Dyson Ball Animal 3 Extra Review

Our Analysis & Test Results

When a manufacturer builds a wildly different feature into a machine, it should function better than the design it's replacing. The ball on the Dyson Ball Animal 3 Extra is that feature, and while it's kind of cool to look at and a bit of a marvel to turn the first few minutes you use it, it did not make the household chore of vacuuming any easier for us. We had a hard time pushing this vacuum on carpet, and its navigation around furniture — which is very important to most of us who use vacuums — was mediocre at best and annoying when we tried to vacuum under coffee tables and chairs.

Carpet Performance

People rely heavily on upright vacuum cleaners to thoroughly clean their carpets and rugs. To mirror that primary need, we begin our tests on low pile carpet, the most common type of carpet in homes. But we also test high-pile carpet, which replicates today's popular cushy, shaggy area rugs.

Before Testing After Testing

Low Pile

The Animal Ball 3 collected an average 95% of our test debris on low pile carpet, which is very competitive among the vacuums we tested.

The first thing I noticed about this machine is how its powerful suction really seals the floors. While I like the confidence this evokes for sucking up sand and dirt, the tight seal with the cleaner head pushed around some of the rice and Cheerios rather than rolling over the top of it. And it's hard to push!

Before Testing After Testing

If you face any large debris with this vacuum, I recommend opening up the two red head gates on the front of the cleaner head. When I did this, I lost a bit of suction — which there is plenty of anyway — but the open gates do allow a bit more of the bigger material to slide under where it can be sucked up. You can see a small handful of Cheerios that still couldn't make it into the canister at the end of one of my trials above.

High Pile

The deep fibers of high pile carpet make it harder for vacuums to get at all of the debris, plus they let larger, relatively lightweight material (like Cheerios or leaves) float on top of the fibers, above many cleaner head openings. This machine collected just 48% of our test material on high pile carpet, a slightly below-average performance.

As the cleaner head again sucked down deeply into the carpet, I watched the front of this machine push Cheerios and rice around like an annoying bully.

Before Testing After Testing

I like how well it collected the heavier sand, but I think if it had taller openings in its head gates, it would be more versatile for more people.

Overall Carpet Cleaning Performance

On low pile carpet, I was impressed and delighted by the raw suction power and capability with sand, which helped it perform above average. If it hadn't pushed so many Cheerios and rice around on the high pile carpet, I think it would have also turned in an above-average score.

If you have deeply embedded dirt you want to get out of your carpet, this is a great machine for that purpose. Unfortunately, I found pushing surprisingly hard, giving it a sticky feeling rather than a smooth roll. If you must chase down lightweight debris like leaves or potato chips with extra passes, you might experience an arm and shoulder workout like I did.

If you're not enamored with Dyson's reputation for strong suction power, we tested more affordable vacuums that did just as well or even better on carpet. The Shark Stratos costs $50 less yet ranked better in every metric except suction, and the budget-friendly Kenmore Intuition 3-in-1 outperformed on both low and high pile carpets.

Hardwood Performance

As more people embrace vinyl and hardwood floors in their homes, there is increasing demand for vacuums that can clean multiple surfaces and smoothly transition between rooms. For example, if you have a large area rug in your open-concept living room and kitchen, a versatile vacuum that can move from rug to hard floor might be just what you need to skip the broom. To evaluate performance on hard surfaces, we test vacuums on vinyl floors, assess their handling of gaps and crevices, and run them along wall edges.

To assess each vacuum's ability on our hard floor challenges, we begin by spreading a mix of 1/2 cup each of sand, rice, and Cheerios over a 27-square foot area of hardwood. We then give each vacuum 24 seconds to gather as much as possible, repeating the test a few times to ensure we get a dependable average for our rankings.

Cleaning Performance

The Dyson Ball Animal sucked up a respectable 84%, an above-average score.

Again, this model collected sand and rice better than the Cheerios, which tended to plow. It's not that it won't suck up Cheerios; it's that I found I had to take more passes at the Cheerios to get them to slip under the cleaner head. If I had to clean up a cereal mess at home, I'd likely just forget the cleaner head and use a hand attachment instead and be done with it.

Crevice

Transition areas between different flooring types can be a magnet for dirt and debris, thanks to those little crevices they can create. Tile floors with deep grout lines are particularly tricky to clean. To find out which vacuums are the best at handling these areas, we sprinkle a 1/2 cup of sand into the crevices of a bamboo rug and let each vacuum make four back-and-forth passes. After a total of eight passes, we see how much sand is left. This test is challenging because the vacuum's roller bristles can't get to the sand, so it has to rely on its suction power to clean it properly.

This model performed well above average by collecting 69% of the sand in our crevice test. However, considering the astounding suction power we recorded, I was surprised it plateaued halfway through and didn't collect all the sand. This shows us that the complicated suction vortexes created by vacuum cleaner heads don't always deliver the expected results!

Edges

When it comes to vacuuming tight spaces against walls, some models are truly impressive, while others might not be able to handle debris on the sides or just in front of the cleaning heads. To see how they manage edges, we spread coffee grounds next to a wall and assessed their performance with both parallel and head-on passes.

Before Testing After Testing

This model sucked up 100% of the coffee grounds on our head-on pass, and very nearly got all of the coffee grounds up on the parallel pass. I was very pleased with this performance, particularly because it means that you can use this vacuum to suck up all the little crumbs that get pushed under the toe kick areas under kitchen counters without needing to use a crevice tool.

Overall Hardwood Cleaning Performance

The Animal 3 ranked above average in our hardwood floor tests, turning in respectable scores but not scoring at the very top in any single test.

Again, while this is a respectable performance, I must say I'm slightly disappointed when considering the high price point. This may be due to the roller design. Most stick vaccums from Dyson are supplied with a specialized hard surface cleaner head. The fluffy and soft roller has been super efficient at cleaning our hardwoods and is a favorite to work with for its buffered clean results.

Pet Hair

Pet owners are familiar with the difficulty of managing fur, particularly when it's shedding season. To guide you in selecting the best vacuums, we perform demanding tests on both low and high pile carpets. This helps us determine which machines are most effective in dealing with troublesome pet hair on the surfaces you might have in your home.

We launch our pet hair stress tests with a 4-gram handful of real dog hair from various breeds, ensuring we use different kinds of hair and fur. We spread it over 13-square-foot sections of carpet. To make it more relatable to many households with long-haired humans, we also sprinkle 1 gram of long hair extensions on top. To replicate a busy household better, we press the hair into the carpet with a heavy wheel to create the sticky, clingy effect many pet hair owners encounter on their carpets.

Before Testing After Testing

As the Animal in this vacuum's name suggests, it's designed for pet hair and was one of our top performers, making it a great choice for homes with multiple dogs and cats. On low pile carpet it sucked up a whopping 78% of the fur, and on high pile carpet it did even better, collecting 82%!

While I find this vacuum hard to push on carpet, if you have a shaggy rug in your home with dogs who lay around and roll, scratching their backs and shedding like crazy, I can't argue with these results; however, one vacuum I tested, the Shark Rotator LA502, collected significantly more hair on low pile carpet (86%) but less on high pile carpet (73%). Depending on which carpet types you have in your home, these results might help you choose the best vacuum for pet hair for you.

Interestingly, many vacuum manufacturers now claim to have brush rollers that automatically detangle long hair. Unlike most, the Motorbar cleaner head and brush roller on the Dyson Ball Animal 3 actually seem to work. The brush roller showed tangled, long hair extensions when I first stopped my pet hair tests. However, on this model, if I ran the vacuum for an additional minute, it would automatically clear all or nearly all of the wrapped hair — so cool! Most other vacuums, despite claims, aren't able to do this. This means this machine will likely perform well on long human hair in your home.

Filtration & Suction

Proper filtration is essential because vacuums with inadequate filtration can release small particles into the air, which may pose health risks, particularly for individuals with heart or lung issues.

We include suction in this metric because it is one of the most influential variables in thoroughly cleaning carpets. After all, if the vacuum doesn't have enough power to lift debris, it will have no chance of doing so when the dirt settles deep into carpet fibers.

Filtration

I recorded no remarkable spike from the room's baseline, and Dylos considers any reading increase by our air quality monitors from 0-75 as excellent. Why is this important? A vacuum with a good filtration system can help maintain a healthy environment for household members sensitive to allergens or pet dander.

Incidentally, the Ball Animal 3 does not use a a true HEPA filter, but our many vacuum tests have confirmed that even non-HEPA filters can be very effective at containing small particles and reducing indoor particulate matter. Simply put, HEPA filters are very good, but you don't necessarily need a HEPA filter to get excellent filtration.

Suction

Remember how I mentioned how difficult it was to push this machine on carpet due to how it seems to suck itself down onto the carpet fibers? I measured a mindblowing 2,588 pascals of suction at the cleaner head, more than 5x our tested average.

This is an outstanding score and ranks at the top of our charts. Here is one more reason lots of suction is important: Higher suction recordings usually translate to better handtool attachment performance than those with less powerful motors and suction.

Ease of Use

We rank these models based on their maneuverability, ease of maintenance, and upholstery cleaning capabilities by testing them in action around household environments and evaluating how easy or difficult it is to use common features, like emptying the dustbin or cleaning components.

Maneuverability

In order to test these machines, I walk them through a maneuverability obstacle course at the lab, paying attention to transitions from hardwood to a bamboo mat, which I employ for the crevice test mentioned earlier, and then to a low pile rug. Moreover, I test their capabilities while moving around cones and vacuuming under furniture.

I do not like Dyson's “Ball” design on this machine. First, the ball size is larger than that of the previous generation Ball Animal 2, which reduces its ability to slide under furniture. Second, this version was hard for me to twist and turn more than a few times, particularly on carpet where the intense suction reduced maneuverability. Even small turns felt like a workout on my forearms. I can't imagine anyone going around a medium-sized house and feeling great after cleaning with this — they would be so exhausted. Heck, I was exhausted just from our obstacle course! Third, the relatively low-profile Motorbar cleaner head doesn't easily transition onto rugs or mats. It catches, forcing me to twist the vacuum at odd angles to get the cleaner head to lift up at an angle to get it over a lip. If a person has to lift the vacuum up onto a rug, well, that's super annoying, especially for a vacuum that costs $500.

So that you know, these aren't impossible challenges. The Shark Stratos excelled in my maneuverability tests, making it a much better machine for anyone who lacks strength, has back issues, or has multiple flooring types.

Maintenance

This model excelled in my maintenance evaluation, delighting with an easy-to-remove brush roller head. If you've ever accidentally sucked up a shoestring while vacuuming, you might appreciate this feature as much as I do.

Better yet, the roomy 1.7-liter dustbin capacity is 60% larger than the previous generation's bin, making it better for cleaning larger rooms and areas without needing to empty the bin frequently.

Uphostery & Attachments

Even though many modern vacuums can now transition between hard floors and carpet with ease, we often seem to find odd bits of debris that need to be sucked up by a hand tool — like a clump of dirt tracked in by a canine companion or some popcorn scattered in the dark by a pack of happy movie-watching teenagers.

One of my favorite attachment tests is with coffee grounds on a throw pillow. I spread coffee grounds on a pillow and then suck it up with the most appropriate attachment included with each vacuum. This test gives me a read on how effective the model might be on upholstery. As expected, due to the awesome suction power, this model was able to suck up 97% of the spilled coffee grounds. My only quibble is that the hose has a lot of pull as it tries to retract into its shortest length.

Should You Buy the Dyson Ball Animal 3 Extra?

The Dyson Ball Animal 3 Extra is not a bad vacuum, but it's exceptionally expensive for an average vacuum, and many other vacuums provide much greater value and performance at more affordable prices. However, it handled our pet hair test better than any other on high pile carpet while doing well on low pile carpet. Plus, it excelled by detangling long hair automatically. If you have carpet with deeply embedded dirt or sand, this model can likely suck it up, but the strong suction makes it harder to push, giving our forearms workouts we weren't looking for.

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