Eureka PowerPlush Review

The Eureka PowerPlush finished a few points behind the Shark Rocket DuoClean and a bit ahead of the Dibea C17. The Rocket and the PowerPlush average out to be about the same in terms of convenience and ease of use, though the Rocket is corded and the Eureka is cordless. However, the Shark is undeniably better at cleaning both types of floors, but costs about $40 more. The Dibea isn't as good as the Eureka at cleaning hard floors and both are equally bad at soft floors, but the Dibea does retail for about $60 less.

Performance Comparison

In our never-ending quest to find the best stick vacuum of them all, we have looked at something like 50 different models, buying all the best and testing out their performance side-by-side. We rate and score each product in four different weighted metrics, with the PowerPlush's results outlined below.

Convenience

Convenience — our most important metric out of them all — accounts for 35% of the overall score for each vacuum. We based this on the weight and battery life of each vacuum, how easy it is to store, and how useful it is at cleaning other parts of your home besides your floors. The Eureka PowerPlush delivered an admirable performance, earning an 8 out of 10.

This cordless model has an impressive battery life, lasting for 19 minutes before failing. However, we did notice a definite loss of suction around the 17 minute mark. It also charges quite quickly, taking just under three hours to completely charge a totally dead battery.

Unfortunately, this vacuum can't stand up on its own and either has to be stored propped up against something or in its wall mount cradle. It's also about average in terms of weight for these products.

The Eureka is also excellent in handheld mode, effectively cleaning non-floor areas of your home — like shelves, window sills, and cabinets — with a handful of different attachments.

These are super easy to swap out, relying on a push-button locking mechanism.

Hard Surface Cleaning

Next, we evaluated how well the Eureka does at keeping hard floors clean. We used five different types of sample messes, scoring the PowerPlush on how much of each mess it successfully picked up. Altogether, these tests are responsible for 30% of the overall score, with the PowerPlush earning an 8 out of 10 for its superb showing.

This vacuum got off to a fantastic start in our flour test, getting the vast majority of the flour with only two passes. It even got some of the flour up from the cracks in between the different boards.

It also did amazing when it came to collecting Cheerios and pet hair, delivering excellent results in both of these tests. It did a little worse with the oatmeal, tending to fling a bit of it around if you went too quickly.

However, the PowerPlush did struggle a bit when tasked with collecting rice, delivering an overall mediocre result. It picks up the rice fine, but does tend to throw a significant amount of it around the room — about the same amount that it picks up — unless you go very, very slowly.

Ease of Use

Next, we looked at various aspects of each vacuum that make them easier to use. While this is closely tied to our convenience metric, this metric covers a different set of functions and features. For this metric, which is worth 20% of the total score, we compared how well each product cleaned along and under furniture, how maneuverable it is, and its noise level, as well as if it has different power modes to extend the battery life or for different types of floors. The PowerPlush did alright, receiving a 6 out of 10.

This product got off to a bit of a rough start, only having a single cleaning mode and doing terribly at cleaning along a wall or in a corner of a room using the standard floor attachment. You can swap to the crevice attachment to effectively clean, but this does take quite a bit longer.

However, it did redeem itself a bit by being one of the quieter models.

It also is a great option for cleaning under furniture, able to reach all the way under our simulated sofa, tying the top products.

Finally, it is fairly maneuverable on hard floors. We found that the fabric pads that make it glide on hard floors tend to bind on carpet, making it an absolute pain to push around.

Carpet Cleaning

For our final metric, we repeated our hard floor tests on sections of both low-pile and medium-pile carpet. These account for the remaining 15% of the final score, with the Eureka's somewhat disappointing performance earning it a 4 out of 10.

Starting with rice, the PowerPlush did fairly well. It picked up a decent amount from the flat carpet, though it still flung a bit around, but solidly struggled with the fluffier carpet, failing to get into the piles at all.

It did impress us in our flour test, doing exceptionally well and matching the results of the top products overall. The Eureka also did very well with the Cheerios, getting them all from both types of carpet.

Unfortunately, its performance plummeted in our last two tests: pet hair and oatmeal. It barely got any pet hair up from the carpet, lacking a bristled brush to pull the hairs up from the carpet fibers.

It also left a ton of oats behind on the low-pile carpet and even more on the medium-pile carpet.

Value

If you are only looking at cleaning hard floors, then the PowerPlush is a decent value, though there are better options if you are shopping on a super tight budget.

Conclusion