Are you considering buying Dyson’s lightest vacuum ever, the Micro 1.5kg? Here is what you need to know before spending $400 (or so) on this flyweight vacuum.
The Long And Short Of It
The Dyson Micro 1.5kg is the lightest vacuum Dyson has ever sold and the first that could be considered a handheld. The tradeoff for this is a limited battery life (20 minutes), a tiny bin, and a high price tag ($400).
What Comes With The Dyson Micro 1.5kg?
If you get a Dyson Micro 1.5kg Gold, the one sold direct from Dyson in the United States, you’ll get a box with:
- Mini Motorized Cleaning Head
- Soft Brush Cleaning Head
- Crevice Tool With LED Lighting (“Light Pipe Crevice Tool”)
- Combi Crevice Tool (With Removable Brush)
- Worktop Cleaning Tool
- Wand Tool Mount
- Wall Bracket
- Charger
Dyson Micro 1.5kg Cleaning Experience
The Micro is a small vacuum with an absurdly tiny cleaning bin and a short battery life (20 minutes on Eco Mode and 5 minutes on Max), which means it’s well-suited for apartments and small homes but it’s designed for extended use. At just over 3 pounds it’s pleasant to hold and you can easily remove the extension tube (the wand) and put a small cleaning tool on, like the new light-up crevice tool, and have a handheld vacuum that’s perfect for cleaning stairs, vacuuming your car, or taking into a bunkbed for cleaning the mattress.
The Micro 1.5kg has more suction than you’d expect and it’s louder than you’d expect. In fact, on hardwood floors and tile, it rivals the pick-up power of the Dyson V7, which is a good deal larger. The fuzzy, tennis-ball like cleaning head on the Micro actually manages to outperform the standard V7 cleaning head when it comes to vacuuming on hardwood! The fuzzy tool picks larger items, like cereal, and lighter items, like dried leaves, right up where the V7 and some large vacuums struggle.
The Micro is quite light so it feels a bit flimsy, not large and solid like the V12 (or like a standard Dyson cordless like the V7). The Micro is made as well as any other Dyson, it’s just lacking in reinforcement and has intentionally lightweight parts which give it the feeling of a very nice toy. I’ve only been using the Micro for a few weeks, so it remains to be seen if the Micro will hold up to the punishment of multiple years of use, like my DC59 which simply refuses to die.
The Micro doesn’t have a swappable battery, which Dyson fans have wanted for years, but does finally have a light-up tool in the new, purple crevice tool so you can clean in dark spots with no problems.
Trigger-Free Design
The Micro 1.5kg turns on and off with a button on the top, not the trigger that we’ve seen on every other Dyson cordless vacuum for as far back as I can remember. On the plus side, you don’t need to hold down a button for the whole time you use the vacuum, on the other, it’s slightly tedious to vacuum near people and pets, where you might have to turn the vacuum on and off frequently — a trigger button excels at this but a top-mount button costs you a second or so every time as you need to hunt for it.
No Battery Indicator
Newer, larger Dysons like the V12 and V15 have been including small LED indicators that let you know the battery level. The Micro 1.5kg doesn’t have this feature so you never know how much vacuuming you have left in the battery. It does reliably last 20 minutes on Eco mode, but with a 3+ hour recharge time to get it back to 100%, you don’t want to run out of life mid-cleaning.
Availability
The Micro 1.5kg vacuum is currently available in the US, UK, and other places where Dyson vacs are sold, but it’s still hard to find. As of August 1, 2021 it’s not yet available on Amazon, or at your favorite big box stores, like Target, Walmart, or Best Buy. Rather you’ll have to buy this vacuum direct from Dyson.com for the next few months, until it’s released more widely.
Dyson Micro 1.5kg Frequently Asked Questions
- Is the Dyson Micro 1.5kg a good vacuum?
Yes. The Micro has sufficient suction power, it's very light, it's well made, and it is easy to operate. There are downsides, such as the cost, it's louder than you'd expect, it only works on hard surfaces (no rug or carpet), and the battery life is just 5 minutes on “Max” suction, but it remains a top vacuum in its class.
- How do I empty the bin on the Dyson Micro 1.5kg?
This is quite easy! Remove any tools from the front of the vacuum, place it over a garbage can, and then push down the red tab. This video explains exactly how to open the bin.
- Which Dyson vacuum is most like the Micro 1.5kg?
The Micro 1.5kg is most similar to the Dyson V7 (but it's much smaller) and the new Omni-Glide, which is sort of a specialty vacuum where the Micro is a all-purpose vacuum with the 360-degree cleaning head found on the hardwood-floor only Omni-Glide.