Hands-on with Dyson Gen5detect Absolute

The Gen5detect Absolute is Dyson's new top-end stick vacuum, and boy there sure are some big numbers being tossed around. A new 135,000 rpm motor, 262 air watts of suction, and a 70-minute battery.

There's also one very important small number: the Gen5detct Absolute is now capable of capturing particles as small as 0.1 microns, such as diesel soot. For comparison, bacteria is 0.3 microns, while pet dander is a single micron. 

So what does this all actually mean in practice? Here are our first thoughts based on our hands on at the launch event. 

• New user interface. The Dyson Gen5detect's LCD screen almost gamifies cleaning. When you're vacuuming an area, bars rise and fall depending on how many particles it's sucking up. When those bars stop moving up, you know it's time to move onto the next area. I can already tell this is something I'd obsess over. 
• Integrated crevice tool. Instead of needing to swap to a second brush head for getting into nooks and crannies, the Gen5detect Absolute has a crevice tool integrated into the vacuum's body. You can just remove the stick part of the vac, and extend out the crevice tool.
• Performance seems great. While I've only tried the Gen5detect Absolute in a demo environment, it quickly sucked up debris with very little doubling back. I love the potential for a faster clean. 
• Longer battery life. I couldn't get a grasp on the Gen5detect Absolute's battery life from my short hands-on time, but up to 70 minutes of clean time is rather promising, even if that still only ends up being around 30 to 40 minutes in real-world terms. 

• No auto-empty station. I would have loved to see Dyson include an auto-empty station like we've seen Samsung and LG implement on their stick vacuums, such as the Bespoke Jet. A Dyson spokesperson told me it pushes the problem down the line, but I'd much rather remove a bin bag once per month than empty the vacuum after every clean. It's a problem I'm happy to push down the line.
• Price. At $1,549, the Dyson Gen5detect Absolute is one of the most expensive stick vacuums you can buy. That's a pretty big purchase.

The Dyson Gen5detect Absolute doesn't reinvent the wheel, instead offering quality-of-life features that should hopefully make vacuuming that little more efficient. It's a pricey investment, but from my initial hands-on, the Gen5detect Absolute seems to deliver on performance. 

The Gen5detect Absolute will set you back $1,549, making it Dyson's most expensive stick vacuum.