Hoover HF522STH Cordless Vacuum Cleaner with ANTI-TWIST (Single Battery), Grey & Red

Product Information

Most of us in the UK refer to all vacuum cleaners as ‘Hoovers’, they truly are the OG brand of vacuum cleaners and they’re still totally bossing the vacuum cleaner world with a gorgeous range of products, including the HF500 Anti Twist Pets Hoover HF500 Anti Twist: What’s in the box? Glide from room to room with ease with the universal floor head that features hard and soft bristles for a combination of floor types, simply press the carpet button to activate the rotating brush bar for a even deeper clean. While the G-Tech HyLite is smaller and can fit in a drawer, it isn’t significantly smaller than the Hoover H-Free 500. If you’re after a vacuum that you can fit easily out of the way, the Hoover H-Free 500 is by far the most powerful of the two. Sound levels weren’t too bad: I measured the Hoover H-Free 500 at 78.8dB maximum on regular mode and 84.3dB on Turbo mode. This compares well with the competition. Should you buy the Hoover H-Free 500? The HF500’s design may not have inspired love at first sight, but there’s nothing to offend either. The cyan blue and grey livery isn’t going to win any style awards, but nor is it hideous. The “non pet” arrives in red and grey, if that’s more your thing.

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The other consideration is that using 'Boost' mode on this vacuum means that battery life goes down to 12 minutes. It's a useful mode to have and one that I enjoy using in especially hair-prone areas, but make sure not to have it turned to 'Boost' all of the time if you're conscious of using up the battery. Care and maintenance The HF500 anti-twist hoover is lightweight (2.2kg or 1.7kg in handheld mode) and can be easily carried around the house. I love that the vacuum adapts to my needs. I could use it as a tall vacuum, as well as a handheld cleaning device, for the couch. I even carried it to the car park and cleaned the interior of the car. Miraculously, the roller on the HF500 didn’t get enwrapped by one single hair – see images for comparison with our regular vacuum – following four weeks of vacuuming. Not one – which is amazing. And if anything else became trapped around the brushhead – a piece of cotton, string or ribbon, for example – then removal couldn’t be easier. You simply slide a catch on the top of the brushhead and the roller pulls out. No need to find a coin or screwdriver, or break a fingernail in the process. With a large LED light strip on the front and compact parking position this vacuum has all the features you need including a 2in1 furniture and dusting tool along with a mini power nozzle which is ideal for pet owners when cleaning upholstery.

The new model boasts an anti twist floorhead which is meant to stop hairs getting tangled in the brush. As someone who has super long hair (and seems to lose an awful lot of it!) this is a game changer.

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READ NEXT: The best Dyson vacuum cleaners Hoover HF500 Anti-Twist Cordless Vacuum Cleaner review: What’s it like to use? Keeping the floor head clean is a cinch thanks to the Anti Twist Technology which helps to prevent those hairs from wrapping around the floor head, if you do feel like giving it a periodic clean then easy instant access is achieved via the pop-up cover. The HF500 anti-twist is the upgraded version of the powerful H-Free 500 model. It has better suction power, charges 58% faster and offers a 20% longer run time. It also features a unique anti-twist floorhead, which prevents hairs from wrapping around the roller. As someone with long hair, I know how hard it is to remove tangled hair from a brush! With a run time of up to 45 minutes and a superfast charging time of 2.5hours keeping your home clean is really convenient and thanks to the impressive brushless direct impulse motor dust and debris have nowhere to hide. After testing out the HF500 Anti Twist Pets in my bedroom (where most of my hair accumulates) I can confirm that the amount of hair in the floorhead was much, much less than when using my corded vacuum! What’s the battery life like?The HF500 hosts a 22-volt battery, which delivers 75AW of suction power. Air Watts rate the level of suction you can expect, bearing in mind more battery power doesn’t always equate to better suction. A plugged-in upright vacuum should deliver around 100AW, and 75AW isn't too shoddy for a cordless model. However, do bear in mind that a cleaner such as the Dyson V15 delivers a whopping 280AW on Boost (and around 99AW in Eco). In use, I found the battery needed recharging regularly, making the HF500 best suited to small spaces and lighter jobs. Hoover quotes the battery life at up to 45 minutes, but I assume that’s only possible with the motorised floor head switched off. With the floor head powered, I found the vacuum lasted 26 mins 10 secs – which, as you can see from the chart below, is one of the weakest battery performances you’ll find among similarly priced vacuums. Throughout I've been comparing the Hoover HF9 to the Shark Stratos, as I think these two vacuums are close competitors. While I would say that the performance of the Shark Stratos may slightly tip the scales, the affordability and lightweight design of the HF9 makes it an option that I would tell anyone on a budget to go for, especially if you can find it at a discounted price. The Hoover HF500 Anti-Twist Cordless Vacuum Cleaner has an informed, intelligent design. Instead of simply ramping up the main specifications for boosted suction or improved capacity, Hoover has approached the design of this device from a usability angle. And in doing so, the company appears to have considered where rival cleaners excel, and where they fall short, tweaking its model to make its users’ lives simpler. What wasn’t so easy was bin emptying – or, rather, getting all the dirt and debris out. The lid flips open without a hitch, but you then need to use a special tool (supplied) that looks a little like an elongated toothbrush to hook dirt out of the very top of the bin. The angle required to drag out the waste without some of the dirt ending up on the floor meant that the hand holding the toothbrush got covered nearly every time. Annoying.

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Just like the previous model, the HF500 PLUS can be used upright or as a handheld device which is perfect for families like ours who are constantly having to clean up all the crumbs the kids drop over the dining table, sofas, carpets and rugs! Starting with the Cheerios, the HF500 performed well. There are vents at the front of the floor head – gaps that can draw in and swallow larger items, such as chunky breakfast cereal. On a single six-hour charge, the Hoover H-Free 500 is rated to last for up to 40 minutes on standard mode. This drops down to 25 minutes if you use the motorised floor brush. In Turbo mode, this drops down to just eight minutes. Given that I had to switch on Turbo mode regularly to clean up bigger spills, this isn’t a vacuum cleaner I could use for my entire house. Instead, I see it as a tool for smaller properties or as an addition to a plug-in vacuum cleaner.This Hoover is so light! Once I had put it together I was so surprised, this is the most lightweight vacuum I have ever used. We live in a three storey house and it’s no fun lugging a heavy vacuum up two flights of stairs so this is brilliant for us. It’s compact size also makes storing it easy too. It stands upright on it’s own, you can make it shorter to go in a cupboard or it also comes with a wall mount so you can hang it up. How does it work? The flour test is just as problematic for some vacuums, but the Hoover HF500 performed well here, too. On hard floors, it collected 98% of the flour I spilled in a single pass, leaving only a very light but still visible dusting behind. For better all-round cleaning performance, the Shark IZ300UKT proved stronger in our tests. This has a soft roller for hard floors and can fold up for compact storage. It also comes with a greater number of tools and attachments, although it’s usually a bit more expensive, too. Note that this model can’t stand unsupported when extended, though, so you’ll always need to find somewhere to prop it up mid-clean.

Hoover HF522STH Cordless Vacuum Cleaner with ANTI-TWIST

Granted, it might not have the odour-repelling features and the snazzy look of the Shark, but it's a solidly built vacuum that can banish dust and dirt from your space. It's also super user friendly, and fans of the Hoover brand will find the transition to cordlessness very freeing. Should you buy the Hoover Cordless Vacuum Cleaner with ANTI-TWIST™ HF9? Furthermore, when it comes to storage, this Hoover is very compact. In storage mode, the device sits at only 69cm in height meaning it can be stored in a cupboard out of sight, instead of cluttering up your home. It can be used as a normal vacuum or as a handheld cleaner For me this is a really important feature as we have a large space and I really don’t want to have to stop to charge halfway through my vacuuming. As an experiment I charged it once and waited to see how long the battery would last. I managed to vacuum up the entire downstairs (porch, hallway, living room, dining room, kitchen, utility and shower room) three times before I needed to charge again. On another test I was also able to vacuum all three floors on one charge! Anti-Twist floor head In more relatable terms, there was always a reassuring amount of dirt in the bin once cleaning – a daily act – was complete. In fact, the bin nearly always needed emptying!Two colour coded indicators are featured on the front of the cleaner, one to keep you informed of the batteries charge level and the other to alert you when maintenance of the filters are required. And then this picture was taken just today after two weeks of daily use which included the vacuuming of my bedroom which was the real test as that is where I dry my (very long) hair. As you can see there is only a few strands of hair wrapped around the centre where there is a break in the roller strip. This was easily snipped off in a couple of seconds and compared to my hair getting wrapped up in vacuums in the past this is absolutely nothing! I was dubious about the anti hair wrap working at all and it really exceeded my expectations. I can also see how much it’s working when I empty the dust canister as it’s visibly full of hair. As I previously mentioned, I particularly like using the dusting tool around the home and the crevice tool is perfect for those hard to reach spots where cobwebs and dust gather. It can be charged anywhere You know that meme that says “you know you’re getting old when you’re excited about a new vacuum cleaner” well I guess that makes me old because I was so excited when it arrived! I was actually surprised by how compact the box was and the 45 minute run time on the front caught my eye straight away because there is nothing worse than being half way through the vacuuming and it’s battery going. Out of the box As you can see from the chart below, the Hoover HF500 more or less holds its own in terms of suction power. However, it’s worth noting that the vacuum only has two power settings, where some rivals have three. For example, the Shark IZ300UKT has a standard power setting whose suction sits between its weakest and most powerful settings, designed for everyday cleaning. The HF500 has only standard and Turbo modes, so its standard suction is only a little better than the Shark model’s lightest, most economical setting.