Samsung Bespoke Jet review: powerful cleaning at a cost

The world has reached a point where the last thing any of us seemingly want to do is empty a dust bin.

Self-emptying stick vacuums. Self emptying-robot vacuums. They’re everywhere, and while they’re convenient, I’m not sure the feature is that much of a selling point. I’d rather see a vacuum with enough suction power that I only have to go over the floor once. I can empty my own dust bin.

Samsung sent the Bespoke Jet Cordless Stick Vacuum to me for review. I’ve used it for a few weeks now to great results. It delivers on all counts: great at cleaning, comfortable enough to use for extended periods, and — this is the big one — it also empties itself. Everything I could ask for in a stick vacuum.

But how does it stack up overall? It's a solid piece of machinery that definitely has an aesthetic flair, but it's brought down by the price point and the relatively short battery life.

Since this vacuum is part of Samsung's Bespoke line, it. should come as no surprise that a lot of consideration was put into its design. This isn't meant to be stashed away in some closet and only brought out when it's time to vacuum; the Bespoke Jet looks to earn a spot in plain view.

A sturdy base with a single, relatively thin connecting beam hoists the body of the vacuum into the air. The base itself is balanced so there's no risk of it tipping, even though it looks like it should. It's for more than looks, too; the bag rests inside the main body of the stand. Anytime you dock the vacuum, it automatically empties into it.

The Bespoke Jet earns a spot in plain view.

The vacuum itself maintains the same color accents, but it ultimately just looks like a vacuum cleaner. There's not much to say there. The only difference is that the Bespoke Jet has great color accents: either black and gold like the one I have, white and gold for the Misty White color option, or blue and silver for the Midnight Blue option.

Competitors to the Bespoke Jet, like the LG CordZero All-in-One, store accessories right beside the vacuum in doors that swing out. The Bespoke Jet includes a handy little accessory rack, but I found myself wishing it had built-in storage. While the rack is a nice addition, it's yet another thing that takes up space on the floor, but is too small to really fit anywhere.

It did get stashed away out of sight. I only sought it out when I needed a tool for cleaning.

The accessory stand is nice. It doesn't look bad; it's just the wrong size for what it is. It falls into some weird limbo between small enough to easily store and large enough to display alongside the vacuum itself. That said, it does come with a handy set of tools.

The Bespoke Jet will likely have its standard, telescoping cleaning tool on it at all times. It's the go-to for cleaning the floor, after all. The rack holds the crevice tool, a flexible extension tool, a brush tool, and a dedicated pet tool. The pet tool is great for getting cat hair off furniture, but I also found it to be one of the best ways to clean the stairs. It's small enough to be flexible.

The most important accessory, though, is the extra battery pack. You can keep it charged and swap it out easily when your main battery goes dead.

The accessory rack also has a handle at the top for easily picking it up and moving it around the house as needed.

The main event, and the key to any good vacuum cleaner, is how powerful its suction is. It has to be able to get even ground-in dirt out of carpet or suck up debris from hardwood floors (something I find many vacuums struggle with).

The Bespoke Jet delivers. It definitely delivers. I used it in its different cleaning modes on a space that should probably get vacuumed a little more often, but is often neglected: my upstairs loft.

The first time I vacuumed, I used the Minimum setting. It's by far the quietest, but the least powerful. It did an okay job, but left me feeling like it could have done a lot more. I repeated the process with Medium and Max modes. Since the Bespoke Jet has a clear dust bin, I could see more and more material accumulating inside it, even as I vacuumed the same space multiple times.

Max Mode is probably the best option for finding a balance between cleaning power and battery life. Each successive mode uses that much more battery, and the LED display on top of the vacuum indicated a shorter overall runtime as I swapped between the modes.

Then there's Jet Mode.

I turned it on, and felt physical resistance as I tried to push the vacuum forward due to the level of suction. It's the loudest, too, but it definitely cleans. I could see a tremendous difference in the floor after running over it with Jet Mode, but it comes at a cost.

Jet Mode had me reaching for the stapler to secure the carpet.

The battery life drains like water out of a sieve. Look at it this way: On the Minimum setting, the display told me I had 42 minutes of cleaning time left. On Jet Mode, I had eight minutes left. Both of these were within seconds of one another on a fully-charged battery.

Samsung says the Bespoke Jet can get up to 120 minutes of runtime, but even the lowest setting only gave an estimate of 42 minutes. And honestly? You’re wasting your time with the lowest setting. It's good for light touch-ups or for cleaning up spills, but if you’re going to take the time to vacuum anyway, give it a thorough clean.

I ran into a few issues with the self-emptying bin, too. It did a fine job of pulling all the debris out of the vacuum. It didn't do such a good job of shutting the vacuum afterwards; I had to apply what felt like an undue amount of force to snap it into place.

There are a lot of handy little features to the Samsung Bespoke Jet that speak to the thoughtfulness of its design. For example, the Flex Tool. It's useful for vacuuming flat areas above your head, like the top of a cabinet. The telescopic pipe also has enough flexibility to reach deep under couches, though you might have to do a bit of what I’ve dubbed "cleaning yoga" to get there. It's like hot yoga, but you’re only sweating because you clean the house.

The entire vacuum is only 5.7 pounds, which isn't bad at all. Even older family members could use it without worrying much about the weight. The dust bin is also fully removable and washable, which will become a necessity. Fine grains of dust find their way into nooks and crannies that won't be cleared out when the Bespoke Jet empties out the dust bin.

I mostly appreciated the 5-layer filtration system. That's the sort of technical specification that's harped on by marketing teams, but is rarely applicable in reality. I found that the Bespoke Jet did a fine job of capturing dust particles and not spreading them. The way I could tell was simple: I didn't sneeze nearly as much while vacuuming as I do with lower-end machines, like the Wyze Cordless Vacuum.

The included washable micro filter helps extend the lifespan of the vacuum, too. There's just a certain annoyance that comes with spending upwards of $100 to replace the filter in something, whether that's a vacuum cleaner or an air purifier.

Therein lies the biggest obstacle to this vacuum: the cost. While it performs admirably in everything it does, it's hard to stomach the $900 price tag. That's a lot of money to spend on a vacuum cleaner, even one that looks as good as this.

I can't help but feel the Bespoke Jet cashes in on its brand. Despite the ample cleaning power, thoughtful design, and convenience, I can't recommend a vacuum at that price point, especially when the costs of other goods are also on the rise. This is a great vacuum cleaner, but it's not a $900 vacuum cleaner. If you can snag it on sale for $650, or even $700, that's a more appropriate price point.

The Bespoke Jet is a great machine, and a truly powerful cleaning tool, but it should get more cleaning time on its highest settings. The aesthetic appeal of the vacuum isn't enough to raise the price to that point. If I have a vacuum out in the living room, I would want it to look good, but I’m not going to put a vacuum on display because it looks good. In the end, it's still a tool.