Is Sebo Better Than Dyson?
Is Sebo better than Dyson? We are the largest vacuum shop in the North of England. We sell Sebo and Dyson. Find out what we think.
People ask us the question quite often “is Sebo better than Dyson?” At Manchester Vacs we sell both Sebo and Dyson, and we have been doing that for a long time, so let’s delve into this a bit as it’s not entirely black and white.
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About Dyson
Dyson stopped developing new mains-powered vacuum models some time ago and tilted its R&D into cordless vacuums and other appliances. They still sell a couple of models here as the UK market demands it, but they are mostly a manufacturer of battery-powered vacuums now.
Battery-powered machines – in our view – are better suited as a secondary or backup vacuum, not the main family vacuum. If you have carpet, a mains-powered machine is what most prefer. Dyson’s marketing suggests otherwise, they insist that mains power is a thing of the past and it’s all about cordless now. But we deal with customers every day of the week who are disillusioned with their Dyson cordless as the main family vacuum. UK customers want a strong mains-powered vacuum.
The main reason for this departure into battery-powered handheld machines is the UK is no longer their largest or only market. Some time ago, Dyson moved their HQ to Singapore. Singapore, Korea, Japan, China and other Asian countries are huge markets for Dyson. Dyson branched out into hairdryers, hand dryers, LED lights, humidifiers, fans, air purifiers, and taps that dry your hands. Dyson is an Asian-based technology company now.
Asians tend to live in small apartments with hard floors. There’s less rain so less mud, grit tends not to travel up to the 12th floor, dogs are more popular as a menu item than a pet and they generally eschew carpets due to the climate. In those circumstances, a cordless Dyson makes perfect sense. If you live in Seoul, Beijing or Hong Kong, a Dyson cordless is a fashionable and must-have item.
The mains-powered models they still sell in the UK at the time of writing are the UP22 and UP24 which are based on older DC40 and DC50 machines. On their site, they are called simply “Dyson Ball Animal” now. Many think they have built-in obsolescence. They tend not to be as durable as the old Dysons. The days of the old bulletproof Dyson DC01, DC04, DC07, DC14 and DC33 machines are long gone. If you want a mains-powered machine that is built like a tank and will run for a decade or two, you need to look elsewhere now.
About Sebo
And this is where Sebo comes into the story. Sebo vacuums are hand-made in Germany. They are mains powered (although a cordless upright model is on the way), they are built like a tank and typically last 10-20 years. Sebo started out as a commercial vacuum brand, and in the 90s branched into the mainstream domestic market. They are loved by cleaning companies, hotels, cruise ships and schools. You’ll even find Sebos being used at Buckingham Palace and the US Whitehouse. The Sebo BS360 is the world’s best-selling commercial upright vacuum cleaner.
We still service Sebo vacuums from the 90s for our customers. They last!
Sebo has a large and very solid following. Mostly middle-class folks in the shires and other affluent areas who typically buy them from places like John Lewis and more competitive independent dealers like us. You’ll not find the full range in Argos or on Amazon (read about Amazon here). You’ll not see them on QVC or in Netto or Tesco. You won’t find a Sebo on offer next to the toilet rolls in Costco. Sebo simply doesn’t roll that way. You’ll not see them advertised on TV either. We call them “the best German brand you have never heard of”. It’s like you must discover them……….
German engineering is well-known for being some of the best in the world, and Sebo vacuum cleaners are no exception. Sebo vacuums are designed to be reliable and durable, and they come with a five-year warranty.
People who have owned a Sebo seldom ever want anything else. As a Sebo owner, you’ll become a convert. You’ll never consider another Dyson or – god forbid – a Shark or any lesser brand. You will hold court at any dinner party discussing the merits of vacuum bags over bagless and Sebo above other brands. We say Sebo is among vacuum cleaners like Heinz is among beans, Rolex among watches, Range Rovers among 4x4s (although Range Rovers break down and Sebos don’t), and Waitrose among supermarkets.
You can even buy pink ones!
Sebo vacuums have bags. They are not bagless like a Dyson. There’s a whole argument about bagless versus bags just as there is about lager or bitter, Labour or Conservative and Brexit or Remain. But bags are not something we have “moved on from” as Dyson suggests. It’s simply an alternative. We discuss this in great depth in >>this article<< which you should read if you are here trying to find out “is Sebo better than Dyson?”.
As a retailer, I can tell you that nobody has ever brought a Sebo back and said, “This is a bit crap, can I get a Dyson cordless instead?” – it just doesn’t happen. Our returns on Sebo vacuums are close to zero, perhaps one or two a year from many hundreds of machines (there’s always the odd nutter). Would you return a Range Rover and choose a Kia instead? Would you take a tin of Heinz beans back and ask for some own brand ones instead? It would be absurd, wouldn’t it?
If you’re a Mumsnet user or know of the site, you’ll know they are a pretty tough crowd. Go to their forums and search “Sebo vacuum” or “Sebo hoover” and read the discussions. It’s something we did when we first considered selling Sebo years ago. You’ll struggle to find a bad review.
A Personal Story
We were selling new Dyson DC04s when they came out back in 1998. We had one at home for many years, then we had a DC14 for years. Back in 2015, we started selling Sebo vacuums alongside Dyson. So of course, I took a top-of-the-range Sebo X4 Pet home for the ‘wife test’. My wife loved it, but wouldn’t let go of her trusty old DC14 for some time. For quite a while, they were both in the house.
Some weeks later, she had decided that she had grown to love the Sebo and would finally part with her Dyson DC14. She became another Sebo convert! I’m writing this in 2022 and we still have that same Sebo you see above at home. It still runs like new. It’ll probably outlive all of us.
She only had one complaint: Dyson makes a fabulous range of tools, and we had pretty much all of them (perks of owning a vacuum shop). The Sebo only came with three onboard tools, a stair hose and a small turbo brush for the stairs. She wanted to use all her Dyson tools with the Sebo. Nobody made anything to make that possible.
She said to me, “Make something that will allow me to use all my Dyson tools with the Sebo and I’ll happily keep it over the Dyson”. As this was something we had heard from other customers as well, we solved that problem by bringing to market this adaptor set.
You can see exactly what this set does in the video below.
You won’t buy that adaptor set anywhere else other than from us at the Sebo Shop at Manchester Vacs. We designed it, we had it made. We are the only supplier. If you’re moving over from Dyson, simply add one to your basket when you are ordering your machine.
Is Sebo Better Than Dyson? The Verdict
Here’s the long and short of it: For British families with carpets at home, Dyson made the best vacuums for many years. Sebo has now taken that crown. Dyson no longer develops mains-powered vacuums. Sebo does. Sebo vacuums are, without doubt, more reliable and longer-lasting than Dyson. Sebo has a five-year guarantee; Dyson cordless machines have a two-year guarantee. Many Sebo machines from the 90s and 00s are still in daily service with good parts availability. Dyson tends to restrict spare part supply to stop older machines from being repaired.
If you have deep pile carpet, the Dyson will glue itself to it, the Sebo will automatically self level and sail over it.
In >this poll of 600 people<, 53% of people said they preferred Sebo over Dyson and 9.5% said “Sebo sounds interesting, tell me more”. Only 12% said “Dyson all the way”.
With a Dyson, you’ll be lucky to get to the end of the two year guarantee period without problems or a trip to the repair shop. And dont even think about Shark, that will conk out long before a Dyson. Sebos tend to last somewhat longer.
The Sebo above is a commercial model we fixed recently that says “Made in West Germany” on the back. That means it pre-dates 1989 (when the Berlin wall came down). We refurbished it and now it’s good for another few decades.
The difference between Dyson and Sebo is that Dyson tries to reinvent the wheel every few years. Every new model (and there are many) was the “next greatest thing”. They then spent the next few years ironing out their design faults via warranty. By the time they had got it right, the next “new model” came along and it started all over again. They still do that today.
Sebo, on the other hand launched the Sebo X1 in the 1990s.
It was a cracking machine that people loved. Instead of reinventing the wheel, when they found small design niggles or things that failed prematurely, they tweaked and honed it and the X4 was born.
People loved the X4 so much we still sell new ones. The latest incarnation is the X7.
The X7 is a machine that has evolved. Sebo took everything they learned since the 90s and kept on improving it. That means the latest X7 you will buy today is a result of several decades of development.
Good engineering isn’t born overnight, it evolves over time. Dyson used to do that with the DC04-DC33. Then they stopped. Sebo picked up that baton and ran with it. For that reason, Sebo is probably the best vacuum cleaner you can buy today.
Is Sebo better than Dyson? We’d say yes. It’s what the bloke who owns the vacuum shop chooses to have at home. Do you want to know the best Sebo model to buy? Read >>this<<.
The Sebo Shop at Manchester Vacs are approved Sebo dealers offering next day UK delivery on all domestic and commercial Sebo vacuum cleaners. You can shop for Sebo vacuum cleaners by clicking >>this link<<.