A brilliantly priced cordless that cleans well on any floor type.
A cleverly designed cordless vacuum cleaner, the Vax HomePro Pet-Design can stand up by itself for short periods, making it easy to leave when you need to move something out of the way. It has long battery life and the swappable batteries, compatible with other Vax tools, mean you can easily extend this. The dust eject button is a little too easy to hit by accident, but that’s one minor complaint about an otherwise excellent cordless cleaner that collects a lot of dust on hard floors and carpets alike.
Pros
- Excellent dust collection
- Good range of tools
- Swappable batteries
Cons
- Easy to accidentally eject dust
- Confusing range
Key Features
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Type A cordless stick vacuum cleaner, this model has a FlexiClean wand for easy under-sofa vacuuming.
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Swappable battery Compatible with Vax ONEPWR batteries
Introduction
Ditching the Blade name that has adorned Vax cordless vacuum cleaners for years, the Vax HomePro Pet-Design is a radical update to the company’s lineup of cordless cleaners.
It still has the swappable battery, compatible with a wide range of other Vax tools, from carpet cleaners to floor cleaners, but it has a clever self-standing design and excellent performance for the price.
Versions
Vax sells four versions of the HomePro, which differ in the tools that they come with, but otherwise offer the same performance. Vax also discounts them at different times, so prices can fluctuate.
The entry-level model is the Vax HomePro, which just has the crevice tool. The Vax HomePro Plus adds the Stair Tool. The Vax HomePro Pet adds the Pet Hair Remover. And, the Vax HomePro Pet-Design, which I have on review, adds the Motorised Pet Tool.
Design and Features
- Can stand up by itself
- Compatible with Vax ONEPWR batteries
- Good range of accessories
The last Vax cordless vacuum cleaner I reviewed was the ONEPWR Blade 5, which came out at the end of 2022. It was a fine vacuum cleaner, but an iteration of a series that started with swappable batteries with the Vax ONEPWR Blade 3.
With the Vax HomePro Pet-Design, the ONEPWR name has been dropped, as this product differs from what’s come before. Well, mostly different: it’s still compatible with the ONEPWR series of batteries, shipping with a 4Ah battery.
That’s good news, as anyone with an older Vax cordless or a different tool, such as the Vax SpotWash Home Cordless, can reuse their existing batteries to get even longer run times. Batteries are charged outside of the vacuum cleaner, in the provided clip-in charger.
With the Vax HomePro Pet-Design, the battery slots in underneath the handle, rather than at the back of the handheld unit. That’s better for balance, particularly when lifting the 3.5kg vacuum cleaner high, say to clean around the tops of walls and ceilings.
It’s also about balance. With its floor head locked into place, and the want connected, the Vax HomePro Pet-Design can stand up unattended temporarily. It’s a trick that few cordless vacuum cleaners can do. Only the Hoover H-Free 300 comes to mind.
You can’t store the Vax HomePro Pet-Design in this mode, as a knock will see it fall over, it’s still handy for cleaning. I could leave the vacuum cleaner standing while I moved things out of the way or stopped to answer the phone.
For long-term storage, a wall-mounted clip is provided, with the Vax HomePro Pet-Design’s wand clipping into it.
It’s a shame that it doesn’t have any tool storage, particularly as this model ships with quite a few tools: a crevice tool, stair tool, pet hair remover and motorised pet tool.
The latter is great for dealing with sofa cushions and the like, agitating dirt to make it easier to suck up.
This vacuum cleaner is very easy to use, and it helps that it’s so lightweight, so easy to pick up when you need it.
The wand is a FlexiClean model, which means that it’s hinged in the middle. When bent, the floor head can easily be pushed under sofas and cabinets without having to bend down.
There’s a standard floor head with a motorised brush bar, which is designed to work on hard floors and carpets. This floor head has a split brushbar and Vax’s HairWrap Resist, which is designed to stop long hairs from getting tangled in the head.
LEDs at the front light up where you’re cleaning and are useful, even if they don’t quite highlight dirt as effectively as the laser on the Dyson Gen5detect.
There are just two power modes on this vacuum cleaner: a standard mode for regular cleaning and a boost mode for when you need more power. That’s a good enough balance and most people tend to use only two modes, even if more are on offer.
Battery life is visually shown via the LED strip that runs around the back of the vacuum cleaner. It slowly extinguishes as battery life is used, so you have an idea of how much charge is left.
This is more useful than the four simple LEDs on the battery, which show the battery life, with each light accounting for 25% battery life. However, when the vacuum cleaner is turned off, you can press the button on the battery to get an idea of how much charge is left.
Dirt is sucked into the 0.7-litre bin, which is big enough to take dirt from a full house clean. Emptying is fairly easy: put the vacuum over the bin, press the button to open the flap and tip the mess out.
My only slight concern is that the eject button is the same size and colour as the wand removal button. A couple of times, I accidentally spilt dust everywhere rather than removing the wand. Over time, I got used to this issue, but a more sensible location for the button or a slide action would prevent any accidental discharge.
At the top of the cleaner is the removable and washable filter, which will need to be cleaned regularly to maximise suction power.
Performance
- Excellent dust collection
- Powerful suction
- Good hair removal
I wanted to test the raw power of the Vax HomePro Pet-Design, so I measured its suction power at the handle in airwatts (AW). On the standard setting, I measured 40AW, which is enough to deal with most messes when combined with the motorised floor head.
The maximum setting topped out at 164AW, which is good, although a way behind the most powerful cleaners, such as the Shark PowerDetect Clean & Empty IP3251UKT.
To see how useful the suction power is, I put down a line of rice grains and then used the crevice tool to see from how far away it could collect dirt. In this test, the Vax HomePro Pet-Design collected rice from just over 2cm away, which is an excellent result.
This shows that handheld jobs, such as cleaning up DIY mess or vacuuming out a car, which rely on suction power alone, will be quick to manage.
I then moved on to my carpet test, where I added 20g of flour to my test carpet. I started by giving the Vax HomePro Pet-Design a sweep through the mess on standard power. As you can see from the images, bar a little line of dust, there was a nice clean sweep.
I then finished cleaning the carpet until it looked clean. Measuring the bin before and after cleaning, I found that it collected 95.35% of the dust, which is an excellent result.
I then moved to the tricky edge test, where I added 10g of flour right up to the skirting board. Using the standard power setting, I ran the Vax HomePro Pet-Design along the skirting board, and then repeated the test with the Boost mode to collect the bit of dust that was left behind. At the end, I found that 95.8% of the dust was collected, which is very impressive.
Next, I added 20g of rice to the hard floor. This was an easy test for the vacuum cleaner, which picked up everything, with a clean 100% collection rate.
Moving on to the pet hair test, I combed pet hair into the carpet and then used the main floor head to pick it up. All of the hair was collected easily.
I then added human hair to the carpet and used the Vax HomePro Pet-Design to pick it up. At the end of the test, I’m pleased to say that no hair was wrapped around the floor head.
I used the pet tool to collect dog hair that had got stuck behind the cushions. This non-motorised tool did a great job lifting the pet hair, so that they could get sucked up into the bin.
Battery life using the 4Ah battery was excellent, lasting 30m 58s on the standard power mode (with motorised floor head) and 10m 37s on Boost. With this kind of battery life, you should be able to clean an entire house on a single charge without too much of a problem; if you’ve got a large home, then a second battery will help.
I found the Vax HomePro Pet-Design quite quiet, too, measuring 71dB on standard power and 72.6dB on Boost.
Should you buy it?
Buy if you want power at a great price
An excellent cleaner on hard floors and carpets alike, this vacuum cleaner is keenly priced and has some clever features, including the ability to stand up unaided.
Don’t buy if you want an automatic mode or self-emptying
If you want a vacuum cleaner that will react to the amount of dust it detects or one that can self-empty, then an alternative cordless cleaner will do the job.
Final Thoughts
Not just an iterative improvement on previous generations of vacuum cleaners, the Vax HomePro Pet-Design has a brand-new design that includes a clever freestanding mode.
While there are cleaners that collect slightly more dirt in my tests, they’re a lot more expensive and the Vax HomePro Pet-Design still does brilliantly.
If you want a vacuum cleaner with an automatic cleaning mode or self-emptying, my guide to the best cordless vacuum cleaners can help; for those who want a powerful cleaner that’s well priced, this is an excellent choice.
Trusted Score
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
FAQs
It will work with any ONEPWR battery, either bought separately or from other Vax products.
The difference comes down to the handheld tools provided, but the base units and main performance are the same across the board.
Test Data
| Vax HomePro Pet-Design Review | |
|---|---|
| AirWatts (low) | 40 AW |
| AirWatts (high) | 164 AW |
| Sound (low) | 71 dB |
| Sound (high) | 72.6 dB |
Full Specs
| Vax HomePro Pet-Design Review | |
|---|---|
| UK RRP | £314.99 |
| Manufacturer | Vax |
| Size (Dimensions) | 220 x 250 x 1158 MM |
| Weight | 3.5 KG |
| ASIN | B0DK7GHJTX |
| Release Date | 2025 |
| First Reviewed Date | 10/02/2025 |
| Model Number | Vax HomePro Pet-Design |
| Vacuum cleaner type | Cordless stick |
| Provided heads | Motorised floor head, crevice tool, stair tool, pet hair removal tool, motorised pet tool |
| Bin capacity | 0.7 litres |
| Bagless | No |
| Modes | Standard, Boost |
| Filters | 1 (washable) |
| Run time | hrs min |
Other
| Type | Cordless |