Barely eight months ago, Dyson announced an ultra-innovative new vacuum cleaner. It was called PencilVac, and the USP said that all of its major components, from its motor to its battery to its dust bin, had been shrunk to fit its broom-shaped handle.
The design was – I was informed – the result of meticulous work on Dyson’s part and required engineers to create an entirely new motor. But it would be worth it: there was nothing else like it.
I’m currently testing the Dyson PencilVac (full review to be posted online when the embargo lifts in early February) and I’m impressed so far. Now, Narwal’s version is clearly not finalized yet – it doesn’t have a name yet, there’s very little information available, and I’ve only been able to look at the prototype, but not touch it.
Double grip
In terms of design, the two are undeniably similar – it’s clear what Narwal based his design on. There’s the same simplified construction, with mechanisms built into the handle; Narwal’s grip is oblong rather than round, but otherwise looks much the same, with a power switch, a small information screen, a battery at the top, and a dust bin at the bottom.
I haven’t been able to pick it up, so I can’t comment on handling or weight, but I will say that the PencilVac excels in those areas, based on my testing so far. The Narwal version is described as having a “360-degree swivel,” and a representative for the brand told me its version would be lighter than the PencilVac, although no specs were provided, so I’m hesitant to take that for granted.
Dyson’s PencilVac features an unusual floor head, with soft, cone-shaped rollers designed to prevent hair from rolling up. Narwal’s prototype version is more standard: the roller is still soft (suggesting that this model, like Dyson’s, is intended for hard floors rather than carpets), but it only has one parallel roller. Dyson has mounted dirt-illuminating lasers on both sides of its floor head, and Narwal also lists “a dirt-detecting headlight” on its list of features.
Dyson deviations
One important area where Narwal deviated from Dyson’s design is the inclusion of a self-emptying dock. It’s essentially a base that houses a larger dust cup/bag, into which the vacuum’s smaller built-in bin automatically empties when the vacuum is connected. These are becoming more common on regular stick vacuums and are even expected to be added to the Dyson range. However, there is none on the PencilVac.
A self-emptying dock is a logical addition, as the very concept of this type of vacuum means there isn’t much room for a large dust bin. Dyson has included pneumatic compression on its PencilVac dust bin to maximize space, but there’s still only 0.8L available – I have a shedding pet and find the dust bin fills up with hair quite quickly. A self-emptying dock, which simplifies emptying the bin, makes perfect sense.
Other things that might just cause Dyson headaches are the specs listed for battery life and suction power. Narwal promises 140AW of suction on its dupe, compared to 55AW for the PencilVac. And while the PencilVac can handle up to 30 minutes of cleaning per charge, Narwal claims his version will last either 50 minutes (according to the press release) or 45 minutes (according to the specs displayed at CES). This is a significant difference in both cases.
Of course, the big caveat here is that the Narwal vacuum is still in the prototype stage, so I won’t take any of these specs for granted just yet – the inconsistency in runtime information is telling. Although Narwal has released some very good robot vacuums, its track record is a bit more spotty than Dyson’s, and for me, it doesn’t measure up either in terms of quality or reliability.
That said, I will still be watching with interest to see what happens when this intruder hits the market.
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