Dyson V16 Piston Animal Review: Anti-Hair Wrap Tech That Really Works

Worth When Reviewed

Not but obtainable within the US

Finest Costs In the present day: Dyson V16 Piston Animal

To coordinate with this 12 months’s IFA, Dyson unveiled a raft of recent units with deliberate launch dates properly into 2026.

Chief amongst them was the gleaming new V16 Piston Animal, the newest in an illustrious line of cordless vacuums stretching again to the V8, which made its debut in 2016.

The V16 Piston Animal takes over from 2023’s Gen5detect as Dyson’s present flagship however it has a key function in frequent with final 12 months’s V15s Detect Submarine.

That’s the truth that it is available in two kinds: the Piston Animal and the Piston Animal Submarine. Purchase the latter and it comes with the Submarine 2.0 moist curler head for mopping. Meaning you’ll get a whole-home cleansing system that may deal with vacuuming and mopping.

However you’ll pay for the privilege: the moist and dry mannequin at present prices a whopping £899.99, whereas the dry solely is priced at £749.99. That’s truly lower than the Gen5detect at launch.

The issue is that the price of residing disaster has bitten arduous – and because the high-quality Gen5detect is now obtainable for underneath £600, does the V16 Piston Animal do sufficient to justify the additional spend?

Design and Construct

• Anti-tangle conical rollers on floorhead
• 1.3-litre compacting bin
• Pointed ground head means extra manoeuvring

There are two fashions of the V16 Piston obtainable – the Animal and the Animal Submarine. We’re testing the previous mannequin: it’s a dry vacuum solely, and because the Animal a part of the title suggests, it’s optimised for houses with pets.

When you have pets who shed fluff and fur throughout your private home, that’s a real motive to go for this mannequin, as the principle ground cleansing head has anti-tangle conical rollers that resist hair wrap.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

This cleansing head is optimised for each carpets and arduous flooring, a pleasant function as you don’t want to alter the pinnacle between rooms or once you come to a rug. It additionally options Dyson’s inexperienced LED illumination, which makes it a lot simpler to identify and goal hair and crumbs – a lot in order that I’ve taken to vacuuming at nighttime.

As with all new Dyson merchandise, the package is neatly boxed in all-recyclable cardboard packaging, which is one thing we like to see.

I’ve typically been vital of Dyson’s wild colourways for the easy motive that I don’t need my vacuum cleaner to be probably the most eye-catching factor in my house. However I’ve to say that the copper and black colourway of the Piston (albeit with pink and purple accents) is de facto fairly engaging.

When it comes to equipment, you’ll additionally get the hair screw software, which is designed to take away pet hair from upholstery, stairs and pet beds. There’s additionally a traditional crevice software, and a redesigned combi software with a comfortable brush that’s supreme for dusting.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

However there are two extra instruments constructed into the Piston. Pop the wand off from the vacuum cleaner physique, or take away the software from the tip of the wand, and also you’ll discover inline nozzles for fast cleansing jobs.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

I didn’t discover these massively helpful and far most well-liked the inline software on the Gen5detect, which has a brush for dusting.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

Nonetheless, it’s a good variety of instruments that cowl all forms of cleansing across the house. I did miss a low-reach adaptor software – which helps you vacuum underneath sofas, because the Piston can’t fairly lie flat, and on high of excessive cabinets – however you should purchase one individually for £35 (see it on Argos).

The Piston’s different huge design innovation is its “CleanCompaktor” bin. It’s already bigger than the bin on most Dyson fashions at 1.3 litres, however it additionally compresses mud and grime so it could possibly maintain as much as a month’s particles. This goes some solution to bringing Dyson’s flagship cleaner in keeping with the Samsung Bespoke Jet AI, which comes with an auto-empty dock.

I’ve this mannequin at house and the dock is an extremely useful, time-saving function. Excellent news then that Dyson is planning the same dock that’ll be appropriate with the Piston.

The dustbin additionally has a wipe-clean, easy-empty mechanism that goals to minimise the quantity of poking round you’ll must do to empty it. I did discover it efficient, however there’s at all times an odd strand of hair that will get caught and must be eliminated by hand.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

The V16 Piston has two button operation: there’s an influence key and a second key to toggle between the three energy modes (Eco, Auto and Enhance). There’s additionally an LCD display screen that exhibits the mode you’re in and the way for much longer you may vacuum earlier than it’s good to cost.

Most significantly, there’s no set off that it’s good to maintain right down to function the vacuum.

The display screen additionally exhibits what number of particles of every dimension the sensors are detecting at any time. I’ve by no means discovered it notably helpful to see, however the info is helpful to the vacuum itself: when it encounters extra mud and particles, it switches the facility up (in auto mode, at the very least).

The V16 Piston additionally has sensible options. Join it to the MyDyson app (which was fast and easy in our check) and also you’ll be capable of troubleshoot issues and entry info on filter effectivity and battery life. You can too alter the comb pace so it’s optimised on your flooring sort.

The MyDyson app is superb however the options do really feel like an pointless add-on somewhat than a compelling motive to maintain checking your cellphone.

Efficiency and Options

• Heavy in handheld mode
• Highly effective suction
• Max 70 minutes of cleansing

At 3.4kg, the Piston weighs ever so barely lower than the Gen5detect (3.5kg) however it feels the identical within the hand. To me, it’s a reasonably heavy vacuum however that’s not an issue throughout abnormal vacuuming as its weight is well-distributed.

However in handheld mode, I did discover it heavy. When it got here to lifting it over my head to hoover blinds, I discovered it arduous to complete the job with out utilizing my different hand to assist it.

The V16 Piston is manoeuvrable and I discovered it straightforward to swipe round a ground. And it cleans properly to the sting of a room. However I discovered I had a few points with its design. The primary is that the ground head comes to a degree on the entrance, so it’s not as straightforward to hoover proper as much as a wall that’s forward of you. The second is that it could possibly’t lie flat to hoover underneath sofas, so I did need to shift furnishings round whereas utilizing it.  

In some ways, I’m the perfect particular person to check the Dyson Piston as my family incorporates two folks with lengthy hair and a huge, monstrously fluffy cat. When it comes to cleansing challenges, hairballs are far and away the most important drawback. I discovered that the principle cleansing head’s conical rollers have been extraordinarily efficient when it got here to repelling hair – however that wasn’t the case for your entire ground head.

On the bottom are tiny wheels to assist with manoeuvrability, and these did get gummed up with pet fur, which needed to be minimize away often. To be truthful, that is the case with nearly each vacuum cleaner on the market.

Emma Rowley / Foundry

The Piston has three cleansing settings: Eco, Auto and Enhance. In Eco mode, you’ll rise up to 70 minutes of cleansing time so long as you’re not utilizing a motorised attachment. For basic cleansing, which meant I modified the facility as essential, I discovered I might simply clear for over 35 minutes earlier than I wanted to cost.

The Auto setting is what you’ll want to make use of if you would like the vacuum to adapt to your flooring sort (ie flip up the facility when it encounters extra mud or strikes from arduous flooring to carpet) however I discovered that Eco mode was typically ample. That’s as a result of the V16 Piston has actually robust suction: it has 315 air watts, up from the Gen5detect’s 262AW.

However what does that truly imply? In cordless vacuum cleaner phrases, it’s simply the strongest on-paper suction obtainable proper now. At full energy it’s rather more than you’ll want for vacuuming floorboards or tile, and it ought to give carpet an intensive clear.

However keep in mind that the Enhance setting is extremely loud and can solely provide you with round 10 minutes of cleansing earlier than it’s good to cost. A full cost can take as much as 4.5 hours however, because the vacuum comes with a charging wall dock, you may maintain it topped up between cleans. You would additionally decide to purchase a second battery to swap out.

Lastly, I didn’t discover the bin compression mechanism notably helpful. When quite a lot of what you’re vacuuming up is pet hair, it expands to fill the area, regardless of what number of instances you compress it. I used to be additionally detest so as to add extra weight to the vacuum cleaner by letting the bin fill as much as capability.

Worth and Availability

US customers should watch for 2026 to get their palms on the Dyson V16 Piston Animal. Within the UK, you should purchase it now for £749.99 for the dry-only model and for £899.99 with the moist cleansing head. It’s obtainable on-line from Dyson UK, Currys and AO.com, amongst different retailers.

There’s no getting round the truth that this can be a dear vacuum cleaner. However if you would like a Dyson and you’ve got pets, that is the perfect mannequin to purchase. Nonetheless, for those who’re simply searching for a strong Dyson cordless mannequin, I’d say that the Gen5detect is greater than ok. It’s obtainable from Currys for £589 on the time of writing, and also you’ll be capable of discover related offers everytime you’re prepared to purchase for those who store round.

As I haven’t reviewed the complete moist cleansing package, I can’t say for sure whether or not the Submarine cleansing head is price the additional £150. However we have now reviewed and rated extremely final 12 months’s V15s Submarine. Just like the Gen5detect, you’ll be capable of discover it on supply and it can save you your self a substantial quantity. Keep in mind although, that the V16 Piston mannequin comes with a redesigned 2.0 cleansing head that Dyson considers simpler.

To match the V16 Piston Animal to Dyson’s different cordless fashions, see our round-up of the perfect Dyson cordless vacuums. And to see our high suggestions throughout all manufacturers, take a look at the perfect vacuum cleaners we’ve examined.

Must you purchase the Dyson V16 Piston Animal?

Should you don’t have pets, the V16 Piston Animal is an iterative replace that provides a handful of recent options and upgrades to an already glorious vacuum cleaner mannequin. Nonetheless, not like the Gen5detect, not each new function was a hit for me.

The pointed ground head means you may’t vacuum proper as much as a wall and as an alternative have to show the vacuum to wash alongside it. The compactor didn’t work properly with massive quantities of pet fur – and I needed to empty the vacuum as usually as attainable to maintain its weight down. I additionally felt as if the sensible options have been extra of an obligation than a profit.

But it surely’s nonetheless a superb vacuum cleaner with massively highly effective suction, conical rollers that genuinely resist hair wrap, nice equipment and lengthy battery life.