the top of the vacuum. You can gently tap it against the side of a dustbin to remove light buildup, but you should wash it with cold water about once a month.
All parts you clean with water should be left to dry completely for at least 24 hours before putting them back in the vacuum.
Here is the user manual detailing all maintenance procedures.
This vacuum has virtually no recurring costs as long as its parts are well-maintained. You can buy a replacement filter from Dyson's website if needed.
This vacuum is easy to store. It comes with a rack station that can be mounted on a wall. There's no onboard tool storage on the vacuum itself, but you can store the tools on the rack station. When mounted on the station, the vacuum's total dimensions are:
- Height: 49.5 cm
- Width: 14.5 cm
- Depth: 24.0 cm
The Dyson Humdinger has a very small dirt compartment, which requires frequent emptying. On the upside, it's made of clear plastic and has a max fill line, so you know when to empty it.
- Vacuum body
- Dirt compartment
- HEPA filter
- Mini turbo brush
- Crevice tool with soft bristle brush
- 'Worktop' tool
- Wall rack mount (2 pieces)
- Screws for wall rack mount
- Charging cable
- User guide
Since it's cordless, this vacuum's range is limited only by its remaining battery life and the room left in its dirt compartment.
The Dyson Humdinger is exceptionally portable. While it's advertised to weigh 2.1 lbs, it only weighs about that much (2.06 lbs) without any tools or attachments. With its turbo brush, it weighs 2.7 lbs, which is still remarkably lightweight and easy to carry around for extended periods.
Battery life is disappointing. On its MAX suction power mode with the turbo brush attached, it lasts approximately nine minutes. On Eco mode without tools, its battery lasts about 28 minutes, longer than the advertised 20 minutes. That said, battery life can vary drastically depending on power mode, attachments, and overall usage habits. Thankfully, it has a battery life indicator to let you know when to charge it.
The Dyson Humdinger has a couple of quality-of-life features. There's an On/Off switch and a MAX suction switch, and both are within easy reach near the handle.
This vacuum comes with a few tools and brushes. There's a turbo brush to help clean fabric-lined surfaces, a combination crevice tool and soft bristle brush for tight spots and dusting, and a 'worktop' tool for hard surfaces and tabletops.
You can extend this vacuum's reach by reconfiguring it with the crevice tool.
This vacuum has great performance on hard floors. Nearly all debris was picked up, leaving only some fine and a little medium debris along wall edges. You will have to bend down to clean floors because this vacuum doesn't come with an extension wand.
High-pile carpet pickup is good. It left a little fine debris that was embedded in the carpet fibers and scattered a little medium debris along the edges, but performance was good.
The vacuum with the mini turbo brush does much worse on high-pile carpet, leaving just as much fine debris behind but pushing medium and large material toward wall edges. It retains a lot of medium debris which gets redeposited once you pick up the vacuum.
This vacuum's performance on low-pile carpet is good. Most fine, medium, and large debris gets picked up, including along wall edges.
The vacuum does an adequate job with pet hair using its turbo brush. However, some fine hairs embedded in the carpet get left behind, and the vacuum pushes around hairs at the edge of the turbo brush rather than picking them up.
The vacuum's suction is reasonable, though its mini motorized tool doesn't form as tight a seal with the floor, resulting in lower suction than a vacuum with a narrower, flatter suction inlet. For example, the Shark WANDVAC has much greater suction but doesn't perform much better.
The vacuum's airflow is poor. This makes it harder for the vacuum to pull in large, heavy debris.
The vacuum's noise is impressively low. This little vacuum will not be very disruptive to conversation in the same room or the rest of the house.
The vacuum has decent maneuverability. It's very lightweight and easy to use, with conveniently located controls and an ergonomic handle. It's also very easy to switch out tools and you can easily clean furniture or around various obstacles. However, it's not well-suited to cleaning large areas or floors.
You have to bend down to clean floors, and its limited battery life and tiny dirt compartment means you won't be able to clean a large floor area. It's designed to work on tables, shelves, or furniture.
This vacuum has good performance in removing pet hair from furniture. The mini turbo brush does well removing most of the hair, but some fine hairs are left behind, requiring a few more passes over each area.
This vacuum's HEPA filter seals away fine particles very effectively. None are visible escaping the vacuum. This will work well for allergy sufferers.
The vacuum does okay on cracks. It does clear a fair amount of fine material from cracks but lacks sufficient suction or airflow to do a thorough job.
The vacuum's performance on stains is terrible. This isn't surprising; it's not what this vacuum was designed to do. The turbo brush's bristles aren't hard enough and aren't being driven with sufficient force to scrape away any dried-on stain residue, and the suction isn't strong enough to peel it away.
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Dyson Humdinger: Main Discussion
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Update: We’ve rewritten this review to describe the new Test Bench 1.3 test results and adjusted our performance ratings based on these tests.