Review of Hoover EmPower Upright Vacuum Cleaner, Model U5269-900 (price, reviews)

[reviewer]

Hoover EmPower Upright Vacuum Cleaner, Model U5269-900

Rating: 2 out of 5

• Currently 2.0/5.0

This bagless vacuum cleaner works very well right out of the box, but unfortunately, the performance does not hold up over time. It comes out of the box in one piece, with no assembly required. At first, the suction power is very impressive, with very powerful self-propel action. The attachments are practical and easy to attach to the unit. One exception was the pet hair brush attachment, which never worked properly and seemed useless to me. The fold down handle is very nice, allowing you to stow the vacuum away in a coat closet. The fold down handle, along with the vacuum's light weight, easy to grab carrying handle, and simple design all made it a breeze to carry up and down stairs. It was also easy to hold the unit while in the precarious position of vacuuming stairs. At first glance, it seemed to me to be a superior vacuum for the price.

After a year of use, however, it simply did not hold up. One of the plastic clips to hold an attachment broke off. Suction was gradually lost, and even after two trips to the vacuum repair shop and multiple belt replacements, the original power of this vacuum cleaner never returned. It seemed that the belt was regularly loosening or breaking. The self-propel faded to the point of being mostly nonexistent. The hose used for vacuum attachments started to become loose on its own while vacuuming floors, causing the vacuum to suddenly lose suction, and I found I was consistently bending over to push it back in. The vacuum comes with a "power boost" feature, which supposedly boosts the suction power, but I could never find a noticeable difference while using this feature. It also has a "hush" feature to quiet the motor a bit, and again, any difference in operation was only slight while using it.

This vacuum always performed poorly on hard floors, blowing the dirt out of the back end of the unit no matter what height adjustment was selected. The clear dirt canister is definitely preferable to a bag cleaner, and was relatively easy to remove, empty, and replace. One complaint I have, however, is that there is no way to pull out and replace the canister without making a dusty mess on the floor, and pulling out the filters to clean them always resulted in a filthy mess on my hands and in the air. The filter does what it is supposed to, but rather than be washable and reusable, Hoover recommends that a new filter be purchased when the old one gets dirty. These filters are both expensive and somewhat difficult to find in a store.

This a very stylish looking vacuum and it comes out of the box working amazingly well for its low price point. However, this seemed like a completely different vacuum after just one year of use. If you are looking for a vacuum that you can use on hard floors or a vacuum that will keep working for you long term, I recommend you look elsewhere.

Review by professional reviewer, Aug. 25, 2011