India, Sept. 16 -- A 25,000 Pa cordless vacuum sounds more impressive than a 15,000 Pa one. But if you've ever used one at home, you'll know that numbers on the box don't always tell the whole story.

The vacuum could have excellent suction and still be frustrating to use if it's heavy, the battery runs out halfway through cleaning, the brush gets clogged with hair or emptying the dustbin sends half the dirt back into the air. And that's before we get to the attachments you actually use versus the ones that simply look impressive on the spec sheet.

I think that's what gets missed when we compare cordless vacuums. We're so focused on finding the most powerful one that we forget why we wanted a cordless model in the first place: quick, con...