For those of you who want our bottom line recommendations:

We rate the Miele Capricorn as the best canister vacuum and the SEBO X4 as our top upright vacuum cleaners.

The Miele Callisto and SEBO C2.1 are great canister vacuums for a mix of carpets and floors.

The Electrolux Oxygen3 series of vacuum cleaners are good performers for a value price.

For bare floors, an excellent buy is the Electrolux Harmony vacuum cleaner.