Dyson has announced a new flagship vacuum: the V16 Piston Animal. It has plenty of exciting features, but one that particularly caught my eye is the fact that this vacuum will be available in a Submarine version.
This is the same vacuum cleaner, but with an extra Submarine floorhead bundled in, which turns it into a mop. So you’d use the regular floorhead for vacuuming, and then attach the Submarine head to wet-clean your hard floors.
It’s not the only 2-in-1 machine in the Dyson lineup – its last-but-one flagship can be purchased as the Dyson V15s Detect Submarine. My Australian TechRadar colleague Sharmishta Sarkar tested that one, and while she was impressed by the design, which obviates the need for a separate vacuum and mop, and found that it was great for small mopping cleanups, she had some issues with the design of the Submarine head – and unfortunately, it looks like these haven’t been fixed on the V16 Piston Animal Submarine.
More frustrating is the fact that this floorhead has been improved in other ways. I chatted to one of the engineers behind the V16, and she told me that based on customer feedback, Dyson has fine-tuned the dispensing of water to make it more even. That’s great (although during my hands-on time with the V16 Piston Animal Submarine it still seemed rather wet and drippy) but there are more things that need addressing.
Sharmishta’s main complaint was that the dirty water tank isn’t fully sealed, and it was far too easy to spill it on the floor on the way to empty it. That’s exacerbated by the fact that there’s no indicator to show when the dirty water tank is getting full, and that it’s tucked in a place where you can’t see it.
This isn’t an issue with the brand’s dedicated wet cleaner, the Dyson WashG1, which came out after the V15s Detect Submarine (you can see exactly how they compare in my Dyson WashG1 vs V15s Detect Submarine article). I had hoped the improvements introduced there would also feature in later 2-in-1 machines.
I haven’t had a chance to try the Dyson V16 Piston Animal Submarine version at home yet, so I’ll reserve judgement until I’ve put it through its paces properly. Will this model be good enough to include in my roundup of the best wet and dry vacuums? Let’s see.
The V16 Piston Animal Submarine is available to buy now in the UK and Australia, at a list price of £899.99 / AU$1,649. The Piston Animal is due to go on sale in the US sometime next year, but there’s no word yet on whether the Submarine version will also be available, or pricing for either.
