Electrolux UltimateHome 800 stick vacuum review: A comprehensive clean

When I was young, probably under 10, though my memory can’t pinpoint an exact date, my parents bought an Electrolux vacuum cleaner from a door-to-door salesman. 

My memories are vague and likely clouded, but I seem to recall the (rather heavyset) salesman vacuuming around our home, showing how well the vacuum did its job.

But back then, vacuums were pretty unreliable. After a few months, the suction on that vacuum cleaner died off. The bags filled really quickly and needed regular replacement, and despite the air filter, the smell of dust persisted.

This, of course, has nothing to do with the new Electrolux UltimateHome 800 vacuum I’ve been using to clean my home for the past month. The 800 stick vacuum has great suction thanks to its cyclonic power, and a convenient base station (with a bag) that the vacuum auto-empties into when you dock it.

It’s stylish, powerful, and fairly convenient. It’s a far cry from the disappointing vacuum my parents bought back in the 80s… or 90s… a long time ago.

At full RRP of $999 it’s probably a bit overpriced, but I’m seeing it at $599 at leading retailers like Betta and The Good Guys as I publish this review. And at that price, it’s good value for money.

What makes the Electrolux UltimateHome 800 stick vacuum stand out?

The UltimateHome 800 stick vacuum is that new breed of home vacuum that comes with its own auto-empty dock, so you don’t have to walk to the bin every few minutes while you clean your home. 

Instead, when the vacuum’s 0.4 L dustbin gets full, you pop it on the dock, which sucks all the dust and debris away into a sealable bag, so you should never have to touch the dirt again.

The 800 is a versatile vacuum, complete with a range of attachments to help you clean in any situation. There’s a hard floor and a carpet power head, plus a smaller furniture brush, a crevice tool and a soft brush. 

You get a spare battery in the box that charges in its slot in the dock, and an accessory bag to keep all your attachments reasonably neat. The dock has wheels, too, so it can rotate on the spot, making it easier to access.

Compared to the Roborock H60 Hub, the UltimateHome 800 offers a lot more in the box and multiple powerhead for different floor types. But floor heads aren’t everything when it comes to vacuuming.

Design and build quality

As I’ve already noted, Electrolux has been making vacuums for a loooong time, so you would expect by now the brand knows what it’s doing.

Made from what appears to be Post-Consumer Recycled plastic (though I can find no mention of that on Electrolux’s website, it bears the speckled marks throughout its body like the AcerPure air purifier I reviewed last year), the 800 is designed to be easily docked and undocked. 

The vacuum itself resembles just about every other stick vacuum on the market, with a clear barrel and a pistol-grip, though no trigger to manage suction. Instead, controls are located on the back of the unit, with options for power and suction power.

The dock itself is conveniently on wheels, though placed in a way to spin on the spot rather than move around. This makes it easy to access the vacuum. 

There are two doors on the vacuum. On one side, there’s the slot for the S-Bag where the dock empties the dirt, and on the other side is a battery charger for the supplied second battery. The top of the dock has a single button, so you can manually order the vacuum’s barrel to empty, though it does it itself whenever you dock it.

While everything feels well-built and robust, I did find that the slot for the vacuum bag in the dock didn’t clip securely to the top. That meant that there were some dusty smells through the house, as well as a bit of escaped dust when I opened the side panel. I’m not sure if that was just my unit or a design flaw, though.

Cleaning performance

Great for carpets, but beware on rugs

Carpet cleaning is where the UltimateHome 800 really shines… for the most part. The main brush head gets right into the fibres of a low-pile carpet, and sucks up lots of debris. Even if you think the carpets are clean, you’ll be surprised at how well it cleans out dust and dirt.

On rugs, though, it’s a different story. After a week of using the main brush head, I noticed suction had dropped. When I looked at the power head, the reason was clear – it was tangled in hair to the point of not being able to suck any more. I cut the hair off and suction returned to normal, but after vacuuming my rug on low, it was again too tangled to suck well.

After checking on hard surfaces and low pile carpet, it became clear that the power head was too intense for my rug, even on the lowest setting.

That power head does offer a feature called BrushRollClean, which lets you press a pedal on the head to activate a cutter knife that is designed to remove hair and fibres quickly. 

I found it made no difference. Regardless of how tangled the brush was.

Soft and quick on hard floors

When vacuuming my vinyl floorboards or tiled bathroom areas, the softer brush-roll head did a good job of collecting all manner of particles, from fine dust to chunks of food scraps. After my daughter made some oats, a single sweep over the spilled oats collected them all effortlessly. 

Unlike the Roborock or the Dyson PencilVac FluffyCones, the Electrolux doesn’t feature a green light to highlight smaller dust particles. Instead, it has a regular light, which helps in darker spots but not for identifying small things to clean.

Convenient for other cleaning jobs

The fact the 800 comes with a full range of attachments makes it easy to clean pretty much anything. The wand extends easily and quickly so you can reach higher areas (or just vacuum the floors at a more comfortable height) and the PowerPro multi-surface nozzle is great for getting in tight spaces.

Both the main power heads also have easy detach levers that let you remove the attachment with your foot. It's not as convenient as the Dyson V16’s quick release lever, but it’s better than having to reach to the ground to change heads.

Ease of use

The wheels and design of the UltimateHome 800’s power heads makes it easy to get down low and clean under low furniture. Even on tight spots, you can tilt the vacuum part to push the power head under furniture.

Setup is equally simple, with everything ready to go once you’ve unboxed the product. When you finish vacuuming, or if the dustbin is full, simply placing it on the dock will empty the vacuum so you can keep going.

You do need to clean the filters periodically, but Electrolux has bundled an extra filter in the base station as well, so you can swap it over while you wash the main one without having to stop. 

If the main brush gets tangled, it’s fairly easy to cut off the fibres, too.

One thing I didn’t love though was the S-Bag. By design, it will seal when you remove it from the dock. But if you are checking how full it is and remove too much, you won’t be able to put it back in.

That said, you should get a couple of months between bag replacements at least, depending on your home’s cleanliness, whether you have pets and pet hair and how often you vacuum. 

Power and battery

I love that the Electrolux comes with two batteries in the box, but the honest truth is that in most cases I could clean my three-bedroom home with a single battery’s charge. 

The exception was when I boosted the cleaning mode up to High, rather than leaving it on Auto, to give the carpets a bit of a better clean. 

The catch is that the batteries are relatively slow to charge. So being able to swap them out when required is a big plus. 

With the dock actually passively charging the second battery, you should arguably never run out of charge, though you need to make sure the battery really clips in. The first time I used the dock’s charger, I didn’t have the battery fully connected.