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  • Introduction

  • Design & Usability

  • Features & Performance

  • Conclusion

  • Science Introduction

  • Dirt & Debris

  • Noise & Efficiency

  • Introduction
  • Design & Usability
  • Features & Performance
  • Conclusion
  • Science Introduction
  • Dirt & Debris
  • Noise & Efficiency

Introduction

Design & Usability

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Easy to use, whether as a cordless stick vac or a handheld

The Hoover Presto gets points for its compact design and ease of navigation in tight areas, though it'll only glide effortlessly on hardwood. The whole thing weighs about 6.8 lbs. Its handle can be folded, allowing for storage in a small closet. The vacuum module detaches from the handle and functions as a hand vac, though the button you push to release the hand vac is a bit hard to move.

Its handle can be folded, allowing for storage in a small closet.

Included with the Hoover Presto, but not attached, is a small crevice tool and a dusting brush, both of which slide into the front nozzle of the removable hand vacuum. These tools are fine for hardwood or small amounts of debris, but won't help much with carpet or larger areas.

As a cordless machine, the Hoover Presto relies on nickel cadmium battery life, much to the user’s detriment. After being fully charged, its power drops rapidly, dying after a run time of five minutes and 30 seconds. Unlike the Dyson DC35 Multi Floor’s lithium-ion battery, the machine puts out less and less power until the battery expires.

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Features & Performance

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It'll do a great job—in a kitchen.

By no means should this be your primary machine.

Though the Hoover Presto did relatively well with debris pickup on short and high carpet, it had major problems sucking up dirt from both heights. By "major problems," we mean it barely picked up a speck of dust: less than one gram out of the 100 that we put down. It made a lot of noise in the process, too. Luckily, it did an incredible job cleaning up dirt and debris from hardwood floors, even outperforming some full-size, plug-in machines.

We don't give the Presto any slack when it comes to scoring, but one should keep in mind exactly what the purpose of this vacuum is: cleaning up spills and tracked-in dirt without dragging out a big canister or upright vacuum. By no means should this be your primary machine, but it'll definitely do in a pinch.

Conclusion

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You should be quite happy with this machine, as long as you recognize its limitations.

Serving as an expensive kitchen broom, the cordless Hoover Presto ($99 MSRP, $89 on sale) won't clean your whole house. It will store neatly, and it'll run without plugging in. It may only run for a few minutes, but it's enough to get minor spills cleaned up.

The Presto performed admirably on hardwood dirt pickup, but lacked in nearly every other test. Still, it's a great second vacuum to keep around if you have a hardwood or linoleum floor.

Science Introduction

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The Hoover Presto did its job picking up dirt and debris off of hardwood flooring, but its usefulness is limited to that type of surface.

Dirt & Debris

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Stick to hardwood floors.

At more than a 90% dirt pickup rate, the Hoover Presto shined on hardwood and is a vacuum that can be counted on to do well on smooth surfaces. Clearly, though, it wasn't meant for use on long carpet, pulling in a meager 2% of dirt during our high pile test. It was difficult to push the machine back and forth as a result of the agitating power brush, which—as opposed to suction power—is what pulls dirt out of carpet. Most of the dirt that was picked up consisted of talcum powder, the lightest component of our dirt mix. The Hoover Presto also uses a lot of battery life while on high carpet and is likely to die after less than a minute of use.

The Hoover Presto also uses a lot of battery life while on high carpet and is likely to die after less than a minute of use.

This vacuum did slightly better on short carpet at 8% dirt picked up (still terrible in the broader sense), and also had a hard time moving around. When it comes to pet hair, most got caught in the power brush. Still, the little Hoover actually picked up a good amount off of our test carpet. Don’t look for this machine to pull in pet hair that’s really embedded, though.

The Hoover Presto held its own in picking up rice grains and macaroni from the long carpet (70% for each) and did very well on hardwood as it sucked up 100% and 90%, respectively. Where the device really struggled, though, was with loose dimes and pennies on both the hardwood and carpet. If you’re looking for your machine to swallow up large pieces of debris from your kitchen or living room, prepare to be disappointed

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Noise & Efficiency

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The Hoover Presto isn’t as quiet as you’d expect for a low-power vacuum, and its battery runs out rapidly.

Don’t expect the Hoover Presto to run extremely quietly because it’s such a small, low-power machine. We measured the Hoover Presto at just more than 70 decibels, a number only a few decibels less than much larger vacuums.

While it’s plugged into its charger, the Hoover Presto drew a miniscule 3.6 watts. The problem is that after being fully charged, it only lasted 1 minute before dropping in power, and only another five minutes and 30 seconds before running out of battery life.

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Meet the tester

Patrick Ouellette

Patrick Ouellette

Staff Writer

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Patrick Ouellette is a valued contributor to the Reviewed.com family of sites.

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