With this in mind, when Miele showed me its new HX3 and HX3 Plus Aqua, I was skeptical it would be more than an incremental jump, but after spending some time using it at the Miele Experience Center in Manhattan prior to the IFA 2026 show in Berlin, I came away impressed by several of the changes.
Miele is known as one of the most reputable brands for home appliances and cleaning, but when we lab tested the Miele HX2 cordless vacuum last year, we were a little let down by it — it performed poorly in sand tests for low and midpile carpet, and the design was a little finicky to use compared to lightweight competition from Dyson and Shark. It also cost $1,100 at full price, making it a hard sell.
To start with, while there hasn’t been a complete redesign, one of the big changes is rebalancing the weight distribution so that more of it is at the bottom, reducing the strain up top when you’re vacuuming. You can also change out where the motor and waste bin are, depending on how you attach the nozzles, so it’s up to you how you want the weight to fall.
A Miele representative showed me an example of how you might want it more top-heavy when you’re using it to clean the corners of ceilings and higher-up spots. You can also convert it fairly easily back into the self-standing vacuum mode, a traditional stick vac or a handheld.
There are also other quality-of-life tweaks, like push-button controls, easier dustbin emptying, finer particle capture, automatic flooring-type detection and the ability to stand upright. It offers 70 minutes of running time, which Miele says should be good enough to clean 1,700 square feet in a single charge, and some models have an extended battery included for even more juice. All key things that I value when vacuuming.
MieleThe big improvements come in performance. The HX3 has notably better pickup on both carpet and hard flooring. The Miele representatives even helpfully provided me with some condiments to imitate sand and pet hair to try to suction up from the carpet. While it wasn’t quite the same as CNET’s rigorous lab testing, the outcome of my vacuuming session offered solid results. The HX3 was able to remove most or all of the pet hair with a single back-and-forth motion, while the imitation sand was no challenge at all on hardwood (though that’s true of most vacuums and robot vacuums we test).
Overall, the HX3 seemed to do a great job of picking up dirt and debris from different floor types. There’s also a powerful Boost mode that can give you extra suction beyond even the highest setting, but it drains the battery the fastest, so it’s limited to just 10 seconds.
The HX3 Plus Aqua is basically the same as the regular HX3; it just comes with Miele’s first mopping attachment, the Aqua Twister Floorhead. It consists of dual spinning mop pads that are machine washable, a 300-milliliter water tank and a 360-degree light. I also took the mopping attachment for a spin, trying out its different modes on hard flooring to clean stains and dirt. Again, the results were impressive, with the amount of water being dispensed fully adjustable, allowing you to tackle bigger messes and spills. When the mopping head is attached, Boost mode also dispenses more water for 30 seconds, so it’s good to see the feature has been integrated into both cleaning heads.
MieleWhile there are two distinct models, the HX3 and HX3 Plus Aqua, there’s a somewhat more consumer-friendly price spread: The base HX3 starts at $849, while the top-tier HX3 Aqua Plus, with all the accessories, including the mopping head, runs $1,249. There are a number of models in between, each with its own price and array of attachments, so I’m just going to lay them out in a list below, pulled from the specs sheet.
- Triflex HX3 ($849)
- Included: MultiFloor XXL (SEB430), Accessory Set (dusting brush, upholstery tool, crevice nozzle, mounting clip), 1 Lithium-Ion Battery by Varta, Wall Mount with accessory storage
- Triflex HX3 Hardfloor (Amazon exclusive) ($949)
- Included: MultiFloor XXL (SEB430), Accessory Set (dusting brush, upholstery tool, crevice nozzle, mounting clip), Hardfloor Roller (HX-HC10), 1 Lithium-Ion Battery by Varta, Wall Mount with accessory storage
- Triflex HX3 Cat & Dog ($999)
- Included: MultiFloor XXL with headlight (SEB430), Accessory Set (dusting brush, upholstery tool, crevice nozzle, mounting clip), Electro Compact (HX-EC10), 1 Lithium-Ion Battery by Varta, Wall Mount with accessory storage
- Triflex HX3 Plus ($1,099)
- Included: MultiFloor XXL with headlight (SEB430), Accessory Set (dusting brush, upholstery tool, crevice nozzle, mounting clip), Hardfloor Roller (HX-HC10), 2 Lithium-Ion Batteries by Varta, Wall Mount with accessory storage
- Triflex HX3 Aqua ($1,049)
- Included: MultiFloor XXL with headlight (SEB430), Accessory Set (dusting brush, upholstery tool, crevice nozzle, mounting clip), AquaTwister Pro with 360 Light, Drip Mat, 2 Washable pads, FloorClean (17 fl.oz. bottle), 1 Lithium-Ion Battery by Varta, Wall Mount with accessory storage
- Triflex HX3 Aqua Plus ($1,249)
- Included: MultiFloor XXL with headlight (SEB430), Accessory Set (dusting brush, upholstery tool, crevice nozzle, mounting clip), Harfloor Roller (HX-HC10), AquaTwister Pro with 360 Light, Drip Mat, 2 Washable pads, FloorClean (17 fl.oz. bottle), 2 Lithium-Ion Batteries by Varta, Wall Mount with accessory storage
Miele also pointed out to me that the base specs and capabilities of each model are the same, so even if you buy the most basic model, you can pick up other attachments separately over time to build the vacuum you want. I’m looking forward to testing these at the CNET Lab, and we already have the Aqua Plus in hand for our next batch of tests. Expect to see results soon.
Editors’ note: Ajay Kumar’s travel costs for the IFA conference were covered by Roborock. The judgments and opinions of CNET are our own.
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