Dyson’s New V8 Handstick Has Finally Landed In Australia

If you looked at buying a new cordless vacuum any time in the last couple of years, chances are you considered Dyson’s V6 handstick — a gadget that we absolutely love, and regularly use, for keeping small apartments and living spaces clean without the hassle of a power cord. A few months after launching the same model internationally, the brand new Dyson V8 has hit Australia, and it makes some pretty damn useful improvements on an already good design.

The biggest upgrade that the Dyson V8 cordless makes over the V6 — no, it’s not two extra cylinders like the name might suggest — is the 110,000rpm Dyson digital motor V8, which runs at 425W versus the V6’s 350W and required 500,000 hours of testing over 18 months of development. That more powerful motor means around 15 per cent more suction at max power than the previous generation, despite being 50 per cent quieter.

Battery life is significantly improved, too, with 40 minutes at regular power versus 20 minutes on the V6. Anyone that already has the V6 will probably be sorely tempted by the fact that the V8 now has a battery capacity indicator — a silly omission on the last one — and the new nickel-cobalt-aluminium battery chemistry purports to perform equally no matter its power level.

The most useful update, though, is one that Dyson has learned to include on all its new vacuums — it’s a silicon collar around the centre of the dustbin, which pulls out all the accumulated hair and fibres that wrap around the V8’s shroud. Dyson calls it the ‘hygenic dirt ejector’. The vacuum, heads and extension stick all connect to each other with redesigned connectors, too.

There’s two variants of the V8 already available in Australia; the Dyson V8 Animal has a bunch of different accessories including a motorised ‘direct drive’ cleaner head for $749, and there’s also the top of the line V8 Absolute that adds in a soft floor roller brush to all those previous heads and will set you back $849.

It’s a busy time for Dyson, actually — hot on the heels of the new Supersonic hairdryer and these two new V8 models, the British company also has a new Small Ball upright vacuum that sits in the middle ground between the handstick and a full-size canister like the Cinetic Big Ball


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