Samsung Bespoke Jet AI review

It’s hard to exist of late without AI add-ons being thrust in your face at every turn. There’s AI on phones, AI in fridges, AI in biscuits (okay, not that) and AI in vacuum cleaners.

On the face of it, this seems strange as people are hardly clamouring for AI products. People tend to want cheaper, more durable, more money-saving devices. Still, long-term money saving is something AI can actually help with, by making performance decisions based on environmental factors, to ensure that devices minimise energy use and run efficiently.

AI efficiency is certainly one of the claims of Samsung’s new flagship vacuum cleaner, the Bespoke Jet AI cordless vacuum, but as with so many products featuring AI, you’ll have to be willing to spend a lot for convenience and efficiency.

But AI features are far from the only thing that this vacuum has going for it. It’s powerful, self-emptying, and designed with quiet luxury in mind.

Design and build

• Auto-empty charging base
• Excellent range of tools
• Replacement bags for Clean Station cheap and easy to find

Samsung’s Bespoke line of products had an initial focus on their outward appearance. The brand’s Bespoke fridges and fridge-freezers were bespoke in that you could mix and match appliances, as well as door colours and finishes, to create a one-of-a-kind kitchen.

But the Bespoke Jet AI comes in one colour – black – and doesn’t allow for any sort of modular customisation. Its bespoke qualities are more to do with its AI cleaning mode, which customises vacuuming based on sensor feedback.

In the box, you’ll get:

• Vacuum body, with a 0.5L bin
• Telescoping wand that you can adjust to your height while vacuuming
• Slim LED brush+, with headlights
• Active Dual head, with headlights and a soft roller for hard flooring and a nylon bristle bar for carpet
• Motorised pet tool with rubber fins for removing hair from sofas and upholstery
• Crevice tool
• Brush tool
• Very handy flex tool – it’s a joint to create an angle between the cleaning tool and vacuum body

You’ll also get an accessories cradle to store the tools not in use.

Then there’s the All-in-one Clean Station, which is one element that sets the Bespoke Jet AI apart from most other vacuum cleaners. It’s a slim, cylindrical charging and emptying base in matching matt black with silver accents.

Whenever you pick up the Bespoke Jet AI, it’s always ready to go

I live in a city apartment with very little storage space, so having a vacuum that looks good enough not to hide away means I can keep it near a plug point and don’t have to try to jam it into a cupboard.

When you’ve finished using it, dock your vacuum in the Clean Station and not only will it begin charging, but it’ll empty the vacuum into a bag in the base using powerful suction. It’s noisy for a few seconds, but so worth it.

This makes it a great option for people with allergies or asthma as the dust is captured and contained.

If you used an earlier model of the Samsung Jet and noticed that the vacuum dustbin didn’t close automatically after emptying into the Clean Station, you’ll be pleased to find out that this is no longer the case.

You’ll get a notification in the form of a red LED when it’s time to change the bag, but it should last you 1-2 months, depending on how often you clean and how much dust there is to pick up. You can also get alerts for this, and check other settings, if you download the Samsung Smart Things app.

However, unless you have a number of Samsung appliances and already use the app, I don’t think it’s worth it. Depending on where you keep your vacuum, the Wi-Fi might be limited, and when I tested it, I found the pairing process to be frustrating.

The Bespoke Jet AI comes with three bags (one pre-installed) and you can buy replacements cheaply on Amazon (£10.99 for ten in the UK; $19.99 for ten in the US).

Auto-emptying makes a huge difference to how easy the vacuum is to use, as does the fact that it charges automatically. Whenever you pick up the Bespoke Jet AI, it’s always ready to go.

It also means that while the bin, at 0.5L, is a third smaller than the flagship Dyson Gen5detect’s 0.77L, it really doesn’t matter as you literally never need to empty it yourself.

You can remove the battery from the Bespoke Jet AI and it comes with two, plus a separate charger, so you can ensure you have a spare fully charged in case you want an extra-long vacuuming session.

Still, the battery life is excellent, with my test model showing over an hour of runtime – but only if you use a non-motorised tool on the lowest setting, which is not how you’ll be using the vacuum most of the time. Still, this makes it as long-lasting as any cordless vacuum available.

Performance and features

• Vacuuming countdown timer on display
• 42 minutes of use with a motorised cleaning head
• AI features convenient but not life-changing

The controls and display are straightforward and comprehensive. Above the grip, exactly where your thumb wants it to be, is the power button. On either side, a minus and plus key allow you to scroll through the power settings. There are four of these: Min, Mid, Max and Jet.

If you’re using one of the main cleaning heads (for carpet or hard flooring), you’ll also be able to access the AI mode, which will intelligently modify the power and roller speed in response to the amount of dust and dirt detected. While using the vacuum, this is the setting I reverted to almost all of the time.

Above the controls is an easy-to-read LED display that shows the current mode and the amount of vacuuming time left. With the carpet cleaning head, from a full battery, you’ll get around 42 minutes in Min, 36 in AI, 24 in Mid, 14 minutes in Max and 10 in Jet. The hard floor head will give similar cleaning times.

Both of the main cleaning heads also feature LED headlights. This is fairly common now but I do find this feature genuinely useful when it comes to vacuuming in shadowy corners and under furniture.

The Bespoke Jet AI feels light in use and is very manoeuvrable. The cleaning heads have good pick-up right along the length. I used the Slim LED+ head for hard floor cleaning and it doesn’t scatter larger debris like cat litter. And speaking of pets, the pet tool is an effective tool for removing fur from sofas.

It’s a very powerful vacuum. Samsung says it has 280W suction. Assuming that the brand means 280AW (air watts), as it uses the terms interchangeably on its website, this means that it’s even more powerful than the Gen5detect. It certainly seemed equally powerful during testing.

The Bespoke Jet AI is the ultimate luxury vacuum cleaner

The only issue I had with any of the cleaning tools was with the Active Dual head, which can be used on both carpets and hard floors. It has a soft roller at the front and, over time, long hair wrapped around it and compressed it, which made it less effective. Still, the roller is easy to pop off and clean.

The Bespoke Jet AI has a stated weight of 2.98kg (with the LED brush+ head attached). This is fairly light for a cordless, and certainly lighter than the 3.5kg Gen5detect. The only time it feels heavy is when using it overhead in handheld mode for longer periods to dust the tops of doors and clean blinds.

And what about the much-vaunted AI features? It’s almost impossible to tell if using the vacuum in AI mode ekes out extra cleaning time, but what it does do is make your life slightly more convenient.

If you come to a more dusty spot, or cross from hard floor onto a rug, the vacuum will amp up its power and roller rotation, so you don’t need to fiddle around with settings. It’s an almost invisible benefit, but one that – like every other feature on the Bespoke Jet AI – makes life ever so slightly easier.

Price and availability

Now we come to the difficult part. The Samsung Bespoke Jet AI is a costly vacuum, without a doubt. It’s in the same price bracket as the excellent Dyson Gen5detect and these are expensive vacuum cleaners.

The Bespoke Jet AI has come down from its launch price (in the UK; it’s not yet available in the US). You can now buy it for £799-£899, depending on the retailer and whether there’s a promotion on. The best offer at the time of writing is from Donaghy Bros, which is offering it on sale for £739. John Lewis has it for £799.

Overall, I’d recommend the Bespoke Jet AI over the Gen5detect, if only for the Clean Station, which makes a huge difference to its convenience.

Still, there’s another way to get this feature for less. The Bespoke Jet AI is an upgrade to the already excellent Samsung Bespoke Jet. If you’re not sold on the AI features, you can get almost all of what makes this a brilliant vacuum for much less.

Read our Bespoke Jet review to find out more, or have a look at our round-up of the best vacuum cleaners we’ve tested for our top recommendations at all price points.

Should you buy the Samsung Bespoke Jet AI?

If money is no object, I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend the Bespoke Jet AI. However, its AI features are not the reason to buy: they’re merely one of a host of features that simplify and streamline taking care of your home.

In the end, the reason to buy is that there’s not a single desirable feature that’s missing from the Jet AI: LED headlights, swappable batteries, long running time, powerful suction, vacuuming countdown timer, adjustable wand and joint tool. And then there’s the Clean Station. Altogether, the Bespoke Jet AI is the ultimate luxury vacuum cleaner.