New cleaning head, compressed dust: my review of the new Dyson

Lorenz Keller

22/1/2026

Translation: Elicia Payne

Pictures: Lorenz Keller

The Dyson V16 Piston Animal vacuums just as well as its predecessor. But it comes with two new features that, at first sight, look really practical. So, let’s see how they perform in an everyday test.

More power, more suction – Dyson continues to develop its vacuum cleaners in these areas. However, in everyday life, you can hardly notice the difference from generation to generation. The new V16 Piston Animal, for example, has 315 air watts of suction power, while the Gen5Detect from 2023 has 280 air watts. When I put them both to the test, I wasimpressed with the results, but I never had the feeling that the new model picks up dust and particles better. They’re both of a similarly high quality.

That’s why, in this test, I concentrated on the brand-new features and on the aspects that stand out positively or negatively during daily cleaning. The name «Piston» most likely refers to the dust compression and «Animal» refers to the features designed to remove animal hair.

Cleaning head: the new shape’s impressive

The first thing you notice is the new cleaning head. It’s equipped with two cone brushes that are wider in the middle and taper outwards. The design’s supposed to stop long hair from catching in it. And I can reveal that it did exactly that when I tested it – I didn’t have to cut a single hair out of the brush.

Dyson’s given the brush two different bristles. The one kind are soft and fluffy, the other hard and bristly. The bristles only cover a tiny section of the roller, in thin, wavy tracks running from the inside to the outside. The new cleaning head has replaced the two heads Dyson previously supplied. This saves you from having to change them in the middle of cleaning.

It works well. Everything’s reliably sucked up, from crumbs to fine dust. I mainly used the vacuum on parquet flooring and tiled floors but I was able to vacuum the bathroom carpet well, too.

It’s immediately clear where I’ve cleaned. Dyson has once again installed the green laser, which relentlessly illuminates every speck of dust. What’s new is that the laser’s positioned in the centre. This makes much more sense than the side position the predecessors had. It illuminates the floor better and more evenly this way.

There’s just one problem: it’s not as effective in bright rooms or on bright floors. When the sun shines through the windows onto the white tiled floor, the lighting effect vanishes.

There’s two downsides to the cleaning head. Firstly, it’s really high – it reaches 7.5 centimetres in the middle. Especially when you compare this to the two other vacuum cleaners I own that are 6 and 6.5 centimetres tall. Plus, on those, the highest point’s at the very back, at the transition from the head to the pipe. On the Dyson, it’s at the front, above the brush.

Secondly, the roller’s thinner on both sides, meaning the entire head isn’t flat and forms a slight point. This makes it difficult to clean 90-degree corners. If I vacuum straight along one side, I can’t reach all the way into the corner, so I miss a small area.

Dust container: emptying easier than ever

The V15 had just enough space for 0.76 litres of dust. The V16’s container may not be any bigger, but there’s room for three times as much material. And that’s all down to one clever trick: Dyson’s built in a compression slider that you can manually push the dust down with.

After opening the flap, you use the same slider to empty the dirt into the rubbish bin. Both functions work very well, and there’s less mess than with other systems. Nevertheless, allergy sufferers should be aware that there’s always some dust flying around when emptying it. Dyson’s exemplary HEPA filtration won’t make a difference here.

In my day-to-day cleans, I didn’t need to compress the dirt because there’s plenty of space in the container for one full charge. Plus, I’d empty the container after a big clean anyway. If I forget, I can compress the dirt so I save myself a trip to the rubbish bin and can continue vacuuming.

By the way, the V16 will be the first Dyson that can be emptied at a cleaning base. The manufacturer has announced that this will be a compatible add-on. Launch date and price are yet to be released.

Battery and volume: no updates

The V16’s battery life is good, but not outstanding. On the «Auto» setting, I record 50 minutes of running time. That’s significantly more than cheap vacuum cleaners, which only lasted 23 to 34 minutes according to my tests. Samsung’s top model from last year also managed 50 minutes.

The suction power setting you choose will have a significant impact on the running time. On «Eco» mode, the vacuum manages to clean for over 70 minutes, on «Boost» mode it only manages 15 minutes. The good thing about it is the very reliable running time display. I could always depend on this in the test.

As with the battery life, I’ve also noticed little improvements on the volume. In the standard mode, I recorded 71 decibels at a distance of around one metre. The Gen5Detect Absolute, for example, was just as loud, yet Samsung’s top models were slightly quieter. Still, the cheap ones are, at a few decibels higher, considerably noisier.

Speaking of previous models, Dyson’s changed its ways so you can’t simply click older accessories onto the V16 – and vice versa. It comes with a combination brush and funnel, a crevice nozzle and the Hair Screw Tool 2.0 which you can use to vacuum sofas or cushions with. The Submarine attachment, which transforms the vacuum cleaner into a wet floor cleaner, is available again.

Everyday cleaning: clean, but heavy

These are the things I notice in everyday use:

__Weight:__The motor head alone with battery and dust container weighs 3.5 kilogrammes – a similar weight to its predecessors. This is quite a lot and really noticeable as time goes on.

Operation: It’s a shame that Dyson doesn’t have a single switch. Instead, the vacuum cleaner’s operated via two rather small buttons on the back. You can’t simply start/stop it with one hand – it always requires two.

Finish: The V16 seems to be of high-quality, especially because the connection system between cleaning head, pipe and handpiece is both stable, yet easy to detach. However, the plastic sometimes squeaks a little.

__Suction quality:__The V16 has an excellent suction. Usually, one clean is enough and all the dust is gone. Thanks to the green laser, I can see what I’ve done really clearly. I usually let the Dyson choose the suction power itself – it’s very convenient. The display shows you how much dirt in which particle size is currently being removed from the floor. However, there’s nothing more to it than that – and it was already a feature of the predecessors.

My overall impression is that the vacuum doesn’t differ greatly from its predecessors when it comes to everyday cleaning – neither in a good nor a bad way.

In a nutshell

Signs of plateauing

Dyson’s updated the V16 Piston Animal in lots of areas. The issue is, I don’t really notice this in day-to-day life. The vacuum cleaner is as good as its predecessors in many respects – at a price that isn’t exactly cheap.

It comes with two new features: a new cleaning head as well as a suction container with a slider. Both of which are very practical ideas, but, in reality, come with their own weaknesses.

Pro

• Very good suction
• Hair doesn’t wind up in rotating brush
• Dust container easy to empty
• Solid battery life

Contra

• New features not thought-through
• Heavy
• No improvements to many areas

Vacuum cleaners

EUR859,–

Dyson V16 Piston Animal

12

Lorenz Keller

Senior Editor

Lorenz.Keller@digitecgalaxus.ch

Gadgets are my passion - whether you need them for the home office, for the household, for sport and pleasure or for the smart home. Or, of course, for the big hobby next to the family, namely fishing.

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