Review of the Acum DC-901 Cordless Stick Vacuum

When you think of a cordless stick vacuum, you probably picture something chintzy, like an oversized dust buster. Sure, you can use them for cleaning up an easy mess. But you can’t use them for vacuuming your carpet, can you? This may have been true 20 or even 10 years ago. But with advances in battery technology, manufacturers have been able to make more and more powerful wireless vacuums. As a result, it’s now possible to clean your entire home with a stick vacuum.

We’re about to take a deep dive into one such vacuum, the Acum Cordless Stick Vacuum. It’s a versatile little monster that can be used for floors, carpets, furniture, and even electronics. Here, we’ll talk about what it is, how it works, and what it can be used for. Let’s get started!

Physical Design

The Acum DC-901 Cordless Stick Vacuum is a compact vacuum that measures 30 inches long when fully assembled. The entire kit weighs 13.8 pounds, but that includes the charger as well as all of the attachments. The actual weight varies between 3.5 and 5 pounds, depending on what exactly you have attached. This is more than light enough to carry in one hand, so you can easily clean curtains and other awkward areas.

The Acum’s motor and handle are housed in a base unit that’s constructed from tough black plastic. The frame is constructed from aluminum, with a few glossy highlights on the outside. The vacuum tube is a standard grey aluminum, with clips on both ends to connect to the base and attachments.

The base unit has a pistol grip, and is shaped like a power drill or paint sprayer. At first, it looks awkward and non-intuitive, but it’s actually fairly comfortable to use. The reason for this is that the attachments swivel 180 degrees, so you can simply adjust the angle as needed. This rotation makes it easy to use under furniture, around corners, and in other awkward situations.

The pistol grip also reduces strain on your wrists and forearms. And the motor and battery are both positioned behind the grip, which makes for excellent balance. The collection bin is located just in front of the grip, and it has a unique design. It opens from the bottom, at the push of a single button on the grip. This makes it exceptionally easy to empty. Just hold it over a trash can, press the button, and your dirt will drop into the trash. No need to worry about removing a hopper or changing any dust bags. The overall capacity is 0.6 liters, which is pretty substantial for such a compact, lightweight machine.

The DC-901 vacuum ships with a wall mount for easy charging. It’s magnetic, which keeps your vacuum in place without the need to clip into anything. Just install it on your wall near a power outlet, plug it in, and you’re ready to go. Unfortunately, the wall mount isn’t designed to hold your attachments, so you’ll need to find some place to store them.

Obviously, we’re big fans of the Acum vacuum so far. But maybe you want a vacuum that requires no work at all. In that case, why not choose an autonomous vacuum like the Amarey A980. All you have to do is set it up and change the dust container from time to time.

Cleaning Performance

So, we’ve established that the Acum vacuum is easy to use. But that’s more or less the bare minimum. To really know whether a vacuum is worth its salt, you need to know how much suction it provides. Here, the Acum does a good job of keeping up with the competition. It utilizes a brushless motor, rather than a standard electric motor. This style of motor costs a little more than a standard motor. However, it has fewer wear and tear parts, so it will last significantly longer. The brushless design also allows it to push out more torque with less weight. And since the Acum vacuum needs to be as light as possible, it made sense to use a brushless motor. Not only that, but brushless motors are also more efficient. This is an important feature for any battery-operated device.

In total, the Acum produces 10 kilopascals of suction. A typical name-brand upright vacuum will put out about 14 kilopascals. So, while DC-901 isn’t quite as powerful as an upright vacuum, it stacks up very well for a stick vac. To put this in perspective, 10 kilopascals is more than enough for vacuuming the average carpet. It’s also plenty for catching stray dirt, road salt, and other small debris. But if you’ve somehow managed to spill gravel all over your floor, it’s probably smarter to just use a broom.

The Acum vacuum ships with a total of six different attachments. The primary floor brush is 11 inches wide, with side tracks that gently glide over your floor or carpet. The two wheels on the back are spaced widely enough to allow space for the vacuum tube to flex and rotate. There’s also a smaller, 6-inch brush that can be used for tight spaces or upholstery. Acum also includes an anti-Acarus brush. We’ll be honest. We had to look that one up. Acarus is simply the scientific word for the genus that includes dust mites. So, the anti-Acarus brush is a wide, flat attachment for easily removing dust mites from your upholstery.

In addition, you also receive three smaller attachments that will be familiar to anyone who owns a vacuum. There’s a T-shaped brush with rubber bristles for cleaning desks, dressers, and cupboards. There’s a smaller, angled brush with nylon bristles for cleaning electronics and other delicate applications. Finally, there’s a long crevice tool. This is perfect for getting under furniture, cleaning out corners, and getting debris out of your sofa creases.

Of course, a vacuum, even a very good vacuum, can only do so much. It’s a great choice for sucking dust out of carpets, or for picking up loose debris. But if there’s dirt and grime plastered to the floor, it’s not going to be very effective. If you’d rather save time on wiping or moping, consider the Narwal Self-Cleaning Robot Mop & Vacuum. It’s an autonomous, intelligent vacuum that also has a mop built in.

Battery & Filter

The DC-901 utilizes a 2,000mAh battery that looks a lot like you’d expect to see on a power drill. This battery provides about an hour’s worth of use on a single charge. While that’s not as much as you’d need to vacuum your entire house, it’s plenty for cleaning a single room. Charging takes about 4 to 5 hours, depending on how far you’ve drained the battery. If for some reason you need to vacuum for more than an hour a day, there’s a simple solution. Simply purchase a second battery, and you’ll be able to double your usage. Swapping the battery is easy. Much like a power tool battery, a large release button allows you to slide it out. To install the new battery, just slide it into place until it clicks. That’s about as simple as things can get.

If you want to truly maximize your battery life, you’ll need to go with a lower-powered stick vacuum. But that would defeat the purpose. Ideally, you’d want to use a vacuum with adjustable intensity. The BlitzWolf BW-AR182 fits the bill, since it has 2 different power settings. Run it on low power when you want to save batteries, then turn it up when you encounter a major mess.

The other replaceable part on the Acum is the 4-stage filter. It consists of an inner pre-filter, along with a traditional ribbed filter. Technically, this is only 2 stages, but each stage has two different layers. Acum doesn’t advertise a HEPA rating, but they do claim that their filters remove pollen and dust mites. That said, if the filter was powerful enough to catch mold spores, we expect they would advertise the fact. Still, this is significantly more filtration that you’d expect from the majority of vacuums on the market. Make sure to change your filters when they’re dirty; otherwise, they won’t do you much good.

Final Verdict

The Acum DC-901 Cordless Stick Vacuum has a lot to offer. To begin with, it’s very powerful for the size. Don’t get us wrong. There are plenty of more powerful vacuums on the market. But you won’t find many at this size or price point. The Acum is also very versatile. It’s capable of cleaning just about anything. We especially enjoyed the Acarus brush, not just because it removes dust mites, but because we’ve never seen one before. Throw in a well-designed four-stage filter, and you’ve got a great tool for eliminating allergens. Finally, all things considered, the battery life is more than we’d expect from a stick vacuum. And the charging base is also well-designed and easy to use. All in all, we highly recommend this vacuum.