Miele Boost CX1 PowerLine review: bagless yet compact and powerful

Renowned for its long heritage in producing powerful and reliable corded cylinder vacuum cleaners, tested to perform for the equivalent of 20 years’ use, Miele is a brand you can trust. You can only imagine how excited I was when I heard about the new powerful, compact, and agile bagless cylinder vacuum – the Miele Boost CX1 PowerLine.

My parents had Miele appliances for pretty much all of my childhood up until the latter part of my teens, so I was familiar with the brand for their white goods. I've even spotted some of their other floor cleaner innovations in our best vacuum cleaner guide years gone by, so now that a new range has been released – and one that is affordable at that – it is like a breath of fresh air.

I've been using the vac for a good month-or-so on our carpets, hard flooring and tricky spots to clean around the home. Here's how I got on...

Product spec:

• Product: SNRF0
• Motor type: PowerLine
• Dustbag volume: 1 litre 
• Cable length: 6.5 meters
• Dimensions: H28 x W40 x D28 cm
• Weight: 5.8kg

Delivery, unboxing and set up

It's always nice when you receive a delivery which is obvious who it's from, and what it is and my new vac did just this. Miele was clearly written on the side of the delivery box, and low and behold inside the box was the Boost CX1 PowerLine.

Taking up most of the space was the main unit which was wrapped in a clear plastic bag. Tucked in around it and to the side of it was the universal floorhead, hose and comfort telescopic tube, plus a small bag of accessories including the upholstery nozzle, crevice nozzle and dusting brush. There sure was a suite of elements to clip together but, using intuition, it didn't take long at all.

I say this but when it came to storing the attachments onboard the vac I wasn't half bewildered. So I turned to the instructions. These vaguely said to store them on the handle which really didn't make sense at the time, because I really struggled to see where exactly to store them on said handle. 

What I could tell from the instructions, however, was to secure the attachments on a base which I did so quickly and easily. You'll see that there's a very little, very discreet plug on the side of the comfort telescopic tube (the handle) which the accessory base can slip onto. Now it's in place it was dead easy, of course, but I do feel that this could have been made clearer on the instructions.

Performance

Once set up was complete I was ready to start using the Miele Boost CX1 PowerLine. There was no bag to put in the cylinder since it is bagless, but I did need to plug it in to the mains. I started on the carpet upstairs which was in need of its twice-weekly clean. The carpet is wool, which we've had fitted for five or six months, and is still shedding so powerful suction and a good reach would be key here.

On carpet: the Boost CX1 is brilliant. How? Because there's no need to change the floorhead since it's universal, the cable length is 6.5 metres-long – which was long enough for me to stay plugged in one place to vacuum 3-bedrooms and one bathroom – and the suction can be manually changed to suit the floor type.

It was also easy to lift up over our split-level landing, although I did find that I kept reaching for the handle on the bin rather than the actual handle. In my defense, these handles are quite close together so it was an easy thing to do. It wasn't just me who found this either – my mum found the same when she used it, and so does my husband when he seldom decides to vacuum. 

Manoeuvring around tight corners is no match for the CX1 Boost either, but I did worry about the longevity of the hose being compromised with my constant tugging at it to get it around the spaces.

Cleaning the stairs wasn't as easy as I was expecting, however. On the Miele website, there's a bold claim that the vacuum cleaner will 'stand safe and secure on any step or stair'.

It might well do this on the stairs of modern homes, but it certainly doesn't on an 1890s home that has a staircase of 13, steep and narrow steps. It kept falling off and tumbling down the couple of steps it was above. 

The hose nor cable is long enough to reach all the way to the top, or all the way to the bottom, of the stairs either so to vacuum them I plugged in downstairs to do half-a-dozen steps and then plugged in upstairs to do the remainder. It would have been a safety issue if I was to hold the unit whilst vacuuming, too, so a bit of inconvenience was the preferred method of cleaning the staircase.

The flooring to the downstairs of our home is a combination of restored pine floorboards, limestone kitchen tiles and rugs of various sizes so that universal floorhead came in mighty handy.

To clean the hard floors I switched the floorhead setting over and amended the suction power accordingly. The symbols used on the unit for amending the suction are sort-of obvious but it'll be best to refer to the instruction booklet, certainly for the first few uses so it'll be one less thing to remember.

It worked as expected on the hard floors. It was easy to manoeuvre around the tight corners of our hallway and the suction power was spot on. I needed to unplug just the one time because I ran out of cable but this was to be expected, as a corded vac – you just can't roam as freely as with some of the best cordless vacuums out there.

When I came to vacuuming the rugs I just switched back the floorhead setting and suction settings, which was easy enough to do. Transitioning back onto the hard floor from a rug was more noticeable since the suction on the carpet setting is so much greater, and when those brushes are down it acts like a vacuum seal making it very tricky to move.

Off the ground you have the option to use the accessories. To recap, these include a dusting brush, crevice tool and upholstery nozzle. I managed to successfully clip these onto the handle which made access to them super easy, although I did keep catching them when vacuuming underneath the bed and sofa – you win some, you lose some. The tools I found the most useful in my home were the dusting brush and crevice tools which got into the harder-to-reach areas like around the fireplace, and behind the bathroom radiator.

I did try the upholstery nozzle on our sofa which did a good enough job on some rogue crumbs, although long-term I just know that I'll just be brushing these off onto the floor for the floorhead to confront head-on. Vacuuming curtains is not something I do, ever, but if you adjust the lower suction setting there's no reason why you couldn't – it's just not my bag.

Cleaning, maintenance and storage

This is all really straightforward. The dust container is released by unlocking the dust container handle. The dust container release catch at the front of it will release the dust, and there's various other release catches so you can access the filter frame, pre-filter and fine duster filter with filter mat which can all be rinsed under cold running water.

The little brush cleaning tool is useful for freeing up any trapped dust in the container and filters. This clips neatly on the side of the dust container so it's always there when you need it, and (tries) to prevent any loss.

Everything to do with storing even the smallest things, like the cleaning tool, has been thought of. Earlier on in the review I've mentioned about storing the accessorises on the handle which, in my mind, is a must. 

The comfort telescopic tube also has a catch so it can slide onto, what Miele calls, the 'park system'. This is sturdy enough that even the extended telescopic tube and suction hose can reside in situ, even when you decide to carry it around with the vacuum cleaner carrying handle. I am genuinely really impressed at how well this has all been thought out, and it doesn't take up much space considering what's on offer with this vac.

How does it rate online?

Given that the Miele Boost CX1 PowerLine only launched a couple of months ago there aren't many reviews just yet. However, those which do exist on John Lewis speak very highly of the vac. So much so, it has been an awarded an overall rating of 4.7 / 5 stars. 

So what do they say? It manoeuvres really well, it's lightweight (although at 7.8kg I'd argue this) and the suction is really good. One reviewer has noted that the cable could be longer, however, which I do agree with. And another has commented about the dust container handle being the same size, and in the same location as the vacuum cleaner handle so it's too easy to pick up the wrong one, which I also agree with.

There are just three more reviews which I could find on Appliances Direct which have all awarded the Miele Boost CX1 Powerline with a score of 10/10. The words 'cheap', 'reliable' and 'brilliant' have been used, and not much else, but I do agree with each word said so far.

How does it compare to other models?

The Miele Boost CX1 PowerLine was launched alongside the Hard Floor Parquet and Cat & Dog PowerLine. The PowerLine (which is the one I've reviewed) is the entry-level vacuum cleaner to the range.

The key points of notable performance difference is that the Boost CX1 PowerLine features a multistage filtration system, while the Boost CX1 Cat & Dog and CX1 Hard Floor Parquet models are equipped with a HEPA AirClean filter for maximum air hygiene and filtering of 99.999% of fine particles and allergens. In addition to the accessories which already come as standard with the CX1 PowerLine, the CX1 Hard Floor Parquet also features a flexible Parquet Twister floorhead which designed to manoeuvre gently to protect hard-, wooden- and laminate floors. And the Cat&Dog PowerLine also features Miele’s specialist TurboBrush floorhead designed to capture embedded pet hair.

Prices start at £269 for the Boost CX1 PowerLine; £329 for the Boost CX1 Hard Floor Parquet and £369 for the Boost CX1 Cat & Dog PowerLine.

Should I buy the Miele Boost CX1 PowerLine?

If you have a limited amount of space and a limited budget to spend on a new vacuum then I can wholeheartedly recommend you buy the Miele Boost CX1 PowerLine. I've been really impressed with it during the test period and I'm sure I will continue to be impressed. It's a really solid, well-thought-out piece of kit which has epic suction (when you want it) and useful tools with a useful space for storage.

Remember though; it is a corded vacuum cleaner. The cord isn't as long as some other corded vacuum cleaners I've tested so be prepared to unplug the CX1 PowerLine at least once on each floor of your home.