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Dyson Ditches Trigger in New V12 Detect Slim Cordless Vacuum

The lightweight stick vacuum brings a laser -- and a power button.

Bridget Carey Principal Video Producer
Bridget Carey is an award-winning reporter who helps you level-up your life -- while having a good time geeking out. Her exclusive CNET videos get you behind the scenes as she covers new trends, experiences and quirky gadgets. Her weekly video show, "One More Thing," explores what's new in the world of Apple and what's to come. She started as a reporter at The Miami Herald with syndicated newspaper columns for product reviews and social media advice. Now she's a mom who also stays on top of toy industry trends and robots. (Kids love robots.)
Expertise Consumer technology, Apple, Google, Samsung, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, social media, mobile, robots, future tech, immersive technology, toys, culture Credentials
  • Bridget has spent over 18 years as a consumer tech reporter, hosting daily tech news shows and writing syndicated newspaper columns. She's often a guest on national radio and television stations, including ABC, CBS, CNBC and NBC.
Bridget Carey
2 min read

Dyson is refreshing its lineup of cordless vacuum cleaners in the US with a new lightweight model that packs in the latest tech, while also giving older models a new detangling brush bar that promises to lessen the annoyance of hair getting wrapped around it. 

Power button for the Dyson V12 Detect Slim

Look ma, no trigger. The V12 Detect Slim uses a button to toggle power.

Candice Greene/CNET

The V12 Detect Slim has the smarts of last year's top-of-the-line V15 Detect. A green laser light shines on hard floors to help you better see particles you may otherwise miss. An LCD screen keeps track of how much crud is getting picked up in real time, so you can see proof of your cleaning and how much battery life is left. But this model also shrinks the size of the dust canister and uses an on/off power button instead of having users hold down a trigger to keep it powered. 

Cutting down on the size (it weighs 4.85 pounds), it's a better fit for smaller homes that want all the smarts and power of Dyson's latest models -- not to mention that a button is better for anyone who may have trouble holding down a trigger during cleaning. The V12 Detect Slim starts at $650, whereas the larger V15 model is priced at $750. The big fella of the laser family is the Dyson Outsize Plus, starting at $950.

Read more: Best Cordless Vacuums for 2022

Three lasers for Dyson vacuums

Size comparison of Dyson's laser range, from left to right: V15 Detect, V12 Detect Slim and Outsize Plus.

Dyson

If you want an improved cleaning experience but don't care to get the latest features, several older Dyson stick vacuums now include the improved detangling brush bar. The snap-on attachment includes what looks like an angled comb to help migrate hair off the bar, which may mean less time getting out the scissors to cut out tangles. This new cleaner head is coming to the Dyson Outsize, V15, V12, V11, V10 and V8 vacuums. 

A few new accessories are coming later this year that will work on all models -- and one in particular that may be helpful for owners of shedding dogs. The Pet Grooming Kit combines a pet-hair brush with a long hose. Brush away hair and dander from your pet's coat, then suck it up into the vacuum as you go. It starts at $70. 

The pet-grooming kit attachment for Dyson vacuums

The Pet Grooming Kit attachment sucks up hair off the brush with a press of a button, coming this fall.

Dyson

Dyson is also rolling out a new scratch-free dusting brush for delicate surfaces, at $50, along with an "awkward gap tool" that twists 22 degrees to clean hard-to-reach crevices without losing suction, also at $50. In the fall, both tools will be packaged together as a kit for $75.

For more, check out our picks for the best robot vacuums, and how to get stains out of carpet