Hoover Air Lite Bagless Upright Vacuum review: How light is Lite?

Like a lot of other people out there, I hate vacuuming. I hate it. It’s boring and exhausting, and so loud that you can’t even listen to podcasts while you do it. Its only saving grace is that, sometimes, it brings you cool new toys – like the Hoover Air Lite Bagless Upright Vacuum.

While I made notes for this post, I kept mis-typing “bagless upright” as “bagless uptight.” That couldn’t be further from the truth. While the Air lite is a vacuum, and a relatively middle-of-the-line one at that, it’s more flexible than you’d expect.

The Hoover Air Lite specs and comparisons 

The Hoover Air Lite is a bagless upright vacuum with a grey body and green detailing. (And, of course, that signature red Hoover logo.) It’s 6.2 kg/13.67 lbs (fairly standard for a bagless vacuum cleaner) with a long, corded power source that wraps around two turnable pegs. It has a multi-floor powered brushroll, a HEPA filtration system, and a cleaning wand on an extension tube.

Hoover also offer the Hoover Air Cordless Lift Upright Vacuum if plug-ins or convenience are an issue. The Air Cordless Lift is a little over a half-pound lighter (ironically), and has a 50-minute charge with a motor and canister that lift off of the brushroll.

Finally: if weight is an issue, consider a wand vacuum over this standing vac. Wands are a stripped-down version of the upright vacuum, and they’re significantly lighter. Wands offer better portability with much less suction, and work best for daily cleaning or hard floors only.

What makes the Hoover Air Lite so handy

I mean it: this guy is hand-y. The Hoover Air Lite is a “2-in-1 tool,” with a removable wand attached by an extendable, 14-foot tube.

The tube, as you’ll see in this review video, powers the regular-use brushroll of this vacuum. Then, when you need a little more versatility out of your vac, it detaches from the brushroll to bring all of that power to smaller tasks, reattaching in typical Hoover style to tuck up and around the body of the Air Lite.

An extendable, multi-use head sits on the opposite side as the vacuum tube, allowing you to clean sharp corners such as floorboards and ceilings when the bristled head is retracted. (Hard-ended vacuum wands are also great for cleaning into cracks – like next to the stove or between the couch cushions.) To vacuum textured surfaces, all you need to do is slide down the brush attachment to clean window treatments, vents, and ceiling fans.

I love this style of 2-in-1 vacuums because it makes the handheld portion of the vacuum really easy to work with. Rather than becoming multi-use at the end of a long handle (like in a canister vacuum), this style of 2-in-1 leaves you with just the handle itself, and a long extension behind it.

Both styles are great, but it depends what you’re going to be cleaning with your vacuum.

Why hand-y (and handled) vacuum cleaners are great

A long-handled implement makes it easier to clean ceiling fans and ceiling corners, but the handle becomes unwieldy at waist-level. This type of short-handled implement on an extension cord, on the other hand, makes cleaning ceiling corners difficult – but seriously, when was the last time you vacuumed your ceiling?

(I’m actually asking. Should I be vacuuming my ceiling? Does it even get dirty up there?)

Instead, the Hoover Air Lite excels at hand stuff at the waist level… like cleaning the couch cushions or floorboards.

I do clean my floorboards, because they get inexplicably dusty – especially in the bathroom. But I’m still stuck on the ceiling thing: so many vacuum ads show people cleaning the corners of their rooms way up high, but what are they cleaning? How is the dust getting stuck upside-down? Do these people just live in spider dens and no one has told them yet, because it makes for such great advertising photos?

Other great Air Lite features

I like the handle on the Hoover Air Lite a lot, but it’s not the only great feature of this vacuum. The Multi-Floor Electronic Brushroll helps maximize the efficacy of your cleaning, and works well on hardwood (well, I tested it on laminate), tile, and carpet.

I have yet to test the Air Lite on high-pile carpet, but it’s not the 70s anymore, so hopefully the most you have of it in your house is a rug. (As I say this, I’m feeling increasingly guilty for being so judgemental of lush carpets… but also I own some high-pile that I just haven’t unpacked yet, so it’s not as if I’m saying it with ill-will in my heart. If you want to carpet  your bathroom in green high-pile–true story–you go for it.)

The canister of the Air Lite is also great – and mess-free. It releases in two clicks and opens from the bottom (again, as you’ll see in the video), which lets you release all of the dust and grime from within without getting yourself covered in dirt. I’d recommend testing out the release a few times before you use the vacuum, so you’re well-accustomed to the pattern by the time its full. 

The Air Lite uses a HEPA filtration system to help remove allergens from your home, with a filter that rinses clean rather than replacing. That’s not the only way the Hoover Air Lite cuts down on waste, either: because it’s a bagless vacuum, you not only have to not buy new bags every month, but you’re producing less waste for the landfill overall.

Who the Hoover Air Lite is great for 

The Air Lite is a great vacuum – but it’s not a top of the line one, and it doesn’t need to be. It still gets your home sparkling clean with its controllable, Windtunnel3 brush roll, and it’s easy to use from head to toe. Tiny details, like the step-and-pull design (step on the edge of the brushroll and pull the handle to release it from its upright position), help to make this vacuum one that’s easy to use.

Cleaning is stressful enough on its own, and you don’t need a vacuum that’s going to add to that. This one is affordable but effective, with a great filtration system and strong suction. Its ergonomic handle makes it easy to manhandle, and its bagless system with a washable filter not only saves you money in the long term, but cuts down on waste, too.

Shop the Hoover vacuums and other upright vacuum cleaners online at Best Buy today.