Dyson V16 Piston Animal Submarine

The V16 Piston Animal Submarine is Dyson's 2026 flagship, and on our list of the best cordless stick vacuums it is the pick for the person who wants everything in one machine: the longest run time, a compressing bin, a head that handles long hair by itself and a wet roller for the kitchen. Vacuum Wars ranks it second among cordless vacuums as of September 24, 2026, behind the V15 Detect.

It belongs in a large home with mostly hard floors, long-haired occupants and an owner who will not mind a 3.4 kg stick. It is not the obvious choice for a carpeted house.

Run time and bin are the daily-use upgrades. Dyson rates the V16 at 70 minutes in Eco against 60 for the V15; Mumsnet got about 40 minutes in Auto with charge to spare after a two-bedroom flat, and Vacuum Wars measured 15.3 minutes at Max, where the V15 manages 9 to 11. A full charge takes up to 4.5 hours by Tech Advisor's figure, and the battery clips off for a spare.

The CleanCompactor bin holds 0.4 L, but a lever packs the contents down so about 1.3 L fits before emptying, by Dyson's figure. CHOICE found it works on fluff and hair but not on sand; T3's six-week test noted the self-wiping bin still leaves residue. It is still the largest effective bin of our picks.

On carpet, Vacuum Wars scored the V16 a perfect 100 on embedded sand and 4 of 4 on crevice pickup. Its sealed suction, 85 inches, is well below the V15's 124; the review's own explanation is that past a certain point extra sealed suction stops turning into extra pickup, and the V16 balances airflow at the head instead. The 315 AW on the box is not the figure to shop on.

The All Floor Cones Sense head does the job of Dyson's usual two heads: a bristled cone for carpet and a soft one for hard floors, tapered so hair migrates to the narrow end and into the airflow. It senses the surface, adjusts brush speed and carries the green laser. T3 found the head looked new after six weeks; Mumsnet found a single strand after two. The Submarine box also includes a separate soft-roller head with its own laser.

Submarine 2.0 is a wet roller with a 300 ml clean-water tank and two flow settings. Vacuum Wars scored it 131 on dried-on stains against a 139 category average, respectable for a vacuum attachment. A power button replaces the trigger, the LCD shows remaining minutes and particle counts, the sealed HEPA system passed Vacuum Wars' fog test, and at 74 dB it is the quietest of our picks.

Carpet surface pickup. Mumsnet spilled cereal and found the V15 took it all in one sweep where the V16 left flakes. CHOICE rated the V16 good on carpet against excellent for the V15 range and blamed the plastic strip between the two cones, which lets debris and single hairs through. The deep-clean score measures embedded sand; surface pickup after one pass is where the cones give ground.

Hair. Vacuum Wars scored the head 7 of 10 on its 14-inch hair test, lower than Dyson heads usually manage, though the multi-week reviewers saw no tangling in normal use. Tech Advisor found the wheels collected fur that had to be picked off by hand, and the compactor did little with pet hair.

Weight and shape. At 3.4 kg, 3.5 with the head on, it is the heaviest pick and top-heavy as a handheld; Mumsnet's reviewer found the handle rubbed her wrist on long sessions, and CHOICE warns off buyers with weak hands. Tech Advisor noted the pointed head makes wall edges awkward and the machine cannot lie flat to reach under low furniture.

The Submarine. You vacuum first, swap heads, mop, then rinse and dry the roller by hand. CHOICE needed multiple passes on dried marks, found the tank small, and saw the boost setting drain it quickly. Treat it as a kitchen convenience, not a replacement for a wet-dry cleaner.

Against the Dyson V15 Detect, the V16 gives you the button, ten more Eco minutes and about five more at Max, the compressing bin, the single all-floor head and the wet roller. The V15 is lighter, measures far higher sealed suction, cleans carpet surfaces more completely in two separate tests, and sits in a lower price class.

Against the Shark PowerDetect Clean & Empty, the V16 is 8 dB quieter, has the laser, the LCD and the mop, and its bin holds nearly twice as much; the Shark empties itself, weighs less in the handle and sits in a mid price class.

Against the Dyson V12 Detect Slim, the V16 carries three times the effective bin and ten more Eco minutes for about 2.3 lb more; the V12 is the one for stairs.

This is the most complete cordless Dyson has built, and for a large hard-floor home with long-haired occupants it is the best of our four. It is not the best carpet cleaner in the family; that remains the V15, and the extra weight is real. If you already own a wet-dry cleaner, the standard V16 Piston Animal is the same vacuum without the Submarine head.