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Stick vacs are pricey. But if you’ve got cakes of dust on hardwood floors, small messes on carpet or pet hair on the sofa, they don’t stand a chance against these powerful dirt-sucking machines.

I discovered that for myself when I tested two of the latest, most advanced stick vacs on all kinds of debris. Over several weeks, I pitted the Dyson PencilVac Fluffycones against the Bissell PowerClean Dualbrush to see which of these new models has the best design, best power and most importantly, best value.

In the end, one model earned its price tag and became my go-to vacuum for the kitchen and quick clean-ups. If you’re looking for the best stick vac for spot-cleaning, read on.

At a glance

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The specs

Dyson PencilVac Fluffycones

Weight: 4lb
Battery life (quoted): 30mins
Battery life (measured): 28mins
Dust capacity: 0.02gal
Additional filters supplied? No

Bissell PowerClean Dualbrush

Weight: 8lb
Battery life (quoted): 50mins
Battery life (measured): 48mins
Dust capacity: 0.10gal
Additional filters supplied? No

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Which one is easier to set up?

Setting up both stick vacs took mere minutes. Their parts snap into place like Lego blocks – with that satisfying click. One of the benefits to stick vacs is that they are not complicated.

The Bissell has a large dirty tank that holds 0.10gal of waste, and fitting that bin into the stick took a little longer than snapping the PencilVac parts into place. The Dyson’s dirty bin is smaller at 0.02gal, but is ingeniously in the stick itself.

Winner: Draw

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Which one is more powerful?

Here’s how I tested the power on these vacuums:

I poured rice everywhere on my hardwood floor,
spilled dirt on the carpet,
dumped an entire cup of granola on a tile floor
and went a little nuts with some flour on a rug.

Cutting right to the chase: as a beefier machine, Bissell handled cleanups better than the Dyson. I measured the former lasted 48 minutes per charge compared to the latter’s 28 minutes per charge. Because it has more vacuuming power, the Bissell was louder, though not in an obnoxious way.

The Bissell didn’t have any issues in any test. It hoovered up the dirt in one pass on both hardwood and carpet, while the Dyson struggled to finish the job. The Dyson also left multiple rice kernels behind, and the unit froze a few times vacuuming up the granola. It’s simply not designed for heavy-duty chores like that.

Here’s the surprise, though. Bissell won, but I still enjoyed using the Dyson PencilVac more. How often do you actually have a pile of dirt or rice on the floor? For normal amounts of dust and dirt, the PencilVac still excelled just fine.

Winner: Bissell PowerClean Dualbrush

$259.99 at Bissell

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Which one has better design?

The Dyson was a blast to use, no pun intended. Light and simple, this stick vac is so thin at 1.5in that you barely notice it sitting in the included stand. It’s designed mostly for hardwood floors, but can handle some light carpet cleaning. The dirty tank is small, but the vacuum compresses the particles on the fly, which maintains more space in there than you’d think.

The Bissell is a more traditional stick vac with a bulky dirty tank and a large brush head. This model is designed to work on both hardwood and carpets. The unit can sit upright on its own without a stand, though it includes a wall mount if you feel like using one.

Both units have a light to help you see dust and dirt. The Dyson’s green light worked remarkably well, reminding me of a night-vision scope. And both units include handy accessories for furniture, pet hair removal and other chores. Dyson also offers an app with tips about its vacuums’ brush maintenance and the battery.

I took fewer trips to empty the Bissell’s tank than the Dyson’s. But the vacuum was heavy and bulky at eight pounds – twice as heavy as the Dyson. That meant I reached for the latter far more often for quick messes.

Winner: Dyson PencilVac Fluffycones

$449.99 at Dyson $449.99 at Walmart

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Which one is easier to use?

A stick vac is not a complicated household appliance. Both models have one obvious “on/off” button and a second “boost” button for higher power, and that’s about it.

The Dyson’s brush head maneuvered like basketball player Steph Curry weaving through the court – pivoting easily around chair legs and the sharp corners of my kitchen refrigerator. Charging was also a breeze using the included stand. You place the PencilVac onto the stand and magnets hold it in place. To empty the vac, you click a button and remove the head, then smoothly slide the tube out.

As for the Bissell PowerClean Dualbrush, because its dirty tank holds about five times as much debris, I could use it longer and in more places, including the living room carpet. But it was bulkier and heavier and less maneuverable, so I had to constantly move chairs to reach dirt and dust. It also took a bit more time to empty, because I had to snap the parts back into place. The Dyson was just slide, empty, done.

Winner: Dyson PencilVac Fluffycones

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And the overall winner is …

The Bissell costs less than the Dyson, but it’s twice as heavy and bulky, so I simply did not use it as much. My far more frequent uses of the Dyson made it a better value.

It might seem odd to pick the Dyson PencilVac Fluffycones as overall winner when it did not perform as well on the toughest power tests. But it was light, portable and capable enough for my everyday spot-cleaning. As an ultimate broom and dustpan replacement, this stick vac cleaned up the competition for me.

Winner: Dyson PencilVac Fluffycones