Dyson V10 Konical Review: Stripped Back to Basics

The Dyson V10 Konical belongs to the manufacturer's revived range, of which the V8 Cyclone is another representative. It is a long way from the original V10, but it still relies on multi-cyclonic filtration to separate air and dust thoroughly.

The naming follows the same pattern as the old days, skipping the V9 to arrive directly at a V10 that is not a Cyclone but a Konical. And where the V8 Cyclone looked a great deal like an old-generation V8, the V10 Konical does not resemble an old-style V10 so much as a V8. What that means in practice is no horizontal bin, which now appears reserved for the higher-end models, and no Point and Shoot emptying system. In their place is a 0.5 l vertical bin that houses, along with the dust, the multi-cyclonic filtration system the brand is known for.

Things have moved on in one respect: the battery, limited to 15 minutes of use in the earliest days of this design, is now quoted on the specification sheet at 60 minutes. That figure naturally assumes the lowest of the three suction levels and no motorised brush attached.

On that subject, Dyson has fitted the V10 Konical with its new All Floor Cones head, designed specifically so that hair and fur do not wrap themselves around the rotating mechanism. Stripped of many functions such as the floor sensor or the particle counter, which normally adjust brush rotation speed and suction power automatically, the V10 Konical is a fairly simple cordless stick.

Not much has changed at Dyson since the V8 Cyclone. The V10 Konical takes up its predecessor's design language, and it also shares a build quality that remains thoroughly high-end.

As you would expect from the brand, the plastics still feel solid and durable, the various mechanisms adjust properly, and the small click that confirms a correct connection between components never fails to sound. The different accessories also come off without effort, which is not always the case elsewhere.

In handheld mode, the V8 Cyclone and the V10 Konical weigh very nearly the same, at 1.62 kg against 1.64 kg. The All Floor Cones head on the newer machine is heavier, though, so in floor-cleaning mode the whole assembly reaches 2.73 kg against 2.59 kg for the V8. The difference is again very slight. Either way, the V10 Konical is easy to manoeuvre and does not weigh on the arm even when a cleaning session drags on. The joints on the head are very flexible and it does not slip, even through the tightest turns.

This is a cordless stick that sticks to the essentials. The manufacturer has not seen fit to equip it with the latest technologies from an otherwise well-stocked catalogue, so there is no particle counter and no automatic power adjustment based on the dust collected.

More irritating, the estimate of remaining runtime to the nearest second is also absent. Owners have to make do with three suction levels and nothing else. The V10 Konical does not even have a basic runtime indicator. It merely warns that the battery is running dry through three quick pulses, which is a little thin and makes it hard to plan a cleaning session efficiently, with a risk of running out of power in the middle of the living room.

That technological bareness does at least keep the control panel simple to master. A first button starts the motor and begins suction, while the second changes the power level: classic and effective. Placing the keys within thumb reach would have made use smoother, but that is not the case here. The V10 Konical is supplied with the strict minimum, namely a crevice tool and a mini motorised brush.

The All Floor Cones head effectively compensates for the motor's slight lack of punch.

On long-pile carpet, the V10 Konical picks up a little more than half of the debris scattered on it, 55% to be exact. Switching to Max mode improves matters, and around 80% of the debris can be expected. The fibres of the brush guide hair well towards the suction opening, and a single pass was enough to clear a tuft scattered on the test carpet.

The machine is far more comfortable on thin carpet. In normal mode it recovers 85% of the debris in a single pass, with two passes enough to leave the floor spotless. In Max mode its efficiency climbs to 98% on the first pass.

Hard floors remain its favourite territory. Whether normal or Max mode is used, all debris is removed in a single pass. Another point in its favour is that the head covers its full width properly, with no residual band of fine dust observed at the front or at the sides.

Not everything is perfect, though. The groove test shows that the V10 Konical is a little short of punch: it draws up only 5% of the fine dust after three passes in normal mode, and barely 13% in Max mode.

Emptying the bin on the V10 Konical requires nothing more than pulling upwards on the handle set above the container. The retractable base opens and gravity does the rest, dropping dust and debris straight into the bin. Emptying the container also gives access, in the same movement, to the grille filter for simplified maintenance.

Access to the other filters, the foam and HEPA elements, is no more complex. The first sits near the familiar red handle and simply pulls out for cleaning. As is often the case on Dyson cordless sticks, the HEPA filter sits at the back of the motor unit and comes away by unscrewing it.

Even though those filters are cleaned in moments, the multi-cyclonic filtration proves so effective that the operation will not need doing often. As evidence, after 20 g of cocoa powder was fed through the V10 Konical, no trace of it was found in either the foam filter or the HEPA filter, verified on a precision balance accurate to 0.001 g. That means fine dust is perfectly confined within the bin and will not clog the pores of the filters, which preserves suction power over the long term.

The V10 Konical can be dismantled completely for very thorough maintenance if required, and the battery is removable. A few areas are more awkward to scrub than others, but far worse has been seen. The All Floor Cones head has proved itself, and its distinctive design is very effective: thanks to the conical shape of the rollers, threads and long hair never wrap themselves around the mechanism. If needed, that head can also be taken apart completely without a single tool, and putting it back together is no harder.

As is often the case with Dyson products, the V10 Konical is loud. In normal mode the sound level already reaches 69 dB(A), peaking at 73 dB(A) once Max mode is engaged. For comparison, cordless sticks from other brands rarely exceed 70 dB(A) even when pushed to their limits.

Dyson cordless sticks have never been marathon runners, but this one comes close to hitting the wall. In normal mode, the V10 Konical runs for 25 minutes without interruption. That is short when a model such as the Shark Power Detect Speed reaches almost an hour, at 57 minutes.

It is worse still in Max mode, where the battery is exhausted in 7 minutes 30 seconds, a runtime worthy of the Dyson V6 from 2015. There is one mitigating factor: recharging takes only 120 minutes, which is relatively quick for a cordless stick.

In the same part of the market it is not especially difficult to find cordless sticks that perform just as well. The Narwal V40 is one example, both very capable and equipped with an automatic emptying station. If that accessory is too bulky, the Bosch Unlimited 10 BSS1041GHF relies instead on a long list of options and accessories.