Our Verdict: The Henry XL Plus is a great choice if you need a huge dust capacity for big jobs. It generates decent suction and features Numatic’s durable design. We also think it provides great value for money. With that said, we think the Henry XL Plus is far too big and heavy for everyday cleaning, so it’s not the best choice for most people.
Henry XL Plus
Pros:
- Huge capacity and durable design
- Great for DIY jobs that regular vacuums might struggle with
- Powerful suction
- Motorised tool included
- Durable design (as you would expect from a Henry)
Cons:
- Much too bulky for everyday use
- Not great on carpets
- Very heavy!
The Henry XL Plus is a bigger version of the classic Numatic vacuum with more tools and accessories. But is it worth buying? Let’s find out!
Henry has a new sibling – and it’s big!
The Numatic Henry XL Plus cylinder vacuum is designed for DIY and tough home jobs. With a whopping 15-litre dust capacity and 12.5m cable, everything about this vacuum cleaner is super-sized.
We think the Henry XL Plus is a choice to consider if you need a powerful, durable, and large vacuum for big cleaning jobs. This isn’t a vacuum for whipping around the home before guests arrive, nor is it the most effective for cleaning carpets, but for tough tasks, it provides a lot of value.
How does the Henry XL Plus perform when cleaning though? And how does it compare to other cylinder vacuum cleaners? Read our Henry XL Plus review to find out.
Overview of the Henry XL Plus Cylinder Vacuum’s Features
- Affordable bagged cylinder vacuum
- Designed for DIY and more difficult home jobs
- Huge 15-litre capacity
- Mains powered with a long 12.5m cable
- A weighty 10kg cleaner
- Motorised pet tool and a range of other cleaning accessories
- Stainless steel pipe extenders for extra reach
Henry XL Plus Appearance and Design
The Numatic Henry XL Plus has the classic design of the standard Henry, but everything has been supersized. While this makes it great for heavy-duty jobs, it also makes it tricky to move around and store.
Numatic claims this bagged cylinder vacuum has a 15 litre dust capacity. In reality, we found you’ll get a little under the full 15 litres, but it’s still considerably larger than most competitors. This makes it a great choice for big tasks such as home renovations.
The 12.5m cable, two stainless steel extender pipes, and long hose give you an almost 16m reach. It’s obviously not as convenient as a cordless, but it’s a generous cleaning radius for a corded vac.
Having a huge capacity comes with an obvious downside: weight. At 10kg, it’s one of the heaviest home vacuums we’ve reviewed. To put it in context, this is more than twice the 4.6kg of the Duronic VC7020 and the 4.9kg of the Miele Compact C2 Cat and Dog.
Of course, unlike an upright vacuum, most of this weight is in the body which is on wheels. As you’ll be using the hose for cleaning, it’s not like you’ll need to carry around 10kg the entire time.
Despite the increase in size, the XL Plus uses the same 620w motor as the smaller Henry models, so don’t expect an increase in power to match. We also think the lack of any power take-off option is disappointing, as this would help with DIY tasks.
On the upside, the tough protective bumper prepares it for the bangs and scrapes you get with heavier tasks. The sturdy design also ensures this vac is one of the most durable you can buy.
Manoeuvrability and Ease of Use
The Henry XL Plus may have a generous capacity and cover large areas, but these features come at the expense of manoeuvrability. It’s fine in open spaces, but we think you’ll struggle to move it around a furnished home.
That said, with the long reach, you don’t need to keep stopping to find a new plug socket. Although, you do need to be mindful of not running over the swathes of cable, which is tricky in confined spaces. At least the cord rewind makes it painless to reel the 12.5m cord back in.
As with most Henry cleaners, there are multiple wheels so you can steer it in all directions. It’s the floorhead you need to manoeuvre, and the extender pipes and long hose make this a painless task.
We also like the tool storage on the back of the vacuum. It has space for four tools and an additional parking slot for the floorhead if you need to pause mid-clean. It provides a tidy solution for storing the cleaner when it’s not in use, too.
Filtration
The Henry Xl Plus has a two-stage filtration system that uses standard fabric filters. It’s effective at retaining fine particles, but isn’t as good as HEPA filters. These contain 99.7% of micro-dust particles, like mould, so we recommend these if you suffer from severe allergies.
However, the HepaFlo vacuum bags have a self-seal tab, which is useful for trapping dirt rather than releasing it back into the air you breathe in. Bagged systems are much cleaner than bagless, so they’re good for DIY and messy jobs.
Emptying and Cleaning
The bagged design of the Numatic Henry XL Plus makes quick work of emptying it. It’s simple to take the lid off and remove the filter to access the bag. The self-seal tab will keep the dirt trapped inside, so you can pop it straight into the bin.
The large capacity ensures this isn’t a task you’ll need to do often, as even the messiest jobs will take a while to fill a 15 litre bag. The downside is you can’t clean the filter. Instead, you have to tap the dirt off or wipe it down with a dry cloth.
Overall, we like that it’s a low-maintenance vacuum that is easy to look after.
Henry XL Plus Tools and Accessories
Floorhead
You get quite an array of floorheads with the Henry XL Plus, including the combination floor tool, hard floor nozzle, and AiroBrush 140.
The combi tool is the vacuum’s main floorhead that’s designed for both carpets and hard floors. It’s similar to other Henry vacuum cleaners, as you can use a switch to move the brushes up or down depending on the type of floor. There’s no rotating brush bar, but this is offset by the vacuum’s strong suction power.
Unfortunately, we don’t think it’s quite as good as previous Numatic floorheads, mainly due to the new two-wheel design rather than a rear roller. We also don’t think it feels quite as sturdy as previous versions.
The hard floor nozzle is a simple tool with soft brushes that help to pick up the dirt rather than scattering it across the floor. It’s a useful extra, although most of the time we find it best to just stick with the combi tool.
Finally, there’s the AiroBrush 140, which is a smaller motorised turbo brush. This is a welcome addition to the Henry, as it’s a powerful accessory with a rotating brush bar for pulling embedded pet hair out carpets, sofas, and pet beds.
The small size means it’s not suitable for cleaning large areas of floor, but it’s a brilliant tool that makes the XL Plus a much more versatile vacuum.
Other Tools and Accessories
The Henry XL Plus comes with a dusting brush, upholstery tool, and a crevice tool with an optional flexi extender. The latter is long enough to get into hard-to-reach areas, like under the fridge and between car seats, which isn’t always the case with crevice tools.
As we mentioned earlier, there’s also space to store four tools on the back of the cleaner itself. The added convenience of being able to carry these around while cleaning is often underrated and a big perk of the Henry XL Plus.
Finally, you get one bag included with your purchase. It would be nice to get a couple more but they don’t fill up quickly, so it gives you time to order more.
Henry XL Plus Suction Power and Cleaning Performance
For an inexpensive vacuum, we think the Numatic Henry XL Plus provides strong suction power. It’s more than capable of picking up both large debris and fine dust from various surfaces, even when the bag is getting full.
It’s worth noting that the XL Plus has the same 620w motor as other cleaners in the Henry range. Despite the vacuum being plus-size, however, this power is more sufficient for nearly all cleaning tasks.
In particular, the XL Plus copes well with both the dust and larger debris you get from DIY and home renovations. It’s both powerful enough and durable enough to tackle tasks that wouldn’t be suitable for a regular cylinder vacuum cleaner.
Carpets
The Henry XL Plus’ cleaning performance on carpets and rugs is good enough for a basic vacuum, but it’s far from the best we’ve reviewed. It’ll pick up most debris with relative ease, but you may find you need to do a few extra sweeps for finer dust.
Our main problem with the Henry XL Plus for carpet cleaning is the combi floorhead seems to have a mind of its own. It’s tricky to manoeuvre and can skip across the surface, particularly on plush pile carpets. It’s much better on a shorter pile carpet though.
Hard Floors
The Henry XL Plus fares much better on hard floors than carpets, sweeping up hairs and fibres without any hassle.
You’ve got the choice between using the combi floorhead or the hard floor nozzle. Both make light work of laminate flooring and picking up any debris that falls between tiles.
The Flexi crevice tool is also a useful one for hard floors, as it’s easy to squeeze into the small gaps the floorheads can’t reach.
Stairs
Stairs are a downfall for the Henry XL Plus. Despite the long power cable, the hose isn’t long enough for a whole flight of stairs and it’s too bulky to balance on a step. It’s also heavy to carry up the stairs, although there is a carry handle to make this task easier.
Still, the various accessories do come in useful. The narrow AiroBrush 140 is a suitable size for steps and offers effective cleaning power with the rotating brush bar. This tool can make a high-pitched squealing sound at times, however, which is somewhat off-putting!
Pet Hair
The motorised AiroBrush 140 attachment is Numatic’s answer to pet hair, and it does a great job. The rotating brushes agitate the surface to pull out embedded hair. And the narrow width of the floorhead, combined with the long reach, makes it easier to get into awkward areas.
For larger areas, the combi tool does a decent job of sucking up hair from hard floors. Unfortunately, it struggles to pick up pet hair from carpets and rugs. If you have a pet who sheds a lot, you may need to buy Numatic’s full-size AiroBrush separately.
Henry XL Plus Price and Value for Money
The Henry XL Plus is one of the more expensive vacuums in the Henry range, but it’s still cheaper than many other cylinder vacuums. You get a good haul of attachments included in the price too, which is a bonus.
As it’s a bagged cleaner, you will need to factor in the cost of extra dust bags as an ongoing cost. But they’re a reasonable price and won’t need replacing often due to their large capacity. With its 620w motor, the XL Plus is also an energy-efficient cleaner to run.
We think it provides value for money for a specific purpose – heavy-duty cleaning. The huge and sturdy design makes it a much better option for DIY jobs, large areas, or light commercial use. If you need something for everyday cleaning, then you’re better off with one of the smaller Henry models.
Comparison With Other Vacuums
Henry Hoover vs Henry Hoover XL Plus – What’s the Difference?
These cleaners are similar in style, but the super-sizing of the XL Plus makes it more suited to bigger jobs, instead of the domestic duties of the original Henry.
Firstly, the XL Plus has a larger dust capacity, offering 15 litres compared to 6 litres for the classic Henry. It also has a longer 12.5m cable vs 10m for the standard. The actual body of the cleaner is bigger and heavier, too, but they both use the same 620w motor, so you can expect similar raw suction power.
The range of accessories is better with the XL Plus, as you get the AiroBrush 140, flexi crevice tool, and hard brush included as standard. As a result, the price for this model is more expensive than the original Henry Hoover, but it opens up more cleaning options. Being so bulky and heavy, the XL Plus isn’t suited for homes in the same way as the classic.
Henry XL Plus Specification
| Ninja Column 1 | Ninja Column 2 |
|---|---|
| Type | Cylinder |
| Bag | Bagged |
| Filter | Washable (Standard) |
| Price Range | ££ |
| Power (W) | 620 |
| Cord Length (m) | 12.5 |
| Weight (kg) | 10 |
| Capacity (Litres) | 15 |
| Motorised Tool | Yes |
| Hose | Yes |
| Hose Length (m) | 2.2 |
Henry XL Plus Verdict
This is a hard vacuum to rate, as it’s great for certain tasks, and a let down in other areas.
The Numatic Henry XL Plus is definitely worth considering for DIY or home renovation projects. It’s big enough to handle the dust and debris that many smaller vacs can’t, plus it comes with a range of tools and accessories.
It’s also an affordable vacuum cleaner with good all-round cleaning performance. And, while it’s not as convenient as other cylinder vacuums, it makes up for this with its strength and durability.
If you’re looking for a light and nimble vacuum for everyday cleaning, however, then it isn’t the right choice for you. The large size makes it cumbersome for use around a furnished home, and it’s a poor cleaner for carpets. It’s better to save the Henry XL Plus for the heavy-duty tasks it’s intended for.