Imagine lugging a 10-kilogram corded vacuum cleaner with a huge water filtration canister to clean a two-storey house. That’s the pain I have to endure every time I need to vacuum – nothing is more tedious and exhausting, trust me. Just thinking about it gives me anxiety.
Nothing could change the way I feel about vacuuming – or so I thought. Enter the game changer: the new Bosch Unlimited available from Harvey Norman. Read on for my Bosch Unlimited review and find out how this cordless handheld vacuum sucked up all my feelings of resentment towards vacuuming.
With Great Power…
The Bosch Unlimited is part of the Power for ALL System – it shares the same cordless 18-volt lithium ion battery pack as Bosch’s home and garden range of DIY power tools. The Power for ALL System covers everything from Bosch cordless DIY power and garden tools to the Bosch Unlimited. Talk about convenience!
This Bosch handheld vacuum comes with two 18-volt 3.0 Ah batteries and a quick charger. This ultimate combo gives you an extendable runtime. According to Bosch, one battery can power the vacuum for an hour. And the quick charger can power up a battery in 55 minutes. In theory, with two batteries, you shouldn’t run out of power – one battery can be charged while the other is in use.
Bosch claims that you can get up to 60-minute runtime on normal mode with non-electrical accessories, up to 45-minute runtime with a powered floor nozzle, and up to 7-minute runtime on Turbo mode with a powered floor nozzle. With the extendable battery life, the Bosch Unlimited is virtually unstoppable!
Attention to Detail
Vacuuming our house was a breeze with the Bosch handheld vacuum thanks to its lightweight design. At 3.5 kilograms, handling the Bosch Unlimited was child’s play compared to the overweight 10-kilogram monster of a vacuum we have at home.
Bosch blessed us with an ergonomic design that makes the Bosch Unlimited oh-so-easy to use. No more fumbling for the on/off button that seems to always be out of reach on most vacuums. The vacuum features a rear-mounted pistol grip with a trigger operation – one press to start the vacuum, another to turn it off.
The Turbo switch is conveniently located on top of the body. Press and hold this button to switch to Turbo mode, which dramatically boosts the suction power of the Bosch handheld vacuum.
It’s also worth noting that the Bosch Unlimited is quieter than most vacuums I’ve used, even on Turbo mode.
Another feature worth mentioning is the vacuum’s sleek single cartridge filter unit. It boasts the Pure Air membrane and hygienic filter for clean exhaust air. The best part? No washing needed!
The filter unit comprises a fine mesh canister that houses a large pleated filter. You can give the inner filter a clean by turning the RotationClean (the red handle on the top). Turning the RotationClean moves the paddles on the inside, which flicks the pleats and forces out trapped dirt and dust.
To empty the canister, detach it from the main body then take out the filter unit and tip out the grotesque contents into the bin.
At the Ready
The charging dock is an integral part of the Bosch Unlimited system. Boasting an industrial design with an all-black and durable styling, the dock is as tough as it looks. It has three indicator lights that display the battery status: flashing green light means charging, solid green light means charged and red light means that the battery is too hot to charge. Don’t panic when the red light turns on. It triggers the fans inside the dock to cool down the battery before charging starts automatically.
The powerful All Floor HighPower brush provides optimum cleaning on any floor type, from hard wood or tiled floors to dense carpets. It has a motorised brush bar for outstanding dirt and hair pick-up. It also features a pop-out roller for ease of cleaning after use.
The powerful All Floor HighPower brush has a fully articulating neck that is not too wide or too heavy, which makes navigating around the house very easy.
The Bosch Unlimited is equipped for any cleaning task. It comes with a 2-in-1 furniture and upholstery nozzle, long flexible crevice nozzle for hard-to-reach spots, XXL upholstery nozzle, and a long metal tube that can be used to extend the reach for all tools.
If you’re a sucker for storage solutions, you’ll love the docking station that comes with the Bosch Unlimited. It doesn’t charge the cleaner, but makes for a neat storage solution for the vacuum and all its accessories.
On All Floors
The Bosch Unlimited has two power modes: normal and Turbo. The normal power mode offers enough suction for light cleaning duties like getting rid of cobwebs on the ceiling. For more demanding tasks, the Turbo power provides ample suction power that won’t let you down.
I tested the power of the Turbo mode on tiled floors in our kitchen. The Turbo suction paired with the powerful All Floor HighPower brush was no match for freshly ground pepper that was purposefully tipped on the floor (for the sake of experiment). The Bosch Unlimited cleared the pepper in a single pass. It even removed particles in the grooves! Very impressive.
In normal mode, the vacuum worked fine on tiled floor, but it needed at least three passes to remove every speck of pepper on the floor.
I share my bedroom with a 10-year-old Jack Russell Terrier. He’s adorable, but he sheds. A LOT. My bedroom usually takes the longest to vacuum. It would be the ultimate test for the Bosch Unlimited, I thought. To my surprise, the cordless vacuum didn’t disappoint. With the All Floor HighPower brush, this Bosch cordless vacuum dealt with pet hair like a champ. It worked well in either normal mode or Turbo, with the powered All Floor HighPower brush bar’s sweeping action dragging pet hair in from all sides.
This Bosch cordless vacuum was a joy to use on stairs with the metal tube and the articulating All Floor HighPower brush attached. The superb articulation of the brush allowed the vacuum to turn into tight corners with ease. I’ve never felt so satisfied vacuuming a staircase, like, ever.
The cordless freedom of the Bosch Unlimited gives you the ability to clean surfaces other than your floor. You can use the main body with no attachment to clean the kitchen bench, for example.
Or clean your couch using just the main body with the upholstery nozzle attached. FYI, the soft bristles of the upholstery nozzle did not damage the leather in any way. This means the nozzle can be used to clean any furniture or even the interior of your car without the fear of scratching them!
Give the Bosch Unlimited Vacuum a Whirl
With extendable battery life, the convenience of cordless cleaning and incredible all-around performance, the Bosch Unlimited cordless handheld vacuum cleaner really knows no limits. If you’re thinking “what handheld vacuum should I buy?” the Bosch Unlimited is a strong contender. Shop online today or head to your local Harvey Norman store and ask our friendly, expert staff to give you a demonstration of the Bosch Unlimited.