Vacuuming – a chore we all know and some may secretly (or maybe not so secretly) love doing. And like any favorite bowl, plate, pan, or household item—although we don’t have multiple vacuums at our disposal—we sure know when we love a household item or when it just isn’t doing the job. To try and spare you the pain and money of trying all the different vacuums on the market, we will be reviewing and comparing stick vacuums, specifically hard floor vacuums. If you are unfamiliar with stick vacuums, they are a specific type of vacuum that are more lightweight and ergonomic, making them better for hardwood floor cleaning. They are also easier to store than traditional vacuums.
Table of Contents
Why We Chose Hoover and Bissell
The brands we have reviewed are Hoover and Bissell. These brands are the top vacuum brands on the stick vacuum market and both share similar online reviews of around 5 stars. The reviews state that these vacuums are a great quality and value. Multiple reviews also state that they are easy to use and that they work effectively. With that, we decided to test them hands on. We chose hard floor stick vacuums that were under $100 to remain in the “affordable” range category, but also vacuums that were not priced too cheap. The specific stick vacuums we reviewed are the Bissell PowerEdge and the Hoover Linx. Our goal was to find the best hard floor stick vacuum that won’t break the bank….let’s see the results!
- CYCLONIC TECHNOLOGY: Ensures a consistent cleaning Experience with no loss of suction
- EXTREME RECLINE HANDLE: Reaches under furniture for easier access without having to move things around
- EDGE CLEANING BRISTLES: Removes dirt, dust and pet hair up against those hard to reach edges
- Every BISSELL purchase helps save pets. BISSELL proudly supports BISSELL Pet Foundation and its mission to help save homeless pets.
- The V-shape directs larger debris into the center suction path, while the ends of the V capture small, fine debris
- Easily cleans aroundfurniture legs and on low pile are legs; Hose Length: No Hose
Pricing
The Bissell PowerEdge is slightly cheaper than the Hoover Linx. The Bissell comes in around $70, whereas the Hoover comes in around $90.
Important aspects to note regarding pricing are the costs of vacuum filters. While you can find aftermarket filters, we do recommend buying the brand filters as they have proven to be better quality than their aftermarket counterparts. For Bissell, filters will cost around $10 for a single filter or $15 for a pack of two. For Hoover, filters will cost around $2 for a single filter and the filters are rinsable. This enables you to wash the filter to make it last longer, helping you save money on filter replacements. So although the cost of the Bissell stick vacuum will initially be more affordable, the cost of replacing filters over time will make the Bissell vacuum more expensive.
So with only cost in mind, Hoover is the winner.
Features
Bissell:
- V-shaped foot
- Rubber squeegees
- Swivel steering
- 7.5 pounds
- Cyclonic
- Cord length: 20ft
- Bagless
Hoover:
- Dual cleaning mode
- Wide cleaner mouth
- Edge cleaning bristles
- Swivel steering
- 7.94 pounds
- Cyclonic
- Cord length: 20ft
- Bagless
How We Tested
Sound
For this vacuum review and comparison, we wanted to test the sound of the vacuums and how loud they got. A feature some may or may not have thought of, but good to know either way! The Hoover reached around 62-64 dB (decibels) on the bare floor mode and around 65-66 dB on carpet mode. The Bissell reached around 68-72 dB on its single cleaning mode. With the Hoover being the quieter of the two stick vacuums, it is the clear winner here.
Vacuuming
Now onto the actual vacuuming. When testing the Hoover Linx, we found that it was easy to push and navigate overall. It has two modes which are Carpet mode and Bare Floor mode and includes a brush on the bottom to pull up debris, like most vacuums. We used both settings to test the Hoover on its ability to pick up debris. Throughout this test, we found that it pushed larger items (trail mix) on the hard floor when on Bare Floor mode, but was able to suction the trail mix up when it was on Carpet mode.
When testing the Bissell PowerEdge, we found that it was difficult to push on carpet, yet a little easier on the hard floor. While the Bissell PowerEdge states it’s made for hard floor cleaning, we still thought it was more difficult than the Hoover Linx. For this test, we used trail mix again to test the ability of the vacuum to suction large item debris and we found that it performed well on hard floors when picking up the trail mix. What differentiates the Bissell in terms of vacuuming versus the Hoover for this comparison is that it has silicone edge pads that pull up debris instead of a brush.
For this test, even though it didn’t perform as well when on Bare Floor mode compared to the Bissell, the Hoover vacuum was still ultimately able to pick up large items. However, in the end, the most important criteria for the vacuuming test was hard floor cleaning ability. Therefore, Bissell is the winner.
Hard to Reach Places
Next, we tested which of these stick vacuums navigated hard to reach places best. For the Bissell, we found that the height of the foot suction part of the vacuum is lower than the Hoover, so it was able to get under the couch during our test. However, we found it difficult to vacuum around baseboards since it does not have a straight edge. It makes vacuuming corners easy; however, this can be done with a straight edge vacuum as well. On the other hand, the Hoover has a flat edge which makes it easy to go up against walls. The foot suction part of it is a little higher than the Bissell so it wasn’t able to navigate as far under the couch. For this test, Hoover is the winner.
Cleanability
For our cleanability test, we found that the Hoover was easier to clean as everything is located in the one container you need to remove. The only difficult part was having to unscrew the brush and cleaning out hair that was caught in the brush. The Bissell, on the other hand, has multiple parts to remove from the vacuum itself, instead of the single contained unit (filters, debris container) of the Hoover. But it doesn’t have a brush so you don’t have to worry about cleaning that. Ultimately, the final decision for this test came out to a tie.
The Best Affordable Hard Floor Stick Vacuum
After all our different tests, we declared the Bissell PowerEdge as our winner for best affordable hard floor stick vacuum! While one of the downsides of the Bissell was that its v-shaped mouth made it difficult to vacuum near baseboards, we found that it still picked up dust, dirt, and debris better than the Hoover. And even though Hoover won in the Sound test (but not by much) and Hard To Reach Places test, the Bissell still came out on top with its actual hard floor cleaning abilities, which in our opinion, is the most important criteria of all! If you are looking for an affordable, hard floor stick vacuum, the Bissell PowerEdge is the stick vacuum for you!
- Every BISSELL purchase helps save pets. BISSELL proudly supports BISSELL Pet Foundation and its mission to help save homeless pets.
- The V-shape directs larger debris into the center suction path, while the ends of the V capture small, fine debris
- Easily cleans aroundfurniture legs and on low pile are legs; Hose Length: No Hose
Vacuum Cleaning Tips
Remove Small Objects
Small objects can restrict airflow, therefore making your vacuums suction power weaker and making your vacuum unable to clean floors to the best of its ability.
Empty the Canister
Don’t forget to empty your vacuum canister! The debris and dust won’t throw itself away! Just like small objects, if your vacuum canister is full, your vacuum will not be able to work as effectively. Also…it will probably start to smell if you don’t empty it regularly! So make sure you’re routinely emptying your vacuum canister.
Vacuum Regularly
If possible, definitely try to vacuum at least once a week… MINIMUM! Not only will your floors look nice and clean, but dust and debris off your floors will also help your health! Dust is not good for allergies, so if you’ve ever wondered why your allergies are bad when you’re just at home, you should re-evaluate how often you’re vacuuming!
Vacuum Multiple Times
As previously stated, vacuuming should occur at least once a week, but the more vacuuming the better! Again, because it can and will be better for your health, but also because the longer dust, debris, dirt, and spills stay on your floors, the more long term damage they will do.
Choose the Right Setting
Make sure your vacuum is set to the correct mode while cleaning! Not only will this help you vacuum the floors effectively, but it will avoid damaging your floors as long as it’s on the right settings.
Final Thoughts
There are so many different vacuums on the market, but if you are looking for quality, performance, and affordability, you’ll find them with one of these vacuums. And while everything ultimately comes down to personal preference and what features are more important to you than others, both of these hard floor stick vacuums are great options that won’t break the bank. They also will not take up a ton of space wherever you store it like other traditional/carpet cleaning vacuums and they come with 2 year limited warranties.
Lastly, while we believe that Hoover is still a good choice if you are looking for a stick vacuum to work on multiple surfaces, Bissell is the declared the winner for best hard floor stick vacuum option!
- CYCLONIC TECHNOLOGY: Ensures a consistent cleaning Experience with no loss of suction
- EXTREME RECLINE HANDLE: Reaches under furniture for easier access without having to move things around
- EDGE CLEANING BRISTLES: Removes dirt, dust and pet hair up against those hard to reach edges
- Every BISSELL purchase helps save pets. BISSELL proudly supports BISSELL Pet Foundation and its mission to help save homeless pets.
- The V-shape directs larger debris into the center suction path, while the ends of the V capture small, fine debris
- Easily cleans aroundfurniture legs and on low pile are legs; Hose Length: No Hose