Hoover UH70400 WindTunnel Air Review

Introduction

Overall, this Hoover did its best work on short carpet and hardwood, and was serviceable in our debris pickup tests. Don’t rely on it for heavy cleaning on long carpet, though, because it'll leave plenty of dirt behind. It makes the most sense as a purchase for those users who are looking for a compact machine with a customizable extension wand that holds its own on short carpet and hardwood.

Design & Usability

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Light, maneuverable and user-friendly.

With its folding handle you’ll have no problem storing the Hoover UH70400 WindTunnel Air in your closet. Despite it's small size, it’s much more powerful than other similar lightweight uprights. Once you're using it, not only does it helps that the Hoover weighs only 13.36 pounds, but it also has a solid undercarriage design that makes for smooth cleaning on most surfaces. The power cord is 29 feet, which gives plenty of maneuverability from room to room.

The power button is located on the top right side of the canister; next to it is the brush roll button, which lets you turn the power brush on and off. There is also a sliding ring on the handle that lets you adjust the handle height, while the lever below it allows you to release the handle entirely to turn it into an extension wand. The wand extends out 11.5 feet beyond the cleaner itself, and you can even attach an extendable pet brush or plastic nozzle to suit your cleaning needs.

By twisting the top off of the dirt container, you can access the Hoover’s rinsable HEPA filter. You'll want to make sure that the filter has completely dried off before using it again, though. The removable dirt holder doesn’t hold much dirt (0.51 gallons), but is easy to both remove and empty out, as the bottom falls out at the simple touch of a button.

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Features & Performance

Held its own in our short pile and hardwood tests, but was ineffective at long carpet cleanup.

This vacuum wasn’t one of our best-performing machines, but it wasn’t an embarrassment to itself once you factor in its size and weight. Larger vacuums bested it on all our tests, and it always left at least 20 percent of dirt behind regardless of flooring type. At the very least, it did a decent job cleaning up pet hair and debris, making it a good second vacuum for a kitchen or playroom. It's not whisper-quiet, but the sound isn't that bothersome, which makes it ideal for the kind of touch-up cleaning that isn't usually planned in advance.

Conclusion

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An acceptable, yet pricey, compact cleaner

With a sleek, elegant design that caters to customers who don’t have much space, the Hoover UH70400 WindTunnel Air will definitely have its fans. However, for those looking at the bottom line and the $180 price tag, it may not be the best option. It struggled on high carpet, and didn’t do well enough on short carpet or hardwood to make up for its high pile troubles. The vacuum was solid in debris pickup, especially on high carpet, but didn’t excel in any one area.

The Hoover UH70400 WindTunnel Air has some appealing features, such as a power brush on/off button, as well as its ability to recline down for easy under-the-couch cleaning. Furthermore, it weighs only 13.36 pounds and has an easy-to-remove extension wand. But is that enough to warrant its price? We think you can do better for the money, especially if you’re judging the vacuum solely on performance or convenience.

Science Introduction

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Like all vacuums that enter our labs, this Hoover got to run through tests featuring different kinds of dirt on different kinds of flooring, as well as a few other exams. It did pretty well, but not enough to make it a good primary vacuum; it's also too expensive to make it a logical choice as a secondary cleaner despite its performance.

Dirt and Debris Cleaning

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Only does debris and pet hair particularly well.

This Hoover was unable to grab the sand from our pre-made sand and talcum powder mixture, pulling in mainly the lighter powder for an overall 19.8% dirt acquisition. Even for a smaller vacuum, less than 20% of dirt picked up on long carpet is a poor number, though it did quite well with pet hair. It was more effective on short carpet, getting up 70% of our dirt.

Don’t worry about using the Hoover in the kitchen, though, because it had no issues on hardwood. It picked up 79.6% of dirt during our testing and can be bent down far enough so you can fit it underneath chairs or tables with relative ease.

After poor performance in our dirt pickup test on long carpet, the Hoover did surprisingly well picking up debris on long carpet, getting about 85%. In fact, it picked up four out of five pennies and dimes during the tests. It wasn’t as good on hardwood, but still garnered more than 70%.

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Noise & Energy

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Quiet and efficient...enough.

You won’t have to worry about disturbing neighbors too much when using the Hoover UH70400 WindTunnel Air because it produces 69.7 decibels, mild compared to most other vacuums. Despite its small frame, the Hoover UH70400 WindTunnel Air pulls about 1120 watts—about the same as many larger vacuums.

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