Miele launches its first cordless vacuum cleaner: the TriFlex

Last spring, Dyson launched the V11. Samsung followed up with the Powerstick Jet. Now Miele has entered the arena with its first-ever cordless series, the TriFlex.

Do you want to spend £600 on a vacuum cleaner? Miele is the latest manufacturer to bank on the fact that you’ll respond with a joyous “Yes!”, while throwing wads of cash its way.

The TriFlex is named for its three modes (reach, comfort and compact) which allow flexible cleaning. And a very literal name is not all it has to offer. It has an extra-wide cleaning head and a nifty way of transforming between its different functions to keep the weight on the stick and not on your wrist while cleaning.

In terms of specs, the Triflex is very similar to the Powerstick Jet and the V11. It will give you up to sixty minutes of cleaning time. Sixty minutes is the new normal for high-end cordless vacuum cleaners, although this will undoubtedly be on the lowest power setting: whatever the Triflex’s version of economy mode may be. Its replaceable lithium-ion battery recharges in four hours, which again is about standard for top-flight cleaners.

The pro model also comes with an additional battery, which is a handy feature – although again, the Powerstick Jet pipped it to the post on this one. Both the Pro and the Cat and Dog model have a HEPA filter, although these are bagless cleaners, so you’re going to get the inevitable dust plume when emptying the dust bin.

The dust capacity itself is 0.5 litres, which is not a lot. This is where you really have to compromise on a cordless cleaner – it’s light and powerful but when buying, bear in mind you’ll be emptying the bin relatively often. Speaking of weight, we can’t find out exactly how light the Triflex is but we did try it out at the launch event and it does feel comfortable and easy to lift.

The Trilfex is 185 watts, which is roughly what we’d expect. Wattage doesn’t exactly equate to suction power, and given Miele’s engineering prowess, we’d guess that it’s extremely efficient at converting power to suction.

The price is where Miele has its competitors beat, for the entry model at least. which retails for £479. The Cat and Dog model comes in at £579.99 (which is about the same as its rivals) and the Pro, the deluxe model, retails at the very deluxe price of £679 – more than the Powerstick Jet or the V11.

You can buy the Triflex from the Miele site and from retailers including John Lewis, AO.com and Currys PC World.

Since this story was first published, we reviewed the TriFlex Cat & Dog model and were pretty impressed. You can check out our review to find out more or see whether it made it into our round-up of the best vacuum cleaners to buy.