Bosch Unlimited 7 ProAnimal Review
A quality mid-range cleaner with lots of accessories
Verdict
A neat, compact vacuum cleaner, the Bosch Unlimited 7 ProAnimal comes with a huge range of accessories and can tackle almost any job. It’s not the most powerful of cleaners, but its floor head goes a long way towards making up for this, with excellent dust collection on carpets and hard floors. If you’re looking for a reliable mid-range cordless, then this one is great value.
Pros
- Huge range of accessories
- Clever filter cleaning
- Powerful cleaning
Cons
- Average suction power
- Can’t fold in half for storage
Key Features
- TypeThis is a cordless stick vacuum cleaner.
- Battery lifeExpect around 16-minutes of battery life using auto mode and the motorised floor head.
Introduction
Built with flexibility in mind, the Bosch Unlimited 7 ProAnimal is a neat, compact vacuum cleaner with a wide range of accessories.
Its compatibility with the Power For All 18V battery range means that you can swap batteries between other compatible products, including cordless tools, to extend battery life.
Design and features
- Huge range of tools
- Clever filter cleaning system
- Simple but basic controls
Bosch has designed the Unlimited 7 ProAnimal so that the 0.3-litre bin hangs down rather than sitting in line with the suction. It makes the cleaner a little more compact than some, and the 2.8kg cleaner is nicely balanced, slightly tipping forward in the hand so that it naturally points to the ground.
There are multiple versions of this vacuum cleaner available, all with a variety of different attachments, although I have the Bosch Unlimited 7 ProAnimal on review. Finished in a bold red, the cleaner sticks out for the right reasons and looks and feels well made.
This vacuum cleaner ships with a 3.0Ah battery, which is part of the Power For All 18V range. That means that you can use any Power For All 18V battery with this vacuum cleaner, swapping them between other devices, such as power tools. That gives quite a bit of flexibility if you buy into the range.
With the standard battery that ships, the Bosch Unlimited 7 ProAnimal has to be charged in-situ. You can plug the power adaptor into the handheld vacuum unit, or you can attach the power supply to the wall mount, with the vacuum cleaner charging when it’s docked.
There’s a wide range of accessories in the box.
A ProAnimal floor head is designed to pick up dirt and hair, with what Bosch calls ‘less tangling’, and has a set of LED headlights.
There’s also a mini motorised tool for vacuuming on stairs, pet beds and upholstery, which comes with an additional brush, so you can clean one and have a spare ready to go.
A crevice tool, 2-in-1 upholstery and furniture brush are pretty standard, but it’s nice to see the wide mattress nozzle. Even if you buy one of our best mattresses, you should vacuum it monthly to keep it in the best condition.
The cleaning power doesn’t stop there. A long flexible crevice tool is perfect for getting behind radiators or around furniture.
I’m a big fan of the keyboard and drawer nozzle, which is comprised of multiple hollow tubes for sucking dust out of delicate and hard-to-reach places.
Using the vacuum cleaner in stick mode is easy. There’s a slider on the back that picks between the three modes of operation: Eco, Turbo and Auto. With the latter mode, the floor head will detect the surface it’s on and adjust power automatically.
Note that this mode isn’t as advanced as the dust-detection mode in the Dyson Gen5detect, which changes power based on how much dirt it has detected.
As there’s no display on this model, you don’t get any information on how it’s cleaning or a life battery life in minutes. Instead, there are just three LEDs that extinguish one at a time as the battery runs out.
There’s a hinge in the wand, which lets it bend in two for easy cleaning under furniture without having to lie down. I’m a big fan of these modes, but a little more flexibility would be good. With the Shark Stratos IZ420UKT, the vacuum cleaner can fold over completely for easy storage; the Bosch Unlimited 7 ProAnimal only bends to around 90 degrees.
A foot release on the floor brush makes for quick removal, and the angled wand can then be used as a basic cleaning tool for quickly skirting around. You can attach any of the accessories to the end of the wand or directly to the vacuum cleaner in handheld mode.
All dirt goes into the bin, which has a neat trick. Remove the bin from the vacuum’s body, twist round the mechanism on top to remove dirt from the filter, pull the filter out and empty the bin in one go.
Using this move, the filter doesn’t have to be washed, so you can keep cleaning without the usual hassle of having to wash the filter and then wait 24 hours for it to dry. My slight complaint is that the bin release button is close to the wand release button, and it’s all too easy to pull out the bin instead of detaching the wand.
Performance
- Can take the battery a while to cool down
- Solid performance on carpet
- Mid-range suction
I test all vacuum cleaners’ suction power at the handle, measured in AirWatts (AW). On low, the Bosch Unlimited 7 ProAnimal managed a basic 27AW, jumping up to a mid-range 93AW on its Turbo mode.
At this kind of level, the vacuum cleaner has enough power for basic jobs, but it doesn’t have the suction and reach of more powerful cleaners. Lining up a line of rice next to a tape measure, and using the crevice tool, I found that the vacuum cleaner could manage to collect rice from 1.5cm away.
What this means in real-world use is that the vacuum cleaner needs to be placed closer to the mess, when using tools, and it can take longer to clean up than a more powerful vacuum cleaner.
Moving on to my real world tests, I started by adding 20g of flour to the carpet, and then running the vacuum cleaner through the middle on its Auto mode. Here, the combination of the powerful brush bar and the automatic suction level meant that the Bosch Unlimited 7 ProAnimal could leave a clean path.
Finishing the job, until the carpet was visibly clean, I found that it collected a decent 94% of the mess. Any dust not collected is likely to be deep in the carpet, or elsewhere in the vacuum cleaner, such as trapped in the head or wand.
Moving to the tough edge test, I put 10g of flour right up to the skirting board. Here, the Bosch Unlimited 7 ProAnimal did a good job when I ran it down the skirting, with just a little bit of dust left; I collected this with the crevice tool. Overall, a collection of 86.8% is decent for a mid-range vacuum cleaner.
Moving onto the hard floor test, I dropped 20g of rice on the floor, which resulted in the vacuum cleaner collecting 99.6% – a couple of grains dropped out of the vacuum cleaner’s head when I picked it up.
With my pet hair test, I combed cat hair into the test carpet. This proved no problem for the Bosch Unlimited 7 ProAnimal, which removed it all.
I finished by testing the floor head with real human hair. After picking up everything, the roller showed just a single hair around the brush, demonstrating that the anti-tangle technology works well. I ran the vacuum cleaner again for a few minutes for a smaller job. By the end of the job, the hair had gone.
Running the Bosch Unlimited 7 ProAnimal on its lowest power mode, with the floor head attached and sitting on carpet, I found that battery life was 31m 15s. High mode drops this down to 9m 40s. Going for the automatic mode, which delivers the best results overall, the vacuum cleaner lasted for 16m 55s.
That’s not too shabby given that this model cleans thoroughly on each pass. I’d say that this level of battery life is enough to tackle at least one floor of the average home. If you want to tackle an entire home, a secondary battery would be useful.
I did find that after running my battery tests, particularly on Turbo power, the battery became quite warm, and so had to cool down for a few minutes before it would start charging again.
I measured sound at between 67.3dB (low) and 72.5dB (turbo). That’s in line with the competition: the vacuum cleaner is loud, but it’s not particularly annoying.
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Should you buy it?
You want a flexible and powerful cordless cleaners
Its vast range of accessories and powerful performance on carpets and hard floors make this a great mid-range cordless cleaner.
You need more power or longevity
If you need to clean tougher messes fast or want a vacuum that will last longer on a single charge, look elsewhere.
Final Thoughts
For the money, the Bosch Unlimited 7 ProAnimal is great value. It has a huge range of accessories, it’s easy to get additional batteries for it, and it cleans very well.
If you’re on a tighter budget, but don’t want to compromise on performance or features, it’s a great buy. If you want longer battery life or something with more power, then my guide to the best cordless vacuum cleaners can help.
How we test
We test every vacuum cleaner we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
Used as our main vacuum cleaner for the review period
Tested for at least a week
Tested using tools to measure actual suction performance
Tested with real-world dirt in real-world situations for fair comparisons with other vacuum cleaners
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FAQs
Yes, you can use additional 18V batteries, although you may want an external charger to make it easier to keep your collection topped up.
Full specs
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
