From the first pull of the trigger, the V7 is markedly quieter than the V8, and the pitch tone is much softer and less aggressive than the jet-engine-like V6. We measured the V7 at 61-62dB in normal power mode at arm’s length and a very reasonable 64-66dB on Max power. The main floorhead’s fairly soft-bristled brush make it safe for use on softwood hard floor steps, but you might find the larger dusting tools even easier if you’re cleaning simple dust, dirt and pet hairs. The difference between the models becomes even more confusing when comparing their suction power, where the V7 is the weakest of the lot. It has 21 Airwatts on powerful mode and 100 Airwatts in max mode. By comparison, the V8 has 22 and 115, while the V6 has 28 and 100, respectively. For cordless versatility and effective cleaning results all round, we just can’t fault the V7 Animal. The V7 Animal certainly isn’t short of tools; it has five of them plus the tube. They clip on and off the cleaner with ease, are robust, well designed and very effective at their dedicated task.

On normal power mode a few more passes were required to fully deep-clean the carpet, and there were noticeable grains of the heavier carpet-cleaning powder deep in the pile. A good mains cleaner (or the V7 on Max) will do a better job of deep-cleaning deeper-pile carpets, but with a little and often approach, normal power proved fine for daily dust, debris and pet-hair cleaning. The cyclone action tends to compress pet hair into a more compact size, allowing you to get more fluff in the bin. Plus, you can push the bin to its fill limit thanks to the pull-out core when emptying. While most over-filled bagless bins will require you to poke about to pull out compressed furballs, the V7’s emptying system always dumps its contents cleanly – even if you run it until the bin is fit to burst. That’s a significant amount of cleaning time if you consider that is actual cleaning. The trigger makes you switch off when you’re moving between rooms, straightening the cushions or answering the door. Thanks to the lithium battery and Dyson’s control electronics, you get full power right up until it cuts out too. So no surprise then that the V7 is properly brilliant on stairs. It handles well, cleans superbly and is quiet while doing so. We can do a large flight of awkwardly shaped carpeted steps on Max power with ease in the allotted 6 minutes if we need more serious cleaning gumption too. The V7 Animal also comes with Dyson’s latest Soft Dusting Brush tool. This is an even better shape for dusting shelves and high-up surfaces than the main 2-in-1 tool, and features very soft bristles for delicate cleaning. My keyboard has never looked so crumb-free.A second pass usually secures a clean sweep and we decided for a small oats spill such as that we’d be using the Max mode anyway. Needless to say, ramp up the V7 to Max power, and the suction is fantastic and all particles were cleaned up in a single pass. READ NEXT: Best cordless vacuum cleaners: Banish dust and dirt without the wires Dyson V7 Total Clean vs Animal vs Motorhead: What’s the difference? Having used the Direct Drive floorhead and the Mini Motorised Tool on previous Animal iterations of Dyson’s handhelds, we knew furball tumbleweed and pet hairs ground into the carpet didn’t stand a chance.

As with all Dyson handheld cleaners, the power is offered in two stages – normal and Max – and is selected with a slide switch on top. Run-times for the V7 Animal are promised at 30 minutes and 6 minutes respectively.

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All the tools can be clipped directly onto the main handheld unit, or the funky purple extension tube. The clips are a work of plastic genius and feel easier to operate yet more secure than pretty much any other manufacturer’s tool-clip mechanism on the market. In addition, the clips are on the tools, rather than the tube or body, which makes removing and replacing tools with one hand easy.