This vacuum is more powerful than what some reviews suggested it might be, and the dirt hopper is easy to empty. Performance on hard surfaces is also better than what I expected. The "headlights" reveal a lot of dirt I wasn't aware of. As for downsides: I thought it would be lighter and easier to steer than it is. The 'edge cleaning' is not great (needs follow-up work). But where it comes to removing cat hair and soil from carpet, it's better than average so I've given four stars instead of three.