Our In-Depth Review
Design
The Dyson DC25 Ball All-Floors vacuum is an upright cleaner. The brush bar is attached to the Ball on this Dyson model, along with the bagless chamber and the hose with the on board tools. All the tools are stored right on the vacuum, so you don’t have to search for anything when it is time to use the hose for cleaning.
It is very difficult to describe how this vacuum moves. The Dyson DC25 Ball Upright doesn’t use the two standard rear wheels when you are vacuuming. Instead, the vacuum rolls around on a ball. The motor to this vacuum is in the large ball.
The advantage to having one large ball for the vacuum is really for getting next to the edge of a floor extremely easily. You can get right up to the edge of the floor and lean the vacuum to the side.
This allows you to vacuum the entire perimeter of a floor with one pass. You also can get under furniture effectively by using this strategy.
If you really want to, you can spin this vacuum around on the ball, cleaning in a circular motion. This isn’t practical for cleaning, but it was pretty fun to do as we tested the Dyson Ball DC25 technology.
Don’t forget the other big selling point of Dyson vacuums. They don’t lose suction. The goal of any vacuum should be to do a great job cleaning up hard flooring or carpeting.
The Dyson DC25 Ball Bagless vacuum does just that. This vacuum has a small bagless chamber that includes the patented Dyson Root Cyclone Technology. This type of suction sucks up all the dust, spins it around so it drops into the chamber, and then spits out totally clean exhaust.
There are two small HEPA filters on the vacuum, and they are both have to be washed clean occasionally. You never need to buy bags, and you never have to buy a new filter. Just wash the filters with water at least once every three months.
Performance/ Using the Dyson DC25 All-Floors Vacuum
In one word, impressive. This was mentioned before, but it does take some getting used to the Dyson Ball technology. It doesn’t move across the floor as a typical two-rear wheel vacuum does.
You control the movement by turning your wrist one direction or the other. You can do the typical back and forth cleaning motion, but this vacuum allows you to go forward and then turn in any direction at the stop of a dime.
The title of this vacuum includes “All-Floors.” This means you can switch the brush bar on and off. With the brush bar off, this vacuum cleans up hard floors. Activate the brush bar for cleaning carpets or rugs.
Performance on Carpets
There are two power buttons right below the handle of the Dyson DC25. You have to make sure you push both so the brush bar is running when vacuuming up a carpet.
At vacuumwizard.com we always test multiple types of particles to see if a vacuum cleans effectively. First, we used pine needles to see how it cleans up larger particles. The vacuum was tested during the holidays, and if you use a real tree, you know how needles can invade your home.
The brush bar didn’t kick any of the needles away. Instead, it did what it is supposed to do. It dislodged them from the carpet and sucked up large particles with one pass.
For smaller particles, flour was dumped on the carpeting. Once again, the DC25 Ball only needed one pass to clean up these small particles. Other items that it cleans with ease on carpeting include hair, lint, and general dust and debris.
Performance on Rugs
The suction of this vacuum is pretty powerful, so the edge of the rug sometimes moves a bit when cleaning with the Dyson DC25 Ball All-Floors vacuum. This wasn’t much of a problem because it still was able to go right over this small rise and clean the rest of the rug with ease.
Make sure to activate the brush bar when you are on a rug for a complete clean. The nice thing about activating the brush bar is it is right below the handle to the vacuum. You don’t have to bend over to turn it on.
For larger rugs, you can clean them in record time by starting at the edge and actually go around in a rectangular pattern. The Dyson Ball allows you to turn real easily.
This way the rug was vacuumed with one pass as we went around and around working towards the center of the rug. You don’t have to go forward and backward like a typical vacuum does.
Performance on Hard Floors
We tested the hard flooring with large and small particles too. We used pine needles again for the large particles.
It didn’t suck every single one up right away like it did with the carpeting, but as we went backwards, all the large particles were cleaned up.
Flour was used as the small particles and this was cleaned up in one pass. The ball technology comes in real handy when getting a kitchen clean.
Most cabinets overhang a little and a lot of debris can gather underneath.
We leaned the Dyson DC25 Ball to the side, but still went from the side under this overhang. It cleaned all the dust and debris, even to the very edge.
Edge Cleaning
As we have mentioned before, this vacuum is the best vacuum out of any we have tested for cleaning right up to the edge.
A great vacuum brush bar, coupled with the Dyson Ball technology makes this product extremely unique.
If you hate using on board tools on a vacuum, you’ll go wild with this Dyson upright model. The edges were spotless and it was extremely easy to clean right up to the edge.
It does take a bit of practice to perfect this technique. You lean the vacuum to the side a touch, and then you still push straight ahead. The brush bar should be butting up against the edge of the flooring as you go by to make sure you get a complete clean.
You can clean the traditional way where you go straight ahead and butt the front of the vacuum head right up against the wall and get a great clean too, but there’s no fun In that technique when you can exploit the Dyson Ball technology and clean in a fraction of the time.
Filtration
The Dyson DC25 vacuum cleaner has a dust free exhaust. We use a laser dust scanner to test dust emissions down to 0.3 microns. This tool registered zero dust coming out of the exhaust.
The Dyson Ball model never loses suction, and it doesn’t kick out any dust after it sucks it up. This means clean floors and clean air.
The vacuum filters the dust in a cyclonic chamber, and then runs this air through the washable HEPA filters. This vacuum is ideal for people with dust or dander allergy symptoms because it eliminates these evil particles.
Attachments / Onboard Tools
There are only two on board tools that are included with this Dyson DC25. That is a bit deceiving though.
The crevice tool includes an upholstery brush that you can push on when you need it.
The crevice tool is used to reach into small corners or tight spaces. The upholstery brush should be snapped into place when you are cleaning up some debris or dust on a couch, chair, or even drapes.
The second tool is the stair brush. This has a “wider” mouth for cleaning a larger area. Don’t get too excited about this tool.
It really is only a few inches wide. It took a long time to clean the stairs because this tool is small compared to most stair brushes.
Both tools snap onto the back of the vacuum, so they are there for you when you need them. These tools all attach to the Dyson Telescopic Reach. To use these on board tools, you have to pull up on the wand at the back of the vacuum.
After you have pulled the wand all the way up, give it one more pull up to detach the wand from the base of the vacuum. The wand now is attached to the hose.
With the wand and the hose, you get a tremendous amount of reach. This vacuum can reach up to just over 15 feet. We tested it to see if we could reach the top of a vaulted ceiling, and it did with ease. A chair was needed so we could stand on one to really test the reach capabilities. The hose stretched out very nicely.
Ease of Use
Some of the previous Dyson models did have a few things that made them harder to use. Not so much with this Dyson DC25. Once you grow accustomed to the Ball Technology, this is a very easy vacuum to use.
Getting Started
The assembly was very simple. You won’t need any tools to get the vacuum hooked up. The brush bar snaps into a tube by the front of the ball.
The handle and wand snaps into the top of the DC25. The most challenging aspect is growing accustomed to the Ball and its unique movements.
Maneuverability
This is by far the greatest asset of the Dyson DC25 Ball vacuum. It can maneuver unlike any other vacuum on the market. You can clean edges better than any other vacuum as an upright. You can save a lot of time on cleaning by turning at corners instead of doing the typical back and forth vacuum motion.
When it is not in use, the vacuum snaps down two rear wheels. Then you simply tilt the vacuum back like any other vacuum to guide the DC25 to a small storage space.
The wand is also easy to use and maneuver. The same handle that you will use for the upright doubles as the handle for the wand. The on board tools snap to the end of the wand, and you just hold onto the handle and guide the vacuum into any space that needs cleaning.
Cleaning Stairs
You have to use the on board tools to clean up stairs. This vacuum isn’t designed to get carpeted or hard floor stairs with the upright cleaning head. You should set the base of the vacuum down and use the stair brush for cleaning the stairs.
The above mentioned attachment on the hose will work for carpeting or hard flooring stairs. It gets into the corners pretty good, but if you aren’t satisfied, you can really get in there with the crevice tool.
The suction on the Dyson DC25 is very impressive, so even though you have to use the hose to clean the stairs, they will be very clean with this vacuum.
Cord management and Length
The cord is 25 feet long. This is plenty long enough for one room at a time, however, if you have a great room, you might not be able to get the living room and the kitchen by plugging into just one outlet.
The cord wraps around the back of the vacuum when it is not in use. There is a small clip that is attached to the cord. Uses the clip once the cord is all the way wrapped up to keep the cord secure when the DC25 All-Floors is not in use.
Hose Management and Length
The hose coupled with the wand has over 15 feet of reach. It is really easy to keep in place. The entire hose is stacked vertically behind the DC25. It automatically goes into place when not in use.
You actually can detach the wand from the hose if you need to get into tighter spaces due to strange angles for cleaning. I actually recommend detaching the wand, and only using the hose for cleaning the interior of a car.
Floor Selection
There are only two options for the floor selection, and they are both activated right by the handle. There is no need to shut off the vacuum and bend down to switch modes. Push the power button for hard flooring. Push the power button and then the brush bar button for cleaning carpets or rugs.
Noise
The Dyson DC25 vacuum registers about the typical level for a vacuum. It is a touch quieter when the brush bar is not in use. For hard flooring the noise level is about 75 Decibels according to the decibel level reader.
The DC25 gets a bit louder when you have the brush bar activated for carpeting. It registered at 80 decibels in this mode. To give you a comparison, 80 decibels is about the same level of noise of traffic at a busy street corner.
Maintenance
Bagless vacuums like the Dyson DC25 have a huge advantage over bagged models. There is simply less maintenance involved.
You only have to detach the cyclonic canister from the upright, take it to the trash and empty the contents of the canister. It also is easy to see when the canister is full, because it is clear.
There are two HEPA filters for the DC25 Dyson Ball. They are washable filters and are built to last the life of the vacuum. Dyson suggest that you wash the filters at a minimum of every three months.
This is very easy to do. For the first one, you take the canister off, and lift up the top of the canister to access the filter. The second filter is located in the vacuum.
Push a purple button to open up the ball. Then a red button in the ball releases the second filter. Rinse out the filter under cool water. Put the filters out to dry for 24 hours. You can reuse the filters over and over again. They never needs replacing.
Emptying the Debris Canister
Emptying the debris from the canister is a simple two-step process. First, when the vacuum is off, you detach the cyclonic chamber from the upright. Then you take the chamber and hold it directly above a trashcan.
Push the red lever on the back of the chamber to open the bottom up. All the dust, dirt, hair, and debris fall right out the bottom of the canister. Close the lid, snap the canister back onto the vacuum and it’s ready to clean up some more.
Value For Money
The Dyson DC25 Ball All Floors upright is a totally unique vacuum cleaner that provides an incredible clean. It can get to areas other vacuums can’t because of the Ball Technology.
It also does a tremendous job cleaning when it passes over the desired area too. Some users may not like the way it moves, so make sure to push a floor model around if you get a chance before you purchase one.
It is a very expensive vacuum. Yes, the Dyson DC25 Ball Upright provides an incredible clean, but it packs and equally powerful punch to your wallet. Other Dyson models clean just as effectively, however, the Ball Technology does clean extremely efficiently.
Final Vacuum Verdict
If you are willing to spend the money, you can have quite possibly the coolest vacuum product on the market. The Ball Technology on the DC25 takes a bit of getting used to, but it makes cleaning a breeze.
Your carpets and floors will be immaculate, even to the very edge of your floor. The on board tools are also very easy to use and can clean in any situation.
It seems kind of strange, but vacuuming with a Dyson DC25 Ball All-Floors is fun! Who ever said cleaning had to be a chore!
