Canister vacuums offer something a little different to your classic uprights and cordless sticks. They're incredibly versatile, lightweight when in use and offer some of the tightest filtration going.
Miele is one of the most established (and expensive) canister vacuum brands worldwide, and the Miele Complete C3 Cat and Dog Powerline Canister Vacuum is the most expensive vacuum we've ever tested outside of robot technology. Depending on the retailer, the C3 comes with an eye-watering price tag of $1,200. That's more than four times as much as some of our favorites, and $300 more than even the most expensive Dyson.
I brought the Miele C3 Cat and Dog to our test center to see if it could live up to its high price and earn its place among the best Miele vacuums. Instead, I found a great vacuum on dust and hair, but one that doesn't have $1,200 worth of greatness.
Miele Complete C3 Cat & Dog: Specifications
Miele Complete C3 Cat & Dog: Price and availability
The C3 Cat & Dog is one of a few editions of the Miele Complete C3 vacuum cleaner. It's also Miele's top-of-the-line bagged canister vacuum and has the most models available compared to other Miele vacuums.
The Miele Complete C3 Cat & Dog is designed for pet owners with a specialized anti-tangle floorhead and a hand turbobrush for dealing with hair around the house. It's priced at $1,259.
But other Complete C3 models start from $649 with the most basic model, the Miele Complete C3 125 Gala, up to $1,779 with the Miele Complete C3 HomeCare+, the most expensive Miele vacuum available.
There are eight Miele Complete C3 vacuum editions available and they each come with different sets of attachments. If the Cat & Dog isn't exactly what you need, you could save money on a more affordable model with less intensive floorheads and cleaning tools.
Miele Complete C3 Cat & Dog: Unboxing
Opening up the box, I found that this vacuum had too many plastic bags and polystyrene – we prefer products to come without these materials because you can’t recycle them. The instructions are pretty poor, too. While it wasn't hard to assemble the vacuum without them, they're very sparse.
However, it's low-slung and low profile. It looks like it would be easy to store in a cupboard or under the stairs, and I love that the onboard storage is a little compartment – I'm always knocking nozzles off my vacuum at home, so it's good that these are stored away.
There are five different suction settings, but these aren’t given in the instructions – curtains, upholstery, quiet mode, carpet, and hard floor.
What's the Miele Complete C3 Cat & Dog like to use?
It's fantastic that you can control these with your feet to save you having to bend down. It glides really well across the floor too. At first glance I wasn't convinced that the tiny wheels would move well, but it's really easy to move around. Despite weighing 23 lbs (making it one of the heaviest vacuums we've ever tested) this is really maneuverable and almost feels light.
It's easy to switch between settings, too, although it would be handy if the buttons were slightly larger when having to mostly toggle them with your foot. It's relatively quiet when it gets going, especially on the lower power modes, and I love the inclusion of these low power modes. Two separate curtain and upholstery modes means you won't gum up your vacuum by sucking your curtain in when you just want to give them a quick dusting.
Miele Complete C3 Cat & Dog: Flour and sugar test
Our first test is flour and sugar as they are common kitchen messes, and also because they’re good approximations of dust and bigger normal household debris. As always, consult our vacuum jargon buster if any of the terms are unfamiliar.
I tested on the hard floor setting with the standard floor head rather than the motorized brush. It performed perfectly on wood floors, gliding over the surface and picking up everything easily without pushing it around. It was a similar story on linoleum, but the vacuum was actually too powerful. It was tricky to push around, so I had to drop a few power levels to get it to pick up all the flour and sugar.
My first attempt vacuuming carpet was with the regular head, which wasn't successful. It left a lot of dust and sugar in the pile. However, swapping out the regular floorhead for the Turboteq head was a game changer. It was exceptional, rivaling Dyson and Shark for its cleaning power. However, it was a little noisy, and if you have mixed flooring with carpet in one room and hard floors in another, it might be frustrating to swap floorheads every time you switch rooms.
Miele Complete C3 Cat & Dog: Pantry Test
My second test is what we call our 'pantry test', where we drop cereal over different surfaces and vacuum. Again, cereal is a pretty common mess, especially if you have young kids, but it also lets us check how a vacuum deals with larger pieces of dirt and debris such as small stones and bits of plastic.
This was this vacuum's biggest weakness. Unlike other vacuums with plush brush heads, this vacuum just couldn't conquer cereal. Even on the carpet setting or with the TurboTeq head it couldn't get over it, instead just pushing it around the floor. If you picked up the vacuum brushhead and place it directly on top of the cereal it could pick it up without any bother, but you shouldn't have to do this for a vacuum of this quality and price.
Miele Complete C3 Cat & Dog: Hair test
Hair is perhaps our most important test. We use cut-up hair extensions to see how each vacuum can handle pet hair and human hair. Hair stuck in carpets is often a big complaint with vacuums, as well as cutting it out of the brush roll.
The good news is that the Miele C3 easily handled hair on all surfaces with the regular brush head. I loved using this. It was quick and effective and the lack of motorized brush roll meant that there was no gross job of detangling hair afterwards. All of the hair was sucked straight into the bag, and there wasn't a nasty 'hot hair' smell, either. With the regular floorhead attached, I think it's a good choice for a vacuum for pet hair.
However, the same can't be said for the motorized brush roll. On every surface, this didn't pick up any hair, simply wrapped it around the brush, and I had the unpleasant job of cutting it all out with scissors. If you stick to the regular floor head this is hard to beat on its ability to suction up hair, but it's not successful with the motorized brush.
Miele Complete C3 Cat & Dog: Cleaning
Other than the issue with pet hair, it's really easy to empty this Miele. Just pop up the front of it and take out the dust bag and bin it. You can clean the body with a damp cloth. It's very straightforward.
However I'm in two minds about bagged vacuums like this. They're simple to empty and a high-quality bag will seal off hair and dust that might trigger allergies, but throwing out a dust bag isn't the most environmentally-friendly practice. It's also an ongoing cost. At the time of writing, a 9-pack of Miele dust bags at Amazon will set you back $22. It's not a huge cost, sure, but it's more than you'll be paying with a bagless vacuum.
Miele Complete C3 Cat & Dog: Storage and maintenance
This compact vacuum will be easy to store. The power cord is retractable, which is a great feature for storage that saves you from finding somewhere for several feet of power cables. As I said above, I love the onboard storage compartment for the accessories. It's a simple but clever solution that more vacuums should feature as standard. The telescopic shaft fits on to the back of the vacuum which is helpful, but it means that it can take up more vertical space than first appears. However, it will still be easier to store than an upright.
In terms of maintenance, Miele says you need to replace the main filter every time you run down a pack of their filter bags. Each bag has a nearly 5-quart capacity, and with nine to a pack, it should be moths before you even need to think about replacing this.
How does the Miele Complete C3 Cat & Dog compare with other vacuums?
We've also tested the Miele Blizzard CX1 Cat & Dog which, on test, performed incredibly well in almost every way, but struggled with its standard floorhead. It's a little more affordable than the Complete C3 by $200-400 (depending on where you buy it), and it's also bagless, eliminating the need for replacement bag costs.
If you're willing to part with this much money, it's worth considering a Dyson. When comparing Miele vs Dyson vacuums, we've found time and time again that Dysons are better cleaners. But Miele's vacuums are among the most durable in the world, and if you'd prefer to choose a vacuum that you can trust will last for potentially a decade or longer, then it's a strong investment.
But there's no denying that the Dyson Gen5detect and the Dyson V15 Detect are the two best vacuums we've ever tested, and both of them are considerably cheaper than the Miele Complete C3 Cat & Dog.
Miele Complete C3 Cat & Dog: My verdict
If you want a sleek little canister vacuum, this is a powerful option. It's great on dust and pet hair, and it's quiet and easy to control with the press of a foot, saving you from bending down. However, it's poor when vacuuming larger debris. It's simply not as good as other vacuums, and at these prices, you need a vacuum that's up to the task.
How I tested the Miele Complete C3 Cat & Dog
I tested the Miele Complete C3 Cat & Dog over the course of a day at our standardized test center. I tested all floorheads and attachments on hardwood, linoleum and carpet flooring and assessed how easy it is to use, store, clean and maintain.
You can learn more about our process at our how we test vacuums page.
Not what you're looking for? Browse our tested picks of the best Dyson vacuums for more top-of-the-line floorcare.
