Electrolux Ultimate600 cordless vacuum review: Impressive suction and battery life, but skip it if you have pets

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There are a few big-name vacuum brands that often dominate the industry today — Dyson, Shark, Tineco, and so on — but there are still solid options to be found from legacy brands like Electrolux. The Swedish brand, which is mostly known for its large appliances these days, recently released a new cordless vacuum: the Ultimate600. After extensive testing, we were pleased to find that this mid-priced option can hold its own against many of the best cordless vacuums we've tested.

While it may not have high-tech features like dirt detection or a self-emptying base, the Ultimate600 offers great suction power, decent battery life, and multiple attachments, all in a lightweight form. Overall, it proved to be a solid contender if you want an effective cordless vacuum that won't break the bank. Here's everything that we liked about it.

Setup and design

There are two versions of this cordless vacuum: the standard Ultimate600, and the Ultimate600 Complete Home edition. I tested the latter, which costs $50 more and comes with three additional attachments: a soft roller floorhead, a specialized pet tool, and a large dusting brush. The base model comes with the standard bristle floorhead, crevice tool, and small dusting brush.

There are quite a few pieces inside the box upon arrival, including the vacuum components, pieces of the base, charger, and all the tools and attachments. It's fairly straightforward to set up if you've put together a cordless vacuum before, and once assembled, you can dock the vacuum on its base for freestanding storage. However, unlike other cordless vacuums, the Electrolux doesn't automatically charge when you put it on the dock — instead, you have to plug the charger in manually. There are two slots on the base where you can store frequently used tools, but it's worth noting that there are more attachments than storage spots.

The vacuum itself weighs less than 6 pounds and is made from heavy-duty plastic. It has a circular display screen on top with a power button and +/- button for cycling through the three suction levels. On Auto mode, the vacuum automatically boosts suction on carpeting for a deeper clean, then decreases when you move onto hard floors, allowing you to seamlessly transition between flooring types. It's equipped with a 0.6-liter dustbin that can be removed from the vacuum using an eject button, and it has a five-stage filtration system (though it lacks a HEPA filter).

Both models of this vacuum come with a standard floorhead that can be used on both hard floors and carpeting. The brush roll has stiff bristles that dig into rugs to help agitate dirt, and there is a small row of LED lights on the front to help you track down dust and hair. The Complete Home version also comes with a secondary floorhead designed especially for hard floors. It has a soft, fluffy brush roll that's designed to pick up dust and fine particles more efficiently.

Everything else about this cordless vacuum is fairly standard. Levers allow you to remove the floorheads and other attachments from the main wand, and you can also remove the whole wand if you want to use the tool as a hand vacuum.

Our review of the Electrolux Vacuum

I tested the Electrolux Ultimate600 Complete Home vacuum for around three weeks, using it for everyday cleaning around my home and putting it through a series of structured tests to assess its ability to pick up different types of debris. Here's what I found during testing.

Ease of use

This cordless vacuum is straightforward to use thanks to its basic design. Its two buttons are both self-explanatory — you press the power button to turn it on or off, and use the +/- button to cycle through the three suction levels. That's about as complicated as it gets.

I also like that this vacuum is lightweight at less than 6 pounds, making it comfortable to carry around, even with just one hand. My arm never got tired while operating this vacuum, and I could easily carry it upstairs as needed. The only time it was hard to push was when I was cleaning a thick carpet with the highest suction setting — the suction is so strong that it makes the vacuum stick to the floor.

My only (minor) complaint in this department is that the floorheads are a bit stiff to remove. They have levers that allow you to detach them from the vacuum's wand, and theoretically, you should be able to do it with your foot. Unfortunately, it's awkward and requires a bit of effort to do so. Over the course of testing, they've gotten a little easier to remove, but it still requires a bit of elbow grease.

Cleaning performance

Despite being a mid-priced vacuum, the Electrolux Ultimate600 impressed me with its cleaning performance. I used it to vacuum my 2,000-square-foot home on a regular basis, and it tackled carpeting (both medium and low pile), hardwood floors, and linoleum with no problem. I share my home with two large dogs, and the vacuum was able to keep up with their shedding and all the dirt they track in the house.

I also put the vacuum through a series of structured suction tests, and it performed well across the board, almost always picking up 100% of the debris in just one or two passes. The standard "PowerPro Bristle Nozzle" performed particularly well on carpeting, picking up debris of all sizes, and but I did notice some scattering of rice and that the brushead pushed forward the cereal on hardfloors. I was, however, wowed by the Complete Home's soft roller floorhead, which the brand calls the "PowerPro Hard Floor Nozzle." This attachment has a soft, fluffy brush that's meant to capture fine particles on hard flooring, and it performs exceptionally well on hardwood floors. With this head, the vacuum was able to pick up fine debris like flour and coffee grinds in just one pass, not leaving a single spec behind. Its performance in these tests was better than many other cordless vacuums, even ones that cost two or three times as much as the Electrolux.

The only downside I found is that the brushrolls don't have any sort of non-tangle technology. If you or your pets frequently leave long strands behind — a major challenge in our home — chances are that the hair will get wrapped around the brushrolls. After a few weeks of use, I did have to take a pair of scissors to the regular floorhead, which was tangled with hair. So to that end, it might not be the best option for households with long-haired pets.

Battery life

The Ultimate600 is fairly average in terms of battery life. Electrolux claims that the vacuum will run for up to 40 minutes on low suction and 20 minutes on medium suction. When I tested this claim, the battery lasted for 24 minutes on medium, and this proved to be more than enough time to give the first floor of my home a once-over.

There's an indicator light on the vacuum's screen that lets you monitor how much battery is left, and the suction doesn't waver until the last five minutes or so. Just be sure to give yourself plenty of time to recharge the vacuum — if the battery is fully depleted, it needs 4.5 hours to charge back up to 100%.

Emptying and maintenance

There's an eject button that lets you pull it off the vacuum to empty it. Alternatively, you can remove the wand and hold the whole upper portion of the vacuum over the trash to empty it. There's a lever on the bottom of the canister that pops it open, dumping out its contents. I never ran into any issues with debris getting stuck inside the dustbin, either.

In terms of maintenance, you'll need to periodically cut long strands of hair off the brushrolls — both for the two floorheads and the pet tool. The brand also recommends washing the filter inside the dustbin every six months and replacing it every 12 months. The filters haven't been launched on the Electrolux website just yet, but the brand tells us they'll likely come in a pack of three for around $20.

Cons to consider

Most of the downsides that I found to the Electrolux Ultimate600 are minor, but depending on your cleaning habits, they may impact your buying decision.

As mentioned, the floorheads can be a bit hard to remove, especially if you're trying to do so without bending over, and long strands of hair do get wrapped around the brushrolls on both floorheads and the pet tool. If you're looking for a vacuum to help remove allergens from your home, this cordless vacuum doesn't have a HEPA filter, either.

What are your alternatives?

There are plenty of cordless vacuums available today, so you have a lot of options to choose from, regardless of whether you want a high-tech tool or a basic, budget-friendly pick.

Among the best cordless vacuums we've tested, the Shark Stratos Cordless is our top overall recommendation, as it offers impressive suction in a compact, easy-to-use form. This vacuum is in the same price range as the Electrolux Ultimate600, and it's a better option for pet owners, as its brushroll has a no-tangle design that won't get wrapped up in hair. Additionally, the Shark folds down into a convenient compact form that takes up half as much space in storage.

For a more high-tech model, I recommend the LG CordZero All-in-One. It's ergonomically designed and offers great suction power, especially on carpeting. It also comes with a self-emptying dock with hidden storage for all the vacuum's accessories, including a spare battery to increase its runtime.

The bottom line

While it might not have as many fancy features as other cordless vacuums, the Electrolux Ultimate600 is a solid choice for everyday cleaning around your home, and I particularly liked the Complete Home version, which includes extra attachments that increase its versatility. It has good battery life, a lightweight design, and powerful suction, and the soft roller floorhead is especially effective for sucking up fine particles like dust. If you can find it in stock, I'd go with the Complete Home version. The vacuum is easy to use and reasonably priced, and overall, we were impressed by its cleaning performance, which is comparable to many cordless vacuums that cost significantly more.