A Best Buy should outlast its battery. Here’s why, thanks to your feedback, we’re changing the way we test products with lithium-ion batteries.
Battery failure is consistently one of the common faults in many cordless products. With cordless vacuum cleaners our data shows that more than a third (34%) experience a battery failure.
We looked at cordless vacuums in a recent sustainability investigation and found a number of models where the battery is locked in and cannot be replaced.
If a problem with the battery occurs, your vacuum could start to gather dust instead of collecting it. For people who have bought a vacuum on the basis of a Which? Best Buy rating, this is far from the ideal outcome.
Not only that, but it’s also very damaging for the environment. It’s not acceptable that the entire product should end up in landfill due to the failure of one small, otherwise-replacable component.
Changing our tests
Back in March 2019, our head of product research stated in Which? Magazine that we couldn’t ignore product sustainbility; our reviews had to change.
As of this month, that’s exactly what’s happening. We’re changing how we test products that run on lithium ion batteries.
If the model does not have a replaceable battery, it simply cannot be a Best Buy. If an existing Best Buy has a battery that isn’t replaceable, it will lose its Best Buy status.
As well as vacuum cleaners, this rule will apply to other devices powered by lithium-ion batteries:
These are all products where we know the battery is one of the leading causes of early replacement.
Thank you
This is one way in which feedback from our members is turning into action.
Keep sharing your experiences (sustainability or otherwise) here on Which? Conversation; we’re listening, and we’re grateful in how you are helping us shape the future of product testing.