Electrolux UltraPower Studio review: This stick vac puts style over substance

While we were quite taken with the now-$300 Electrolux Precision Brushroll Clean upright vacuum we reviewed last year, the brand's $349 UltraPower Studio stick vacuum was disappointing. It looks nice, even offering a few stylistic extras like LED headlights and a transparent "view finder" so you can see the brush. But the UltraPower really struggled in our performance tests in comparison to most of the other stick vacuums we tested. For a top performing stick vacuum that looks like the $349 UltraPower, consider the $180 Hoover LiNX. It isn't as maneuverable, but it will do a much better job cleaning your floors.

6.8

Electrolux UltraPower Studio

The Good

The <b>Electrolux UltraPower Studio</b> is a highly maneuverable, lightweight stick vacuum. It offers three power settings where most others offer only two.

The Bad

This $349 model is more expensive than Electrolux's own $230 Ergorapido stick vac, but it did much worse in our performance tests. In fact, it was one of the worst overall performers.

The Bottom Line

If you're looking for a simple stick vacuum with exceptional performance, save some money and get the $180 Hoover LiNX. The $500 Dyson DC59 is a great high-end option if you want a variety of brush attachments and other special features.

Electrolux's UltraPower Studio stick vac has an eye for design (pictures)

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Design and features

The Electrolux UltraPower Studio has a dark blue plastic finish with orange and silver accents. It's more colorful than Hoover's LiNX, but it still retains that traditional stick vacuum style. Take an upright vacuum, strip it down to the essentials, and you have the Electrolux UltraPower Studio.

This streamlined stick vacuum only weighs 6.3 pounds. That's significantly lighter than Electrolux's 17.2-pound Precision Brushroll Clean upright, but a bit above average for stick vacuums. Electrolux's $230 Ergorapido Power stick vac is even lighter at 5.5 pounds. The $500 Dyson DC59 and $180 Shark Rocket have unique component-based designs and weigh less -- 4.6 pounds and 4.2 pounds. The $180 Hoover LiNX and $350 Gtech AirRam were the heaviest at 7.3 pounds and 7.7 pounds.

Electrolux's UltraPower Studio has a built-in 25.5 volt Lithium-ion battery. It offers three cleaning modes -- normal, silent, and booster. The other models we tested offer up to two settings max, so the UltraPower leads in setting customizability. Depending on the mode you use, the battery can last for up to an hour and it takes about 4 hours to get back to a full charge.

When the battery is low, stick the whole vacuum on the charging dock, plug the power cord into an outlet and let it do its thing. The LED status bar below the battery will blink every five seconds when it's fully charged. When you're vacuuming, the LEDs also act as a useful indicator. Three bars means fully charged, two bars is less power, and one bar means low battery.

Electrolux added something called Brushroll Clean technology to this model and its Ergorapido stick vacuum. This feature helps de-tangle the brush whenever it's clogged with hair or other debris. Just press down the lever on the right side of the nozzle when the vacuum is on and it does a good job collecting the small stuff. If you have a bunch of larger stuff like Cheerios blocking the brush, the feature will not work.

Usability

Stick vacuums tend to offer better usability than traditional uprights. All of the stick models we tested weigh less than 8 pounds and all of them are cordless (except the Shark Rocket). So, if you're clumsy like me or just appreciate a streamlined appliance, they make a lot of sense from an ease-of-use standpoint.

Electrolux's $349 UltraPower Studio is easy to lift, easy to navigate from room to room, and offers exceptional maneuverability. The UltraPower Studio and Electrolux's other stick vac, the Ergorapido Power, were definitely the most maneuverable models we tested. It also has a few drawbacks.

Flexible tubing on the back of the vacuum contributes to its impressive maneuverability, but that also makes it feel a bit unstable. Trying to "lock" it into an upright position proved to be a bit of a challenge; the tubing really wanted to bend, causing the vacuum to fall over. A lot.

While I like that the UltraPower offers silent, normal, and booster cleaning modes, I wish that the settings were labeled on the vacuum. Press the power button and it will default to normal mode. Press the mode button below the power button and it will switch to booster mode. Press the mode button again and it will switch to silent mode. You could probably figure that out based on sound or by reading the manual (like I did), but it would be nice to have labels for confirmation.

The UltraPower Studio has a whole-vacuum docking station. I much prefer the Hoover LiNX solution -- a separate charger for the removable battery. The UltraPower's docking station does make it easier to keep the vacuum in an upright position, but it also means that you have to leave your vacuum out while the battery is charging. I would much rather tuck my vacuum away in a closet and charge the small battery separately.

Performance

We tested the $349 Electrolux UltraPower Studio on hardwood, mid-pile carpet, and low-pile carpet. We spread out fruity Cheerios, pet hair, and a sand-and-sawdust mixture on all three flooring surfaces in turn to test the versatility of this stick vacuum. For comparison, the $500 Dyson DC59 Animal, the $230 Electrolux Ergorapido Power, the $350 Gtech AirRam, the $180 Hoover LiNX, and the $180 Shark Rocket underwent the same testing.

Since the Hoover LiNX scored a perfect 100 percent on the Cheerios test, we know it's possible for a stick vacuum to excel in this category. Unfortunately, the Electrolux UltraPower Studio came in last. It collected 47 percent of the Cheerios on both hardwood and mid-pile carpet and 53 percent of the Cheerios on low-pile carpet. It randomly alternated between pushing the Cheerios around the floor and rolling on top of them, although it mostly just pushed them from one section of the floor to another. I wouldn't count on the Electrolux UltraPower Studio to pick up any spills of the large debris variety.

The Electrolux UltraPower Studio also struggled in our pet hair tests. While it did collect 100 percent of the pet hair that we scattered on the mid-pile and low-pile carpets, it was unable to pick up any of the pet hair from the hardwood floor. You could always use a broom to tackle pet hair on carpet-free floors, but this stick vac still claims to be able to perform on hardwood.

Electrolux's $349 stick vacuum redeemed itself a little on the sand and sawdust tests. It picked up 96 percent on hardwood, 66 percent on mid-pile carpet, and 72 percent on low-pile carpet. That means that it finished fourth on hardwood behind the Dyson DC59, Electrolux Ergorapido Power, and Hoover LiNX, first on mid-pile carpet, and second on low-pile carpet behind the DC59. So, if your cleaning needs are smaller debris-specific, the UltraPower Studio isn't a bad option. Just keep in mind that Electrolux's less expensive Ergorapido Power stick vac performed about the same here.

Conclusion

The $349 Electrolux UltraPower Studio is a nice looking stick vacuum with a handful of unique features. Unfortunately, those extras don't translate to better performance, ultimately yielding a disappointing, overpriced vacuum. If you're set on Electrolux, the $230 Ergorapido Power did better in our tests, but the $180 Hoover LiNX still offers the best overall performance and value.