Pat PilcherSummary
Samsung Bespoke Jet Vacuum Cleaner REVIEW
It’s shiny, it’s light, it sucks like a pro… PAT PILCHER says it even comes with a spare battery. Read his review for the details.
$1649
Having reviewed my fair share of vacuum cleaners over the years, I’ve concluded that vacuuming is about as much fun as being kicked in the balls repeatedly by someone wearing sprigged boots. More importantly, I also learned that a good vacuum cleaner transforms what is normally a monotonous chore into something far less painful.
A great example is Samsung’s shiny new Bespoke Jet vacuum cleaner. It sports good suction, a Station for automatic emptying, and a mop brush, all of which combine with a well-executed and clever design to make vacuuming much less of a hassle.
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The emptying station doubles as a charger. If its bag-free dust container looks full, press a button on the emptying station, and all cruft is sucked into a disposable bag (Samsung thoughtfully included three in the box). Each bag has a 2-litre capacity, while the Bespoke has a half-litre capacity. So, you should, in theory, get four empties into a bag, equating to around a new bag needed each month if you vacuum weekly. The big benefit of this approach is that you don’t have to deal with dust and mess when emptying the vacuum, as the bags self-seal (which is also great if you have dust allergies).
The Clean Station is a futuristic-looking beastie, resembling a leftover prop from the set of The Mandalorian. It is big, so finding a cupboard to stow it in may be a challenge for some. However, the gotcha I found with the Station was that I had to detach the vacuum head from the Bespoke when putting charging or emptying it. While I liked the station’s design, its inability to charge/empty the Bespoke with the cleaning head attached is an oversight on Samsung’s part and a real annoyance.
On the other hand, keeping a second battery charged (Samsung thoughtfully includes a second battery with the Bespoke) is something that anyone with a large house will also appreciate.
As well as a second battery, you also get a tonne of accessories with the Bespoke. For a start, there’s what Sammy calls the “Jet Dual Brush”, which is suitable for all surfaces. There’s a pet tool, a flexible pipe thingy (for cleaning on top of cupboards, for example), plus several others. Perhaps the coolest accessory is the Spinning mop attachment which transforms the Bespoke into a power mop.
The Bespoke Jet is easy to drive. Atop its grip are on/off and suction power setting switches (the Bespoke defaults to Mid power mode). The power selection buttons allow you to choose from Min, Max and Jet modes. When you hook up the mop attachment, it switches to Wash mode. Run-times and battery life are displayed on a small LCD screen next to the power switches. While this arrangement works, I found the lack of a trigger on the grip (like with Dyson vacuums) frustrating. That said, the Bespoke uses a universal joint on its cleaning head, which makes getting into corners easier.
The Bespoke felt well balanced, making vacuuming a large home much less effort. This was also helped by Its overall weight, which at 2.7kg is considerably less than an old school pull-along Electrolux. Another feature other vacuum makers could learn from is the extendable vacuum pipe. When combined with the Bespoke’s lightweight build, cleaning the tops of cupboards and high surfaces was dead easy.
Comparisons with Dyson’s vacuums are inevitable. For the most part, the Bespoke acquitted itself well. The only thing missing is sensors in the vacuum head that adjust suction power depending on the surface type and amount of dust. The default Mid mode generally had ample suction for most vacuum cleaning tasks. The Jet mode was powerful to the point where the Bespoke sometimes picked up rugs with the sheer force of suction.
The Bespoke made short work of most vacuum cleaning tasks. Greyhound fur, dust and other bits and bobs were picked up well on both wooden and tiled floors. I was pleasantly surprised at the volume picked up off the many rugs scattered throughout my home. Fitting the mop attachment and removing muddy paw prints was effortless. My wooden kitchen floors shone after they’d been gone over. All told, the cleaning chops of the Bespoke impressed.
I also found that the Bespoke had just enough charge for me to vacuum the entirety of my home, a large 3-bedroom villa. Runtime typically worked out at around 55 minutes when the Bespoke was set to Min mode. The Mid mode was around half that at 25 minutes, while the Max setting gave just 15 minutes of use, dropping to 8 minutes with Jet mode. With mopping, I ran out of floor before running out of charge. Considering you get two batteries, these run time figures will be more than ample for most large homes, although you will need to factor in the recharge time (which is about three-and-a-half hours). Last (but not least), the Bespoke isn’t too loud on Min or Mid mode and tolerable on Max or Jet mode. Mopping makes hardly any real noise at all.
There’s a lot to like with the Bespoke. Its lightweight design combines clever touches such as the telescopic vacuum pipe and plenty of bundled accessories (and a spare battery!) This makes the Bespoke an attractive option if you’re in the market for a high-end stick vac.
Add a decent run time, quiet operation and solid vacuum cleaning capabilities and the Bespoke ticks all the right boxes. The only negative I found was that the Clean Station required the vacuum head to be removed before charging or emptying could happen, but that’s a minor annoyance.
