Review: Miele Triflex HX1 Cat & Dog stick vac

A stick vacuum with the motor at the bottom of the wand, by the cleaning head, has a low centre of gravity. This makes it lighter to hold and able to stand on its own when not in use.

In comparison, a stick vacuum with the motor and dustbin at the top of the wand can fit under low furniture more easily and there’s no bending down to empty the dustbin.

Handy or hassle?

While a novel and potentially useful idea, it took me 5 minutes to realise that moving the HX1’s motor and dustbin wasn’t particularly convenient – you need to entirely disassemble the stick vac (which includes releasing latches and pulling pieces apart), then reassemble it. It only takes about a minute to do, but who wants to faff about when you just want the vacuuming done?

If Miele had designed it so you didn’t have to take the whole stick vacuum apart – for example, just sliding the motor and dustbin up or down the wand – it would be awesome.

I also discovered it’s possible to reconstruct the vacuum in a way that it won’t work. The dustbin and motor can be connected upside down – it’ll sound like it’s working normally but will only vacuum a closed-off area of the handle. Tip: make sure the dustbin points up from the floor and it’ll be connected correctly.

Hand-held mode

So why is it called the “triflex” if it only has two configurations? Well, most stick vacuums are “biflex”, as they can be used as a hand-held vacuum by detaching the wand and cleaning head – this is the triflex’s third configuration.

In hand-held mode it’s easy to attach its “Electro Compact” head, a mini-version of the main powered head, which is great at cleaning hard-to-reach places, such as narrow stairs and car upholstery, or picking up pet hair from furniture. Beware, it is a powered head and could damage some fabrics. If in doubt, use the standard unpowered upholstery attachment.

A good cleaner

The Miele Triflex HX1 Cat & Dog cleaned my home well. Even though I vacuum regularly, I was surprised at how much dust it picked up. I found it a breeze to use, comfortable to hold and easy to manoeuvre. It even comes with floorhead lights so you can see every nook and cranny that needs cleaning. No more excuses!

The HX1 comes with a HEPA-grade filter to make sure all the nasty stuff stays in the bin and isn’t blown back into the room.

On the downside it’s not the lightest stick vacuum (3.7kg), so having the motor and dustbin at the top of the wand most of the time could be a struggle for some people.

I easily cleaned my small home twice on a single charge. If you’ve got a large home, its battery is swappable so you can buy a spare and exchange them as needed.

Verdict

It’s an easy-to-use stick vacuum that will look good standing in the corner of your kitchen. While the funky transforming feature is nice, it isn’t handy enough for whole house cleaning, so I suggest splitting your cleaning. That is vacuum the main areas one day, then convert the vacuum and clean under your furniture on another.

Specs

• Price: $1099
  
• Bin volume: 0.5L
  
• Recorded runtime: 13 minutes and 30 seconds on max power on carpet
  
• Dimensions: 760 x 290 x 215mm
  
• Attachments:
  Crevice tool
  Adjustable angled brush
  Upholstery nozzle
  Wall mount, with additional storage for three accessory heads
  Compact Electro head