The Hoover U5453-900 WindTunnel Supreme Upright Vacuum at first glance certainly looks like a solid performer. It has a sturdy build and a wide 15-inch cleaning path that we expected would power through dirt and grime. Was our first impression on target? You bet.

The Hoover WindTunnel Supreme cleaned our carpets in a snap. We used the built-in carpet height adjustments and tried the vacuum on high-pile carpets and low-pile carpets. It worked equally well on both types of carpet. It's worth noting the height adjustments must be made manually, while some of the Hoover's competitors adjust automatically.

One of our favorite features is the storage compartment, which conveniently holds an upholstery tool, dusting brush and crevice tool. The view-through compartment keeps the tools easily accessible but out of the way. We wish more vacuum models had storage options like this one. The three tools are designed to attach to one or both of the vacuum's wands.

The accordion-style attachment hose could be longer, but that's a common complaint we have with many of the models we test. The one thing we really don't like, however, is that when the attachment hose is stretched, the vacuum begins to tip.

The Hoover WindTunnel Supreme has red and green soil-indicator lights, and they are a bit gimmicky. The green light indicates when the vacuum encounters ordinary levels of dirt, while the red light shows higher levels of dirt. The idea behind the red-light/green-light feature is that the vacuum will let you know when you need to make an extra pass -- or two -- over the carpet. Some people may feel a sense of security if the vacuum's lights show they've pulled the maximum amount of dirt from a carpet, while others won't.

We feel ambivalent about this red-light/green-light feature, but we do like the vacuum's other "extras." We especially appreciate its edge-groomers that are designed to clean along baseboards, as well as its soft bumper to protect furniture from dings.

Some users may prefer a HEPA filter to the Hoover WindTunnel Supreme's disposable allergen-filtration bag, but we found it did an adequate job of trapping dust. The vacuum does have two other washable filters: one to clean air as it leaves the vacuum, the other to prevent debris from clogging the motor.

In the end, the Hoover U5453-900 WindTunnel Supreme works adequately and has many features we like. However, we realize there are less expensive models -- even in the Hoover line -- that perform just as well.


Pros: Allergen-filtration bag, edge-groomers, handy storage attachment
Cons: Price

Warranty
1 year