Handheld Vacuum Review: The Dirt Devil Easy Lite Hand Vac

If you are married, live in Florida, and aren't a famous golfer, you've heard the call to action: "Bug! Bug! Bug! Ewwww... Get him! Get him!" You've only got a few seconds to get up, get a handheld vacuum, and attack the intruder. It's kind of like being a fire fighter, a lifeguard, or a fighter pilot on alert only different. However, a hand vacuum is almost the perfect tool for such emergencies. Since we gave away our stylish Dirt Devil Kurv vacuum, we found ourselves in the market for a new hand vacuum. We chose the no frills Dirt Devil Easy Lite hand vacuum because it was attractively priced at about $20.

While the Dirt Devil Easy Lite is not as attractively styled as our old Kurv, the little Devil's bright red body and functional look are fairly attractive in a useful household gadget kind of way. Of course, this Dirt Devil will be consigned to a utility room rather than be placed on a coffee table as an objet d'art. The 7.2 Volt Dirt Devil Easy Lite is small, lightweight, and handy. It is about 16 inches long and has a flip down crevice tool that adds about 3 and a half inches of additional reach. Like most hand vacuums, the Dirt Devil Easy Lite sucks air in through the front, through a trapdoor, through a filter, and into the motor. Dirt hits the filter and drops into the cowling that serves as a dirt cup. We hope that any bugs we suck up are trapped in the dirt cup until they dry up and die. The design seems pretty effective. At first, the flip down crevice tool seemed a little flimsy, but now we find it very convenient. The Dirt Devil Easy Lite also has a charging base where it can rest and recharge between little emergencies. The charging base comes with two screws and wall anchors so that the Dirt Devil Easy Lite can be conveniently mounted to a wall.

How does the Dirt Devil Easy Lite hand vacuum perform? After about 90 days in our household, the Dirt Devil Easy Lite Vacuum is still doing a great job for us. It has adequate power to pick up small messes and the ocassional bug. It gets used several times each week and has always performed reliably. We empty out the dirt cup every couple of weeks and capacity has never been a problem. However, it is a little messy to scrape dust off of the sides of the filter. I believe that the 7.2 Volt Dirt Devil Easy Lite has adequate power for a handheld vacuum. The Dirt Devil Easy Lite seems more powerful than our previous Kurv hand vacuum which many reviewers thought was underpowered. Of course, for major messes, we turn to our full-sized Dyson which is reviewed here. All in all, the Dirt Devil Easy Lite performs well and fills a definite role in our household. If I were to improve the Dirt Devil Easy Lite, I'd add a bug chopper to ensure that no bugs ever escape this devilish vacuum.

Sometimes you just need a little vacuum to suck up a bug or clean up a small mess. The Dirt Devil Easy Lite is a great little appliance for any garage, laundry room, or dorm room. If you are a first responder to life's little emergencies, the Dirt Devil Easy Lite Hand Vacuum may be a handy tool for you.