Introduction

Design & Usability

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Generally well designed and easy to use.

The Hoover Platinum S3865 handles well, with the large handle on the hose and body making it easy to carry around. There is no way to attach the hose to the canister body and carry them as one, though, so it is a two-handed carrying job that’s sometimes awkward to store.

There are just a handful of controls on this cleaner. On the handle are buttons to turn the device on, and to enable the rotating brush on the carpet head, plus a slider control that reduces the suction pressure and a button to release the end of the wand when using the additional tools. On the body of the canister are controls for retracting the 25-foot cord and a button to remove the dirt container. Finally, on the carpet cleaning head is a control for the carpet height, with options for high, medium, low and bare floors. This arrangement puts all of the controls either within reach of the hand holding the handle, or the foot, for easy use.

With the Power Nozzle installed, we were able to clean up to 10 feet 8 inches away from the body of the cleaner. There are also plenty of other tools available, and the crevice tool and dusting brush can be stored on the handle for easy swapping in and out. The carpet cleaner, wide nozzle and small turbine brush cannot be stored on the body: you’ll have to find a handy spot for them if you are planning on using and swapping them out often. When cleaning above, the crevice tool allows you to reach up to four feet above your outstretched hand.

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Features & Performance

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Overall cleaning performance of the Hoover Platinum S3865 was acceptable, but unremarkable.

The Hoover Platinum S3865 performed acceptably in our tests with a short carpet. Most other vacuums in its price range will do a better job on a wood floor, and this one also struggled with longer carpet and wasn’t able to pick up much pet hair. When it came to debris pickup, heavier items posed a problem.

This vacuum has a fairly small dirt holder, which we found can hold about 0.4 gallons. This means that you may need to remove and empty the container more often than one with a larger capacity. At least it's a lot quieter than most other vacuums we've tested.

Conclusion

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Better options are out there.

The Hoover Platinum S3865 is a very simple to use vacuum cleaner that offers a good range of features. It will appeal to those who want to get on with the job of cleaning without the bells and whistles of more expensive models. Unfortunately, its performance was average at best. You'd be better off searching for a vacuum that best meets your needs.

Science Introduction

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The Hoover Platinum S3865 had very good overall performance, although it was eclipsed by some more expensive models. However, cleaning is often about using an adequate tool rather than the absolute best, and this cleaner has the performance to handle most everyday cleaning jobs, with the exception of removing pet hair.

Dirt and Debris Cleaning

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Only really shone on short carpet

On long carpet, we found that the Hoover Platinum S3865 struggled to pick up the test dirt from our deep carpet, managing to pick up an average of just 36 per cent. That is on the low side, and we have seen other cleaners manage to get significantly more out. This cleaner did much better with our short-depth test carpet: here it managed to pick up over 85 per cent of the test dirt, which isn't great but gets most of the job done.

On a wood floor, the Hoover also seemed to struggle, picking up just over 76 per cent of the dirt. That’s much less than most other cleaners, most of which manage to pick up over 90 per cent.

The S3865 had acceptable results from our debris test, which involves picking up larger items such as rice grains, pasta noodles and coins. It was able to pick up much of the smaller debris on both carpets and wood floors, but it wasn’t able to pick up many of the coins. Performance in our pet hair test was acceptable, but not great, with the cleaner struggling to remove the hair that was more embedded in the test carpet. There is no special pet hair tool included with this cleaner.

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Other Tests

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