I test appliances for a living, and the best handvac I've tried is a record-low $59

Yahoo

14-05-2025

As someone who tests and writes about home appliances for a living, I have a confession: I hate vacuuming. I can usually rely on my cheap little robot vac to keep my floors clean enough, but a little over a year ago, when I was getting ready to sell my house, I realized I needed something a bit more powerful to make them spotless. A hefty upright was out of the question (I'm 5 feet tall with limited upper body strength). My requirements? An affordable, lightweight, cordless number — and I found it in the Craftsman V20 Cordless Hand Vacuum. It's on sale for just $59 (down from $100) at Amazon.
Related: The best car vacuums of 2025, tested and reviewed
At over 40% off, this dirt destroyer is down to its best price on record — and that includes the battery and charger (which are often sold separately these days). My advice? Zap it up while you can, since this is a steal if I've ever seen one. (The vacuum itself is just $20 less; I'd recommend grabbing the whole shebang.)
When it first arrived, I thought, Wow, this looks intense for a hand vacuum. It's bright red with a lot of angular features, which give it a rather heavy-duty appearance. That's why I was pleasantly surprised to find that it was quite lightweight — less than 5 pounds with the battery attached — and an absolute cinch for my not-so-tech-savvy self to figure out how to use.
There are only two buttons: one to turn it on/off and another to empty out the dust container. Speaking of dust, I quickly discovered that the Craftsman V20 is an absolute beast when it comes to sucking up debris off the floor. Upon trying this bad boy out, I realized just how much dirt my robovac — which I often have to untangle from shag rugs and the like — was probably leaving behind. The V20 zapped up everything from clumps of dust to straight-up wads of hair like they were nothing. (I don't have pets, but I'm a big shedder. Sorry, TMI?) Its 20-volt battery is at the high end of the range for handvacs; no wonder it did such a bang-up job in mere minutes. (For comparison, this top-rated Black + Decker hand vacuum has only a 10.8-volt battery.) It really feels like an industrial-strength vacuum that happens to be ideal for home use.
The battery itself lasts a pretty long time — by my count, about 45 minutes to an hour before needing a charge — and I was happy to find that I could clean all of the floors in my house before needing to empty out the dust collector. Getting the battery juiced up takes about 60 to 90 minutes, but because I'm usually able to get all of my cleaning done with one full charge, I haven't really found myself waiting around for it.
Now that I've had the V20 for over a year, I can honestly say it's the best hand vacuum I've ever used. It's so much more powerful than its lightweight feel would imply, and I appreciate that I can use it to remove dust from furniture and higher surfaces in addition to my floors.
Is it bulkier than some of the other hand vacuums out there? Yes, but that's to be expected given its performance. That said, it's portable enough for me to bring from room to room without it feeling like a workout, and that's all I can ask for.
I'm in good company; Amazon customers are loving this lightweight lint-lifter as well.
"[This] little machine has great suction power!" exclaimed a fellow enthusiast. "[I'm] using for car vacuuming and [it] works especially well on those nooks and crannies around a heavily shedding Shiba Inu crate without clogging. More convenient than [a] standard vacuum when clearing the carpeted stairway as well."
Planning any beach trips this summer? One content cleaner said it's a must: "Got this for my wife [for] Christmas and she loves it! Perfect for the truck and small spaces. We use it every time [we're] leaving the beach, great for getting all the sand."
Even the pros use it, as evidenced by this reviewer: "We have a detail business, and this [is] perfect for a quick vacuum! Easy to use and clean. Highly recommend for either car or home!"
"Would be even better if it had a light on it," said a generally pleased buyer, adding, "Works so much better than any rechargeable dust-buster I've previously bought ... I'd consider buying more 20V Craftsman tools after getting this."
"Love the Craftsman V20 series in general, but this handvac is the best we've encountered," raved a final fan. "[It's] easy to use, compatible with other V20 tools, easy to clean and very powerful. We did have trouble getting replacement filters, but they are available at Ace Hardware."
And if you could use something for those wet messes...
If you have Amazon Prime, you'll get free shipping, of course. Not yet a member? No problem. You can sign up for your free 30-day trial here. (And by the way, those without Prime still get free shipping on orders of $35 or more.)
The reviews quoted above reflect the most recent versions at the time of publication.