Bosch Unlimited Series 8 review: as good as a Dyson cordless?

If you’re planning to buy a cordless stick vacuum, you can of course go for a Dyson. But after Dyson, cordless vacuums from Bosch are the best-selling. On bol.com Bosch currently offers 51 models and on coolblue.nl for example 16 models. Bosch vacuums are a popular choice, especially if you want to buy a cordless vacuum. The top stick vacuums from Bosch are the Unlimited Serie 8 models. Is a Bosch cordless vacuum just as good as, say, a Dyson V8, V10 or V11? If you want to know the differences between those last three, read our article here about the differences between the Dyson V8, V10 and V11.

Bosch vacuums have become increasingly popular over the years, largely thanks to their innovative features, reliable German engineering and quality design. Until recently Bosch sold a range of upright, cylinder and cordless vacuums. The company now seems to be focusing on its cordless range, possibly as a result of new EU regulations on power consumption and noise.

There’s not much we need to explain about Dyson. They pretty much invented the cordless vacuum. Design and performance go hand in hand. The Bosch Unlimited is a vacuum that ticks all the boxes. It’s light and manoeuvrable and, as modern vacuum fashion dictates, also cordless, which means you don’t have to worry about finding a new socket every time you move from room to room. And although it doesn’t have bright colours but a more understated white, black and chrome colour scheme, it still looks modern and sleek. In terms of price it’s comparable to some of Dyson’s vacuums – the question is: can it compete with them on performance? The big question is: is a Bosch stick vacuum from the Unlimited series as good as a Dyson stick vacuum?

View the Bosch Unlimited Serie 8 on bol.com, from € 310,-

View the Dyson V8 on bol.com, from € 415,-

About the Bosch Unlimited Serie 8 cordless vacuums

The handheld motor unit and dust container can be attached to various cleaning accessories to do the actual cleaning. The main attachment is a motorised carpet cleaning brush that connects to the Bosch via a long stick (or wand).

The Bosch Unlimited also comes with a flexible crevice tool and an upholstery brush, two rechargeable batteries and a docking station to charge the battery. It’s not as well equipped as the Dyson V8 Animal, which comes with an extra smaller motorised head to make cleaning stairs easier, or the Roidmi X20, which includes a mopping attachment.

Bosch Unlimited (Serie 8) review: price and competition

The price you pay for Bosch’s flagship stick vacuum is fairly standard for a flagship model. It costs € 310,- at bol.com, which is a bit cheaper than the Dyson V8 Animal, which is € 429,- at bol.com. The latter comes with just one non-removable battery, but one extra accessory – that mini motorised stair cleaning head.

Bosch Unlimited (Serie 8) review: design and features

The configuration of the Bosch Unlimited will look familiar to most people by now; if you’ve seen a Dyson V8, you know the idea. The suction motor, battery and dust bin are all housed in a compact, handheld unit that you connect your cleaning accessories to.

Dust bin capacity

As popularised by its namesake Dyson, this Bosch is also bagless, but it only has a capacity of 0.4 l, so you’ll have to empty it quite often. It’s smaller than the 0.54 l bin on the Dyson V8, although in practice there isn’t enough of a difference to significantly change how you use the vacuum.

Emptying the dust bin

There are, however, plenty of differences between the two machines, and the main one is not in Bosch’s favour. Put simply, the mechanism used to remove the dust bin for emptying is not very user-friendly. To start with, it’s not immediately clear how you’re supposed to do it. It turns out you have to press a release button and pull the bin down and away from the main body of the vacuum, but this is a twist you’re left to figure out. There’s no indication on the vacuum itself whether you should pull, push or twist the bin to remove it, and there’s no label on the release button either.

This is made worse by the fact that it takes quite a bit of effort to remove the bin from its housing in the first place. And in my case the release button was also rather hard to press – if I didn’t press exactly the right spot, the bin stayed firmly in place. Overall, it’s a pretty poor piece of design, which is a shame because the rest of the vacuum is sensibly put together.

Battery life

The quick-release battery, for example, is a great idea, especially because the Bosch Unlimited comes with two in the box and a docking station for charging. This means you can keep one battery on charge while you’re vacuuming, and if the one you’re using runs out, you can simply swap it and carry on.

The small 3000 mAh batteries also last a decent amount of time – about 11 minutes per charge on maximum power and almost an hour on low power. They also charge quickly, in about an hour, and as a bonus they’re compatible with Bosch Unlimited’s range of battery-powered household appliances and tools.

Another handy feature is that, once you manage to remove the dust bin, there’s a small handle on top that knocks dust out of the nooks and crannies of the filter when you twist it. This means you don’t have to bang the filter against the side of the bin; it’s a cleaner and less messy method than most bagless vacuums, and it doesn’t release huge clouds of dust every time you empty the bin.

View the Bosch Unlimited Serie 8 on bol.com, from € 310,-

View the Dyson V8 on bol.com, from € 415,-

Apart from the dust bin release system, the whole thing feels good in the hand. It’s a bit disappointing that there isn’t a smaller motorised head for cleaning stairs, but you can still use the regular head without too much hassle. And it’s a bonus that you don’t have to keep your finger on a trigger to keep the vacuum running. Just pull the trigger once to start the motor and pull it again to switch it off. Easy.

Bosch Unlimited (Serie 8) review: performance

The Bosch Unlimited has two cleaning modes – standard and “Turbo” – which you can switch between by pressing a button on top of the vacuum’s pistol grip. While the standard mode gives you long battery life, it’s not particularly effective and only produces 4.5 kPa of suction. This is less powerful than the eco modes of all its main rivals. The Dyson V8 and V7, for example, are much more powerful. Things are different once Turbo is enabled, but the Bosch is still not outstanding and lags behind the Dyson vacuums.

On the flip side, while the Bosch struggles with larger debris on hard floors, it performs better than some competitors with fine particles on carpeted surfaces because it creates a tighter suction seal. Overall, the Bosch delivers decent performance, but nothing exceptional. The good news is that battery life is excellent. Even with a single battery the Bosch lasts longer in both high-power and low-power modes than the Dyson V8: it runs for 11 minutes in Turbo and 50 minutes in standard mode. Switch to the second battery, of course, and you can double that.

Bosch Unlimited (Serie 8) review: verdict

There’s a lot I like about the Bosch Unlimited (Serie 8) vacuum. It has swappable, fast-charging batteries that you can also use in other devices. It cleans effectively as long as you choose the right attachment and it looks sleek as well.

The problem with this vacuum is that it’s almost as expensive as many of its rivals, yet overall not as powerful or effective. Both the Dyson V8 and the Dyson V10 and V11 perform significantly better.

View the Bosch Unlimited Serie 8 on bol.com, from € 310,-

View the Dyson V8 on bol.com, from € 415,-