BISSELL Symphony Review

The BISSELL Symphony is both a highly effective steam mop and stick vacuum in one, making it one of the most capable cleaning devices we've ever tested.

Performance Comparison

Credit: Laura Casner

Cleaning Performance

In our testing there was almost no cleaning challenge the Symphony couldn't handle, earning it one of the highest scores we awarded.

The Symphony comes with two cleaning pads, one standard and one for scrubbing. We found both to be quite effective when used with one of the mop's two steam cleaning settings. The standard pad makes quick work of standard messes, and the scrubbing pad managed to cut through the most stubborn stains we threw at in our testing.

The built-in vacuum makes the Symphony an incredibly versatile cleaner. You can use it as a standard steam mop, use it as a standard stick vacuum on both hard and carpeted floors, or use both at once to clean both wet and dry messes from your hard floors simultaneously. When doing the latter dry tank technology keeps the things sucked into the vacuum tanks dry despite all of the steam also being used to clean the floor. This makes it easy to empty the tank of its contents.

Th Symphony fared very well in our steam cleaning tests.

Credit: Laura Casner

When used solely as a stick vacuum the Symphony performed quite well. There are certainly better dedicated stick vacuums on the market, but we think the Symphony holds its own in this regard.

User Friendliness

The Symphony offers more user friendly touches than most, making it a pleasure to use.

First off, the Symphony feels solid and well made. We felt like we could get aggressive while scrubbing with no worries. Additionally, despite being more complicated than most models on the market, it manages to keep things simple. The controls are clearly labeled and make it easy to select your desired settings. The elastic cleaning pads are easy to put on and remove. The water tank has a large opening that allows for easy refilling.

The Symphony's simple controls.

Credit: Laura Casner

We only have very minor complaints about the Symphony's user experience. First, it does not offer hands-free pad changing, meaning you need to stop and bend over if you need to change pads. Luckily the pad doesn't sit right against the steam source, so you don't have to wait very long before it is cool enough to touch. Also, its water tank could be a bit larger, but we found the 385 millimeters to generally be sufficient.

Contents of the vacuum chamber stay dry, even when vacuuming and steam cleaning simultaneously.

Credit: Laura Casner

Maneuverability

Despite some small inconveniences, we found the Symphony to be quite maneuverable.

In order to double as a vacuum the Symphony has wheels — a rarity for steam mops. Despite those wheels we found the glide to be quite smooth and controllable. The side of the mop is easy to get into corners and around edges. The front of the mop is somewhat blocked by the vacuum housing, so you can't hit edges when approaching them headfirst.

The Symphony is easy to maneuver.

Credit: Laura Casner

Features

The Symphony offers high and low steam settings, has both standard and scrubbing cleaning pads, and includes a built-in vacuum. This is more functionality than most steam mops on the market.

Value

The Symphony is one of the more expensive steam mops on the market. When you consider its stellar performance and the fact that it combines both a steam mop and stick vacuum into one, that extra cost becomes fairly reasonable. However, it may be superfluous if you already have a stick vacuum that you love.

Conclusion