A couple of readers have been asking – what’s the deal with Hoover ONEPWR cordless vacuums?
I’ve known about Hoover’s ONEPWR cordless lineup, but not for a long time, and it came as a surprise to me too. But, there’s another curious aspect.
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Look at the Hoover ONEPWR cordless wet/dry vacuum above. Does it look familiar?
Wait a second – that Hoover cordless vac looks just like the Ryobi!
Here’s the thing – Hoover is owned by TTI, the same company that designs and manufactures Ryobi cordless power tools for Home Depot.
Tool Brands: Who Owns What? A Guide to Corporate Affiliations
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TTI also owns Oreck, Vax, Homelite, and Dirt Devil.
Is it surprising that TTI would leverage the cordless vacuum technologies developed for the Ryobi brand to give Hoover broader cordless cleaning options?
Hoover has several seemingly unique cordless vacuums as well, and most bear strong resemblance to Ryobi offerings. Having only known about the Hoover products for a couple of months, I am assuming that the Ryobi cordless vacs came first.
The Hoover ONEPWR lineup includes workshop and jobsite-style cordless wet/dry vacuums, and also cordless blowers, upright stick vacs, and a couple of unique-looking home cleaning solutions such as a cordless carpet spot cleaner.
It seems that ONEPWR is an 18V/20V Max cordless battery system. It’ll be interesting to see if the product line develops further, but even if it doesn’t, Hoover looks to have a good selection of homeowner vacuums and other cordless cleaning products.
Whether the Hoover products are any good is a different question, but they tend to have a good track record, and the same is true for Ryobi’s cordless vacs and blowers.
At the time of this posting, Acme Tools has a 15% Spring Cleaning promo on Hoover ONEPWR cordless products, thru 3/21/2021. Use code ONEPWR15 at checkout. You’ll also want to check Amazon, as they have lower pricing on some of the SKUs.
Buy Now via Acme Tools
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Please let me know if you have any questions! The Hoover ONEPWR system simply looks to be a mashup between Ryobi and Hoover cleaning products, but I can try to dig deeper if anyone is interested.
Sean
Why should we buy into the Hoover cordless power line if many of the same products are offered by Ryobi?
Scott K
It seems like this was meant to sell vacs to people who want the tech Ryobi has developed but with a cleaning brand name they recognize.
rob
Because the hoover store and the ryobi store are like cats and dogs.
Flotsam
I shop quite a bit at Direct Tools Outlet and so that TTi relationship becomes real clear right away. Lots of Ryobi, & Ridgid, but i have noticed the Hoover stuff as well.
For some people Hoover is a well known name and they might buy on the virtue of the name alone and relationship to vacuums. Tool oriented people might prefer Ryobi instead. From a business standpoint this is no surprise as cordless vacs are becoming the norm with Dyson (exclusively cordless) and Shark broadening their ranges. Maybe its just me, but i still think you will get more suction with a corded vac .
Mike
Hoover are the worst vacuums, you can’t even get a year out of them
Kent
Lots of folks feel that about Ryobi too.
Judith Robles
I have had my hoover cordless pet vacuum for 4 years with no issues. The best..
Sanfam
Here’s what’s weird about the TTi brand relationships: Hoover seems to own IP related to cyclonic canister systems, but Ryobi, Ridgid and Milwaukee all use straight-flow paper media filter vacuums with weak, high-draw motors that burn through batteries. These would be trivial to roll out in green/orange/red and would make all of those brands more appealing (_maybe_, more on that below). It seems clear that the intention is to launch “new products” into adjacent markets while reusing existing manufacturing tooling, but it’s odd to see some beneficial technologies not translating elsewhere.
So onto that “Maybe”. I was given a semi-busted (due to a missing gasket) “OnePwr” cyclonic stick vacuum one of the models that was apparently trying to compete with Dyson, and it is not a favorable comparison. The tool was extremely heavy, the motor suction felt low, part fit was loose, the brush heads bulky, the battery extremely stubborn to remove and install, and the cyclonic bin missing a gasket mentioned above that effectively rendered it useless. The gasket itself was also not a stocked part through any source, indeterminate availability down the road and the part easily able to be knocked off when emptying the bin. My attempts to make my own didn’t fix anything, so I gave it to the thrift store for someone else to tackle. Some shopper paid $300 for this thinking “Discount Dyson” and probably was none too happy.
Jared
Maybe TII did the math and figured it would be better to sell replacement filters?
trevor
are the batteries interchangeable with the Ryobi ones?
OhioHead
Nope (from what I understand), Hoover is a slide pack & Ryobi stick. It seems crazy Hoover would not have used a Ryobi battery (or MKE (potentially too expensive) to make it more popular w/ existing TTI battery users.
Stuart
Based on the shape, definitely not.
Chris S
Everyone is missing the point.
This is definitely aimed at the house cleaner in the family. Ryobi’s neon booger green is not what they want seen in the house. On the other side, the person with all the tools doesn’t want to hunt for the drill/saw/etc. battery because it got moved to a different room in the house.
AngryDrumGuy
We share the same thoughts. After researching the Hoover stick vac for a while, we settled on the black and decker version because the battery platform keeps it away from my tools and I’m the only person in the house who doesn’t hate Ryobi green.
X lu
I purchased duplicate tools in the ryobi platform for one reason-to keep my beloved away from my m12 and m18s. Did the plan work? Well yesterday I returned home to the dulcet tones of my multi tool sanding a table top, I asked why she wasn’t using the new brushless green one I just bought for you. Reply-oh I forgot where I put it. As i gazed over at her work table, there was her multi tool standing on end easily observable a cross an ocean. So much for plan A.
Toolless
Also, Ryobi is exclusively sold at Home Depot, whereas Hoover can be sold at Amazon, Walmart, Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, QVC, etc. Ryobi ONE+ 18V battery has that stupid vestigial pod sticking out for backward compatibility with old NiCd batteries, which often makes the tools (including vacuums) more bulky and less ergonomic than necessary. The Ryobi battery release tabs aren’t ergonomic by today’s standard: too wide for smaller hands and adds unnecessary width.
The battery pack is designed to use 21700 cells (and possibly 18650 also). Customer picture in the Amazon “4.0 MAX” battery product page (https://www.amazon.com/Hoover-ONEPWR-Lithiu m-Battery-BH25040/dp/B07QFBYLG3) shows that the “4.0 MAX” (4Ah) is about the same size as the “3.0” whereas the old “4.0” is much thicker. Since the highest capacity 18650 high-discharge cell is around 3.0Ah, this is pretty good indication that the “4.0 MAX” uses (5) 21700 cells whereas the old “4.0” uses (10) cells (18650 or 21700). Generic batteries are widely available on Amazon.
The Hoover ONEPWR color scheme does look like Hart. The Hoover battery uses (2) side release buttons whereas the Hart 20V uses 1 top release button so they are not physically compatible. The Hart 20V has unusual vertical and horizontal terminal contacts, while the Hoover (according to photo of an aftermarket battery) only has vertical contacts.
Jared
I saw the vacuums some time ago. I didn’t realize there were more products in the lineup though – or that there were shared designs with Ryobi. That makes it a little more appealing considering how much batteries cost.
I wouldn’t rush to buy any of it, but I’m sure I’m not the target market. There’s probably lots of consumers without power-tool familiarity who will really appreciate the freedom of cordless and would see this as something that belongs in their home much more than the Ryobi-green “power tool” version.
Nathan
I’ve thought about the hoover cordless stick vac for the house a few times. Wifey just HAD TO HAVE a dyson something and it’s garbage. Battery doesn’t take a charge anymore and it’s barely a year old.
Charger takes forever small wires etc etc.
Regardless the hoover and shark products look like they work better overall. I like the removable replaceable battery of the hoover. Also one of those products looks a bit like the Milwaukee device. Otherwise I see some good reports – Interesting set of items.
Aaron
I always buy shark because the company is actually Shark Ninja! and how could I pass up buying something that is made by shark ninja?
Drew M
If you want a vac for the house THAT ACTUALLY WORKS, get a Sebo.
Tim E.
Having most of the major US-available battery platforms already, I still also have Hoover OnePwr. It’s true some of the designs are cribs from Ryobi, particularly the shop vacs and blowers. But some aren’t.
The Blade dyson-esque stick vacuum I have heard very little but bad things about. It just doesn’t live up to expectations or the cost.
There was a sale late last year at Acme for buy a onepwr tool, and get a 4Ah onePwr battery free, and that IMO was the best sale I’ve seen on them.
I have the Spotless go, the Floormate Jet, and the Evolve. The Spotless go is the most likely to disappoint folks, it’s better than other cordless spot cleaners like the Bissell Pet Stain Eraser and similar, but it definitely doesn’t hold a candle to any corded cleaner like the Hoover Spotless or Bissell SpotClean. It just doesn’t have the vacuum suction to really get the water out of carpet like the corded ones do. That said, if your expectations are similar to other cordless spot cleaners, it’s pretty decent, and the interchangeable battery is a huge plus.
The Floormate Jet is surprisingly decent, I read a lot of not-great reviews about bad battery life and insufficient suction. Just like the spotless go, it doesn’t have the suction of a corded floormate or Bissell Crosswave, and it does show a little bit in how much water is left on the floor. But for being cordless, it would meet my expectations. I run it almost exclusively in high mode (it also has an “eco” mode to save battery life), and I can clean a solid 1000 sq. ft. of laminate on about 5-6Ah worth of battery life. It includes 2x 3Ah batteries, which I can see being insufficient for a larger area or people who really go to town with letting it scrub. I usually start with one of the 4Ah, and then go partway through a 3Ah to finish. On high, it leaves a bit more water than my corded Crosswave, but not enough I’m concerned about leaving it on the laminate. The convenience of not having a cord means I use it more often, which also keeps my floors cleaner in general, which probably contributes to not having to use it as heavily when I do clean the entire floor. A side note, I still use my regular old-school Hoover Floormate occasionally, just because I feel like it puts more water down on the floor, scrubs a bit better, and then sucks that all up, so works better for “macro” dirt. I use the Floormate Jet for “everyday” hard floor cleaning, and still keep around my Bissell Crosswave for occasional use since it does better with “micro” dirt than the regular Floormate does.
The last one I have is the Evolve upgright cleaner. I mainly got it because of the 4Ah battery promotion, and to change out with my Hoover Linx, just so I had more batteries (I only had one battery for the Linx). Coming from the Linx, I think the Evolve is better in a lot of ways, it has better battery life, adjustable suction/brush speed combinations, larger dust canister, and better carpet beaters. It won’t replace my corded Miele Homecare C3, but it works great for my use by the cat litter box, for vacuuming up litter pieces from the laminate near the box and the carpet as they exit the room with the box. I’d probably replace my Dyson v8 with it if I didn’t have it dedicated mostly for the cat box, but it is missing the attachment capability of the v8. So I’d probably keep the v8 for using the brushes and such from a cordless vacuum.
I can’t see really buying anything in OnePwr that is available in Ryobi, because most of those are outdoor/shop type vacuums, and having the Ryobi ecosystem just opens up many more possibilities than staying with OnePwr. I can see though the flip side if you have OnePwr for “indoor cleaning” tools, may want some matching ones for light outdoor cleanups as well if you aren’t invested in a full OPE or cordless tool line. So there’s definitely a market for the OnePwr-powered shop vacs and such, that they may be the only cordless tools (aside from maybe a drill) that someone has. Maybe that’s why it works, they aren’t really cannibalizing sales from Ryobi with the OnePwr because either you don’t have Ryobi anyway (and might buy OnePwr because it’s available), or you have Ryobi and wouldn’t buy OnePwr anyway.
As mentioned in some other comments, I wish this also went the other way, that TTI’s vacuum knowledge got spread to the power tool companies, and they made better household use vacuums. The upcoming OnePwr HEPA upright vacuum looks interesting, possibly a general-home-use replacement for allergen sensitive users where the Evolve doesn’t meet their needs. The new Makita HEPA commercial vacuum also looks very interesting, but the price tag on it is definitely commercial focused.
Mike47
In Great Britain Hoover is a verb.
rob
Call me when Miele, Sebo, Riccar, Starmix and Nilfisk get serious about cordless (emerson is pretty alright). 🤪
Out of mere coincidence, I don’t run any TTI owned or made tools. I’m beginning to wonder, however, if it has anything to do with some sort of subconscious association with their junky vacuum cleaner brands?
Tim E.
Miele’s Triflex stick vacuum is quite decent, has the powered mini brush I like for upholstery and cat trees and such in addition to the carpet beater, and replaceable batteries. It still doesn’t really compare to corded (no cordless vac ever will because of energy capacity limitations of batteries), but in several uses after convincing a friend to get it rather than a Dyson, color me impressed. They’re still enjoying it. The only thing I missed maybe was a hose for the attachments, but those seem to be becoming less common on stick vacuums.
SpainUser
Hi rob, you might not be ware, but Starnix already makes a battery operated Vac, look up Metabo ASR 36-18 BL 25 M SC Which let’s you use either the 18v (10Ah highly recommended) or the 36v 5.0Ah batteries, booth charged on the same charger.
Paul E Hacker
Can tell you from experience that Hoover’s warranty and customer service suck from a product owner’s point of view.
Frank D
I saw this last spring, summer (?), and iirc I sent in a tip.
It was interesting but it is not worth getting into another platform.
Stuart
I have other emails from you in my “great post ideas” queue (I read everything but cannot always respond) but I can’t find on the Hoover line. There were a couple of emails though, starting last spring, although I can’t tell if that’s when they launched or only when retailers started promoting them.
SpainUser
Companies like TTI and their brands, they are trying to milk us, with a very expensive scheme of selling more batteries, which is booth a burden on it’s customer’s and the environment. To be honest, this is also the behavior of KKR with Metabo and Hikoki, why on earth would on company run a very successful battery platform like CAS, which I’m all bought into, still does not leverage the missing tools on either of the platforms to get to more customer’s (ie, plunge saw and pin nailer missing on either side) Basically, these companies are getting us to buy tons of batteries that at the same time generates tons of revenue, with a major burden to the environment, and none, and I mean NONE have a battery recovery plan in place. Even Makita has gotten into the game with two battery platforms of their own. When I see this happen, it generates mistrust on my side and will recommend others to stay away.
Oleg k
Rebranded Ryobi ftw!