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If you’re looking for a high-quality cordless vacuum cleaner with the latest technology, a few brands stand out. The most notable among them are Dyson and Samsung.
In the past 13 months, both brands have released new flagship cordless vacuum cleaners: the Dyson Gen5detect and the Samsung Bespoke Jet AI.
Both have a similar price and both come with a host of features and attachments. But if you’re considering one, which luxury vacuum should you buy?
We’ll break it down for you, based on specs and features.
Weight
Whether or not a vacuum cleaner is a pain in the arm will make a big difference in how much you like or dislike cleaning.
Custom Jet AI: 2.98kg/6.7lbs
Gen5detect: 3.5kg/7.7lbs
The Bespoke Jet AI is comfortably the winner here, although both vacuums are comfortable to use on hard floors. The Gen5detect is demonstrably slightly less manoeuvrable, especially on carpet. Still, when using both vacuums in handheld mode for overhead cleaning, I found both to be quite heavy after a period of use.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Battery life
Gen5detect: On a full charge, the tested model showed a battery life of 76 minutes in Eco mode, 39 in Medium/Auto and 7 minutes in Boost mode (which you only need for quick blasts of a few seconds).
Custom Jet AI: When fully charged, the test model showed a runtime of one hour – but that is only with non-motorized tools on the lowest setting. With the carpet cleaning head we got about 42 minutes in Min, 36 in AI, 24 in Mid, 14 minutes in Max and 10 in Jet on a full battery. The hard floor head showed comparable cleaning times.
Both vacuums have excellent run time – and realistically much longer than you need.
However, the Bespoke Jet AI comes with a second battery and a separate charger, so you always have a replacement battery on hand. The Gen5detect has a replaceable battery, but only one is supplied. If you want a second one, it’ll cost £129/$129.99.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Suction power
Gen5detect: The Gen5detect has a suction power of 262AW (air watts), compared to the 230AW of the V15 Detect. It is noticeably more powerful than previous models. Vacuuming is quick and easy because you don’t have to saw back and forth to get everything.
Custom Jet AI: Samsung says the Bespoke Jet AI has a suction power of 280 AW, which makes it – on paper at least – more powerful than the Gen5detect.
They’re both among the most powerful cordless vacuums you can buy, but after testing them, we’d say the Gen5detect has the edge when it comes to picking up power. This may be due to superior floor head design.
Display and detection
This is where both vacuums offer something very different from the competition.
The Gen5detect has a color LCD screen that shows you which vacuuming mode you are in, how many minutes you can still vacuum in that mode and – very unusually – the number and size of the dust and dirt particles you vacuum.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
The screen works together with an acoustic sensor that detects and measures the particles. Dyson has included this feature partly to show you how effective the vacuum cleaner is. But it also has a practical function.
Put the Gen5detect in Auto mode and the suction power automatically adjusts to the conditions around it. Basically, as it encounters more dust, it increases the power, without you having to play with settings.
The Bespoke Jet AI has a simpler, easy-to-read, single-color display that shows you the vacuum mode and time remaining in minutes.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
It doesn’t give you an on-screen indication of how hard the vacuum is working, but it does have similar sensor technology.
Choose AI mode and the vacuum cleaner will increase suction and roll speed when moving from a hard floor to a carpet, or when it encounters more mess to pick up. Again, this means you don’t have to adjust the settings yourself if you spill something or sit in a dusty corner.
Clean accessories
Both vacuum cleaners come with an equally large number of high-quality cleaning accessories.
Gen5detect:
- Vacuum body, with a 0.77 liter collection container
- Wall with in-line crevice nozzle
- Fluffy optical cleaning head for hard floors (with green laser)
- Main digital engine bar cleaning head
- Hair Screw Tool (for cleaning upholstery and stairs. As the name suggests, ideal for removing hair from surfaces)
- Combination attachment for mouthpiece and brush
- Low range joint adapter
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Custom Samsung jet AI:
- Vacuum body, with a 0.5 liter collection container
- Telescopic handle that you can adjust to your height while vacuuming
- Slim LED brush+, with headlights
- Active double head, with headlights and a soft roller for hard floors and a nylon bristle for carpet
- Motorized pet tool with rubber fins for removing hair from sofas and upholstery
- Crevice nozzle
- Brush
- Flextool (a joint to create an angle between the cleaning tool and the vacuum body)
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Best features
Gen5detect
The Gen5detect has two notable features. The first is the green laser, which serves the same purpose as LED headlights on a regular vacuum cleaner, but is much more effective: dust and hair glow in a way that makes them unmissable.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
The second is an in-line crevice tool. If you are vacuuming and need to clean a hard to reach area, simply remove the nozzle and the crevice nozzle will already be in place so you can vacuum away the dust straight away.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Custom Samsung jet AI
The standout feature of the Bespoke Jet AI is the Clean Station. It is a charging station that automatically and very efficiently empties the vacuum cleaner’s collection bin with powerful suction when you place it in the dock. There is a vacuum cleaner bag in the dock, which you should replace every 1-2 months. It effectively transforms the Bespoke Jet AI from a bagless to a bagged system, which is a big plus for those with allergies or asthma.
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Emma Rowley / Foundry
Design
Although both vacuum cleaners have a typical stick vacuum cleaner shape, they look very different thanks to their color schemes. The Gen5detect is bold and multicolored, while the Bespoke Jet AI has a minimalist palette of black with silver accents.
There is no winner here, only preference.
Price
Gen5detect: In the UK, this vacuum cleaner had a launch price of £849.99, but you can now buy it for less. At the time of writing it is £749 from Zeer£749.99 from Curry’s and £769.99 direct from Dyson.
Custom Jet AI: This is also a result of the UK launch price of over £1,000. You can buy it now from Samsung for £799 Argos sells it for €899.
At this stage the Gen5detect is the better priced option, but there is currently only £50 between the two nearest offers, and the Gen5detect has been available for some time. We expect prices for both vacuums to shift depending on sale periods and offers from individual retailers, so it’s worth shopping around before you buy.
In the US, the Gen5detect held steady at its launch price of $949.99. You can buy it at Best Buy, Target, or directly from Dyson. The Bespoke Jet AI is not yet available in the US.
Pronunciation
Hopefully the detailed comparisons above will help you choose the better model for you. Both vacuums are excellent and the main difference between them is probably the auto-emptying Clean Station, which streamlines vacuuming even more. But you’ll pay a little more for that feature and you’ll have to find the space to accommodate it.
For more detailed information on how each vacuum cleaner works, check out our reviews of the Dyson Gen5detect and the Samsung Bespoke Jet AI. Or check out our overview of the best vacuum cleaners we tested for more vacuum cleaner recommendations across all price ranges