Vacuum cleaners are utilitarian devices so what does design matter? Design matters a lot because given the frequency in which you'll need to use it (daily), you want it to be easily accessible. While the vacuum cleaner's of years gone by were tucked away in a laundry broom cupboard, these days you want them to be available for the family to access any time, particularly if there's a spill that needs to be cleaned up quickly.

Dyson have gone with the big and bold approach that speaks to their confidence in their products and that their customers will want to proudly display their work. Vacuum cleaners are no longer boring solid colours, instead there's an array of bold choices that layer together to create a distinct Dyson look.

For the V10 Absolute+, Dyson have coloured the strong, hard plastic components include a collection of grey, purple, reds and even gold for the primary shaft. There's also the clear dust canister, very intentionally designed to show off how successful the performance of the vacuum has been. More practically this also shows you, very simply when it's full and requires emptying.

In terms of accessories, the different brushes and nozzles continue this theme, so regardless of what you have attached, it looks like a complete unit. One of my favourite aspects of the design is the common red buttons. This makes the interchange of different pieces on the V10 an easy, approachable task, even for visitors to get their head around easily.

The big mechanical bulbous motor cover is distinctly Dyson, so as your friends see it hanging on your wall, they'll know you bought the best.

While design is important, the reality is, you buy or don't buy this model of the Dyson's Cyclone vacuum because of its ability to suck. Given the price point of this premium cleaner expectations of its ability to clean were high and thankfully the battery-power cleaning stick does a great job at extracting your mess from the floor. This was probably best evidenced by the first time we cleaned the house with it. Despite often sending the Roomba out for duty around our home, the Dyson V10 reached it's full line within minutes.

While we imagine the robots in our lives replace our obligation for vacuuming, the reality is quite different. We have a shag rug of which the Roomba runs over but it's horizontal spinning brush, simply can't knock the dirt and dust from it, into the catchment. Running the V10 over it, revealed just how much had been missed. Then we consider things like the ability to swap attachments and vacuum the window sills, or your car mats, or the remove the dead flies from the tracks of your alfresco doors.

The Cyclone is named as such, for its vortex of airflow that is generated from the motor and in the V10, that motor and airflow is mighty. Armed with much power the V10 Absolute+ offers a choice of 3 power settings, with the consequence shorter battery life.

With the Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute+ the quoted figures is up to 60 minutes of use, however like a mobile phone, the reality is you'll get a little less than that. If you find yourself having to vacuum for an hour straight, something's gone pretty wrong at your house. I think this battery life is perfect for a majority of homes. The whole idea of a ultra-portable, easily accessible handstick vacuum like this, is the quick spill cleanup and it does that exceptionally well.

Most of the time you'll be dealing with 5 minutes of use, like if you (or your kids) spill breakfast cereal, or spill crumbs on the floor during dinner. The V10 makes short work of it and the rotating head makes maneuvering through obstacles like chairs under a table, a really simple task.

The number of features available is actually pretty staggering. Easily one of my favourites is the ability to dock the V10. With a few pieces of double-sided tapes and a couple of minutes, I'd routed the power cord into the now wall-mounted dock and was now setup for convenient, quick uses of the vacuum. When done with the cleaning task, placing the V10 back into the dock leaves it charging and ready for use next time. This speed and hassle-free operation is a massive step forward and so inviting that I can't ever imagine going back to a traditional corded vacuum.

Other great features include:

Powered by the Dyson digital motor V10
Most powerful suction of any cord-free stick vacuum in use

Up to 60 minutes of fade-free suction
Powerful suction to clean anywhere.

40% bigger bin for bigger cleans
With the new 'point and shoot' mechanism, which hygienically ejects dust and debris deep into your bin, in one action – so there's no need to touch the dirt

In-line configuration
The motor, bin and cyclone are aligned, so air is drawn into the cyclones in a straight line – creating 20% more suction power than the Dyson V8 vacuum cleaner.

14 concentric array cyclones
14 cyclones generate forces of more than 79,000G to fling microscopic particles – such as pollen and bacteria – into the bin.

Quickly transforms to a handheld
Changes to a handheld vacuum cleaner and back again, in just one click.

Three power modes
The right power when you need it. Three modes to choose from, to suit any task on any floor type

Whole-system filtration
The fully-sealed filtration system traps 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 microns – expelling cleaner air.

Acoustically engineered
Designed to absorb vibrations and dampen sound, to keep sound levels down

Drop-in docking
The Dyson Cyclone V10 vacuum drops into the wall-mounted dock, to recharge and to tidily store the tools, ready to grab and go.

Direct Drive Cleaner Head
With stiff nylon bristles to remove ground-in dirt from carpets, and soft anti-static carbon fibre filaments to remove fine dust from hard floors.

Soft roller cleaner head
A larger roller covered in soft woven nylon and anti-static carbon fibre filaments to remove fine dust and larger debris from hard floors

Mini motorhead tool
Motorised brush bar tackles hair and ground-in dirt, in tight spaces.

Mini soft dusting brush
With soft nylon bristles to clean delicate surfaces and fabrics.

Flexi Crevice Tool
Extends and flexes into awkward gaps. Ideal for cleaning between furniture and hard to reach corners and gaps.

Extension Hose
Extends to 60cm to reach confined spaces such as beneath car seats and behind cabinets.

Combination tool
Two tools in one, for simple switching between surfaces.

Crevice tool
Designed for precise cleaning around edges and narrow gaps.

In terms of performance, you can't fault this. In terms of design, it's a good looking bit of kit, even if not for everyone's taste, I love it. In terms of features, it's packed to the rafter. With that, there are a couple of items that I'd love to see Dyson work on.

The body of the V10 is quite large. While this helps increase the bin capacity over previous models, it does mean that in handheld mode, it can limit where you can fit it. This was evidenced most when cleaning a car and trying to navigate around car seats.

The only other criticism is that the price is high, really high for vacuum cleaner. I feel like the performance and design is so good that more people should have access to it and at this premium price, it's out of reach for many. I wonder if a smaller, cheaper battery and a few less attachments could bring down the price by a few hundred dollars, meaning every household could by an actual Dyson instead of a cheap, inferior knock off.

The Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute+ is the flagship cleaner and as such attracts the top price. If you want the best, you'll need to find A$999.00.

Some will compare the vacuum of this with an entry level vacuum that lands in the $100-$200 range and wonder if this is truly worth up to five times that number. In a word, the answer is yes, in a sentence, maybe, depending on your needs and your disposable income, but it won't be for every home.

We know people are prepared to drop more than that on a smart phone, we also know they're prepared to spend up to A$1,500 on a robot vacuum cleaner, but for that price, they expect automation, while the V10 is still manually operated.

If you're lucky enough to be able to afford a robot and a V10, then life is a very nice place to live, with every cleaning task accommodated for. Could many people get away with a cheaper model, perhaps a V6 on sale, probably, but if you want the best and can afford it, I'd definitely recommend the V10 Absolute+.

What Dyson have created here is a powerful, well designed product that enhances your home, by ensuring cleaning it is fast and easy. The V10 represents many years of iterative development to refine a product and deliver a refined, sophisticated a capable product.

It is however a little difficult to justify the price, other than admitting you're paying a premium for the best on the market. While there is competition in the space, there's Dyson, then everyone else. In terms of day-to-day use, the sheer number of attachments (so many they provided a bag for them), that you really can get all your cleaning needs done with this one purchase.

Assuming you take care of it, that is clean the filter regularly, then this investment should last you many, many years to come. So perhaps we need to think of the price as an distributed investment over 5 to 10 years.

After having installed the V10 in my butler's pantry, it's now something we rely on, being fully charged, ready to go at any time and it's a seriously nice place to live. The combination of the effortless Roomba automation twice a week, along with the V10 for the other cleaning needs and there's really nothing else we need to keep our cars and our home clean.

If you can get over the price, then the functionality and features of the Dyson Cyclone V10 Absolute+ are a brilliant buy. If you're someone with pets (we don't) where pet hair and fur are an issue, then you should consider the Animal alternative.