Miele S8310 Power Plus review

Miele’s S8310 Power Plus is a traditional cylinder vacuum cleaner with retro-inspired looks and a replaceable bag. A powerful motor and reasonably high dust capacity look promising on paper, but performance can’t always be judged on specifications alone.

The S8310 is undeniably straightforward. Its compact shape and rounded edges are unlikely to get caught on your furniture and a hidden accessory compartment keeps the upholstery tool, crevice tool and dusting brush safe when not in use but always with easy reach.

Weighing a reasonable 7.1kg when empty and with castor wheels for mobility, the S8310 is easy enough to drag around the house. It doesn’t turn as quickly as other vacuum cleaners, so it’s often quicker just to pick it up. The telescopic tube is always handy, helping increase the maximum reach to 11m when the 6.5m cable is completely unwound. An automatic cable return button quickly retracts the cable when you’re done.

Each bag holds an impressive 4.5 litres of dust and dirt, giving it significantly more capacity than most bagless cleaners. Replacing the bag is easy enough; after opening the bag compartment using a release button near the S8310’s handle, you pull the bag from its firm locking mechanism. Slotting a new bag in is just as easy, and can be done one-handed. Each refill pack, which also includes replacement filters, costs £10, which should last you about six months.

Bag and filter refills should cost you around £10 per six months

Rated at a massive 2,200W, the S8310’s motor should be among the most powerful that we’ve tested, and with an actual suction figure of 32kPa it didn’t disappoint. This barely dropped until we completely filled the bag, where it finally reached 31.5kPa. However, it’s important to note that this vacuum cleaner uses a lot of power to get this suction and we’ve seen cleaners with similar performance that use a lot less power. .

In our practical tests, we were surprised that it only managed to collect 98 per cent of our test samples from carpets. This was partly because the main brush head sits so low to the surface that it knocked some larger dirt out of the way rather than suck it up.

The S8310 makes quite a lot of noise to achieve this suction. It’s rated at 57dB(A), but we found the sound it made quite intrusive. The Miele S8310 Power Plus is well priced at less than £200, but it draws a lot of power and we found it quite noisy. For similar money, the AEG UltraCaptic Animal uses less money and has similar performance.