What is the best cordless stick vacuum for a multi-level home with both hardwood floors and thick carpets?

For a multi-level home with hardwood floors and thick carpets, I’d focus on strong carpet pickup, good hard-floor handling, and enough battery life to avoid constantly moving chargers between floors.

My top picks

• Dyson Gen5detect - $1,049.99 (Best Buy)
• Shark PowerDetect Speed Clean & Empty - $499.00 (Walmart.com)
• Dyson V15 Detect Extra - $808.00 (Best Buy)
• Dyson Gen5outsize - $1,059.00 (Best Buy)

1. Dyson Gen5detect — strongest all-around cleaning performance

The Gen5detect is particularly compelling for your mix of flooring. Independent testing gives it 8.5/10 for hard-floor pickup and 7.5/10 for high-pile carpet, and it performs very well on stairs. Its automatic suction adjustment is useful when moving repeatedly between hardwood and carpet.RTINGS.com+2

Its drawbacks are the $1,050-ish price and roughly 7.7-lb weight.RTINGS.com

2. Shark PowerDetect Speed Clean & Empty — best convenience/value combination

If you don't want to spend $1,000+, this is a very interesting choice. It automatically detects floor type and dirt, has a folding wand for reaching underneath furniture, and the dock charges and empties the vacuum automatically. RTINGS rates it particularly well for pet-hair pickup and maneuverability, although its high-pile-carpet score is notably weaker than its low-pile performance.RTINGS.com

3. Dyson V15 Detect — excellent alternative if discounted

The V15 is worth considering if you find it substantially cheaper than the Gen5detect. RTINGS' testing shows strong performance across both bare floors and carpets, and it's lighter than the Gen5detect.RTINGS.com+1

What I'd choose for your house

If thick/high-pile carpet is a major part of the home, I'd lean toward the Dyson Gen5detect, particularly because you'll also be switching between hardwood and carpet and carrying it up and down stairs. Its combination of hard-floor pickup, high-pile performance, filtration, and stair cleaning makes it well suited to that use case.RTINGS.com+1

If you'd rather spend around $400–$550 and value an auto-empty dock, the Shark PowerDetect Clean & Empty is the more practical alternative.

One caveat: if your "thick carpet" means very plush/shag carpet, cordless sticks can struggle with it regardless of brand; RTINGS specifically notes that even otherwise strong cordless models can have difficulty on shag/high-pile carpeting.RTINGS.com

For a multi-level home with hardwood floors + thick/high-pile carpet, I’d pick the Dyson Gen5detect as the best overall cordless stick vacuum.

• Dyson Gen5detect Cordless Vacuum - $1,049.99 (Best Buy)

Why it’s my top pick

• Excellent on both surfaces: Independent testing gives it 8.5/10 for hard-floor pickup and 7.5/10 on high-pile carpet, making it unusually well-balanced for mixed flooring.RTINGS.com
• Strong carpet cleaning: Its Motorbar head does a particularly good job pulling embedded dust and hair from carpet. WIRED specifically recommends it when a home has more carpet than hard flooring.WIRED
• Great for hardwood: The Fluffy Optic head illuminates fine debris that can be difficult to see on hard floors, while its automatic power adjustment changes suction according to the cleaning conditions.TechRadar
• Good for multiple floors: It's cordless and relatively maneuverable, so carrying it upstairs and using it on stairs is much easier than hauling a conventional upright.
• HEPA filtration: Useful if you want strong filtration while vacuuming.RTINGS.com
• Up to 70 minutes of runtime, although maximum-power cleaning—particularly on carpet—uses considerably more battery.TechRadar

The one I'd consider instead

• Shark PowerDetect Clean & Empty Cordless Stick Vacuum - $549.00 (Walmart.com)

The Shark PowerDetect Clean & Empty is arguably the better value for a large multi-story house. It has an auto-empty/charging dock, dirt and floor detection, and excellent mixed-floor performance. WIRED found it particularly impressive on rugs and general debris pickup.WIRED

The trade-off is that the Dyson has the edge in overall cleaning performance, particularly on hard floors and high-pile carpet.RTINGS.com

What about Samsung?

The Samsung Bespoke AI Jet Ultra is compelling if you prioritize convenience. Its dock automatically empties the dustbin and it has two batteries, which is attractive for a large home. However, independent testing found the Dyson superior overall and particularly better on hard floors and high-pile carpet.RTINGS.com+1

My ranking for your situation:

1. 🥇 Dyson Gen5detect — best cleaning performance across hardwood + thick carpet
2. 🥈 Shark PowerDetect Clean & Empty — best value/convenience, especially for a large house
3. 🥉 Samsung Bespoke AI Jet Ultra — best if long runtime + self-emptying are priorities
4. Dyson V15 Detect — excellent alternative if you find it substantially cheaper; its performance remains very close to the Gen5detect.RTINGS.com

One caveat: If your "thick carpet" is actually very plush/shag carpeting, rather than normal high-pile carpet, I'd narrow the choice differently because some cordless floorheads can be difficult to push through very deep pile.

If you tell me your approximate square footage, number of floors, whether you have pets, and budget, I can narrow this down to the best 2–3 models for your house.

Best overall: Shark PowerDetect Cordless

For a multi-level home with hardwood plus thick/high-pile carpet, I’d pick the Shark PowerDetect Cordless Stick Vacuum. It hits the best balance of deep carpet cleaning, hardwood performance, maneuverability, and price.

• Shark PowerDetect Cordless Stick Vacuum - $298.00 (Walmart.com)

Why I’d choose it

• Excellent on mixed flooring: Its DuoClean Detect head is designed to transition between hard floors and carpet, while automatically adjusting cleaning based on dirt and floor type.WIRED
• Particularly good on carpet: Independent testing found the PowerDetect had strong suction and a smooth glide on carpet, including very good sand pickup.WIRED
• Great for stairs and multiple floors: A cordless stick is much easier to carry upstairs than a conventional upright.
• Long runtime: Current PowerDetect models advertise up to 70 minutes, although actual runtime depends heavily on the power setting and floorhead.
• Much better value than Dyson: Current listings put the standard PowerDetect around $300–$450, versus roughly $850+ for the Dyson Gen5detect.

If money is no object

The Dyson Gen5detect is my premium pick. Independent testing gives it particularly strong hard-floor performance and slightly better high-pile-carpet pickup than the Samsung Bespoke AI Jet Ultra.RTINGS.com

• Dyson Gen5detect Cordless Vacuum - $849.00 (Best Buy)

Its big advantages are excellent suction, superb filtration, dust detection, and a very good floorhead system. The downside is the price—and for a large multilevel home, one battery can become limiting if you spend a lot of time on maximum power.

One feature I'd seriously consider

If you don't want to empty the vacuum after every floor, get the PowerDetect Clean & Empty version with the auto-empty dock. It charges and empties the vacuum when docked.WIRED

• Shark PowerDetect Clean & Empty - $299.00 (Walmart.com)

My ranking for your situation:

1. 🥇 Shark PowerDetect — best overall/value
2. 🥈 Shark PowerDetect Clean & Empty — best if convenience matters
3. 🥉 Dyson Gen5detect — best premium cleaning performance
4. Dyson V15 Detect — excellent alternative if you find it substantially cheaper; it actually tests extremely well on high-pile carpet and pet hair.RTINGS.com

One caveat: if by "thick carpets" you mean genuinely plush/shag carpet, rather than ordinary medium/high-pile carpet, I'd narrow the choice differently because some cordless sticks can struggle with very deep pile.

If you tell me your budget (e.g. <$300, $300–500, or $500+) and whether you have pets, I can give you the single best model and the version I'd buy.

If you have a multi-level home with hardwood plus thick/high-pile carpet, I’d prioritize strong carpet agitation, excellent hard-floor pickup, long enough runtime for multiple floors, and a vacuum that’s reasonably easy to carry upstairs.

🏆 Best overall: Dyson Gen5detect

• Dyson Gen5detect Cordless Vacuum - $1,049.99 (Best Buy)

The Dyson Gen5detect is my top pick for your particular combination of floors.

• Excellent on hardwood: Its illuminated floorhead makes fine dust and debris much easier to see, and independent testing gives it an 8.5/10 for hard-floor pickup.RTINGS.com+1
• Strong on thick carpet: It scored 7.5/10 on high-pile carpet, making it one of the better cordless options for plush carpeting.RTINGS.com
• Automatic suction adjustment: It senses debris and floor resistance and adjusts power as you move between hardwood and carpet.TechRadar
• Great for stairs: Its cordless handheld configuration is particularly useful when moving between levels; RTINGS gives it an 8.3/10 for stairs.RTINGS.com
• HEPA filtration: A worthwhile advantage if you want very fine dust captured rather than exhausted back into the room.

The downside: It's expensive, and the battery/runtime isn't extraordinary if you're trying to deep-clean a large multi-story house in one session.

🥈 Best convenience: Shark PowerDetect Clean & Empty

• Shark PowerDetect Clean & Empty Cordless Stick Vacuum - $377.99 (Walmart.com)

If your priority is less maintenance, I'd seriously consider this instead. Its dock automatically charges and empties the vacuum after cleaning, which is particularly nice when you're vacuuming several floors.

The PowerDetect also automatically detects dirt and floor type and adjusts cleaning power.TechRadar

🥉 Best value: Dyson V15 Detect

• Dyson V15 Detect + Dok - $899.99 (Best Buy)

Don't overlook the V15. Testing shows it actually performs very similarly to the Gen5detect, while being lighter and often considerably less expensive. RTINGS rates it 8.0/10 on high-pile carpet, 8.0/10 on hard floors, and 8.5/10 for stairs.RTINGS.com+1

For many homes, the V15 is the smarter buy unless you specifically want the Gen5's newer controls/features.

My ranking for your home

The Samsung is interesting because its auto-empty station is excellent, but independent testing found the Dyson Gen5detect better across most surfaces despite the Samsung having a more powerful motor.RTINGS.com

Bottom line: If budget isn't the main concern, I'd buy the Dyson Gen5detect. If you want essentially top-tier performance without spending as much, get the Dyson V15 Detect. If you hate emptying the dustbin, choose the Shark PowerDetect Clean & Empty.

If you tell me your approximate square footage, number of floors, whether you have pets, and budget (e.g. under $300 / $500 / $800), I can narrow it down to the single best model for you.