One-minute review
Halo is a small brand with big ambition, but it’s a relative newcomer to the floorcare market, so might not be on your radar. The Halo Capsule has been designed by a British husband and wife team, but this is no cottage industry, they’re out to rival the big hitters like Dyson and Shark with what they hope is one of the best vacuum cleaners around.
The Halo Capsule is a cordless vacuum only sold directly through the brand, which helps to keep the price lower, but means you won’t see it on the high street or large online retailers. Halo has concentrated all of its design and innovation into this one product with the aim of creating the best possible cordless vacuum and as such, this is the only model it sells.
With an upholstery tool, crevice tool, two brushes, and a flexible hose, the Halo Capsule has a good range of bundled accessories, making it ideal for vacuuming lots of surfaces and hard to reach spots. There’s a lot to store, but the wall dock is designed to house all but one of the included accessories, giving you a neat storage solution included in the box. It has three power levels and a run time of up to 60 minutes, so will work well for quick pick-ups as well as more thorough cleans.
In a move away from current trends, it’s been designed to use bags to collect the dust and dirt. This means you’re committed to the ongoing cost of replacement bags, but as 26 are included in the box and they have a 1.6-litre capacity, it’ll be a few years before you need to purchase any more. The bags make dirt disposal much less messy than bagless vacuums, plus they’re compostable so are more environmentally friendly than bags from many other big brands.
On test, it impressed us with its lightweight feel and easy maneuverability. Suction is powerful on both carpet and hard floor and the range of attachments make it a versatile cleaning appliance. It’s ideal for anyone looking for a lightweight vacuum who can see the benefit of bags over bagless models.
Halo Capsule price and availability
- RRP: £249.99
The Halo Capsule is available directly through Halo priced at £249.99 for a bundle deal. In addition to the main vacuum and floorhead, the bundle includes a crevice tool, stubborn dirt brush, soft dusting brush, wall dock, upholstery tool, flexible stretch hose, and 26 dust bags and would cost £392.94 if all these accessories were purchased separately.
The replacement dust bags will set you back £7.99 for a pack of six or £25.99 for a pack of 26.
Design
- Bags are easy to install and remove
- Three power levels
- Dust bag full indicator
With a carbon fibre construction, the Halo Capsule has been specifically designed to be lightweight. The main handheld unit weighs in at 1.7kg with no attachments fitted or 2.6kg with the extension tube and floorhead in place. Although, it’s worth noting that the fuller the dust bag, the heavier it’ll be. The capsule alone measures 43cm in length so is quite long. The overall dimensions, when assembled with the main floorhead, are 114 x 24 x 16cm (h x w x d).
Frustratingly the vacuum can’t stand unsupported, so you’ll need to lean it against something or place it on the floor if you need to stop mid-vacuuming. There are three buttons that are located near the handle for easy access, they include a button to cycle between the three power levels, an on/off switch for the power brush in the main floorhead as well as the main on/off switch.
As we’ve already mentioned, there are plenty of accessories included with the vacuum, the extension tube, and power brush are the main floor cleaning tools and for delicate floors, the brush can be switched off. In addition to these the crevice tool, two brush tools, and upholstery tool can all be attached directly to the capsule for handheld cleaning or to the extension tube for hard-to-reach areas or overhead cleaning. The flexible stretch hose allows for additional reach into tricky areas or allows you to rest the capsule on a surface while vacuuming with the smaller tools.
An accessory clip comes in the box, it clips onto the extension tube and can hold one accessory, allowing you to keep your favorite or most used accessory with you while you vacuum the floors. All the rest, excluding the flexible stretch hose store neatly on the wall dock. However, if you don’t want to screw this to the wall, you’ll have to find somewhere else to store them.
For allergy sufferers, the 1.6 litre dust bags lock in 99.95% of particles and unlike bagless models, there’s no dust cloud emitted when it’s time to empty. And as an added bonus they’re made from natural materials, so are fully compostable. There’s a light to indicate when the bag needs to be replaced and the latch design provides easy access, there’s also a washable filter that’s located beneath the dust bag which is also easy to remove and clean.
Performance
- Easy to maneuver
- Powerful suction in boost mode
- Good pick-up
Apart from giving it a quick charge and attaching your required accessory, there’s no setup needed, the Halo Capsule even comes ready loaded with a bag so you can get vacuuming straight away. We found it very straightforward to use.
It’s a joy to use on both hard floor and carpet, it feels very light and easy to maneuver, taking sharp turns and tight corners in its stride. It’s marginally heavier to push when in boost mode due to the strong suction, particularly on hard floors when the power brush is switched off.
We couldn’t vacuum a long pile area rug with the power brush switched on, even in eco mode it became difficult to push and would get stuck, but it worked fine once the power brush was switched off. It’s also worth noting that quite a bit of hair became tangled around the power brush during use, so you’ll need to check it regularly and cut away the hair, but the brush is removable to make this task a bit easier.
Dust and debris collection is good in performance mode and noticeably stronger when it’s switched to boost. On carpet, it didn’t always collect 100% of larger debris like oats from along the skirting board but switching to the handheld crevice nozzle allowed us to pay particular attention to these areas. On hard floors though, it vacuumed up everything in its path, with the best results when the power brush was switched on.
To tackle stairs we attached the main floorhead directly to the capsule, but the floorhead seemed to have a mind of its own. At first, we found it difficult to control but then we realized it worked best when we vacuumed the steps from side to side, rather than trying to maneuver it in a forward and backward motion across the step.
The handle is comfortable to hold and is located on top of the long capsule, which works well for floor cleaning and reaching low surfaces. But for cleaning at higher levels and overhead it can feel quite bulky and unbalanced.
It's pleasing quiet was cleaning hard floors on eco mode with the power brush switched off, but the noise level increased when used on carpet with the power brush running, in Boost mode when our decibel meter reached 80db, which is the same level of sound experience when a truck is traveling at 40mph.
Battery life
- Up to 60-minute run time
- Three-hour charge
- Battery level indicator
Halo claims the battery has a 60-minute run time, but this is based on using it in eco mode. Using higher power levels will give a shorter runtime. There’s a battery indicator near the buttons, it’s got four lights to indicate the battery level in 25% increments and flashes red shortly before the battery runs out.
We timed the run time when vacuuming on Boost mode and after eight and a half minutes, the vacuum dropped the power level from Boost to Performance and wouldn’t go back. The battery then lasted for a further three minutes before it ran out completely.
A full recharge took around three hours and fifteen minutes, which is just slightly longer than the advertised three hours. To charge it there’s a cable that plugs directly into the capsule and the battery level indicator flashes during charging and remains constantly lit once it’s fully charged.
Should I buy the Halo Capsule?
Buy it if...
You want mess-free dirt disposal
Bagless vacuums create big dust clouds when they’re emptied, but bags are a much cleaner option, which is better for anyone with allergies.
You want adjustable power levels
There are three power levels to choose from, the lowest power level gives the longest battery life and the highest is great for tackling dirty areas and spills.
You want a lightweight vacuum
Despite the main capsule being quite bulky, this vacuum feels lightweight to use for most cleaning tasks. Although it can feel weighty if used to clean higher surfaces.
Don't buy it if...
You’re looking for a bagless cleaner
There are lots of benefits to capturing the dust and dirt in a bag, but if you’d prefer a bagless cleaner that you can empty after every use, this isn’t the vacuum for you.
You want a compact handheld unit
It’s lightweight, but the capsule handheld unit is certainly not compact, so it’s not ideal for use in really tight, hard-to-reach spots. When cleaning a car for example, it can feel very bulky.
You just want to vacuum floors
There are a lot of attachments bundled in, but if you’re unlikely to use them and they’ll gather dust in a cupboard it might be worth looking for a model with fewer or no attachments.
First reviewed: January 2022
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