Is the Bissell Featherweight the Best Corded Stick Vacuum for Small Spaces?
In today’s review, we’ll be taking a close look at the Bissell Featherweight Corded Stick Vacuum. This vacuum is one of the best-selling corded stick vacuums in recent years, and its popularity has mostly been attributed to its affordable price. But after testing it this week, I found that the Featherweight is actually a pretty solid vacuum, especially for the price—provided you understand its limitations. Some users will love it for its simplicity, light weight, and excellent performance on hard floors, while others may find it lacking for their specific needs. Let’s dive into the pros and cons of the Bissell Featherweight, and who it’s best suited for.
Overview: Design and Versatility
The Bissell Featherweight comes in four color options and offers great versatility. You can remove the handle and floorhead to use it as a handheld vacuum, either with the base or with the included crevice tool. However, its primary use is as a regular upright vacuum with a detachable floorhead.
One of the major design differences of the Featherweight is that it doesn’t have a spinning brush roll like many other vacuums. This design choice makes it ideal for people with more hard floors than carpets or rugs, as it’s not as effective on deep carpet cleaning. It does well with surface debris, but if you have mostly carpeted floors, it might not be the best choice.
Pros of the Bissell Featherweight
1. Lightweight and Easy to Use
The Bissell Featherweight lives up to its name as the lightest stick vacuum I’ve ever tested, weighing just 3 lbs in total with a handle weight of less than 400g. That’s about four times lighter than the average stick vacuum, making it easy to push and maneuver on both hard floors and carpets. Its light weight is a major advantage for users who need a vacuum they can easily carry around, especially for small homes, apartments, or stairs.
2. Excellent Performance on Hard Floors
The Featherweight performs excellently on hard floors, picking up debris from fine to medium size, including heavier debris like cat litter and sand. What impressed me most was its ability to pick up pet hair and long human hair without tangling it around the nozzle—this is due to the lack of a spinning brush roll, which often causes hair to wrap around the brush in other vacuums.
3. Decent Carpet Pickup
Although the Featherweight doesn’t have a brush roll, it still does a solid job picking up surface-level debris on low pile carpets. It scored 90 on our carpet deep clean test, where we embedded sand into medium-pile carpet and measured the bin weight before and after. While this is below average for corded upright vacuums, it’s actually quite impressive for a vacuum without a brush roll. It’s comparable to some of the best robot vacuums I’ve tested, which typically have less suction power.
4. Handheld Mode for Stairs and Small Jobs
The handheld mode is also a plus, especially for cleaning stairs. It works well with the standard floorhead attached and can handle light handheld tasks like picking up debris from various surfaces and cleaning cobwebs in corners. However, it lacks more specialized tools like an upholstery tool, which limits its functionality for more difficult tasks like car cleaning.
5. Self-Standing Design
A nice feature of the Featherweight is its ability to stand on its own. This often-overlooked quality makes storage easier and eliminates the need to find a place to put it down while you plug or unplug the cord.
Cons of the Bissell Featherweight
1. Small Bin and Filtration System
The Featherweight has a small bin at 0.67L and a filtration system that doesn’t live up to high standards. The filter is washable but doesn’t provide the level of filtration found in more expensive models. If you have allergies or need a high-quality filtration system, this vacuum may not meet your needs.
2. Struggles with Large Debris
The Featherweight’s small front gate on the floorhead is both a pro and a con. While it contributes to excellent suction on hard floors, it also limits its ability to pick up larger debris, especially on carpets. Although you can hover over large debris and suck it up without scattering it (thanks to the lack of a spinning brush roll), the vacuum isn’t effective for debris over a certain size.
3. Short Cord Length
One of the biggest downsides of the Bissell Featherweight is its short cord, measuring only around 15 feet. This is about half the length of a typical upright vacuum’s cord, which can be a major inconvenience when cleaning larger spaces. You’ll frequently need to unplug and find another outlet, which can be frustrating for whole-house cleaning.
Who is the Bissell Featherweight For?
The Bissell Featherweight is an excellent option for people who have mostly hard floors and limited carpet. It’s perfect for small homes, apartments, dorms, or RVs where compact storage and lightweight operation are important. It’s ideal for those who want a simple, no-frills vacuum that performs well on hard floors and doesn’t require a hefty investment.
If you’re someone who values lightweight vacuums, ease of use, and budget-friendly options, the Featherweight could be exactly what you need. However, if you have a lot of carpet or need a vacuum with high-end filtration and larger debris pickup capabilities, this might not be the vacuum for you.
Conclusion: Is the Bissell Featherweight Right for You?
In conclusion, the Bissell Featherweight is a lightweight, budget-friendly stick vacuum that excels at cleaning hard floors and picking up small debris. It’s great for smaller spaces, those who need something lightweight, and people on a tight budget. While it has some limitations—such as a small bin, poor filtration, and struggles with larger debris—its overall performance makes it a strong contender in the corded vacuum category for those who don’t need a high-powered, feature-packed model.
Pros:
- Extremely lightweight and easy to use
- Excellent on hard floors and pet hair pickup
- Solid performance on low pile carpets for surface debris
- Handheld mode works well for stairs and small tasks
- Self-standing design for easy storage
Cons:
- Small bin capacity and basic filtration system
- Struggles with large debris pickup
- Short 15-foot cord length