Hoover H-Handy 700 Review

Compact, light and powerful, the Hoover H-Handy 700 is a simple grab-and-go vacuum cleaner for dealing with small amounts of mess. Offering neat storage and a 3-in-1 tool, the vacuum can tackle pretty much anything, with the only complaint that the nozzles are quite small.

Better batteries and motors have seen something of a revival in handheld spot vacuum cleaners. Hoover is the latest to join the party. With the power of a mid-range full-size cordless vacuum cleaner, the H-Handy 700 can quickly tidy up minor messes.

It’s neat, compact and comes with a convenient stand and 3-in-1 accessory tool. Small nozzles limit how quickly you can tackle an area, but the price is good and there’s even a Pet version that comes with a motorised tool.

Hoover H-Handy 700 design and features – Small, sleek and easy to use

• Excellent storage, with everything fitting onto the charging dock
• The battery is replaceable, although you only get one in the box
• The 3-in-1 tool saves space but all of its heads are small

Handheld vacuum cleaners can be rather basic, forgoing accessories for simplicity. The H-Handy 700 avoids this, instead including a single crevice tool attachment, which has a two-way brush that slides up and provides you with either a brush or an upholstery tool.

As such, you get everything you need to tackle all jobs, but there’s only one accessory to store. You can also use the vacuum cleaner without any attachments, if you want to use its wider nozzle to get closer to the mess.

To store the H-Handy 700, you slide the vacuum cleaner into its charging stand, minus the accessory; however, the 3-in-1 tool clips into the back of the stand, so you don’t have to find space for it.

There’s a removable battery at the back of the vacuum cleaner, so you can buy a replacement should you notice a reduction in runtime.

When you’re ready to vacuum you just grab the cleaner from its stand and press the power button on the front to turn it on. As well as firing on suction, the power button turns on the LEDs at the front of the unit so you can see what you’re tackling.

Weighing just 640g, the vacuum cleaner is light and nimble to use, and easy to point at a spill.

If I have one minor complaint it’s that you don’t get a wider tool with this model, so larger areas can take a little longer to clean.

There’s just a 0.15-litre bin in this vacuum cleaner, which is absolutely tiny by regular vacuum cleaner standards. However, given that this vacuum is specifically for spot cleaning, this should be fine.

When the bin is full, you remove the entire thing, pop out the washable filter and tip out the dirt. You can rinse away the mess in the bin, too: just make sure that you leave everything to dry before using the vacuum cleaner again.

Hoover’s filter is an EPA, rather than HEPA model, so not as many small particles are captured by it. For those with allergy sufferers in the house, a HEPA model may be a better choice.

Hoover H-Handy 700 performance – Very powerful

• The same kind of suction as you’d expect from a larger cleaner
• Works brilliantly on all surfaces
• Small heads only let you tackle small areas at once

One of the first items I test when reviewing any vacuum cleaner is its power in AirWatts. This provides an indication of the vacuum’s level of suction. With the Hoover H-Handy 700, at the nozzle I estimated that it produced 63AW, which is a little more powerful than your average cordless vacuum cleaner’s standard setting.

Given that most of the work is done via suction, rather than with the help of a motorised brush, this level of power is necessary in order for a handheld vacuum to do its job effectively.

Power doesn’t always translate to good performance, however; it’s the combination of suction and how well any accessories make contact with a surface that dictates how well a vacuum cleans. For this reason, I run through a series of standard tests.

To start, I sprinkled flour onto a section of carpet. I ran the H-Handy 700 through the centre of this patch using its regular nozzle. As you can see from the results below, the vacuum left a clean streak through the middle; the relatively narrow size of the nozzle meant that a few swipes back and forth were necessary to get the carpet fully clean.

Next, I moved onto the hard floor test, throwing a teaspoon of rice onto the floor. Again, using the standard nozzle, I quickly cleaned a path through the middle, without any rice dropping back onto the floor. A few more sweeps were enough to pick up everything.

I used the dusting brush attachment to tackle the dust that builds up at the bottom of the bi-fold doors in the kitchen. Most of the mess was gone, leaving just a trace amount that becomes stuck due to grease in the air from cooking.

Finally, I tackled my sofa, which gets covered in cat hair. Using the upholstery brush, I managed to pick up most of the mess, but some more stubborn hairs were caught up in the velvet. In addition, the small size of the head meant that it took quite a few swipes to get decent results. If you have pets and want better pick-up then the more expensive Pet version of this vacuum cleaner will be better.

A single three-hour charge results in just 12 minutes of runtime. This doesn’t sound like much, but given that this vacuum is designed to tackle targeted areas, you will be able to get a surprising amount done. I performed all of my tests on a single charge, and still had power remaining to do a bit more.

I measured noise from the vacuum cleaner at 84.5dB, which is a little loud – although you’ll only be using this model for short periods of time, making it bearable.

Should you buy the Hoover H-Handy 700?

Cordless spot vacuum cleaners are genuinely a great addition to any home. When you have a little area of mess to tackle, being able to grab one and quickly tidy up is so much easier than bringing out one of top-choice full-sized cordless vacuums.

Competition is growing in this area, however. If you have a Vax ONEPWR vacuum cleaner, then the Vax ONEPWR Cordless Hand Vac comes barebones (no battery), and offers up to 25 minutes of runtime; it also has a bigger bin. It’s half the price of the H-Handy 700, making it a bargain for ONEPWR owners.

If you don’t have a ONEPWR accessory, then the Vax product doesn’t offer good value: it’s bulkier and its battery has to be charged externally. For the majority of people, then, the slim and slender H-Handy 700 offers excellent value and is a powerful way to tackle spot cleans.