The long-awaited “bad buy” sharing series is back. This time, I want to share my very, very long experience with a compact vacuum cleaner. It kept overturning my expectations and made me afraid to buy this type of product again. The frustration was almost as memorable as the black-sand dripper I discussed last time. Before the main text begins, let me add a disclaimer: this is not aimed at any brand or retailer. It is purely a record of my personal experience, and perhaps I was simply lucky enough to draw the “king of faulty units.” Ummmm, that is all. Let us begin!
A bad-buy story: the Storm Capsule vacuum cleaner that kept overturning my expectations — review
I do not know what everyone expects from a “compact handheld vacuum cleaner.” For me, it simply needs to be small enough to pick up, able to vacuum dust and coffee grounds, have normal battery life, require only occasional emptying and, most importantly, “reduce the burden of everyday cleaning.” Do you think those expectations are excessive for a “compact handheld vacuum cleaner”? Before buying it, I considered them common sense. I saw other people and online unboxing videos in which everyone seemed very happy using it. And so, I began my journey into a bad purchase...
Thoughts after one year of use
I originally bought it to occasionally clean coffee fragments from the Coffee Corner worktop, or dust from the espresso machine and fine grounds from the grinder. Some areas are difficult to clean with a small brush because everything still ends up on the worktop, so I thought a compact vacuum would be much faster and would save me from spending extra time or wetting a cloth to pick everything up. But, as it turned out... fantasies are always beautiful. After bringing it home and charging it, it vacuumed normally on the first 1 or 2 uses. Apart from the body occasionally becoming slightly warm and the exhaust behaving a little strangely (the blowing function it advertises), everything worked as I had hoped. But after the 3rd use... the trouble began!
An unacceptably awful experience
The machine would shut down after vacuuming for less than 10 seconds... At first, I thought it was a battery problem and tried to charge it with a fast-charging cable, only to discover that fast charging was not supported. I then found a charging cable rated at no more than 2A (slow charging), which finally charged it. After charging it overnight, I used it the next morning — the 2nd morning — and once again it shut down in less than 10 seconds... After searching for the cause for a long time, I concluded that the central waste compartment was full. But wait! To the naked eye, the compartment was empty, with only a small amount of powder inside. OK, I emptied it anyway and tried again. It worked! I later discovered the reason: the metal filter inside (which the manufacturer calls the filtration system) has holes that are too small, so any powder automatically clogs it. Once clogged, the machine senses that it cannot draw in air and automatically shuts down...
From then on, whenever I vacuumed coffee fragments, I had to go to the bin and brush the powder off the metal filter after every 1-2 uses... But just when you think it is clean and happily try to use it again — yay! — the battery is flat. I use it for 5 minutes and charge it for 5 hours....
OK, once the problems above have been dealt with, do you think it will be comfortable to use? Wrong. The suction tube underneath comes loose extremely easily. While vacuuming, a slight accidental movement can make it fall off, so you have to pick it up and fit it again. There goes another 30 seconds that could have been spent vacuuming coffee fragments! The brush at the front of the tube was originally designed so that you could pull it back towards the tube, exposing the nozzle for stronger suction. But after I used it a few times, it became “stuck”...
Those are all minor problems. Once you know exactly how to handle it, you think you can finally get on with vacuuming. In less than 2 minutes, it overheats... and shuts down! O....K... I can tolerate that! It is only a little debris; if I move faster, there will be no problem!
But then physics enters the picture: wherever air is drawn in, air must also be expelled. So where does it blow out? That is right — from the back of the machine. If you point the outlet downwards, its fairly strong airflow blows the coffee fragments and dust back off the worktop... So... what am I vacuuming? Fine, I turn the outlet around. Pointing it upwards is OK... provided your home is large enough. If there are objects nearby, it blows dust off them and sends it all around the room.... If you make coffee in the kitchen, imagine the scene for yourself. The airflow is still strong.... (Can the strength be adjusted? Yes: strong or extra strong, with 2 choices from 1 selector, plus a boost mode that makes the airflow extra-extra strong.) Using it like this means constantly adjusting around it as you work. Unless there is nothing near your worktop, it is quite difficult to manage.
Once you have dealt with all the problems above and want to use it again, you discover... the battery is flat again! Go and charge it! The same cycle then repeats endlessly. Honestly, I would be better off using a small brush. What is the point of this thing? I bought it, yet I still have to serve it. CLS Product.
One-year summary of using the VSGO VS-VC01 V1 Pro Storm Capsule handheld electric vacuum cleaner
That sums up how I feel about it. I have already given up on it. Apart from looking quite good and producing fairly strong airflow (not including how long that airflow lasts), as a vacuum cleaner it is such a troublesome product. Who the hell designed it? The end. Nothing more to add!
