Eureka Airspeed  Vacuum Review

The Eureka Airspeed's build quality is poor. Its body is made almost entirely from cheap, fragile plastic, with easily scratched glossy accents along the handle and wand, giving it a toy-like look and feel. The floorhead wheels aren't especially robust and don't spin smoothly, while the floorhead release pedal feels as though it could snap off if you were to press on it too hard. The vacuum also flexes, squeaks, and rattles while in use, which isn't particularly reassuring. The sole bright point here is the rubberized plastic hose that feels similar to the one used on higher-end uprights like the Shark APEX Upright.

The Eureka Airspeed is somewhat demanding in terms of regular maintenance.

• Dust cup/Cyclone: The dirt compartment can be easily clipped or unclipped from the vacuum. The cyclone is attached to its top half, just below the dustbin lid, and you can twist it free of its housing. You'll need to empty the dirt compartment regularly and clean it out with water whenever you notice a major buildup of debris, though the manufacturer doesn't provide a specific maintenance interval. Don't put the dirt compartment in the dishwasher.
• Brushroll/Brushroll belt: Accessing the brushroll is a bit of a hassle, as you need to unscrew six screws on the underside of the head to remove the brushguard and access it. These screws are made of cheap metal, and it's very easy to strip their heads, so be very gentle when removing them. Lining the brushroll up in its slot when reinstalling it also puts the belt under a lot of tension, and it might be hard for some to put it back in, especially considering the narrow space your hands have to work in and the numerous sharp edges on the underside of the head. In any case, you can just clean the brushroll by pulling away any tangled hair. You can also remove the roller belt if you want to check for damage or to see if it's been stretched out or damaged.
• Filter: The foam filter is located in the dirt compartment's lid and can simply be pulled out. You have to wash it with warm water when necessary.

You must air-dry any part that's washed with water for 24 hours before putting it back into the vacuum. You can also just check other parts, like the hose or attachments, periodically for signs of damage.

Recurring costs are minimal, with the vacuum's user manual stating that no part needs to be replaced unless you observe a defect or serious wear and tear. In any case, you can find the replacement parts below.

• Filter
• Brushroll
• Brushroll belt
• Hose

The Eureka Airspeed is decently easy to store. While it takes up a bit of space, you can store its crevice tool and dusting brush directly on the vacuum's body. You'll have to wind up its cord manually, which can be a bit of a nuisance, considering its length.

The dirt compartment is great. It's made of clear plastic, and there's also a clearly visible max fill line, so you can easily tell how full it is at a glance. Its actual measured capacity is also very close to the advertised claim of 1.7L, which is similar to a lot of other budget-friendly bagless models like the BISSELL PowerForce Helix.

• Main body
• Dust cup
• Cyclone inlet cup
• Crevice tool
• Detachable extension wand/handle
• Dusting brush
• Stretch hose
• Cyclone pre-filter cap
• Foam filter
• Owner's guide

This vacuum's range is poor. Its power cord is shorter than that of the BISSELL PowerForce Helix, making it even harder to reach faraway areas. Its hose is also rather short, so it can be a challenge to clean on top of high shelves or dressers.

This is an impressively portable vacuum for an upright. It weighs roughly the same as some cordless stick vacuums, such as the Shark Vertex Pro Lightweight, and it isn't too hard to carry around. It has a somewhat bottom-heavy weight distribution, and it puts very little stress on your arm while in use.

This is a corded vacuum that doesn't have a battery.

This vacuum has almost no extra convenience features. There's a release pedal at the back of its head to toggle between three floorhead angles: fully upright to keep the vacuum standing, normal operation, and a low position for cleaning under tables and chairs. Unlike the BISSELL PowerForce Helix, there's no floorhead height adjustment to make it easier to clean surfaces like thicker carpeting. You also can't turn off the Eureka's brushroll, which can be a nuisance when you're using it in its semi-handheld configuration.

The Eureka Airspeed comes with two extra tools that can be attached to its wand. There's a crevice tool for cleaning tight spots and a soft-bristle brush for cleaning more delicate surfaces.

You can clean hard-to-reach areas using the vacuum's hose in its semi-handheld configuration. Since the hose is so short, you'll need to lug around the rest of the vacuum as you clean, and having the rapidly spinning brushroll so close to your leg can be disconcerting.

This vacuum's performance on bare floors is terrible, largely due to its lack of a brushroll off switch. Small debris is launched backward by the rotation of the roller, mostly in the direction of your shins. The vacuum itself does little to actually suck up larger material, with most being stuck at the front of its head.

This vacuum performs poorly on high-pile carpets. It's pretty effective at dealing with finer debris like sand but does almost nothing to clear away medium-sized and bulky debris like rice or whole pieces of cereal.

This vacuum's performance on low-pile carpets is bad. As with its performance on high-pile carpets, it can clear away a fair amount of fine debris within a single back-and-forth sweep, but larger debris gets caught at the front of its head and pushed around.

Pet hair pickup on low-pile carpets is good. It'll clear away most strands within a single sweep, though you might have to go over the same area again for shorter strands that have been pressed into carpet fibers a little more deeply.

This vacuum exerts minimal suction force at its floorhead, which is too high above the ground to generate a tight seal. This low suction force, combined with its inefficient floorhead design, contributes to its poor overall debris-pickup performance, especially in cracks and crevices.

The Eureka Airspeed's airflow performance is decent. It falls well short of even moderately more expensive uprights like the Kenmore Intuition Bagged, but it's still okay overall. While it might struggle to lift up heavier debris from its floorhead, you won't have nearly as much trouble if you use its wand.

This is a pretty noisy vacuum, as it can easily mask nearby conversation if it's running within the same room. The bulk of the noise comes from the vacuum's brushroll, which is always spinning.

This vacuum's maneuverability is middling. Its head doesn't pivot from side to side, but it does have plastic wheels that can be slid around; unfortunately, doing this can scratch delicate floors. It's thankfully pretty lightweight, and it's easy to carry around even in its semi-handheld configuration. However, since its brushroll can't be stopped, it can be somewhat uncomfortable having it spin so close to your leg.

Even though the vacuum's body can be tilted to lie almost completely flat against the ground, the dirt compartment is a little bulky, so it can be difficult to clean under some tables and chairs.

You should be careful when using this vacuum to clean rugs: it can easily get caught on rug tassels or stuck completely on shag-pile carpeting to the point where it could rip out rug tassels or carpet fibers.

This vacuum is decently effective when clearing pet hair on furniture. Its soft-bristle brush is somewhat effective when collecting pet hair on fabric. While hair does tend to collect in its bristles very easily, it's quite easy to remove. Unfortunately, the vacuum's short hose can make it a little unwieldy to use on furniture since you'll have to carry around the rest of its body separately.

Its air filtration performance is poor. The vacuum isn't rated as being allergen-sealed and lacks a HEPA filter. Particulate matter can escape from panel gaps at the top of its floorhead as well as its exhaust.

This vacuum does a poor job of cleaning cracks. Due to its low suction power and lack of a floorhead height adjustment system, it can really only remove a small amount of debris in very shallow crevices. If you want to clean deeper cracks, it's highly recommended you use it in its semi-handheld configuration with its crevice tool.

This vacuum has no impact on dried-on stains.