With last week's release of the Cyclone V10, Dyson says it will no longer produce vacuum cleaners with power cords. The V10's suction is so powerful, says the company, and its lightweight stick design so well-refined, that to continue with other vacuum styles would be a step backwards.

Having used one in my home for a few weeks, I can confirm the $899–999 V10 is at least as good at picking up dust and dirt as my old, bulky vac (plus it has the advantage of looking, sounding and feeling like a space age military weapon), but there are some caveats.

When set to maximum power the V10's motor spins 2000 times per second, with a new design that has the motor, pin, pipe and head all sitting in perfect alignment. There are motorised brush heads and ball joints that make steering the vac around fluid and easy. It even supposedly adjusts its performance based on altitude, barometric pressure, temperature and whether you're pointing it up or down. While I have no way of knowing whether that part's true, it's clear this is vac has serious technology behind it, and it all equates to impressive cleaning.

But it's also battery powered, and on that highest setting with a motorised brush attached you might only be able to go for 10 minutes before you're out of juice. That's probably enough to give one room a really good clean, and in general you'll only need the medium setting (about half an hour in a single charge), but this is one area old-school vacs clearly have an advantage.

Still, by combining the light frame and easy manoevrability of a stick vacuum with some serious grunt and an array of smart accessories, Dyson makes a convincing argument for their design becoming the future of mainstream vacuums (even if you buy a competitor’s copycat model, of which there are already a few).