Dyson has long been a technology leader in the world of bagless vacuuming, but now the company has dipped its toes into the filthy water bucket of mopping.
Enter the V15s Submarine, a slightly upgraded version of the second-to-latest-generation stick vacuum that comes with a mop attachment, which is what this review will be focused on.
It also comes with the familiar laser-powered hardwood head, anti-tangle carpet head, upholstery head and so on.
The dream that Dyson is selling is that they can do for mopping what they have done for vacuuming – make it stylish, simple and mobile in a way that traditional products cannot.
Ostensibly, the Submarine gets rid of the need for a bucket or constantly replaced mop heads or those wasteful wipes.
But at $1,599, can this device really do it all? Dyson loaned me the product to find out.
How does it work?
The blue head houses a little reservoir that you fill with warm water but (according to the instructions) no harsh chemicals.
This means that if you are a big fan of disinfectants or bleach, you won’t want to use the Submarine because it will cause the internals to degrade much faster.
Once filled, you attach the head to the pipe in the traditional manner, and you’re ready to go.
Pulling the trigger makes the paint-roller-style barrel spin while being moistened, causing the device to have a little pull along the surface.
The engineering in the mop head is truly impressive, making it easy to take apart, clean and reassemble. (Image: BusinessDesk)
The dirty water is sloughed off via a plastic blade of sorts and collected in a second reservoir.
It is very, very water efficient, with the 500ml in the tank barely being used for my admittedly small kitchen and downstairs bathroom.
Then, you take it off, dismantle the head into its three component parts, rinse off the roller and the non-electronic section, and leave them to dry for at least 24 hours.
It is genuinely very easy to use and clean, so top marks for that.
How is the clean?
The short version is that it is very good.
Most spills and marks will be quickly removed, but even the more stubborn ones will come up after a few passes, or a long hold of the roller over the spot, or letting it soak for a bit and coming back.
Where a traditional mop takes serious elbow grease, the Submarine just needs a little patience.
Because the roller is essentially being constantly rinsed, the quality of the water is consistent, never becoming gross or getting too dry, which also means a consistent clean across the whole area.
Not using any cleaning products does mean that, to me, it feels a bit less clean – but on the other hand, because it is a pretty easy process, I was more inclined to mop more often.
The device is wonderfully manoeuvrable and flexible, and the roller goes almost right to the edge, so few spots are inaccessible. (Image: Dyson)
There was one moment that did reveal a weakness in the Submarine over traditional mops.
Our neighbour was doing something with the water pipes and, somehow, caused our toilets to backflow all over our bathroom floors. The Submarine was not designed to absorb excess water, so I turned to the trusty old yellow sponge mop to do that work.
Next, I will admit I was a bit of a renegade and splashed some bleach on the floor and then used the Submarine to spread it around to give the floor a good sanitising. Sorry about that, James.
Lots to love in the device, but there is one big thing that leaves a large question mark hanging in the air around whether I would buy it.
It’s not the newest tech
The V15 model is not the latest and greatest in Dyson’s line-up. That honour goes to the Gen5 Detect and its big brother, the Outsize model.
In fact, the V15 is already more than two years old, having been released in early 2021.
The differences are minor: the Gen5 tells you on its display when an area is relatively free of microparticles rather than just showing an unhelpful running total, and it uses the newer, smaller and lighter motor and a slightly larger dust tank.
The Submarine head is not compatible with the Gen5 and, because of a limitation that has something to do with software but isn’t really explained, never will be for this generation of new tech.
It’s also not compatible with the original V15 models for the same reason.
If you want this neat piece of cleaning tech, first, you need to be looking for a new vacuum as well and second; you have to be OK with not buying the latest-generation version just for the mop.
If Dyson released a head that was compatible with the Gen5, which we own, I would absolutely buy that, even if it meant somehow doing a firmware upgrade on my vacuum.
It’s a very odd approach that, frankly, smacks of trying to get more cash out of the consumer and move old V15 stock rather than doing what would be in their customers' best interest.
As a result, even though I genuinely liked the Submarine head, I just can’t recommend that anyone spend a grand and a half on a two-year-old product.
I would suggest waiting until the company’s next flagship device, which, if they have any sense, should also have a mop head available.
