Review: Dyson DC78 Turbinehead Animal vacuum

By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla

Anyone who has pets knows how troublesome getting clean floors, carpets and surfaces can be. Pet hair manages to find its way everywhere and sometimes requires multiple passes and a lot of effort to clean. Add the requirements of keeping a household clean and you need a very dynamic type of vacuum cleaner.

The DC78 Turbinehead Animal from Dyson could very well be the perfect vacuum, and one that best deals with tougher surfaces and pet hair. Out of the box the DC78 looks and feels formidable. It is heavier and larger than previous models I tested but still retains great maneuverability and intuitive controls.

You can put together the bagless DC78 in about a minute and once it is fired up, you are greeted with the powerful but muted sound of the 54 cyclones that provide unparalleled suction.  

Having used Dyson products in the past, I was used to many of the marquee features.

The easy to remove basket, which can empty dirt and debris in one click. The long retractable cord coupled with the highly maneuverable design that allows a wide cleaning range even when relatively far from the wall plug.

Wesley, who cleans our apartment each month, said that the DC78 was the most impressive vacuum cleaner he has tried in this class and noted that using the DC78 saved him a lot of time, specially considering we live with to large and extremely furry cats which are now starting to shed their summer coats.

Not only did using the DC78 Turbinehead Animal do a quicker job, it managed to clean better by sucking up more particles and traces of dust and debris. What makes this an effective vacuum is that it uses 54 of Dyson’s smallest and most efficient cyclones.

Together, these generate powerful centrifugal forces to separate more microscopic particles than any other cyclone. High-frequency oscillating tips vibrate to prevent the cyclone aperture clogging.

Because the cyclones are so efficient it means no filters to wash or replace, no buying of bags and no loss of suction. Simply empty the receptacle when it is about half full and you’re good to go.

Thanks to the Articulating hard floor tool, which soft nylon bristles that gently remove dust and dirt from wood and other delicate floors. It can pivots 180° and has an ultra-slim profile to reach into the awkward gaps between cupboards and units more easily.

The Dyson DC78 Turbinehead is ideal for apartments, homes and offices. It is powerful and versatile enough to manage cleaning floors, carpets and various surfaces. It works great for ceilings blinds and even curtains thanks to the abundance of tools.

Included in the box are around $251.96 (specific, I know) worth of tools, including a tangle-free, an articulating hard floor tool, a stiff bristle brush and even a groom tool that removes hair directly from your dog (or, possibly your cat, but good luck with that), before it is shed around the home. 

Dyson has thought of most of the use cases and cleaning challenges that face vacuums and their owners and the tools that accompany the Dyson DC78 Turbinehead should cover all but the most complex cleaning jobs.

For many people, cleaning and even vacuuming is a chore, something unpleasant that ‘needs to be done,’ using well designed and smart appliances like the Dysone DC78 Turbinehead actually makes cleaning up a lot of fun because you can quickly see the results of your labour and because it is so powerful, you can get work done in half the time.

The Dyson DC78 Turbinehead is more than a wise investment, it’s an appliance that will pay for itself in terms of level of cleanliness and time spent cleaning even in the most pet-hair crazy households.

Rating: 5 out of 5

Comments

[Tim]

I have to say, you soft balled this one. The turbine head and the Motörhead are quite different and actually referencing the performance of the turbine relative to past experiences with a Motörhead would have helped immensely.

Dyson seems intent on using smaller openings in its debris path to generate greater velocity, but then, how does it handle a cereal like Corn Pops or other less than ideal objects that a bag would handle? (This cereal has confounded many models of Dyson) these are good questions to ask because while we all love to complain about bags, how is a partially obstructed pathway any better on a Dyson? The slot in the dust catch that starts the swirling and separation of the initial particles is narrower than any other point leading to the main dust bin. If that clogs with (again) corn pops from messy children, then it's once again no better than anything else.

A main issue with Dysons has been its propensity to collect hair/dust in the cyclone chambers. I haven't found any solid evidence to prove they have indeed solved this issue either...once again, a pinch point - and a big one. I'm sure small dust flies through just fine, but 5000 oscillations a minute will not dislodge a hairball.

Finally, it should be noted that there is a filter in this machine, it's after the motor. The careful wording that, "there are no filters to clean" is misdirection at best. They've got around this simply be making this particular filter inaccessible to the user. Therefore, there are no filters for you to clean.

I won't even touch on the logic holes in promoting "no more a pesky filters" and yet still selling many models that require filters (user serviceable) so do they now suck?

I don't lay this at your feet, but at Dysons. Sadly Google will only show review or marketing hype results in searches. It's almost impossible to find any real review of these machines.

At any rate, if you can please offer more information about the turbine head vs the motorhead, it would be helpful. I know the model you reviewed is technically more powerful, by something like 60-80 air watts, but I'm assuming this is to make up for losses in the air powered turbine head.

Any light you can shed on this would be welcome.