Dyson has stripped the stick vacuum down to its essence. Gone are the days of large heads with bulky motors; now, it's just the stick. The new vacuum cleaner is called the PencilVac. It measures a measly 38mm in diameter, which is about the width of a Dyson suction pipe, and weighs under four pounds.
The company achieved this by developing its smallest vacuum motor yet: a 28 mm Hyperdymium unit that spins at 140,000 rpm while generating 55 AW of suction. Motor, battery and electronics all fit inside the slim tube.
"I have long wanted to make a vacuum of only 38mm diameter (the same as my latest hair dryer, the Supersonic r). But first we needed to develop our most powerful Hyperdymium motor at only 28mm diameter to achieve such a slender machine,” said the company founder, James Dyson, who also gave the in-person product presentation in Tokyo. “Then a new dust separation and compaction system was developed.”
While fitting a motor inside a broomstick is certainly a remarkable technical feat, there’s another innovation that will excite anyone with long hair or who lives with a long-haired partner. The vacuum brush now includes not one, but four conical brush bars, dubbed “Fluffycones”. The cone shape serves a practical purpose: long hair caught by the brush slides down to the narrow end and falls off the open sides rather than tangling around the brushes. The cones extend slightly at the edges for better cleaning in corners, while green LED lights illuminate dust on hard floors. Moreover, they spin in both directions to create an omnidirectional cleaning system that works equally well when pushed forward or pulled back.
To achieve its lean profile, the PencilVac does make some trade-offs. It is designed specifically for hard floors rather than carpets and has a battery life of just 30 minutes on its lowest setting. However, the battery can be swapped quickly. While it does have some specific accessories, it does not convert to a handheld unit like Dyson's larger V models. The product will launch in Japan later this year, with global availability planned for 2026. Pricing hasn't been announced yet.