Dyson Ball Animal 3 Upright Vacuum, Corded, 290AW, De-tangling Motorbar Cleaner Head for All Floors, 3 Suction Modes

Why it's worth it

This is the upright to buy if your carpets are full of embedded dog hair and nothing else has gotten it out. The de-tangling Motorbar head clears wrapped hair as you clean, and the whole-machine filtration keeps dander from blowing back out.

If pet hair is ground into your carpet, this is the machine that gets it out. Dyson rates the Animal 3 at 290 air watts, and its digital motor spins at up to 110,000 RPM — roughly five times a conventional vacuum motor. RTINGS.com's standardized carpet pet-hair test put it among the highest-scoring uprights they've evaluated, pulling deeply embedded hair in a single pass on medium-pile carpet. That's the whole reason to buy it.

The Motorbar cleaner head is the other half of the story. It's designed to clear wrapped hair off the brush bar automatically while you vacuum, which matters enormously if you own a husky, a golden, or a long-haired cat. Owners of heavy shedders repeatedly note that they aren't kneeling on the floor with scissors every few weeks. If you've ever cut a felted rope of hair off a brush roll, you know how much that's worth.

From our review of 8 upright vacuums for pet hair, by James Bennett, Associate Editor

What we like

• +If pet hair is ground into your carpet, this is the machine that gets it out
• +The Motorbar cleaner head is the other half of the story
• +Three suction modes let you match the floor instead of fighting it
• +Filtration is whole-machine, not just a filter dropped into a leaky housing

What to know

• –It's heavy. At about 17 pounds it's the weightiest vacuum here, and hauling it up a flight of stairs is a genuine chore
• –The build quality doesn't always match the price