Dyson PencilVac FluffyCones review: Stunning design

Bottom Line: This is the coolest vacuum cleaner of the decade so far.

In the modern age of annual iterative product updates, there are very few products released that truly promise to upend their entire category. But, like the Dyson V10 and the iPhone before it, I think the Dyson PencilVac FluffyCones is a massive shift into what a stick vacuum can be.

In a body that is more broom than vacuum, Dyson has managed to pack all the components required to vacuum your home. About 25 minutes of runtime, an intelligent, slim dustbin that compresses the dust, and novel “fluffy cones” in the motor head to ensure your floor is clean and the head tangle free.

Seriously, the PencilVac is a modern marvel of engineering. Sure, there are sacrifices to suction power and battery life to accomplish the design, but in my month of testing, they never interfered with the core purpose of the vacuum.

There’s nothing like this on the market right now. It may not be right for everyone, but it’s definitely the future of household cleaning. Let’s dive in and see what you get.

What makes the Dyson PencilVac FluffyCones stand out?

The PencilVac FluffyCones is, frankly, the epitome of vacuum cleaner design to date. It is a complete reworking of what you expect a vacuum cleaner to look like.

Instead of a large barrel, detachable battery and complex series of attachments, the PencilVac is designed around Dyson’s digital motor. Capable of spinning at 140,000 RPM, the motor acts as the heart of the vacuum.

But the engineers at Dyson, having comprehensively studied airflow, decided it could leverage the motor in newer ways. By building the battery pack into the wand of the motor, and having air expelled out the sides of the handle, Dyson was able to introduce a new two-stage linear compression system for the dust.

This system separates the fine dust from the larger particles, compressing them at the top of the dustbin, which not only gives you more volume, but makes emptying the dust easy.

Beyond the broom-like design, the FluffyCones themselves are designed with a conical shape to avoid hair tangling, while keeping a gentle clean on your floors and skirting boards.

The ingenuity in the head of the FluffyCones is not just the cones. Dyson has added in the green laser light illumination, which shows you the dust on your floor so you can avoid missing a spot, and the head itself pivots and spins easily, letting you quickly and efficiently vacuum your floor.

For simplicity, you only get the FluffyCones head and a wand extension tool, which is stored conveniently on the supplied charging stand. That means the PencilVac isn’t great for carpets, but I’ll get more into that later.

Design and build quality

The PencilVac looks and feels like a premium product because it is. Dyson is one of a handful of companies that doesn’t really do cheap products, and its quality is evidenced in the entire package here.

The FluffyCones is a combination of plastics, but robust and comfortable to hold in the hand. Predominantly a charcoal colour interspersed with the barrel’s clear plastic, Dyson’s iconic red latches and the red/purple duo of the FluffyCones, Dyson’s managed to make a 116 cm height and 3.8 cm width look distinguished.

The vacuum is lightweight and easy to manoeuvre around your home as it cleans. It weighs just 1.8 kg, and because of the thin handle design you hold like a broom, can easily be spun around as you clean to work around the edges of furniture.

In the box you get a small base station to stand and charge the PencilVac and store the wand attachment. It’s sleek and discreet, and doesn’t require you to mount the charger on the wall like some previous Dysons did.

Because there’s no large, unsightly barrel, the PencilVac FluffyCones doesn’t look out of place anywhere. I had it sitting near my front door, and it looked more like an expensive broom than a vacuum. The choice of colours from Dyson only reinforced that opinion.

While everything feels robust and well-made, I do worry that the broom-like design may make it more prone to being dropped than a traditional vacuum, particularly if you have kids “helping”. The battery sits in the top part of the handle, and ideally, you don’t want to knock around the batteries too much.

But I didn’t test it, so I can’t speak to just how durable the vacuum actually is.

Cleaning performance

On hard floors, the FluffyCones does an impressive job of picking up dust and debris.

In some ways, this vacuum is disadvantaged compared to most of the vacuums I’ve reviewed here at BTTR because the green laser light actually shows just how dirty my floors are, both in front and behind the FluffyCones cleaning head.

But I used it to clean under my bed (which doesn’t get cleaned anywhere near enough) and behind my fridge (which, friends, is not something I’m willing to show publicly), and around my home. It collected a huge amount of dust, and while I expect that it could do a better job, particularly with the dustiest surfaces, if it had better suction, it still cleaned well.

It managed quite well with larger pieces like stray oats and pieces of popcorn that had landed on the floor, as well as the finer dust particles.

Not only did it work well on the floor, the thin and lightweight design meant it was good for cleaning otherwise awkward to reach places. I used the FluffyCones on the top of my fridge without any real difficulty, as well as the tops of artworks around the home with the combi crevice tool.

Where the FluffyCones won’t serve you is on carpets. I have two carpeted bedrooms in my home (plus a couple of rugs in other living spaces), and the FluffyCones is not designed to clean those areas.

This means that the vacuum probably isn’t the right option for you if your home is predominantly carpeted.

I did try running the FluffyCones over one of my rugs, and it picked up some dust and fibres. But it didn’t feel like it was giving me a good clean.

Ease of use

Dyson’s vacuums are brilliant in their simplicity. There’s no confusion when it comes to setting up the PencilVac – in fact the most difficult part of the whole setup is putting the stand together, which takes about 15 seconds.

There are two buttons to control the vacuum. Power and suction mode, which cycles between Eco, Medium and Boost suction power. That’s it, and it makes the vacuum simple enough for anyone to use.

The vacuum can move around hard floors easily, though the conical design does make pushing in a straight line challenging occasionally. You do adapt quickly when using it, though, so this isn’t really an issue.

Emptying the dustbin is one of my favourite things. Because the debris is compressed, it slides out of the vacuum effortlessly.

If I had to complain about anything, it’s that attaching and detaching the FluffyCones head isn’t as effortless as I would like. But given there’s only a single attachment apart from that powerhead, it’s not really an issue.

Power and battery

Battery life is one of the PencilVac’s few weaknesses. At most, on “eco” mode, you’ll get up to 25 minutes of cleaning. That may be enough to get through your home, but if you’ve left things for a while, you may need to clean in sessions.

Popping the suction up to medium gets you about 18 minutes of cleaning time, while at full suction it’s less than 10 minutes.

Charging speed isn’t too bad. From flat, it takes two hours and 10 minutes to get to a full charge.

How the Dyson PencilVac FluffyCones compares

The Dyson PencilVac FluffyCones is a pretty unique proposition. There aren’t really any competitor products offering a similar design or features.

So let’s put it alongside a range of other Dyson vacuums to see how it compares.

But it’s more than just pure specs. One of Dyson’s biggest selling points with the FluffyCones is the tangle-free design. Here’s how those vacuums compete on the anti-tangle tech:

Which Dyson is best for you?

PencilVac FluffyCones

• Best For: Users seeking maximum manoeuvrability and slim design
• Ideal Scenarios: Tight spaces, detailed cleaning, homes with long hair issues
• Unique Advantage: Ultra-slim profile for accessing difficult areas

V16 Piston Animal

• Best For: Pet owners, users needing maximum suction power
• Ideal Scenarios: Heavy-duty cleaning, pet hair removal, carpets
• Unique Advantage: Highest suction power (315AW) with advanced anti-tangle

V8 Cyclone

• Best For: Budget-conscious users wanting reliable performance
• Ideal Scenarios: Regular home cleaning, longer cleaning sessions
• Unique Advantage: Best value with 60-minute runtime and swappable battery

Cyclone V10

• Best For: Mid-range users seeking proven technology
• Ideal Scenarios: General home cleaning across all floor types
• Unique Advantage: Established Dyson technology at competitive price

Gen5detect Absolute

• Best For: Tech enthusiasts, users with allergies, premium market
• Ideal Scenarios: Scientific cleaning approach, homes requiring HEPA filtration
• Unique Advantage: Advanced dust detection with real-time feedback and HEPA filtration

Total cost of ownership analysis

Initial purchase costs

These numbers are based on the Recommended Retail Prices (RRPs) found on the Dyson Australia website. Note that most vacuums can probably be found at a cheaper price from different retailers.

Ongoing consumable costs

All Dyson vacuums feature a bagless system with washable filters. This means there are no recurring costs for bags or disposable filters. The only potential long-term consumable cost would be a replacement battery, but this is not a regular maintenance item and pricing varies.

Since all of these Dyson models are bagless and use washable filters, their lack of ongoing consumable costs effectively makes the total cost of ownership the same as their initial purchase price.

Tips and tricks

• Embrace the "under-furniture" cleaning: The PencilVac flattens to just 95 mm, which is enough to get under some of your awkward furniture. But the head’s design is great for reaching other awkward spots – I used it to clean behind my lounge, which historically I could only get to by pulling the lounge out away from the wall.
• Make bin-emptying a post-cleaning habit: The PencilVac has a tiny 0.08L bin. While this might seem like a drawback, the syringe-action emptying is designed to be quick and hygienic, so the best practice is to empty the bin after every use, regardless of how much you've collected.
• Harness the MyDyson App: Don't dismiss the MyDyson app as a mere gimmick. The app provides valuable insights, such as usage stats and maintenance reminders, that help you get the most out of your device.

Should you buy the Dyson PencilVac FluffyCones vacuum?

Buy if you:

• Have a home dominated by hard floors that isn’t too large
• Love iconic design and impressive engineering
• Enjoy the smooth, repetitive action of vacuuming your floors

Skip if you:

• Have a lot of carpeted areas at home
• Live in a really big house that takes a long time to clean

Wait for:

• The FluffyCones is still new, so big discounts are unlikely in the short term. You might get lucky during Black Friday or Boxing Day Sales.

Where to buy the Dyson PencilVac FluffyCones

The impressive Dyson PencilVac FluffyCones is available now with an RRP of $949.

Here’s a list of prices at Australian retailers at the time of publication:

• Dyson: $949
• The Good Guys: $949
• JB Hi-Fi: $949
• Harvey Norman: $949
• Joyce Mayne: $949
• Domayne: $949