The Anker HomeVac Duo came packaged in the usual Anker fashion, in a simple but nice looking box colored almost entirely in white with light blue accents. Inside the box is the main portion of the vacuum, the head, 2 parts that make up the charging base, attachments, mounting screws, charger, and some product information. The vacuum is made almost entirely of a hard glossy plastic. It feels as well made as most vacuums but it would have been nice had they made it a little more sturdy. The charging base is quite simple and the quality is good enough for a charging base. The included attachments are all you should need and are made well. The inclusion of mounting hardware for the charging base is nice.
Assembly of the vacuum was simple. All that was required is sliding the head onto the end of the vacuum. The charging base was also very easy to assemble. The base also holds the attachments which is both a positive and a negative. It is a positive because it eliminates some bulk and weight from the vacuum, but a negative because if you need an attachment you, you may be forced to walk to the other side of your house to get it.
The vacuum itself is a pleasure to use. It is easy to navigate and folds flat to get under low tables, dressers, etc, that many other vacuums can’t. It also has a few LED lights on the front of it that are nice when vacuuming dark locations such as a closet. The vacuum features two levels of power. I found the low power setting to not be enough in many cases but the high power setting had no problem sucking just about anything up. the 24 minute battery rating for the high power setting seemed to be very accurate and in my case is plenty to get my hard floors vacuumed. If you have a large house with a lot of hard floors, you may find yourself running out of power or using the low power mode which last 60 minutes.
I really like the design of the removable waste container. With the push of a button it pops out to be emptied. It is big enough to last the entire length of the battery but will need to be dumped after each battery charge. The fact that the filter is washable is very nice. No more hunting down the correct replacement filter.
In handheld mode the vacuum works very well. I found its suction to be higher than most I have used and I had no issues with it. The attachments did seem to be a little on the short side but I was able to get everything done I needed to throughout my use.
The charging base for the HomeVac is not the best design I have seen but it works. The vacuum clips on the base about midway up which can be a pain if the base is not mounted to the wall. The vacuum does charge quickly which is nice if you do have a large house and the battery doesn’t last long enough to vacuum the entire thing.
Overall, Anker has done a great job on their first vacuum. While it is not the best on the market I feel it is a strong contender. If they make a few minor adjustments it could easily be one of the best. If you can find this vacuum on sale or you do not mind the minor cons that I have mentioned, it will make for a great vacuum. Also, to back up the product, Anker has included an 18 month warranty which is a nice touch.
If you are interested in purchasing the HomeVac Duo it can be found here.