Review: Hoover HF500 Anti-Twist Pets Cordless Vacuum Cleaner

AD I received the new Hoover Anti-Twist cordless cleaner to review. The first thing I noticed when it was delivered was how small and light the box was for a vacuum cleaner. This Hoover lives up to it's claim of being compact, but I found there is still enough space in the dust container for me to whizz round the house. I have been using this cleaner for my daily vacuuming of rugs, carpet, wood and tiled floors for the last couple of weeks so I have been able to test it out thoroughly. Look out for my 20% discount code at the end of this post.

Reviewing and testing out the Hoover HF500 anti-twist pets cordless vacuum cleaner with my cat watching
Review of the new Hoover HF500 Anti-Twist Pets Cordless Vacuum Cleaner


How Well Does The Hoover HF500 Anti-Twist Cordless Clean?

The “Direct Impulse Motor” spins at 100,000 rpm and delivers 75AW (whatever that means). In practise the Hoover HF500 Anti-Twist is easy to use and I have been happy using it as my only vacuum cleaner since receiving it. I get carpet lines which suggests it has a good suction and the carpet and floors look free of dust and debris after use. 

The simple light touch controls give you the options to turn it on and off, to turn it on carpet mode (which spins the brush head) and turbo mode which increases the suction. On hard flooring you can have it on the standard setting without the brush rotating which makes the battery lasts longer and this works ok, but because I have rugs I switch between flooring types a lot so tend to keep it on carpet mode. I use turbo mode if a carpet area hasn't been cleaned for a while (like in my children's room after a big tidy up) to make sure the time vacuuming is as efficient as possible. 


What I Love About The Hoover HF500 Anti-Twist


Anti-Twist Design

My absolute favourite thing about this model is that hair doesn’t wrap around the brush due to the integrated comb. The brush in the main vacuum attachment is easy to take out and clean, but despite weeks of use I haven't had to clean it once as it remains hair free. There are 3 long haired females living here and a cat so with my old cordless I had to clean the brush at least once a week, cutting through an impressive coating of hair.  The brilliant Hoover design has meant no hair gets caught in the brush and it all goes into the dust container.

The anti-twist design means hair doesn't get caught around the brush head


Headlights

The main attachment has an LED light bar which is the sort of design feature you don’t realise you need until you try it. When vacuuming in low light it is really helpful for showing where the dust or dirt is and making sure you don't miss a patch.

Self Standing

While it only claims to be self standing in storage mode it is well enough balanced that it stands up on it’s own so if you stop cleaning for a minute you can leave the Hoover standing upright and not worry about it toppling over. With my last two cordless cleaners (both different brands) I would try to balance it leaning on something and it would regularly crash over.

Ease of Use

The double ended dusting and furniture attachment lives on the shaft so you can quickly switch from the main brush head to the tools in seconds without having to carry the more detailed attachments separately. The ease of this means I have started dusting my skirting boards and other surfaces with the vacuum far more often. The shape of the connector when you removed it from the main brush feature means you can use it as a crevice tool when needed, although you might want to attach the narrower crevice tool if doing a lot of corners. 

Lightweight

The lightweight design makes it easy to clean stairs, furniture and even cobwebs. The battery in my previous cordless made the vacuum much heavier so it hurt my wrists to support it, but it’s not an issue with this design which has a small battery and lightweight design at 2.2kg or 1.7kg in handheld mode.

Accessory Bag

The Hoover comes with an accessory bag so you can keep any of the bits you don’t store on the Hoover together. With the Pets model this includes a smaller brush head, a crevice tool and a tool for cleaner the Hoover.

Compact

For more compact storage you can press a button to remove the top part of the Hoover and it clicks on to the lower half making it 69cm tall. This means it is smaller enough to fit in many cupboards that you wouldn't be able to fit full height cleaners in easily.

Cleaning Prompts

The Hoover is easy to take apart to clean and helpfully it will even tell you when the pre-filter needs cleaning. A light at the top flashes red to let you know and you don't need to panic about why your Hoover is suddenly flashing red as there is text printed in the area to remind you of the reason (flashing red on the other side means the battery is running low).

The light design makes it easy to dust surfaces above the ground


What I Don’t Like So Much About The HF500 Anti-Twist Cordless

The Battery

I have got used to using a vacuum with two batteries which means I can simply switch to another charged one when the battery runs out. While you can buy extra batteries separately for the Hoover, or buy a package which includes two batteries, the version I received only came with one. The good news is the new model has 20% longer run time and 58% faster charging time so it wont delay your cleaning for long if you forget to charge it.

There is a light which flashes red when battery power is below 10%, but I have found that I can still use it for some time after this light comes on, especially if I switch to less energy intensive options (eg not using turbo or turning the brush rotation off). You can charge the battery in the vacuum or separately and it fully charges in 2.5 hours giving a run time of up to 45 minutes.

Emptying The Dust Container

There are two ways to empty the collected dust out of the container with the most simplest option involving the catch at the bottom. The downside of the compact design is that the opening is quite tight and I find the larger clumps of dust and hair get stuck inside. It's difficult to get fingers in to pull it out, but you can use the included cleaning tool (hook end) to pull it out.

The other option for emptying all the dust out is to take the dust container off the motorised part. You then need to remove the filters before tipping the dust into the bin, but you can get a much better clean this way. All of these parts can be washed to get them really clean too, but make sure they are completely dry before reassembling to the motorised parts.

Storage Hook

I accept this is probably a me thing, but there is a bit that sticks out on the rear of the unit which is the catch which allows you to reduce the height of the vacuum when storing. I find I keep hitting myself with the catch when hoovering. It is covered in rubber so it isn’t painful, just a bit annoying.

What is New About the HF500 Anti-Twist Compared to the Previous Hoover HF500 Cordless?

  • The "anti-twist" floor head is all new and works really well at stopping hair wrapping around the brush.
  • The new model has a 20% longer run time meaning you can go longer between charges.
  • The battery charges 58% faster which is a huge improvement and means even if you forget to charge it your Hoover wont be out of action for long.

The turbo cleaning head comes with the Pets model which is great for cleaning where my cat naps


Other Useful Things To Know About The HF500 Anti-Twist Pets Cordless Hoover

The pets model comes with an extra attachment: a smaller turbo brush for more intense vacuuming and hair removal. This doesn’t have the anti-twist feature though so will need more regular cleaning.

All the attachments can be used attached to the main unit or the tube allowing you to have extended reach when required.

The battery can be charged in the vacuum or separately and should reach full charge in 2 1/2 hours. 

There is a wall attachment included, as well as screws and wall plugs, if you want to store it on the wall. This makes it easy to follow the suggestion of leaving it plugged in and charging between use (except for prolonged absences).

It has 4 modes: standard, carpet, turbo and auto. Auto is basically a lower power mode it switches to when the brush bar isn’t attached. In standard mode the brush bar doesn’t rotate, you can clean hard flooring in this mode which uses less power. The turbo mode steps the power up a gear for areas that particularly need it.  The memory feature means it will restart in whichever mode was last used.

The HF500 Anti-Twist Pets Cordless


Cleaning The HF500 Anti-Twist

If you are one of those people that like to have a really clean vacuum then you will like this Hoover. It comes with a cleaning tool to help you brush any dust out for a quick clean. For a more thorough clean the dust container and all the bits in it can be dismantled and immersed in water as they come away from the electronic parts. Make sure it is completely dry before reassembling, the instructions suggest leaving to dry for 24 hours. Only lukewarm water should be used.

The roller brush also fully comes out so it can all be cleaned easily, but due to the anti-twist design you wont need to clean it often.

It comes with a spare filter and these can be washed so you can alternate between the two. They recommend washing at least once a month.

The filters in the HF500 can be removed and cleaned


The Hoover Guarantee

If you register your Hoover the Guarantee covers the battery for one year, all other parts are guaranteed for ten years, but they will only be replaced for free in the first year, except for parts subject to fair wear and tear. So essentially after the first year if the battery fails you will need to replace it yourself, parts like the pre-filter you would be expected to replace, but other parts should be covered for free replacement although you have to pay for labour.

View the Hoover Cordless product range here or head directly to the new Anti-Twist Cordless here (affiliate link), you can get 20% off a new Hoover with the discount code "COUNTING20".

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