When I tested the Eureka Omniverse Multi-Function Upright Vacuum, what impressed me most was its powerful performance. What impressed almost as much though, is the price. We all deserve clean floors after all, but a lot of options out there, notably some of the best cordless vacuums, are just too pricey for most people.
Luckily, price and performance are not mutually exclusive with all of the best vacuum cleaners as the Eureka Omniverse proves. Of course, there are some compromises as it does feel a little more cheaply made, particularly when removing or replacing the dustbin or trying to do the same with the motor portion of the vacuum to use as a handheld. And since it has the floorhead on a swivel, which is great for changing directions, it seems to not always want to go in a straight line when pushed. That’s not to mention the fact that you’re not going to get the edges of your room without using one of the attachment tools.
But all those cons are vastly outweighed by its powerful suction with both large debris and find dust as well as its ability to flexibility for vacuuming applications thanks to the included attachments. And of course, the low price tag makes it worth it as well.
The Eureka Omniverse is an easy vacuum to recommend, especially if you’re on a budget, and need something powerful. Sure, you won’t get app support or the ability to cut the cord. But, it’s powerful and cheap. What more do you need?
James Holland has spent the last three years testing, reviewing, and writing about all sorts of tech, whether it be computers and related peripherals to smart home devices, robot vacuums, and kitchen appliances. His work has been published in Top Ten Reviews, TechRadar, T3.com, and Android Police. When he’s not working, he’s playing music or at least pretending to. He also likes to eat questionable fusion-type foods.
James tested the Eureka Omniverse Multi-Function Vacuum over the course of a few days, using it on hardwood floors, vinyl floors, tile, and carpeting, not to mention as a handheld with all the attachment tools.
Eureka Omniverse Multi-Function Vacuum: Price & availability
While the Eureka Omniverse is fairly affordable no matter where you get it, its price fluctuates just a little. For instance, you would pay the slightly lower price of $206.99 if you go directly through the company’s online shop. If you’re going through other retailers, you’ll be looking at a slightly higher price of $229.99.
That said, both Amazon and Walmart are pretty trigger happy with their discounts, so you can certainly score a discount through one or the other. At the time of writing, for instance, Walmart had this vacuum down to $199.99.
Eureka Omniverse Multi-Function Vacuum: Setup
When first unboxing the Eureka Omniverse, I was expecting it to almost be one unit that you pull out of the box. While that isn’t the case, it comes in four parts that snap together fairly easily, except for the handle that needs to be secured via two screws. So, going from boxed to ready-to-use is a rather quick experience. Of course, I didn’t have a screwdriver handy as I wasn’t expecting to need one, so that created some minor inconvenience.
The rest of the extras that come in the box are all attachment tools, whether it be a crevice tool, upholstery tool, pet & stair tool, and hose. Like all vacuums, for some reason, there’s only two places to store attachment tools on the vacuum itself, specifically the crevice and upholstery tools, so you need to have a good place to store the other two attachments so you don’t lose them.
As far as my first impression of the Eureka Omniverse once it was all put together is that of a fairly durable if slightly cheaper looking version of something like the Shark Powerdetect Upright Vacuum, which also costs $499. Being able to get close to that quality for a much lower price is pretty impressive.
Eureka Omniverse Multi-Function Vacuum: Design
The Eureka Omniverse looks as you would expect an upright vacuum to look, from the general form factor to the black and purple colorway. Where it differs a little from most vacuums (and is why “Multi-Function” is in its official title) is that it is somewhat modular.
One of the things that cordless vacuums can do that most upright models can’t is transform into a handheld for use on upholstery, windowsills, etc. Well, the Eureka Omniverse can do that as you can pull out the section with the motor and dustbin – what Eureka calls the vacuum canister assembly – and put one of the attachment tools on the bottom.
While that’s pretty cool and fairly useful, it can be a pain to pull out that vacuum canister assembly as the cord can get in the way, especially if you have it slotted in the cord hook near the handle. And it’s a pain to put back in as it might not clasp right away.
The dustbin, which is located in this part of the vacuum, also takes a little finagling to get in and out though opening to empty is easy. Because of those two issues, I feel like the build quality is not as good as it could be. I also think that it might be the compromise one makes when spending $200 on a powerful vacuum.
The controls on the Eureka Omniverse are simple enough as there are just two – a power button and mode button. The power button does what you think it would while the mode button switches between carpet and hard flooring modes. While I didn’t miss it, some people might wish for a button to stop the brushroll to use on more sensitive surfaces.
If you’re worried about being tethered, since this is a more traditional upright vacuum (not taking the whole transform-into-handheld thing into account), Eureka included a very long 30-foot power cord so there’s plenty of lead available.
As far as the floorhead goes, it has a wide enough brushroll to pick up a decent amount of debris per pass, has lighting peeking out the front to highlight any dirt and dust you might not be seeing, and uses an anti-tangle brush roll that truly doesn’t seem to have issues with tangling. My only real issue is the sides protecting the brushroll are a little thick so you can’t get the edges of a room (it’s about half an inch or so) and requires a pass with one of the attachment tools.
All the attachment tools that are included – there’s a 2-in-1 dusting brush and upholstery tool, crevice tool, motorized pet and stair tool, and hose – are fairly useful, though I gravitated towards the 2-in-1 dusting brush and upholstery tool. I chose it over the included crevice tool because I felt its bristles allowed for a closer suction when getting to edges, corners, and windowsills. I found the motorized pet and stair tool, which resembles a smaller version of the floorhead to be perfect for getting to stairs as it wouldn’t hang over the edge while still getting most of each step. And the hose is useful in turning the Eureka Omniverse basically into a canister vacuum so you don’t have to hold it while using one of the above tools. That said, the hose is a bit on the shorter side.
Eureka Omniverse Multi-Function Vacuum: Key specs
| Type | Upright |
| Cleaning Path Width | 10.1 inches |
| Suction Power | 850 watts |
| Filtration System | HEPA |
| Capacity | 0.42 gallons |
| Cord Length | 30 ft |
| Attachments | Motorized Pet & Stair Tool, 2-in-1 Dusting Brush & Upholstery Tool, Extended Crevice Tool, Hose |
| Weight | 15.3 lbs |
Eureka Omniverse Multi-Function Vacuum: Performance
What stands out to me with the Eureka Omniverse is its pure power. Yes, it has a few tricks up its sleeve, but it also suffers from some build issues. That’s all forgiven however just on how much this thing can suck up debris of all sorts.
To test the Eureka Omniverse (and take care of something I had to do anyway), I vacuumed a whole house that had just gone through renovation. That meant that there was a layer of dust basically covering the entirety of this house’s flooring. There were also piles of debris as well as large, industrial size staples left over from where there used to be carpet.
I was actually initially concerned that I might be pushing the Eureka Omniverse a bit too hard (again, I was vacuuming up large staples), yet it picked everything up with ease. The staples came in with ease. I could see with just a pass all the fine dust that came up. And any piles of dust and small debris were taken care of in short order. I even did the usual sugar and cereal test later just to see how well the Eureka Omniverse performed in more normal situations, and all I can say is that it took one pass for everything to get sucked right up.
I also tested with some carpeting as well as an area rug. Again, any dust and debris that was there ended up in the vacuum.
While switching modes helps with cleaning on the correct surface, all I noticed when pressing the button is a little extra power being used when on hard flooring mode – it also got a tiny bit louder compared to the carpet mode at 77 dB. I will mention that the Eureka Omniverse always turns on with carpet mode in default. Not necessarily a negative, but a little annoying.
As I mentioned before, though, the floorhead’s width and the brushroll’s width are not quite the same. That means that edges and corners end up unattended if you don’t take advantage of the attachments. That’s a bit frustrating as I’ve tested vacuums such as the aforementioned Shark that get much closer to the edges.
Luckily, the attachment tools fill in the gap. I was able to get all the edges and corners using either the dusting brush and upholstery tool or the crevice tool. I even used them to remove dust (and dead insects) from more than a few window sills.
Since this vacuum is a bit more robust than most cordless vacuums, using the Eureka Omniverse as a handheld is a little more cumbersome since it’s larger and heavier (you’ll probably want to use the hose and hold the vacuum in one hand and the attachment tool in the other). I still appreciate the ability to do so, especially since if you were to do all the same work with a cordless vacuum, it might not be able to keep up with the more heavy duty part of the performance like sucking up staples and piles of debris.
Lastly, I want to discuss the maneuverability of this vacuum. The way the floorhead can swivel is a nice feature that allows easy direction switching during vacuuming, but lacks enough stability that it requires a little effort to keep it moving in a straight line. I often found it to veer off to the side if I tried to push it too hard. On the bright side, there’s a lot of tilt available here so that it can lay nearly flat to get under furniture.
Eureka Omniverse Multi-Function Vacuum: user reviews
Looking at user reviews on the Eureka site might not be too illuminating, if only because there are just seven of them, but there’s a common refrain – it’s easy to use, powerful (particularly for use with pet hair), can get under furniture, and can swivel. And it currently sits at a 4.9 out of 5 on the site.
Since it’s a relatively new product, the 23 reviews on Amazon at the time of writing doesn’t really expand our sample size all that much. The reviews are at least consistent with ones on the site regarding its power and ease of use. Some users did find the Eureka Omniverse tough to maneuver.
Would I buy the Eureka Omniverse Multi-Function Vacuum?
| Attribute | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Ease of Use | relatively easy to assemble, though it requires a screwdriver for the handle; modular design allows for versatility, but the process of removing and reinserting the vacuum canister assembly can be cumbersome due to the cord | 7/10 |
| Noise Level | operates at a noise level of 77 dB in hard flooring mode; default start in carpet mode and increase in noise when switching to hard flooring | 6/10 |
| Maneuverability | floorhead can swivel for easy direction changes; lacks stability, requiring effort to keep it moving straight; can lay nearly flat to clean under furniture, but its heavier and larger design makes it less maneuverable | 6/10 |
| Suction Power | effectively handling large debris, fine dust, and even industrial staples; performs well on both carpets and hard floors | 9/10 |
| Maintenance | straightforward, with easy-to-empty dustbins and useful attachment tools; build quality issues, such as the difficulty in handling the vacuum canister assembly and the shorter hose | 7/10 |
Buy it if...
Don't buy it if...
How does the Eureka Omniverse Multi-Function Vacuum compare?
The Shark Powerdetect Upright Vacuum retails for $499 (if you get the version with the attachment tools) which offers better maneuverability and the ability to get to edges without reaching for the attachment tools. Plus, it comes with its odor neutralizer tech to leave floors smelling clean. Whether that’s worth an extra $300 is up to you, considering that in terms of pure power, both vacuums are on even footing.
There are other options at the Eureka Omniverse’s price point. Take the Levoit VortexIQ 40, for instance, with its $199.99 price tag. It’s well designed and has multiple cleaning modes. It’s not going to bring the power quite like the Eureka Omniverse being cordless, but it does have the distinct advantage of allowing you to be untethered.
How I tested the Eureka Omniverse Multi-Function Vacuum
To test the Eureka Omniverse Multi-Function Vacuum, I used it on hard flooring including hardwood, tile, and vinyl as well as on carpet and an area rug. I tested the various features, including the various cleaning modes and attachment tools. Though I used it for just a few days, I put this vacuum through the ringer including almost six hours of straight use.
Read more about how we test.
