No matter the size of your home, the prospect of covering its entire square footage with a hoover before promptly switching to a mop and starting the whole process again is something that any sane person dreads.
There’s a reason so many of us have a dedicated day to complete household chores, most commonly a Sunday, so that we can mentally prepare throughout the week for the arduous task of scrubbing, tidying and disinfecting our humble abodes.
What’s more, unless you’re lucky enough to have a dedicated, spacious airing cupboard, vacuums and mops are cumbersome appliances which tend to be difficult to store for the average city-dweller.
Even if you purchase a handy refill-and-go spray mop, propping both disinfecting and suctioning devices in a cupboard together becomes a balancing act akin to watching an amateur circus performer on stilts. As soon as the cupboard door opens, the handles of each appliance crisscross over one another and fall to the floor with a resounding, flinch-inducing thud. Every. Single. Time.
The purveyor of fine household appliances, I was immediately drawn to Bosch’s futuristic-looking cordless vacuum, which promises to hoover and mop simultaneously for squeaky clean flooring that you could almost catch your reflection in.
With dual scrubbing heads, a sleek space-saving appearance, a flexible design and the promise that it would take the elbow grease out of scrubbing the floors with a standard mop, I embarked on my testing journey.
Buy now: Bosch’s 2-in-1 Unlimited 7 Aqua - £360, Amazon
Key specifications
- Dimensions: 1315 x 252 x 204 mm
- Net weight: 4.7kg
- Runtime: 40 minutes
- Performance levels: three
- Battery cell type: Accu Li-ion
- Battery capacity: 3.00Ah
- Filtration system: bagless, HEPA filter
- Noise level: 82 dB(A) re 1pW
- Dust container capacity: 0.3L
- Included accessories: 1 x crevice nozzle, 1 x charging cable, 1 x exchangeable battery pack, 1 x docking station, 1 x 2in1 furniture brush & upholstery nozzle, 1 x Long flexible crevice nozzle, 1 x wet nozzle, 4 x Textile pads for wet nozzle
Design
They say not to judge a book by its cover but if, like me, you’re immediately attracted to the sleek and chic design of the Unlimited 7 Aqua, you’d be correct to presume that aesthetics equates to supreme functionality in this instance – but more on that later.
One of the most innovative elements of this appliance’s design is the ability to bend and straighten the nozzle with the click of a button so that stubborn areas like under the sofa and beneath coffee tables can be reached with ease. Even better, when the hoover head is detached from the device, it can stand up independently without toppling over.
It’s also equipped with an Anti Hair Tangle attachment which, for the first time in a long time, allowed me to remove hair from the brush head without having to get out a pair of scissors and machete my way through a wig’s worth of strands.
Plus, when it comes to emptying the vacuum chamber, twisting the inner filter a few times ensures all the dust bunnies and hair strands form one easy-to-remove ball of muck (lovely, I know) so that you don’t have to clear the bottom of the chamber with your hand.
The main body of the vacuum is discrete, lightweight and actually looks good on top of the shelf – something that only Dyson has been able to achieve until now.
I also particularly enjoyed the bright, LED-illuminated battery sign which displays just how much battery you’ve got left within the 40-minute run time.
User-friendliness
I’m happy to admit that I hate reading instruction manuals, for I know I’m not alone in this statement. I want to take a household appliance out of its box and have an immediately intuitive experience, much like the innate user-friendliness of an iPhone.
Despite its futuristic design, I found that the Bosch 2-in-1 did exactly this. While I had to briefly consult instructions to figure out what mode the device needed to be on to hoover and mop at the same time, the putting together, taking apart and emptying of the vacuum chamber was easy as pie.
While clearly boasting hi-tech features, the device doesn’t require an additional download of a companion app – which is a huge win in my books.
Functionality
I had concerns that to mop and vacuum simultaneously, the device would necessarily have to compromise on suction power. While slightly less powerful than when hoovering alone, the Unlimited 7 Aqua was more than capable of suctioning up dust, stray feathers from pillows, crumbs and more while effectively scrubbing the floor.
The dual, motorised mop heads are highly effective. Naturally, so that the hoover has space to do its job, the rotating mop heads leave around a centimetre of un-mopped space – though it’s nothing a few more seamless passes over the area can’t solve.
Bosch recommends washing the microfibre pads after each cleaning session, which is why they provide a spare set for easy one-off, one-in-the-wash use.
My only worry was that the reservoir for cleaning fluid and the dust container capacity were considerably smaller than I was used to, especially given the ‘max’ line on the dust container is approximately halfway up. This didn’t prove to be a problem in my one-bed flat and, even if it was, it’s a compromise I’m willing to take for such an easy-to-manoeuvre, lightweight piece of kit.
Bosch Unlimited 7 Aqua Vacuum & Mop, 2 in 1 Cordless Vacuum Cleaner
Buy now £360.26, Amazon
Verdict
Bosch’s Unlimited 7 Aqua is a 2-in-1 marvel that I’d wholeheartedly recommend to time-stretched households looking for a quick and powerful dual-action device which eliminates the need to clean twice. Though the RRP is £499, it’s a bargain considering you’re getting two motorised, highly effective appliances in one sleek, stylish and feather-light piece of kit.
