REVIEW: GTECH AIRRAM PLATINUM VACUUM, ORCA FLOOR CLEANER & PLATINUM HANDHELD VACUUM
- AG
- 3 days ago
- 6 min read
Updated: 3 days ago
We review the ultimate Spring Cleaning Trio
'Tis the season of the Great Spring Clean.
We’re dedicated to sharing ways to spend time doing amazing things. Is hoovering up dog hair and mopping up Coco Pops splatters a fun use of your time? Hell no.
But we’ve tested out an amazing range of Gtech house cleaning gadgets that make cleaning easier, faster and less strenuous, to give you more time to do the things you want to do.
We put three of Gtech’s extensive home cleaning range through their paces: The AirRAM Platinum Anti Hair Wrap Cordless Vacuum; a Multi Platinum Handheld Vacuum; and the Orca Cordless Hard Floor Cleaner.
Find out how they fared, below:
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AirRAM Platinum Anti-Hair Wrap Cordless Vacuum
£349.99
Let’s kick off with the looks. “Sexy” and “vacuum” rarely share a sentence, but in this instance, it’s warranted:
This sleek, glossy white beast is much more than its looks though, with thoughtful design to make cleaning easy, from its anti-wrap hair wrap brush; a long run-time; forward inertia technology and LED headlights to ensure no dirt is missed, to a lightweight design which curves around corners and flattens beneath furniture.
The main body of the vacuum is barely 8cm deep and 4cm wide, meaning it can easily be stashed in a cupboard. Where most vacuums incorporate a large dust chamber on the upright section, the AirRAM hides that deep inside the ‘foot’ of the design, without making it noticeably larger than any of its competitors.
Not only is it a space saver, but it also means the vacuum isn’t working hard to pull dirt and debris through a long network of tubes - the dirt is in the chamber within a millisecond of leaving your floor. It’s called dirt-to-bin technology, if you’re the kind of person who needs a natty name for everything, and it’s also great for energy consumption, which allows the AirRAM to work for up to an hour on a single charge.
The AirRAM’s patented AIRLOC technology is noticeable from the second we switch it on. Designed to create (you guessed it) an air lock during use, the vacuum glides forward easily, but offers resistance on the pull back. This is all part of the clever engineering, and is created to pick up large debris on the forward push, before hunkering down to form a seal and drag up embedded hair and dust on the way back. The result is a vacuum that drags out the most stubborn dirt from your floor or carpet.
It’s super light, too - just 3.3kg - which makes lugging it up the stairs a breeze.
If, like us, you’re not quite ready to make your vacuum a design feature of your living room yet, plenty of thought has gone into that, too. The battery - a roughly 8cm2 black box - easily slides out of the hoover to charge on its own, meaning the AirRAM can be stashed away without the need for a power socket nearby.
The biggest win for the AirRAM is that it’s ready to go in seconds. If you’re like us, the mere thought of dragging the vacuum out of the cupboard, unwinding all of those tangled leads and plugging it in makes you reevaulate just how necessary a clean it.
But we find ourselves grabbing the AirRAM for the smallest of tasks, swooping under the children’s chairs after every dinner time and going full-force on those spider webs in the corner of the room.
Oh, and did we mention that it features scented cartridges that actually make the house smell nicer while you vacuum? Yep, they’ve thought of everything.
A clean, fresh smelling house without eating up all of our precious spare time? That’s a huge win for us.
Orca Cordless Hard Floor Cleaner
£349.99
Is it a mop? Is it a vacuum? Well, yes to both, as it happens.
The Orca has been nothing short of a revelation since it came into our lives, no matter how middle-aged we feel, writing that sentence.
It actually talks to you and has an LED screen providing updates or telling you when it's sterilising water - with a chemical-free, electrolysing process - it self cleans the tubes and roller; has dual tanks for clean and dirty water; and a 40 minute run time. All you have to do is show it where to clean.
We’ve got a house full of wooden floors, and we don’t mind telling you that they don’t get mopped nearly as much as they should. The stinking mop bucket; the sopping wet floors that need drying and can’t be walked on for 20 minutes afterwards; the gross, murky water that needs to be emptied outside.
But what if you had a vacuum cleaner that deposits mop water on to the floor, before drying it in front of your very eyes AND sucking up all that dust and dirt? Sounds like the future, doesn’t it?
The Orca does all that, and it does it very well indeed. We were amazed by the ease with which it cut through the dirt on our wooden floors, and the rolling mop left the floor dry enough to instantly walk on without drenching our socks.
We also loved that the built-in vacuum function meant we cut the job time in half. And if you’re the kind of family that spends way too much time clearing up spills and accidents, this is the vacuum for you - the Orca can deal with the milk and Cornflakes from that dropped breakfast bowl in one go.
The Orca cleverly separates out the dirty water into a separate compartment, so unlike a regular mop and bucket, you won’t be slopping dirty water back onto the floor. What’s more, it’s easily removable so you can deposit it straight into the sink when you’re done.
It comes with a scented solution to leave your floors smelling fresh after every clean. And when you’re done, just place the Orca into its designated stand (which also has compartments for the brush cleaner and scented solution bottle) and it charges.
Multi Platinum Handheld Vacuum
£349.99
For those times when lugging a full vacuum cleaner out of the cupboard seems a little over-the-top, the Multi Platinum Handheld Vacuum is a perfect little machine.
It's also your best friend for cleaning the car, furniture, stairs and those impossible to reach places like sneaky radiator crevices, laptop keyboads, and the tops of cabinets and frames.
Unlike many handheld vacuums, the power within this beast is comparable to a full upright version. We tackled a family SUV that’s carried two children and a medium-sized dog, and it handled everything with ease, completing the whole job on a single charge.
The various attachments that come packaged with the Multi Platinum make awkward corners or difficult debris a breeze.
The Small Power Head features mini, rotating brushes that pull up hair and tough dirt (perfect for pets), and the crevice tool helped clear the mess beneath and beside the front seats. There’s also two dusting brushes of varying lengths, which are ideal for dashboards.
It’s not just for cars, though, and our Multi Platinum has become the go-to in the kitchen for spills and less-easily reached areas like the dining table or kitchen work tops.
Just like the AirRAM, the small battery is detachable, meaning you can charge the Multi-Platinum without the need for it to be on show, though given its tiny size, it quickly found itself a permanent spot beneath the TV cabinet where we can grab it for every spillage, wet or dry.
So, are they worth it?
Coming in at around the same price point as a Dyson (but without the Brexity undertones) and Shark (which we replaced with these products), and a little pricier than the equivalent Hoover version, the Gtech is certainly competitively priced against its competitors.
We’ve been blown away by the exclusive, trademarked tech available on the AirRAM, Orca and Multi-Platinum.
When you’re fighting for attention in a crowded market, it's the little touches that help you stand out above the crowd - and Gtech delivers these in spades. The looks, the ease of use and the functionality of all three products have propelled vacuuming from a thankless chore to a thoughtless and satisfying daily task.
Has it made housework exciting? No. But it’s become quicker, easier and more efficient, giving us a sparkling house and much more time and energy to do what we really want.
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