I'm a sucker for a vacuum with automated power adjustment – but it won't actually clean your floors better

It used to be that vacuum cleaners had one suction setting, plus perhaps a Boost mode that you activated manually when you needed to clear really tricky, ingrained dirt. Nowadays, it's increasingly common to see an 'auto' mode, where the vacuum itself decides exactly how much suction is required for any given area, and adjusts accordingly.

As the author of TechRadar's best cordless vacuums guide, I've tested numerous options – from models with no automation to speak of right up to vacuums that can detect a whole range of different environmental factors. So is automatic suction adjustment worth it? Here's my take...

What kind of automation do you mean?

At the simplest level, a vacuum might be able to distinguish between carpet and hard flooring. This is a useful automation, because carpet (where the dirt is settled within the fibers) always needs a bit ...