Miele Classic C1 Pure Suction Powerline Review

The Miele Classic C1 sports the perfect balance between price and performance. This vacuum tackles just about any floor type you throw at it, with the exception of high pile carpet. It has the strongest suction in our lineup and even cleans pet hair out of carpet quite well. It is also fairly lightweight at 13.1 pounds, so you can feel confident taking this up and down the stairs with you.

Performance Comparison

Carpet Performance

Our carpet cleaning evaluations were split between low- and high-pile tests. Low-pile carpet refers to anything under half an inch, while anything above is considered high-pile. We made a mess on each carpet style and let the Miele do its thing. We weighed the final amount picked up in our testing window and reran the test a second time. Below, we break this down based on carpet type.

Low Pile

After dumping a cup and a half of rice, sand, and Cheerios on our test carpets, we put the Miele C1 to work. Impressively, this vacuum picked up an average of 90.87% of the debris on a low-pile rug within our 24-second testing window. Of the 327 grams of mixed debris that we spread on the carpet, we picked up 316 grams with the Miele. What does that really mean when compared to others? You won't be able to get your carpet completely like new with any vacuum you use so the 9% left behind isn't terrible. In fact, it is above average, with most others leaving behind about 15% of debris. This was measured by extracting the mixture from the vacuum post-cleaning. However, the Miele has a notably better performance when used slower. If you have the extra time, the roughly 90% will likely increase.

High Pile

Our high-pile shag rug was much more difficult to clean, and this wasn't unique to the Miele. All canister vacuums struggled to pick up smaller debris in the carpet effectively. That said, the Miele Classic C1 did better than most of the lineup, picking up an average of 53% of the mixture. The vacuum sucked up Cheerios with no trouble; however, the sand and rice effectively got pushed deeper into the long strands. With extra time, we were able to pick up slightly more, but not much more.

Before Testing After Testing

Hardwood Performance

The C1 has the strongest suction in the lineup, and this was evident in our hardwood tests. After dumping another cup and a half of Cheerios, rice, and sand on the floor, we set the Miele on a quest to pick it all up, and so it did.

We were pleased to see that the canister vacuum took up 99.5% of the mixture. We were able to determine this number by measuring the weight of the substrate before it was dumped on the floor and comparing that to the weight of the substrate extracted from the vacuum after cleaning. No other canister vacuum cleaned more during our testing. With a tap of a button on the head, small bristles get exposed. This allows the standard attachment to glide across the floor without scratching it up. It also helps to loosen debris and suck it in, especially when getting pulled backward. If you have hardwood flooring or similar, the Classic C1 is an excellent choice.

Next, we ran the vacuum over a bamboo slated mat to see how well it could pick up within crevices. While the Miele Classic is equipped with a crevice nozzle, we opted to use the already-equipped vacuum head to see how well it could perform without any special tools. Vacuuming isn't necessarily a fun chore, so it to keep it as realistic as possible, we kept the standard brush head attached. And to our delight, it did very well with this. It picked up 96.67% of the mixture lodged within the bamboo slot. This means you can reliably clean in tricky crevices without needing to switch out attachments. Should you want to get even closer to 100%, these tools are available.

One of the trickiest places vacuums struggle to clean is the edges along walls. This is where canister vacuums shine, and particularly the Miele Classic C1 Pure Suction. We sprinkled two tablespoons of ground coffee along a baseboard within two 16-inch sections. The C1 Pure Suction picked up just about all the coffee from the baseboard, regardless of the direction from which we approached it. This is thanks to the bristles along the brush head that guide the grounds into the powerful suction and large hole. The bristles are soft enough that debris can still make their way through, but sturdy enough to hold some space off the ground. For small debris, like coffee grounds, this is a very effective design. Again, we give another nod to the power of the suction of this vacuum.

Ease of Use

Our ease of use evaluation contains a series of subtests, including maneuverability, ease of cleaning the machine, upholstery, and attachments. Overall, the Miele C1 is one of the top performers in this category. Below we break this down into each subtest.

Maneuverability

The Classic C1 transitions well between surfaces. As you move from carpet to hard floor, or vice versa, you can tap the bristle button with your foot to either hide or expose them. This means you don't actually need to bend over to switch the mode as you move from one floor type to the next. The swivel on the head is slightly stiff but still moves well around and under furniture and tight places. The machine is a total of 13.1 pounds, 2.2 of which are the tubing, handle, and floor head. This is on the lighter side and should have no problem making its way up and down the stairs with you.

Ease of Cleaning

This subtest refers to how easy it is to clean the vacuum itself. This includes changing out filters and replacement bags, which the Miele has both of. The bags need to be replaced when full. There's an indicator light on the outside of the machine to inform you the bag needs to be changed. This is a very easy process. Just slide the old one out and slide the new one in. The replacement bags come with replacement filters. The filters were also very easy to replace. The pre-motor filter will likely need to be trimmed, but it has a cut line printed on it so it isn't too complex. It is worth noting the replacement bags were among the most expensive in our lineup.

Upholstery and Attachments

The Miele Classic has an excellent set of attachments that include a dusting brush, upholstery nozzle, crevice tool, and floorhead. However, there is no internal storage on this machine. Instead, the tools rest in a holster on the tubing that can be moved to the handle or base by the canister. We chose to keep the holster at the base so they weren't in the way. But if you need the tools closer, you can always move them to the handle. We also love the quick coil option. Just tap the button and the cord coils within the machine on its own. Those days of coiling up the cord are over with the Miele. When tested, the upholstery attachment sucked up almost all the coffee grounds from our throw pillow.

Pet Hair

Another classic area where vacuums either struggle or succeed is with pet hair. And if you have a shedding furry friend at home, you know how tricky it can be to pick up all their hair. We collected real, yes real, pet hair from our homes and carefully massaged it into low and high-pile rugs. Then, we let the Miele C1 pass over, collecting as much as it could in our 24-second timed test.

The Miele collected 90% of the pet hair on low-pile carpet and 80% on high-pile carpets. While that might not sound like too much, this was a fairly impressive collection of hair in such a short time period, especially on high-pile carpet. Visually, it looked like just a few straggling hairs were left behind. We tip our hats to the bristles on this vacuum head once again. Though the bristles are technically meant for hard surfaces, we find them very effective at pulling our hair. They essentially brush the carpet, pulling out the fur. And for a vacuum like the Miele Classic, the hair gets quickly pulled into the suction once dislodged from the carpet.

Before Testing After Testing

Filtration and Suction

Our final tests revolved around filtration and suction. During tests, we can get an idea of how good a vacuums suction is, but we went the extra mile and tested it anyway. We also wanted to see how much debris would get blown out of the vacuum. Ideally is stays inside, but that isn't always the case.

Filtration

The C1 Pure Suction is one of the few in the lineup that does well at filtering without a HEPA filter. Instead, its system uses an AirClean exhaust filter, an AirClean filter bag, and a motor filter. We used a Dylos particle counter to see how much escaped. To our delight not much did. The average peak of small particles was 57 and the large average peak was 16. Compared to the rest of the lineup, it is clear this vacuum does a great job keeping particles contained within the canister.

Suction

The Miele Classic C1 had the highest level of suction in our lineup. We tested this in pascals, with the vacuum creating 3,957 Pa. This is enough suction for just about anything. You likely won't need this high of suction for everything you vacuum though. If you try to use this high setting on curtains, you'll likely suck them in. Luckily, the C1 has an adjustable suction strength located on the machine. This is a dial, so you will need to bend down to adjust it, but we still appreciate its presence. It has specific settings to cut power based on the type of vacuuming you are doing.

Should You Buy the Miele Classic C1 Pure Suction Powerline?

The Miele Classic C1 has everything you could need in a vacuum, unless you have a substantial amount of high-pile carpet that needs vacuuming. While it isn't the cheapest in our lineup, it certainly isn't the most expensive either. This mid-grade vacuum certainly proves itself as an excellent model on various surface types. We love how easy it is to get this vacuum running and quickly it cleans up a mess. You can't go wrong with the Miele C1.

What Other Canister Vacuums Should You Consider?

The Miele Complete C3 Calima PowerLine is the premium model in the Miele C series, and has a price tag to match. This model didn't do as well in our tests as the C1, but it has some noteworthy features. It includes a spinning brush head along with internal storage for its attachments. The Eureka Mighty Mite is a powerhouse for a little machine. This canister vacuum is among the lightest at 9.4 pounds, but is ready to tackle almost anything, especially hardwood floors.