Fact checking – Using the boost mode of a stick vacuum is bound to save time

In recent years, stick vacuum cleaners have established themselves in many interiors. There are sober ones, colorful ones, light ones, heavy ones… Some are connected to the mains, while others are battery-operated. They use cyclonic or multicyclonic filtration, and are equipped with a collector placed vertically or horizontally.

From the least versatile multifunction models to the most practical stick formats, however, they almost all have one thing in common: a boost (or turbo) mode which puts more strain on the engine to suck up what the normal mode could not pick up. In any case, this is what the manufacturers promise.

However, our tests have shown that this boost mode may not be as effective as expected. Or in any case that its advantages did not necessarily counterbalance its defects, namely a higher noise level and a necessarily reduced autonomy.

The example of the Xiaomi G10

The example of the Xiaomi G10, which currently represents the best value for money in our comparison, is very telling. On hard floors, whether used in normal or boost mode, it leaves an immaculate floor in 30 seconds. On fine carpet, in thirty seconds, the efficiency rate reaches 100% in boost mode and 98% in normal mode. Finally, on long-haired carpets, in two minutes, 98% of the rice is sucked up by activating the boost mode against 97% in normal mode. The suction performance from one power to another is really very close.

On the other hand, we lose a lot in autonomy, since the G10 works 32 min in normal mode but only 12 min 40 s in boost mode. And that’s not all. At normal power, the G10 is quieter than at maximum power: 69 dB(A) versus 72 dB(A). If it doesn’t seem like much, the noise can quickly become annoying, as this excellent article by our colleagues in the audio section points out.

Boost mode: 7% more efficiency on thick carpet

The differences in sound level but above all in autonomy between the normal and boost modes of the different models in our comparison are far too great to draw a definitive conclusion. All we can say is that a stick vacuum used in normal mode is more discreet and more enduring than the same device used in boost mode. Note that we chose this surface in particular because it is the one that gives stick vacuums the most trouble and therefore it is the one that offers the most diversity in the results.

Charging takes time

Indispensable to the use of a stick vacuum cleaner, recharging the battery takes time. It takes at least 1h30 with the fastest models when those that take the longest have to stay 3 or 4 hours on their charging bases. And of course, the more you use the stick vacuum cleaner, the more often you have to let it catch its breath. It wouldn’t be so bad if all devices, like the Dyson V15 Detect, gave an estimate of the remaining usage time to the nearest second.

Unfortunately, it is often necessary to be satisfied with simple diodes which are not very precise and which do not help to plan the cleaning session effectively. In the worst case, you can therefore find yourself running out of battery in the middle of cleaning the living room and you will then have to wait patiently for the device to find a second wind… So much time wasted.

So, no need for boost mode?

The boost mode is certainly not totally useless and it will provide the additional power necessary to suck up some detritus left by the normal mode. It is especially necessary to know when to use it and not to engage it in a systematic way to clean an entire room. Another element to take into account is the type of rotating brush contained in the suction head. We know that a soft roller is less efficient on a carpet with long hairs than a normal brush whose hard nylon threads beat the textile fibers to extricate dust and other dirt particles. In this way, you will not only preserve the batteries of your stick vacuum cleaner, but also your eardrums.