BISSELL - AirRAM Bagless Upright Vacuum - Green/gray

Excellent packaging design. Vacuum was easy to assemble. I've used the vacuum for few days and I am very impressed with the results. Removing Dirt is very easy. I owned heavy and high end vacuums and this vacuum design has been improved, especially with dirt removal. The low profile makes it easy to get under beds, sofas and furniture. Now, Vacuuming has become very easy and fun at home during weekends. My wife love it! I use it for both hard surfaces and carpeting. The Air Ram performance exceeded my expectations! Very easy to put together, charges quickly and last long, easy debris removal, compact, light, does its job! It has great suction power. We have a large dog and this vacuum picks up dog hair and dirt similar like my larger Bissell vacuum. The cordless is so light weight and easy to handle. We are pleased with vacuum results and definitely recommend to anyone who wants simple and elegant design.

BISSELL AirRam "1984" cordless stick vacuum cleaner It seems that the Bissell AirRam cordless stick vacuum is a rebranded Gtech AirRam Mk2 sold in the UK. Gtech also sells a "K9" variant of their AirRam Mk4, where high wear and tear plastic parts, inside the head unit, are replaced with more durable metal parts. The Bissell AirRam does not appear to have any of the heavier duty "K9" metal components. The Bissell AirRam is also not a "2-in-1." The AirRam is strictly for floors, crucially with no crevice and/or vertical surface cleaning capability. The AirRam is intended for dry vacuum cleaning only, no fluids may be vacuumed. Also, for very delicate carpets/floor coverings, the AirRam's brush roller can be removed (and replaced by a special cap/plug) to turn the AirRam into a pure vacuum device. This mode of operation is also recommended on floor surfaces with deep crevices. The AirRam is not intended for use on rough concrete or tarmac surfaces. The AirRam has a user washable, pre-motor air filter, but this is not a HEPA rated filter. (Apparently, the AirRam's ability to expel micro particulates into the air is enough of a problem that Gtech's K9 Mk2 variant comes with scented plugs, that are inserted inside the washable pre-motor air filter, to cover the aroma of flying pet dander.) After washing, the cleaned air filter can't be re-inserted into the AirRam until it is completely dry. The AirRam cannot be operated without a filter in place or else the motor will be damaged. I tested the AirRam on carpeted and hard tile floors. The roller brush is driven by the air flow of the motor. Where ever the roller brush makes direct contact, the AirRam is fairly effective in removing dirt. One problem that I noticed with runner carpets, is that the tiny gap along the sides of the runner significantly degraded the AirRam's ability to remove debris from the adjacent surface below the runner. This necessitates a minimum of three or more passes to fully clean along raised edges. The AirRam is also not very effective along the wall edges of wall-to-wall carpeting, where the roller brush makes no contact. While it is a novelty to have the air flow drive the roller brush, that same air flow is not available for edge pickup vacuuming. Removing and replacing the roller to leverage edge pickup can become a tedious chore. The charge level LED indicators perform double duty. All four LEDS flash red anytime the roller brush becomes entangled and jams. Once a roller jam has occurred, the AirRam automatically cuts power. The LEDs will remain red for approximately 10 seconds thereafter. At that point the AirRam can be restarted, provided that the jam has been physically cleared. As charge level indicators, the LEDs glow green, but they only provide a very rough gauge of charge level. I was very surprised to learn that when the AirRam's battery drained down to two LEDs (50% charge), in use, immediately thereafter plugging the charger into the battery resulted in only one LED flashing green. I want to maximize the calendar life of the AirRam's Lithium ion battery, so I want to start recharging whenever the Lithium ion battery drops to 50% of a full charge. It's very annoying to me that two lit green LEDs during operation can routinely conceal that the battery is really somewhere between 25% and 50% of a full charge. The relatively small dust cup fills up quickly, requiring several cycles of emptying before a large room has been completely vacuumed. You will know that the cup requires emptying when the AirRam begins leaving balls of debris behind, rather than picking everything up. Also, too, the AirRam does nothing close to pelletizing/compressing debris inside the dust cup and emptying can take many swipes of the ejector slider to completely empty the cup. Proof that you can't believe everything you see on YouTube. I can identify two very likely points of failure on the AirRam. The tab that secures the dust cup emptying cap is made of very thin plastic. That tab can also make potentially damaging contact with the dust cup ejector slider, if you accidentally try to close the cap without first pushing the ejector slider further back. (The ejector slider should have a spring that automatically pushes the slider out of the way when closing the dust cup cap, but it doesn't.) I predict that the dust cup cap closure tab will break sooner, rather than later, from normal wear and tear. The surprisingly fragile item is the washable permanent filter. The closed end of the filter has a tongue-and-groove rubber gasket that fits over the corresponding end of the hard plastic filter housing. I was astonished to see that gasket fall away with ejected dust cup contents in the first day of AirRam use. Somehow, debris got lodged around the seam, between the rubber and the open cell foam filter, such that ejecting the debris tore the rubber gasket off the the filter. When I called into Bissell about this showstopper problem, I was informed that Bissell has no replacement filters in stock at this time, with no estimated date of inventory relief. This is simply not acceptable for a brand new product line. Keep in mind that the Gtech AirRam in the UK uses the exact same filter and has been on the market for several years. When functionally intact, I can only rate the Bissell "1984" AirRam stick vacuum as a light duty floor vacuum, with very problematic edge cleaning capabilities. Given the lack of spare filters in inventory and the seeming fragility of the filter in everyday use, I cannot recommend the Bissell AirRam to others, at this time. Once the parts shortage is corrected, only then can I resume evaluating the AirRam for possible recommendation to others. This item was originally mis-described as a 2-in-1 vacuum. It would be significantly better for edge/crevice/corner cleaning if it were a 2-in-1, or was offered with a comparable companion hand held vacuum.

I’ll confess to being somewhat conflicted as I write this. I tested the Bissell Air Ram for a week, and my results were largely very positive save for one major caveat. The vacuum is remarkably compact. Its handle is little more than a stout stick with the ability to collapse to half its full height for storage. All of the mechanical parts appear to be in the broad base of the vacuum. It doesn’t have a power button so much as a large plastic panel that’s designed to be pressed with your foot. I do have some concerns about this panel cracking over time. The roller brush doesn’t have any kind of height adjustment, but it did an excellent job on my medium height carpet. The bright LEDs at the front of the base are a nice touch for lighting up the area that you’re vacuuming. Battery life is excellent, and I found myself enjoying the convenience of cordless operation a lot. Emptying the vacuum requires pushing the handle back, lifting out a small cylindrical tank from the base, opening a cap, and dragging a lever down the length of the tank. It doesn’t have much capacity, so expect to empty it often. The instructions for rinsing out this tank and cleaning the rollers are a little daunting to say the least. Now for the caveat. The broad base makes cleaning in corners and small areas difficult. It’s roughly the size of a small shoebox, and its size can prove cumbersome at times. It does an excellent job on large open areas, but there are some areas this vacuum simply can’t reach. There are no hose attachments for this vacuum, so you’re limited to the areas that the base will easily fit into. The handle pivots nicely allowing you to maneuver the vacuum easily, but small crevasses, upholstery, and awkward corners are beyond this vacuum’s ability to manage. If you are looking for a vacuum that can clean large open areas quickly and efficiently, this vacuum would probably work well for you. That being said, you would need to supplement this with a hand vac or other device if you want to clean crevasses, upholstery, or other awkwardly positioned areas.

I had never seen a cordless vacuum cleaner with such a powerful suction. Actually, many wired ones does not have such a kind of power. It is very light, easy to use on stairs and underneath furniture. It has bright LED lights that make it very useful when vacuum cleaning dark areas. This is the first vaccum cleaner that we ever had that doesn't bother us when emptying the bin. You just pop it out and slide a lever which assists in emptying it. Easy, fast and no mess. The downside is that the bin is too small for such a powerful cleaner which forces you to empty it out very often. Although we use a Roomba to clean our hardwood and carpet floors every other day, when we use the AirRam it feels like the Roomba isn't doing much because it collects so much dust including pet hair. We decided that we will use it once a week so the Roomba won't lose its job. I don't know how long the battery lasts but we were able to clean our entire first floor with just one charge and it seems like it would have been able to handle the second floor as well, totalling about 3,000 sq ft but I am not sure it would considering that the second floor is mostly carpet and not hardwood, tiles, rugs and a small carpet area on the first floor. It feels more plasticky (sorry if that's not a real word) than I wished for but it may be durable and that's what makes it so light. Battery is removable and can be charged either in or out of the vaccum cleaner. Your choice. We are very satisfied so far and would easily recommend it. PROS: Powerful suction for such a small device Easy-to-empty bin Extremely light CONS: Plasticky feel Small dirt bin

My wife and I were looking for a cordless stick to use for quick easy cleaning. This doesn't eliminate the need to use our corded vacuum, but works great for touch ups.

Fantastic and light vacuum that is extremely easy to use and works great.

After 2 failed cleaners, this vacuum has been WONDERFUL!

We've had many hardwood vacuums and this is by far my favorite! This outshines my cordless Dyson and is was less expensive. We live with 3 dogs and 2 cats so our "petting zoo" constantly needs cleaned. The LED lights on the front help locate even the small white hairs from our dog. We typically have the issue that hair gets stuck around the brush and then we have to cut it off (gross) this handles our husky's hair like a champ! It's amazing, light weight and keeps it's charge very well. I am so happy we choose this vacuum over the other cordless options.