3 of the Best Handheld Vacuums in 2024

If you need the lightest possible vacuum and only need it for basic handheld cleaning, the Shark Ultracyclone Pet Pro+ is perfect. At just 2.8 lbs, it’s perfect for getting right to messes, spot-cleaning them, and moving on. It’s not a proper vacuum, though—it’s purely intended to pick up small piles of debris (particularly pet hair) and then move on, while other vacuums on our list can perform a more dual-purpose role.

Still, the vacuum puts up impressive numbers when it comes to cleaning. It boasts a high bare floor performance at 95.25%, making it an efficient choice for cleaning hard surfaces. It also performs well on carpets, achieving a strong 84.5% score, though this mostly means that small rugs will be easy to clean, as trying to vacuum an area rug with the Pet Pro+ will take a long time. As its name suggests, its pet hair performance of 99.165% is the biggest selling point and puts it neck and neck with the Dyson V15 and Omni-Glide, all at the cost of one-fifth of the V15 and one-third of the Omni-Glide.

The Pet Pro+ does stumble a bit, though. It has the highest noise level, at 77.2 dB. This is only a bit higher than other options on our list, but it’s edging closer to what you’d expect from a lawnmower than a washing machine at this point, and it will prove disruptive and bothersome for other people in the room while you use it. The bin capacity is small, too, at 0.1 gallons, but given the handheld nature of the vacuum, this is unavoidable.

Regardless, the Shark Ultracyclone Pet Pro+ offers outstanding value, particularly for pet owners or those who want a quick way to clean up small messes on bare or carpeted floors. It’s extremely inexpensive, very effective, and easy to pick up and use, making it a perfect “tiny mess” vacuum cleaner.