I tried a '4-in-1' vacuum - it makes cleaning underneath furniture much easier - Manchester Evening News

I tried a '4-in-1' vacuum - it makes cleaning underneath furniture much easierIt's currently on sale for £159.99 instead of £229.99NewsJoshua Boyles Tech and entertainment affiliates

writer19:00, 01 Jun 2025This article contains affiliate links, we will receive a commission on any sales we generate from it. Learn moreThis Ultenic U20 vacuum has a pivoting arm that's

ideal for cleaning under furniture.(Image: Joshua Boyles) Vacuum cleaners can be deeply personal choices depending on your needs. Those with larger households might prefer to opt for a wired

vacuum so they can be sure the whole house will get done at once, while others might prefer to go for something more lightweight that can be carried up stairs more easily.

After trying out the Ultenic U20 for a week, it appears that this manufacturer might have managed to cram both types of vacuum into one. With an impressive battery life and some unique

features that make cleaning beneath furniture so much easier, it's quickly become my favourite way to clean my house.

Arriving in a compact box, the Ultenic U20 is a 4-in-1 vacuum that's super easy to assemble. It comes with a super long wand for general cleaning, plus the motorised brush head and a crevice

tool for tight spaces.

Ultenic also includes an additional HEPA filter for when the pre-installed one becomes clogged, although you can wash these out to reuse them. There's also a mounting bracket included which

is ideal for hanging the vacuum up in a dedicated spot when not in use.

This vacuum is advertised as free standing, but there's a bit of a caveat to this. While it can stand freely without the battery installed, it quickly becomes top-heavy and topples over once

you snap the battery pack into place, which isn't ideal if you want to store the two together like more users.

After charging the chunky battery up to full, the U20 vacuum is ready to start cleaning, and it makes a great first impression. It's turned on by pressing the trigger-style button once, with

no need to keep this depressed the entire time unlike some Dyson models.

The Ultenic U20 has an LED display.(Image: Joshua Boyles) This makes cleaning super easy with the only other button found on the top LED screen where the gadget's important information is

display. Here you can toggle between the three different cleaning modes - Floor, Carpet and Turbo, which increases the suction power of the vacuum with each press.

It's a little frustrating to have to toggle through the modes each time you turn the vacuum off and on again - it would have been great to see dedicated buttons for each mode. However, the

Ultenic U20 makes up for this by also having warning icons for different blockages, warning you when either the battery is running low, the brush head is tangled or the ducts are blocked

with debris.

This LED screen also displays the remaining time left in the battery which updates depending on the current cleaning mode. In its normal operating mode, you can expect around an hour of use,

although I found the Turbo mode to be much more effective at cleaning, which can provide around 17 minutes of continuous use.

The Ultenic U20 brush head remained tangle-free during my testing.(Image: Joshua Boyles) The included brush head is advertised as being tangle-free, and I've found this to be true during my

testing. While I don't own a pet, my partner's long hair regularly jams up the Hoover HF1+ that I was using before with it actually damaging the brush head after a few weeks of use.

I haven't found a single strand of hair to have tangled up in the Ultenic's brush head, with the comb teeth seemingly doing their job to prevent blockages. The result is a vacuum that seems

to have required little maintenance thus far, although a longer-term review will be required to see if that holds up after months of use.

In terms of actual cleaning power, I was very impressed with the Ultenic U20's performance. You can clearly see that the vacuum is picking up dirt and debris to an impressive degree,

although I found the Carpet and Turbo modes to be required most of the time to get a properly decent clean.

The Ultenic U20 can turn into a handheld device for stairs and furniture.(Image: Joshua Boyles) Despite feeling powerful, the U20 retains a relatively low operating volume. On its lowest

setting, I can easily hold a conversation with another person, and even the Turbo mode doesn't have me reaching for noise cancelling headphones like I normally do.

I was intrigued to try the folding arm attachment that lets the U20 pivot in the middle to make cleaning under furniture a breeze. For the most part, I can see this feature being extremely

helpful for less able folks who struggle to bend down.

There's a bit of a learning curve to it - since the brush head doesn't lock in place it's susceptible to moving left and right when you push it forward, making it a bit unwieldy. However,

once you've got the control of the device down, it does make cleaning under coffee tables far easier than bending down.

The collapsible arm makes cleaning under coffee tables so much easier.(Image: Joshua Boyles) The green LED lights on the brush head are also a huge bonus of the U20. While my old Hoover

model has white LED lights, the green ones seem to show remaining dirt much more effectively, highlighting where you need to go over once more to get a properly deep clean.

I also found that I needed to empty the Ultenic much less regularly than other vacuums I've used thanks to the huge 1.5l dustbin. Unloading it is super easy too with a single button press

opening the canister and a brush tool included in the box to help empty it properly.

The main downside I found with this vacuum is that it's not the easiest to wield. That's down to two reasons - the weight of the battery and the wheels.

The battery of the Ultenic U20 vacuum adds a lot of top-heavy weight to the device.(Image: Joshua Boyles) While the Ultenic U20 feels light enough without the battery, it becomes very top

heavy once you attach its power bank. This makes pushing it across the floor at little more tricky than it could, and also makes lifting it above your head to clean areas high up more

strenuous than I'd have liked.

I also found the construction of the wheels on the brush head to be poor with one having much more resistance than the other. As a result, pushing this vacuum across carpet often felt like

more hard work than it needed to, and also gave the vacuum a much cheaper feel compared to its £239.99 MSRP (although it's currently on sale for £159.99 at Amazon).

Those foibles aside, this is an excellent vacuum for the money. It delivers and impressive clean, with the pivoting arm making navigating rooms with plenty of furniture much easier than with

other vacuums I've used.

Article continues below I wish that the battery was a little lighter, and some construction elements could be improved in a sequel model. However, it's contributed to making my flat much

cleaner than it was with my previous vacuum, meaning it gets a thumbs up recommendation from me.

The Ultenic U20 is currently available for £159.99 at Amazon, normally £229.99.