Verdict

Pros

• 2-in-1 versatility
• Powerful suction
• Excellent turbo brush head
• Handheld ideal for stairs
• Long cable reach
• Great for pet owners

Cons

• Very heavy main unit
• Difficult to manoeuvre
• Average edge cleaning
• Quite noisy

What is the Samsung VU10F70SHQF Motion Sync?

At the very top of Samsung’s upright bagless cleaner range, the premium-priced and premium-featured VU10F70SHQF (aka VU10F70SHDC & VU10F70SHAF) offers powerful upright vacuuming with the convenience of a separate, lift-off handheld cleaner. The upright’s Motion Sync system offers a swivel brush and large angled wheels for easy movement, and it comes with the British Allergy Foundation approval for dust filtration.

Ideal for hard to reach places, the handheld cleaner slides out from the main cleaner and has its own dedicated lightweight 470W motor and dustbin. It’s particularly useful on stairs, as it affords easy cleaning without having to drag a heavy, powerful machine around. The handheld section comes with a range of tools including a hard-floor head, crevice tool and dusting brush. This is comfortably one of the most versatile uprights you can buy.

Samsung VU10F70SHQF Motion Sync – Accessories

While not strictly an ‘accessory’, the handheld section would be one of the main reasons to consider this not-inexpensive cleaner. This handy gadget simply slides away from the main machine and has its own motor and dust bin for completely autonomous operation. Only the mains cable and handle is shared between the two.

While the VU10F70SHQF offers the best of both powerful upright cleaning and handheld detail cleaning, the trade-off is that when used as an upright cleaner you are manoeuvring the weight and bulk of both units together. The turbo brush head on the main upright cylinder is driven by a third motor further adding to both the power and weight of this machine. This is no lightweight.

The main upright cleaner has a powerful 1000W motor and boasts Samsung’s CycloneForce technology. This has nine chambers that create a multi-cyclonic airflow capable of separating dust particles and debris from the air, and claiming to maintain powerful suction for longer while reducing clogging in the filter.

The HEPA filter is a replaceable unit, but this cleaner also features a washable foam filter to further extend the life of the replaceable filter. The handheld unit comes with a range of tools including extension tubes, a dual use crevice and dusting brush and a hard floor brush.

On/off controls are conveniently placed on the handle, but the beater brush on/off switch is located on the left-hand side of the main body and not that obvious at first. For dust collection, the main upright cleaner offers a relatively compact 2.2-litre dust capacity, while the handheld unit has a smaller container suitable for light cleaning duties.

Both bins are easy to remove and easy to empty.

Samsung VU10F70SHQF Motion Sync – Cleaning

The VU10F70SHQF is certainly not a vacuum cleaner for those looking for a delicate touch and easy cleaning. Not only do its three motors and two dustbins add up to a hefty machine with stacks of power, the Samsung’s wheels are a long way from being the smoothest available.

The large hollow wheels roll freely, but they’re positioned at an angle so that when you lean the machine back the wheels do not track in parallel and create a lot of rolling friction. Imagine a car with the front wheels both pointing slightly inwards and you get the picture.

The VU10F70SHQF’s key strength is very effective and powerful cleaning in either mode. Samsung’s CycloneForce bagless system offers very high suction power and maintained this right up until the dustbin was packed full.

The main upright machine’s powered turbo-brush head is very effective at beating carpets and the exceptional suction power proved very efficient for hard floors, where it would drag in dust and debris with ease.

Despite the suction and powered turbo-brush, the main floor head isn’t particularly efficient at cleaning very close to the skirting edge. As can be seen from the pictures, some powder residue was still visible close to the edge after three passes. This is a noticeably poorer result than the best Dyson and Miele vacuum cleaners that we’ve tested.

Before (above) and after (below). There’s still visible dust at the edge.

Nor is it particularly quiet, registering 84dB. While that is some 3dB less that the EU energy label’s stated 87dB, it’s still similar to traffic noise on a main road. The hand held unit is 2-3dB quieter.

The handheld unit benefits greatly from avoiding the need to have a suction hose to the main unit and is great for getting into awkward places. It’s a useful extra and it’s more powerful than many battery-powered handhelds, but it’s also heavier so takes a bit more effort to get into hard to reach spaces.

We did have a small issue with the multipurpose tool whereby the dusting brush tended to slide backwards up the shaft of the crevice tool if you got a little too enthusiastic with spot cleaning, but otherwise this proved a good choice for a wide range of cleaning.

Samsung offers an optional hard-floor tool kit with window tool, furniture brush, pet brush and a multi-angle stair tool, but given the price it would be nice if these were included as standard.

Samsung VU10F70SHQF Motion Sync – Stair Cleaning

Tipping the scales at a whopping 8.4 kg the VU10F70SHQF is certainly not vacuum cleaner that you will want to run up and down stairs with too often. Thankfully, its long cable means that the handheld unit will easily reach to the top of most domestic stairs as long as your power socket is not too far away.

While the handheld lacks the ultimate suction power and the turbo brush-bar of the upright part of this machine, its versatility and handy tools make stair cleaning easy and it gets right into the corners of narrow stair treads with turns.

We missed the cleaning power of a rotating brush-bar head on the handheld, which again suggests Samsung’s optional tool kit with multi-angle stair tool might be a good bet.

Samsung VU10F70SHQF Motion Sync – Pet Hair

Depending on which part of the machine you use, this Samsung 2-in-1 cleaner can be either exceptional or impractical when trying to clear up pet hair. Sadly, the handheld unit really struggles with pet hair. The considerably lower suction power and lack of turbo-brush head means the majority of pet hair stays where it is entwined with carpet pile.

The main upright cleaner and its powered turbo brush, however, is sublimely good at picking up the stray hair from our two canine test subjects. The collie hair, in particular, is fine and gets caught in the pile of most carpets.

This posed no problem for the main upright cleaner which buffed our 30 cm test patch of mixed canine hair in comfortably less than 10 seconds. The Samsung’s combination of great suction and powered turbo brush head deliver outstanding results for pet owners.

Should I buy the Samsung VU10F70SHQF Motion Sync?

It’s worth considering if you like the idea of an upright and handheld in one. It’s a versatile combination that means you can tackle all sorts of areas with just one cleaner. It’s a strong cleaner, too, dealing with hard floors, carpets and pet hair with ease.

But it also has issues. It’s heavy and the wheel design makes it harder to manoeuvre than we’d like. It’s also strangely poor at cleaning right up to the edge of carpeted skirting boards despite cleaning well overall.

It’s a good overall cleaner and we like the handheld two-in-one design, but only those confident of handling a heavy machine need apply and it isn’t quite good enough to join the best vacuum cleaners.

Verdict

A versatile upright that cleans well, but we wish it were a little lighter and easier to handle.

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