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AEG’s 8000 series vacuum cleaner made light work of our least-favourite household task

It has superior suction and probably the best auto mode we’ve tested

Jon Axworthy
Thursday 18 August 2022 08:39 BST
We tested this machine on our four-bedroom home, to find out if its battery life would last
We tested this machine on our four-bedroom home, to find out if its battery life would last (The Independent)

When we took delivery of AEG’s new 8000 series cordless, the box it came in posed a question: “Why choose between ease and power?”

Why indeed? It’s a question particularly relevant to cordless cleaners, which need to strike a balance between the suction and performance of an upright and the convenience of a handheld, and AEG has tried to find the sweet spot with the 8000 series.

There are different versions to choose from: granite grey (model code: AP81UB25GG), urban grey (AP81AB25UG) and mahogany bronze (AP81A25ULT), all at different price points and all coming with a different array of accessories. We tested the mahogany bronze, which comes with the full range, so you have a tool on hand to deal with a complete top-to-bottom clean of your home.

However, we were particularly interested in how well it addressed one of the biggest problems with cordless machines, which is that if you have a larger home, they will rarely get the job done on a single charge. This means you either wait for the unit to fully charge again before continuing where you left off, or you shell out for a second battery, which is not a particularly attractive option when you’ve just spent more than £400 on a brand-new product.

Could the 8000 solve this problem? And how would it perform when given the task of cleaning up after a family of five and three dogs?

How we tested

A four-bedroom family home (with pets) was the testing ground for the 8000, so we could get to grips with the ergonomics and overall efficiency of the machine, as well as the all-important battery life.

From cleaning up morning cereal spillages to dispelling dust bunnies gathered under the furniture, we wanted to see what a difference it could make to the daily domestic workload.

How often did it need to go back over areas that had already had one pass with the vacuum? How well did it cope with the combination of hard floors, carpets and rugs? And how far into the household vacuum did it get before the dreaded low-charge light began to flash?

AEG 8000 series cordless vacuum cleaner

Aeg 8000 series.png
  • Bagless: Yes
  • Dust capacity: 0.6l
  • Charging time: 2.5 hours
  • Max running time per charge: 35 minutes
  • Weight: 2.9kg

Storage

One of the features we tested is the roll-in, roll-out stand, which we initially thought was a bit gimmicky – it enables the user to remove the unit from the charging stand without lifting it, so you don’t waste any time getting on with the job.

We haven’t really struggled to release many handhelds from their mounts or stands, however, we can see this feature could be a bonus if you’re looking to take the sting out of one of the more physical domestic chores.

A wall mount seems to be reserved for the cheaper machine, but given this is many people’s preferred method of storage (because it saves space) it seems to be a drawback with this model. However, the entry-level machine can only be charged once the wall mount has been fixed, so if you’re particularly screwdriver-averse (or you simply don’t want to wall mount) you’re only choice is to pay more.

On all the models, there is a nifty quick-release button that will release the handheld unit from whichever storage solution is particular to your model, which is very handy if you don’t want to get the full cleaner out and just need the handheld for a quick clean-up of kitchen countertops or stairs.

Operation and battery life

The weight and balance of the full machine are very good and the 8000 never feels top heavy, even though the battery compartment is located just underneath the handle.

It was easy to manoeuvre around the house – going under sofas and low tables and really getting into the corners and awkward spaces behind doors. There is a powerful brush headlight too, which will have no problem illuminating even the darkest recesses of the home, so you don’t miss spots.

It may not have quite the flexibility of some other handhelds, but its suction power more than made up for this, as it drew in dirt from around the vacuum head as well as anything it was directly over.

Read more: Gtech’s multi MK2 K9 is a bulky handheld vacuum with oomph to match

It coped superbly with matted sections of animal hair and dealt with longer human hair too, sending the majority directly to the bin, so there was less to get wrapped around the brush head, increasing the maintenance workload over time. After a couple of weeks, the brush roll was still tangle free.

When the brush head does become a little clogged with hair (which is inevitable) AEG has engineered a pedal on the multi-surface nozzle, which, if you hold it for up to 15 seconds, immediately cuts and catches tangled hair from the nozzle itself.

The engineering of the entire unit is an absolute pleasure, with lots of smooth extending parts and satisfying clicks for attaching and releasing the many accessories that modify the machine, according to the job at hand.

The suction also means it clears floors right up to the edges, whether that’s skirting boards or furniture, which brings us on to the machine’s different suction modes.

There are three power settings and an auto mode that tweaks suction power according to the surface it’s travelling over, and this is where the 8000 really excelled. A lot of cordless machines have this feature, but we find they end up depositing what we vacuumed up on the carpet on harder surfaces and vice versa.

Read more: The iRobot roomba i5+ is a thrifty robot vacuum that cleans up on performance

This wasn’t the case with the 8000, which intelligently adjusted the suction, even when there were very rapid changes from hard floor to carpet to rug and back again.

It effortlessly dealt with dried muddy paw prints on hard flooring and also excelled at picking up fine dust from carpets as it moved from one type of floor to the next without any discernible dip in performance.

Bin emptying and filter cleaning

The nature of cordless vacuum designs is that they’re never going to have voluminous bins to rival upright corded machines, so that’s going to increase the frequency of having to empty the contents when cleaning an entire family home.

One of the major features of some of the best cordless machines is the ease with which you’re able to empty the bin, so the contents are efficiently deposited without leaving you spluttering in a dust cloud with your bin’s exterior caked in the stuff.

The magnetic dust bin on the 8000 is easy to remove from the main unit but actually depositing the contents into a smaller bin is a little tricky without some of the contents escaping onto the rim of the bin itself. However, we found if you empty in handheld mode, you can always use the handheld to tidy up after itself.

All the filters (fine dust, two pre-filters and the mesh filter) are easily removed so you can rinse with water and keep them in optimum condition.

Battery

Now, here’s the sticking point that was reported by our testing household. Even though the 8000 charges fully in two and a half hours, that charge just won’t last over the cleaning cycle for a four-bedroom house.

AEG claims its internal testing supports up to 35 minutes of use on the minimum suction mode, which equals a calculated surface area of up to 75m².

That was actually verified over the testing period, however, if you toggle between the three power settings as you clean, that battery time is drastically reduced.

Read more: We put the Shark anti hair wrap cordless stick vacuum cleaner’s big claims to the test

We found because of the machine’s efficient suction, which never seems to dip, it doesn’t need to be set to the most powerful mode in order to clean well, even on a carpet with matted pet hair.

The best results came on auto mode in terms of battery efficiency and also optimum cleaning.

AEG does say, for larger homes, an extra battery is an option. We wonder if they would consider half price on the second battery for consumers who had shown faith and had bought the top-of-the-range product in the first place.

The verdict: AEG 8000 series cordless vacuum cleaner

You have a decision to make with the 8000, it’s an expensive machine but it does have a lot going for it, in particular its superior suction and probably the best auto (multi-surface) mode we’ve tested on any cordless to date.

If you have a larger home, its battery may not power the entire clean, but if you utilise auto mode and are willing to let the machine have a half charge midway through cleaning, you will be rewarded with a deep clean that’s worthy of machines twice the price.

  1.  £429 from Aeg.co.uk
Prices may vary
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