Hoover 300 3in1 Cordless Vacuum: agile, dual LED lights and brushless motor, H-FREE 300 HOME HF322HM

Product Information

The Hoover certainly looks great, is simple to use and relatively affordable compared to some of the higher priced battery upright cleaners available. However, its performance is a bit of a let-down. The battery lasted only a third of the 60-minute suggested time if you use the most effective full power and carpet mode and, even then, it didn’t deliver the best cleaning results, so you’re better off with something on our Best cordless vacuum cleaner list. The brush bar saves the day with effective carpet cleaning, but low suction power overall and the poorly designed hose and tool system left hard floors, stairs and detail cleaning tasks wanting. If you’re on the look-out for both of these things, then this model may well be worth considering. What is a First Look? Heading out over different carpets and rugs around the home, the Hoover delivered a reasonably good clean, pulling up pet hair and titbits easily. Suction to the floor-head isn’t the strongest, so much of the good cleaning here is due to the effective brush bar and design of the floor-head in concentrating the suction. Either way, the C300 works well as an upright vacuum over the carpet. The H-Free C300+ may look a little industrial at first sight, but it feels sturdy, performs really well and, crucially, won’t break the bank.

The Hoover H-Free is a decent attempt to bring a premium cordless vacuum to a much lower price point, but that creates small irritations throughout the experience. Slightly lower suction is to be expected, but fiddly buttons and stiff connections feel like unnecessary compromises, even at this price. It has a decent number of settings, a small selection of useful tools and volume levels that aren’t deafening, particularly in eco mode. A light and fairly small hose clips over the handle for storage. The upper part of the handle offers a six-position height adjustment including slotting completely down into the lower half. To use the hose and detail tools, you have to pop up a slightly awkward clip on the floor-head and press and turn the hose into place. All-in-all, it took our team about 15 minutes get going. As the vacuum was already part-way charged out of the box, we could also start cleaning straight away – something that we were very pleased about. Once empty, it takes about six hours for the vacuum to reach full charge. Stand-out features Hoover was once such a big name in the vacuum cleaner world that here in the UK the brand basically supplanted ‘vacuum’ in the lexicon. But as much as we all talk about our hoovers, these days you’re probably more likely to think of Henry or Dyson when it comes to buying your next vacuum.

While there are only two power levels (carpet and eco) in addition to the main setting used exclusively for hard floors, carpet mode is, in fact, the real winner here.

Out of the box, the C300+ looks a little old-fashioned with an unexciting grey and blue design, especially when compared to the slimmer H-Free 700. But, of course, looks aren’t everything. For darker areas, there are three LED lights on the front of the floor-head although, strangely, they only come on in carpet mode. With the growing trend for hard floors like laminates, this seems an odd way of setting up the lights, particularly as we find LEDs most useful for spotting pet hair on hard floors. Sadly, the lights are pretty dull so their function is more decorative than useful anyway. Tech Advisor's Deputy Editor, Dom covers everything that runs on electricity, from phones and laptops to wearables, audio, gaming, smart home, and streaming - plus he's a regular fixture on the Tech Advisor YouTube channel. The C300 cordless vacuum cleaner from Hoover houses all its workings, including motor, battery and filters, in the floor-head. That really makes it a cordless upright cleaner with no hand-held cleaning option, although you do get a tube, detail tools and a handle that doubles as an extension tube. The accessories clip on-board, and with the telescopic handle fully down, it’s compact and easy to store in low cupboards such as under the sink.A full charge took us just over 6 hours, as the manual suggested. That’s a seriously long time and clearly not going to see multiple cleaning sessions in the same day. Then again, if the Hoover does deliver on its promised 60 minutes run-time, that shouldn’t be a problem. There is a traditional bristle brush bar in the floor-head that rotates quite powerfully on the carpet mode, and is stationary on the hard floor setting. Likewise, the bar doesn’t rotate in Eco mode –which, combined with lower suction power and switching off the LED light, saves power and increases run-time. Differing in style from other cordless vacuums in the H-Free range, especially when it comes to aesthetics and runtime, the C300+ is both powerful and lightweight. We also used the hose on its own, without extension or tools, to see if this increased the suction power – but it barely improved. Unfortunately, this isn’t a cleaner for stairs. Hoover H-Free C300 – How does it cope with pet hair? Boasting a runtime of around 60 minutes (yes, you read correctly) and a weight of just over 3kg, the C300+’s specs certainly sound impressive.