When was the last time you cleaned your car? I’m not talking about car detailing — I mean a basic vacuum. If it’s been awhile, no judgement. With all its nooks and crannies, your car is one of the toughest spots to keep tidy and crumb-free. I would know: As a home editor, I test cleaning products for a living and recently wrote our guide to the best car vacuums. It was a seriously dirty job!
While researching top-rated car vacuums for my review, I noticed something interesting: Among the options from tool brands like Black+Decker and DeWalt, I kept seeing car vacs that looked like tiny cordless hair dryers that reviewers seemed to love. Sold by brands like Airify and Fanttik, they were all over social media and starred in thousands of reviews. “The only car vacuum you’ll need,” proclaimed one TikTok about the Fanttik. And I can’t even begin to tell you how many YouTube videos I saw dedicated to the Airify!
I was definitely curious, but also skeptical. In my experience, products that go viral don’t always live up to the hype. Sadly, this case wasn’t much different. Read on for my review of these buzzy car vacuums — plus the alternatives I think you should buy instead.
Jessica Dodell-Feder/Yahoo
Bottom line: Though it has a decent run time at 13 to 14 minutes when you toggle between the two cleaning modes, this rechargeable car vac had an exceptionally hard time with larger debris. Also, if you point the mouth of this vacuum down when the dust cup is full, dirt from the cup will fall out — creating double the work!
- Very lightweight
- Easy to maneuver
- Multi-surface attachment did a decent job on pet hair
- Dirt falls out of the vacuum easily, especially if you use and remove any of the attachments
- Kept getting jammed
- Tiny dust bin
- Debris tends to get stuck in the filter
Jessica Dodell-Feder/Yahoo
Bottom line: This cordless car vacuum has strong suction and an impressive run time, at 25 minutes, but it kept getting jammed. I’d expect a lot more from a vacuum at such a high price point!
- Impressive run time
- Three cleaning modes
- Very nimble
- Expensive
- Tiny dust bin
- Kept getting jammed
- Was unable to pick up fine particles like sand
- Did not work well on pet hair
Though I was definitely impressed with how powerful these cordless car vacuums are for their weight (the Airify clocks in at about 1 pound; the Fanttik slightly less), I could not rationalize spending $80 or more on gadgets with such small dust bins. I had to empty each one at least five times while vacuuming my back seat.
Worse, both vacuums easily got jammed, and their small openings meant they had a hard time picking up pebbles, larger crumbs and dried leaves. Debris would get lodged in the mouth, which would cause the flap that’s supposed to cover the dust bin to stay open, so dirt would then fall back out onto the floor.
If you’re someone who needs to spot-clean just a couple of crumbs or only deals with dirt collecting between seat cushions and seams, the Airify and Fanttik may be worth it, but otherwise, I’d look for something more substantial. They are not the right choice if you’re looking for the best car vacuum for pet hair, as they had a hard time pulling up embedded dirt from fuzzy floor mats.
One last note: Both vacuums come with a huge array of attachments, plus extra HEPA filters. Having extras of the latter on hand was great, but I am not sure you actually need all the tools, which include several nozzles for blowing dirt and dust from crevices. In particular, I found that the Fanttik blower attachments were almost too powerful and ended up spreading dust all over the place.
The best car vacuums you should buy
The models below pick up nearly everything in their path and come with well-designed attachments; they’re also compact enough that you can easily stash them in your trunk. Just keep in mind that you don’t have to buy a product specifically billed as a car vacuum to use it in your vehicle. Some of the models we tested are labeled “hand vacuums” or “dust busters,” and they worked wonderfully. Find the full reviews in our guide to the best car vacuums of 2024.
Jessica Dodell-Feder/Yahoo
This little 3-pound gadget has the power of some of the bulkier car vacuums I tested but in a more compact body. Pebbles, crushed leaves, crumbs of all sizes and larger clumps of dirt proved no match for its powerful suction. But what really makes it stand out is its reach: It has a flexible 4-foot hose with a curved nozzle that helped me access the tightest, most awkward spaces without straining my back or crouching down.
Amazon
At $35, this was the least expensive car vacuum I tested, yet it held its own, outperforming models more than double the price. It had the second-best suction, inhaling almost all the dirt and debris I scattered across my backseat. It even surpassed our tech editor’s expectations, and Rick’s not an easy guy to impress! Just note that this car vacuum is corded and plugs into your car’s 12-volt outlet (aka cigarette lighter). If you prefer a cordless vacuum, the parent brand of ThisWorx sells basically the same product, minus the cord, under the name Power Practical.
Jessica Dodell-Feder/Yahoo
This car vacuum has got it all and then some, including pet hair I thought was permanently embedded in my car floor. It comes with a rechargeable 2Ah 18-volt battery and a charger. Unlike most of the other models I tested, this vac features an LED light by the nozzle, which helped in finding wayward crumbs and specks of sand. But what really excels is the mini beater bar attachment — its stiff bristles quickly and efficiently picked up every bit of fur, plus fine dust and sand, which a lot of the other vacuums struggled with.
We received complimentary samples of some products and purchased others ourselves, but we reviewed all products using the same objective criteria.