With the emergence of the Covid-19 pandemic, there is an increased interest in hygiene in homes around the globe including in India.
Besides the Coronavirus threat, keeping the house clean is very important for the well-being of the family members and avoiding the recurrence of contagious diseases like cold and flu.
Dyson, known for its world-class home appliances, has come up with the new compact chord-less stick cleaner V12 Detect Slim series in India for Rs 58,900.
I have been using the review model for more than a couple of weeks and here are my thoughts on Dyson V12 Detect Slim.
Design and user experience
Like the V11 series, the new V12 too is a cordless stick vacuum cleaner but it is more compact and lighter than the predecessor.
Also, it has undergone some value-added changes that make the cleaning process with the V12 Detect Slim, less arduous than before.
Depending on the type of attachment, it weighs around 2.2kg to 2.4kg. In the retail box, the company is offering seven cleaner heads-- direct-drive cleaner head, combi tool, crevice tool, soft dusting brush, stubborn dust brush, fluffy cleaner head, and hair screw tool. The last two are new and effective, more on those tools later.
The Dyson cleaner can generate up to 150 air watts of powerful suction and comes with a 5-stage filtration system that can capture up to 99.99% of dust particles as small as 0.3 microns [FYI- an average human hair measures around 70 microns].
After the launch of the V11 series, Dyson received a lot of valuable feedback from customers. One major qualm was the trigger feature, which needs to be held by fingers throughout the cleaning process. This apparently put stress on the fingers and the hand.
So, in the new V12 model, Dyson has let go of the trigger button. Now, it has a single on/off button and users have to press it only once to switch between on and off states.
This change has marked improvement in terms of user experience cleaning the house with the V12 Slim Detect.
Another new and most significant addition we see in Dyson V12 Slim Detect is the new-age laser sensor with a Slim Fluffy cleaner head.
The green laser diode is precisely placed at a 1.5-degree angle and 7.3mm from the ground. And, when the machine is running, it shoots the laser on the surface of the floor revealing dust particles, which are invisible to the naked eye in natural light conditions. This will help the user to deep clean the surface more efficiently than ever before.
I was told that Dyson engineers conducted several tests and developed more than 500 prototypes of custom laser lens, before coming up with a final compact design, that could be incorporated into the green laser diode of the Slim Fluffy cleaner head. During the testing, it lived up to the hype and fared really well in terms of deep cleaning.
Also, I was a little concerned about extra power routed to the laser diode, and truth be told, it had no significant impact on the time range. With normal mode on, the Dyson cleaner was able to consistently last more than 45 minutes. Under Eco-mode, it can go up to one hour.
On average, the Dyson V12 Slim Detect's rechargeable battery needs close to four hours to fully charge from zero to 100 per cent capacity.
An interesting thing about the battery is that it can be swapped with another pack. There is a switch to pull the battery and it comes off easily without any fuss. However, owners have to buy separately. This is a neat feature, as users can prolong the life span of the cleaner.
In the previous editions and even other cordless stick vacuum cleaners for that matter, if the battery of the device loses the power retaining capacity, the whole set has to be replaced with a new model.
Now, with Dyson V12 Detect Slim, they can continue with cleaner for several years by just replacing the batteries. Also, if the user has a good habit of cleaning the bin and the brush heads once in a while, the device last longer than the average life span. There are lots of tutorials online for Dyson cleaners and make good use of them.
The hair screw tool works effortlessly in picking the long hairs. It easily rolls and makes a ball and shoots up to the bin. With the previous version or any rival vacuum cleaner with a normal fluffy cleaner head, it is a very tedious task to clean hairs, as they get entangled and we have to pull them by hands and put extra effort. It gets worse if the owner has a pet dog. Dyson has done a good job with the hair screw tool design.
Another improvement we see in the V12 Detect Slim is that the bin has new sensors, which can show the number of particles and their sizes accumulated there.
As you can see in the photo (above), the display panel at the back shows a bar chart with the astonishing number of dust particles accumulated in the bin, and that too, not even half has been filled. We can't possibly authenticate how genuine the numbers are, but one thing I can vouch for is how efficient it is.
It should be noted that the V12 Detect Slim comes with a wall mount set up in the retail box unlike the V11 Absolute Pro, which comes with a stand and up to four slots for brush head attachments.
Final thoughts
Though the suctional power is a bit low compared to the V11 Absolute Pro (review), the V12 compact form factor makes it easy to move around and the power-on button makes the cleaning chore effortless.
Also, during the product briefing, I thought the green laser light was gimmicky. But, it actually is really helpful in cleaning in dark corners of the sofa and bed.
Furthermore, the swappable battery pack option adds value in terms of user convenience. Overall, the V12 Detect Slim is a compelling vacuum cleaner for any house owner in urban regions.
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