Dyson pares down the vacuum cleaner to its most minimal form with the PencilVac

The latest product to emerge from the secretive Dyson labs in Wiltshire takes the form factor of the vacuum cleaner and compresses it. The new Dyson PencilVac won’t appear on the market until 2026, so you have at least six months to marvel at the technical achievement and wonder whether this ultra-slim cleaning machine is the ideal solution for your living space.

Dyson makes no bones about the PencilVac’s USP – a vacuum that can hang in a cupboard, slip behind a door, scoot under the sofa and generally get into the nooks and crannies of everyday life without taking up any more space than is necessary. It’s the kind of proposition that will appeal to urban buyers across the world, whether they’re in London or Singapore.

At just 38mm in diameter and 1.16m long, the PencilVac certainly lives up to its name. Whether it’ll perform as well as its broader siblings remains to be seen, but after having witnessed the company’s commitment to dust-busting and particle filtering at first hand, we’re hopeful it’ll be a handy little performer.

The heart of the machine is a newly developed electric motor, the smallest and fastest ever developed by the company. The Dyson Hyperdymium motor spins at 140,000 rpm, ushering in cleaning at the sub-micron level, with the signature laser-style illumination seeking out errant particles and hidden dust bunnies to scoop up.

The cleaning head itself is more mop-like than we’ve come to expect. With four fluffy cones that collect and eject long hair without clogging the two brush bars (Dyson has imaginatively called this the Fluffycones cleaner head), there’s also a dust-compressing system that maximises the amount you can collect. To empty, open the slender device and push the syringe-style mechanism straight into the bin.

A hot swappable battery for a total cleaning time of an hour, an LCD information screen (as well as app connectivity) rounds out the tech package. The PencilVac weighs in at just 1.8kg. The accessories include a stair-cleaning tool and a magnetic floor charging dock.

Dyson PencilVac, available soon from Dyson.co.uk, @Dyson