The DC35 is the older brother of the Dyson DC44.
Both these vacuums has the same power at 28 air watts (normal) / 65 air watts (max). But the latter will last longer since it uses a Nick Manganese Cobalt battery.
The former has 5 minutes less run time and doesn’t have the mini motorized tool the DC44 has.
Editor’s Note: Dyson has been busy the past few years. Ever since the DC44 has entered the market, Dyson has added the DC59 and V6 to their product line, find out how these differ in this article.
Related: You can also find the best Dyson deals here to get the best price possible on various Dyson products.
Physically both have the same dimensions and weigh just about the same.
At the time of its release, it was one of the more expensive cordless handhelds out there and still is at under $260.
It uses a 22.2 volt Lithium Ion battery that’ll run roughly 12 to 15 minutes and a whopping 6 minutes when you press the max button – this is the equivalent of a turbo boost.
Features at a glance
- Has a 22.2 volt Lithium Ion Battery
- 12 to 15 minute run time on normal mode, 6 minutes on max
- Comes with 4 attachments – crevice, combination, wand and floor tool
- Root cyclone technology uses centrifugal forces to spin dirt around and keeping it out of filter inlets making it more efficient
- Transparent dirt bin
- Floor tool has a motorized brush head that picks up fine dust on hard floors and larger bits of dirt stuck on carpet
- Max button more than doubles the suction power
- Comes with a wall mountable charger for easy storage
- Floor attachment has a ball joint that rotates up to 180 degrees allowing you to reach almost all the areas under your bed
- Filter is washable and will last the lifetime of the vacuum
Pros
- Charge time is relatively short at around 3-1/2 hours
- Floor attachment has a motorized brush roll that works great on both bare floor and carpet
- Usable as a stick and handheld vacuum so it is essentially 2 products in one
- Lightweight at just 4.85 pounds
- Transparent dirt bin lets you know easily when it empty it
- Filter will last the lifetime of the machine
- Multi speed mode gives you the option to clean more stubborn dirt
- You can swivel the main cleaning head
- Easy to clean beater bar
- You don’t need to take off the filter when emptying dirt
- Charger is wall mountable and you can store up to two attachments with it
Cons
- Short run time
- No dedicated tool for upholstery
- Dirt container is small
- You may need to use your fingers to take off dirt
- Very expensive
- It is not self-standing
- Floor tool will have trouble picking up large chunks of dirt
- Dirt tends to stick on the plastic dirt container
What to expect from the Dyson DC35 Digital Slim?
The main difference between the DC235 and DC44 is the battery and attachments.
The DC44 has a mini turbo brush which is a smaller version of the main cleaning head. It works great for cleaning upholstery and stairs.
The DC35 does not have the mini turbo brush. It only has the main cleaning head that works best for cleaning floors.
Run time with the main floor tool is just 12 minutes. Without it that number goes up to 15 minutes. If you turn on the max that goes down to 6 minutes. So really this vacuum is great only for spot cleaning.
Edge cleaning
Surprisingly it did a very good job on the edges of bare floors (based on video reviews), even without edge bristles the carbon fiber brushes and a max option gave it enough to suck in dirt from here.
Stair cleaning
This is great for cleaning the stairs because (1) you can attach the floor tool directly on the unit without the wand you have more control and (2) since it swivels in all directions you maintain surface contact on the floors as you go back and forth.
Less strain on your hands and wrist.
Pet hair removal
Since it has a beater bar, it can remove pet hair on carpet and floors but remember that if there is a lot of pet hair it’ll have a tendency to get rolled around the brushroll and it’ll need to be cleaned as well.
Also be mindful of the pathway inside the floor attachment as this can also get clogged if you have a number of pets that shed a lot of hair.
Here’s a video how to clean the floor tool…
You can also use the combination tool to pick up pet hair on upholster and crevice tool on hair floors.
Attachments and accessories
It comes with 4 attachments – the extension tube / wand, combination, crevice and floor tool.
Charging time
It takes around 3-1/2 hours to fully charge.
Filter clean up
There are two parts to this – the bagless container and the pre-filter.
The bagless dirt bin is where most of the dirt and dust get collected, you empty this by push a red lever on the bottom to release the lock of the cover – you then empty its contents.
To clean the filter, push the blue button on top and take off the blue filter – wash it in running water then wring it then air dry.
Do this around once a month, or more if you have a lot to clean.
Run time
On normal mode this cordless will run for about 15 minutes. With the main cleaning head, that goes down to 12 minutes. And if you have the max on, that further goes down to 6 minutes.
But that power is constant and there will be minimal power fade. When the battery is empty it just shuts off.
Warranty
Dyson gives you a 2 year warranty on parts and labor.
Bare floor cleaning
The main cleaning head has type types of brushes on it. First is the soft carbon fiber brush (black) which will work great picking up fine dust. Second is the stiff red bristles that help agitate dirt on carpet.
This combination makes this vacuum a great tool to have for cleaning all sorts of dirt from dust to cheerios.
What I really like are the carbon fiber bristles because it will pick up dust.
Dust have static charge which means they tend to stick on floors and are hard to pick up even with a broom.
One downside to having a brush would be hair wrapping around it.
It is a common problem with all vacuums with a brush roll.
Underneath the main cleaning head is a strip of felt-like material that protects from scratching floors.
Carpet cleaning
While it’ll do a decent job on low pile carpet because of the stiff red brushes, don’t use this on thicker and deeper pile carpet, it does not have enough power to pick up dirt in it.
The rubber wheels are small so there will a tendency for this to “drag” on thicker carpet. It will not deep clean on this surface.
Upholstery performance
Since this variant does not have the mini turbo brush, it won’t be as usable on upholstery. It will only be able to clean loose dirt and dust. If you’re thinking about using this to clean pet hair then forget about it.
Please do check our guide on vacuums for pet hair to give you an idea what are the best options available.
See it in Action
A salesman giving a demo on how this works…
Product Specifications
| Attachments | Crevice tool Combination tool Motorized floor tool Extension wand |
| Battery | 22.2v Lithium Ion |
| Charger | Wall Mount Charger |
| Charging time | 3.5 hours 5.5 hours (initial charge) |
| Battery life | 15 minutes (normal w/o floor tool) 12 minutes (normal w/ floor tool) 6 minutes (max) |
| Net weight (with battery, wand and floor attachment) | 4.85 pounds |
| Shipping weight | 9.9 pounds |
| Cleaning path | 9.1" |
| Overall length | 44.1" |
| Battery indicator | Yes |
| Filter type | Washable cloth filter |
| Dust capacity | 11.52 ounces |
| Air Watts | 28 AW 65 AW (Max/boost) |
| Voltage | 110v |
| Manufactured in | USA |
| Warranty | 2 years on parts and labor |
Customer Reviews
Over 440 people left a review with over 230 giving it a 5-star and another 82 giving it a 4-star rating.
A lot of people gave it a poor 1 star rating (over 50). Let’s find out the reasons for both below.
Consumers who left positive reviews (among them pet owners) like the suction performance and the articulating ball head that makes this easy to maneuver that’ll clean well on hard wood and low pile carpet.
Run time is pretty decent according to reviews though some said it could have been longer.
Another issue would be the trigger switch that you need to constantly squeeze. It does put a strain on the wrist and hands if you have to do it for 15 minutes straight.
There were also complaints about the price but that is a given that this is a Dyson.
Other complaints include reports about weak suction and the lack of a pet hair tool.
Reviews from other sites
Walmart.com
Over 420 people left a review in Walmart and 90% of them would recommend this to a friend.
A majority who left their opinions were in the 40 to 70 range, some had back problems and a lot of them owned small homes and had pets.
It is worth noting that a number of consumers here are not first time Dyson owners, some already had canisters and uprights but wanted something lighter for spot jobs.
The biggest complaint here is the short battery life and the trigger mechanism that needs to be pressed to turn this on.
Dyson.com
Like Walmart, the majority of folks who left reviews here were middle aged men and women (some of them had back problems) looking for something lightweight, agile and reasonably powerful.
Based on what they said, it didn’t disappoint, cleaning both hard floor and carpet.
Like in the reviews all around the web, bad points include poor battery life, the non-locking trigger and the long charging time (according to some).
Where can I buy this?
You can buy this lightweight vacuum from Amazon for less than $260 and it’ll be eligible to their 2-day free shipping if you join Prime.
A better deal in my opinion would be getting the Dyson V7 Trigger which is actually cheaper. It’s got the V7 motor and a larger battery that will clean better and run longer (up to 30 minutes).
Extended warranties are also available of up to 3 years if you want that extra peace of mind.
Conclusion
This product is great for people with small homes, RVs or apartment units with mostly hard floors and minimal carpeting.
It’ll be great to use to clean stairs because you can attach the floor tool directly to the vacuum so it doesn’t take a whole lot of space.
It’ll be great for bare floors because of the carbon fiber brushes that have an anti-static property that will pick up statically charged dirt and dust on hard floors.
You’ll be limited on upholstery because it does not come with the mini motorized tool found on the DC44 here.
Ultimately the two biggest limitations of this is the price (costs as much as some upright vacuums) and run time which is only 12 minutes if you use the floor attachment and 6 minutes with the max button pressed.
This is not meant to be a replacement for upright or canisters if you have wall to wall carpeting.
If you want something that’ll last a little bit longer and one with a mini floor tool, go for the DC44 that’ll cost only $30 more.
