Bissell PowerForce Bagged 1739 in depth Review
I needed a new vacuum after my old one died, and I wanted to get a good vacuum to replace the one I had, but I needed more time. As a place holder while I search/save for a higher end one, I went to my local Walmart and got the Bissell PowerForce. They had both the helix and the bagged, but I decided to go with the bag since I have had issues with lost of dust still getting through the system. At my local store I was able to get the bagged upright for $72.
First impressions -
Taking the vacuum out of the box and assembling it was easy, I liked that it had two screws to attach the handle to the body, this felt more secure then just plastic clips, and it also meant they could put a handle with decent reach in the box, while still keeping the box itself small.
Form factor -
I think this may the best form factor for an upright I have used personally. The accessories and attachments clip on like most vacuums but the body has them recessed slightly so they don't stick out or catch on things. Compared to many vacuums where I hit something and 4 little plastic attachments fall off, this was a welcome improvements. I also liked that the power button was far away from the head unlock foot button, a lot of vacuums like to put them near but its annoying to accidentally hit the wrong one. The carry handle is also nice, as it doesn't attach to anything that comes off or moves, which a lot of the helix style with the removable dust catch has the carry handle on the dust catch, and I have had that damage the small plastic clips that secure it.
I also think the handle here is well designed. Its comfortable enough, but since its a long neck on the handle, but still comfortable to hold, I found it was useful to be able to grab part way up the neck to get more control when doing things like stairs or smaller rugs. This also let me rest the weight against my forearm when having to do elevated stairs.
Choked up on the neck for more control
The head of the vacuum is also well made, its shorter the some others, which means probably has a bit less brush power, but also means it can get in spots that some others I have used can not.
Side profile to see the head height
But I wish the height adjuster was a little bit shorter, as it is a bit taller then the rest of the head causing it to not reach under standard cabinet height.
Does not fully go under my island
Bad form factor things
To me an immediate thing I found that is more of a form factor issue is that the tube/length to use the attachments was really short. It was awkward having to clean the couch with the bristle attachment and pulling the tube nearly taught to clean the top of cushions. I wish it were a bit longer.
Also the cord is only 23 feet. It is long enough to be able to clean an entire large room from one outlet, but you have to be careful to manage the cord. I wish it was a 25-30 foot cord, which would have made it a lot easier to get to some corners without having to go back to move the cord to get the last bit of reach.
I also don't know how good the cord protection is. There is this round grommet to protect the bend angle, but I am still concerned long term of fatigue, I would like to have seen a better cord pull protection component, especially with the shorter cord where it can be easy to pull it taught. Its possible it has it internally but I can't be sure.
Cord grommet, no pull protection visible.
How well does it actually clean?
I vacuumed my whole house, after a fair bit of not vacuuming (since the old one was broken), which gave this vacuum a good stress test. I did low carpet, door mats, stairs, hardwood, tile, fabric couch, and rugs. I used all the different attachments as well to see how well they worked. We have cats and strands of long hair in the house, and some tracked dirt and mud in some sections, so a large variety of stubborn things to test on.
It picked up all visible dirt, dust, hair, and debris. I hit some scraps of paper, clumped dried mud, rubber bands, even a Q-tip, and it had no problem clearing them.
Also we have really bad allergies in my household, normal vacuuming has caused issues with the amount of dust it throws around. You could always smell the burnt dust off the motor and see it in the air. But with the bagged I didn't notice that at all, no sneezing once while vacuuming, which is a first. The cat dander and dust normally gets thrown around pretty bad, but not with the bagged. This was also a major reason I went with this one.
I do think on long carpet this would struggle, on some of the heftier entry mats it took many passes, and some debris was entrapped to deep to get it, even when somewhat visble. But for the rest of the house it worked well.
Visible dirt and debris cleaned in one pass in short carpet
Overall opinions
- I think for the price of $72, and with some new higher quality bags, this is a really solid option at the <$100 price point.
Pros:
- It cleaned 99% of my living areas to my satisfaction.
- The vacuum was lightweight enough to easily move and carry up stairs.
- The form factor overall was well designed and ergonomic.
- The bagged version seemed much better at capturing dust and dander.
Cons:
- Hard to clean stairs and furniture with attachments, tube length is a bit short for it.
- Cord length is a few few to short for my preference.
- Struggled with heavy entry mats/really tall carpet.
- Didn't get the back edge of kick boards under cabinets without attachments