Miele Triflex HX1 Cat and Dog for pet hair - 3 in 1 Cordless vacuum cleaner handstick, handheld and upright in one, with replaceable battery for up to 60 mins run-time - Obsidian Black (11410150)

Product Information

You can get two batteries out of the box by purchasing the HX1 Pro, plus an extra charger. Ergonomics and Usability The power doesn't deplete when in use, but you will notice the battery indicator light blinking for a minute-or-so before it cuts out. This is useful because it gives you just enough time to run down the stairs to find that spare battery, which you will need when vacuuming a three-bed house from top to bottom. The Miele TriFlex HX1 has a quoted battery life of up to 60 minutes with no powered brush heads in low power, and up to 17 minutes in high power mode with the powered brush head attached. Charging from empty takes a quoted four hours. In our tests, in Max mode the HX1 lasted 12mins 11secs and in low power mode it ran for 28mins 11secs; the powered cleaning head was attached and running in both tests. Deep cleans well: One surprise doing the tests is how well this product cleans embedded sand in the middle setting. While the handle placement is ideal for cleaning floors, it isn’t in handheld mode since you’ll have to carry most of the weight.

The brush roll is on the slim side with stiff bristles, which is why it didn’t do well with longer hair strands (more on that later). Being a Miele brand, there won’t’ be an issue with parts availability, at least for stuff like the filter or battery. The result above proves the above-average airflow that the Miele Triflex HX1 possesses. Low pile results

Excellent at Vacuuming Floors, So-so Handheld Ergonomics

In Australia the Miele Triflex HX2 range also includes the Triflex HX2 Performance, Triflex HX2 Racer and Triflex HX2 Cat & Dog Plus. Even with the upright configuration, the Triflex’s dirt volume is below average at only 0.5 liters. In my opinion, the unsealed result is the most accurate since it has the least number of variables and represents the working suction of a vacuum. For people who are familiar with vacuum cleaners, Miele is a known brand, particularly with bagged canister vacuums.

The Miele TriFlex HX1 doesn’t quite have the cleaning power to dislodge Dyson as king of cordless vacuum cleaners, but its adaptable layout certainly sets it apart from the crowd. But I wouldn’t spend extra for the Cat & Dog model because its handheld ergonomics is less than ideal. Easy to empty dustbin: I like the twist to open mechanism for emptying debris. It’s easy to use, and there’s no need to touch the dirt with your fingers. Note that the vacuum's 0.5-litre dust container is small. Our upstairs wool carpets are relatively new, so we found that we were having to empty the container at least once between vacuuming that floor and the stairs and ground floor. The dust container also proved a little fiddly to empty; you need to remove the dust canister from the main unit and then twist open the lid to remove the filter and dirt. With a removable 2,500mAh, 25.2V lithium-ion battery – which plugs directly into the supplied mains adapter – and a filter you never need to replace, the Miele TriFlex HX1 is a practical beast. Indeed, if you shell out for the top model you also get a pair of batteries for your money, which means you can leave one charging while cleaning with the other, then swap over when the juice runs low.

An ingenious 3-in-1 design sets the Miele TriFlex HX1 apart from the competition, but it’s very expensive

Despite not having a soft roller tool, the Miele Triflex did well cleaning this area, as you’ll see in the before and after photo below. However, it did not pass the fog test, and there were visible leaks at the exhaust. Cleaning nozzle The Miele TriFlex HX1 is clearly a high-quality vacuum cleaner. It’s well made, comfortable to use – especially for floor cleaning – it cleans well and battery life is decent. The flexibility of its 3-in-1 design brings something genuinely useful to the table, allowing for more comfortable cleaning that’s easy on the wrist. How does this compare with its rivals? It’s similar to the Bosch Serie 8 cordless vacuum we reviewed last year and better overall than the cheaper Vax Blade 4 but it lags behind the Dyson V8, V10 and V11.