What I need (I expect you think to yourself frequently) is a brand-new vacuum cleaner designed specifically to clean my boat. Well, you’re not going to believe this.
Dyson has announced the launch of the Car+Boat, a handheld vacuum which the brand claims is the most powerful on the market.
As the name suggests, it’s designed for cars, boats, caravans, campers, pet beds – or any cramped or awkward spaces. Still, we understand the name choice: the Dyson Shed+Caravan doesn’t have quite the same ring to it.
To see our top recommendations for vacuum cleaners, see our round-ups of the best vacuum cleaners, the best wet and dry vacuums and the best robot vacuums, all of which have been tested and reviewed by the team.
When will the Dyson Car+Boat be available?
In the US, the Car+Boat launches today, 29 January. You can buy it from Dyson online.
In the UK, the Car+Boat will be available from the Dyson website and Dyson demo stores from 4 February, 2025.
What will the Dyson Car+Boat cost?
The Car+Boat has a UK launch price of £249.99. As yet, we don’t know the US launch price but we’ll update this article as soon as it’s confirmed.
Is this Dyson’s first handheld vacuum?
This is not Dyson’s first vacuum of this type. The brand has launched a number of handheld vacuums over the years, most notably the Humdinger in the US, which you can still buy from Amazon for $249.99. Dyson has even launched Car+Boat models before. We’ve found V6 (Amazon UK) and V7 (Walmart) iterations available online.
But these models aren’t cheaper than the new Car+Boat, which we believe is a V8, and which has much better specs than the V6 and V7 models. Plus, it lasts twice as long as the Humdinger’s 25 minutes between charges.
What features and specs does the Car+Boat have?
The problem with dedicated handheld vacuums in general is that they’re not very powerful and have a short life between charges.
You might expect to get 10-30 minutes before you need to dock it again, depending on the power setting, which may not be enough time to get all the tramped-in mud from the footwells of your car and all the gross bits from between the seats.
Dyson
And in terms of power, your average handheld will happily vacuum up some crumbs from a counter but is unlikely to do a great job removing all the matted fur from a pet bed, for example, or getting all the dust out of a mattress.
But the new Car+Boat has improved runtime and power. Not only is it significantly better (on paper, at least) than rival handheld vacuums but it stands up pretty well to Dyson’s own flagship cordless, the Gen5detect – perhaps the most powerful cordless vacuum available.
The difference is that the Gen5detect, which launched last year, has a current price of £649.99-£769.99 in the UK and $699.99-$949.99 in the US, depending on editions and offers. See it for sale from Argos and Best Buy.
Meanwhile, the Car+Boat has a reasonable (for Dyson) price tag of £249.99.
Dyson
Here are some of its best specs and features:
- Best-in-class, fade-free 50-minute runtime before it needs charging. This compares well to the 70-minute runtime of the Gen5detect.
- 110,000rpm motor: In comparison, the Gen5detect has a 135,000rpm motor and is very powerful indeed.
- Fully-sealed filtration system that captures 99.99% of particles down to 0.3 microns, for cleaner air.
- It comes with three attachments, which should cover all cleaning situations: a mini motorised tool, a crevice tool and a combination tool. The mini motorised tool is powerful enough to deep-clean a mattress or pet bed. The crevice tool can clean in small spaces, such as between car seats. And the combination tool has both a brush for dusting blinds and shelves, and a wide nozzle for sucking up crumbs and debris.
We are currently testing the Dyson Car+Boat for a review, but if you’re considering a Dyson in the meantime, see our round-up of the best Dyson cordless vacuums to find the right model for you.
