Tikom sent over their V500 cordless stick vacuum for testing, and after running it through a big mess on carpet, a rug, and hardwood floor, it earned the Just A Dad sticker. This is a budget pick, and it punches well above its weight. Here's exactly how it did.
What's in the Box and First Setup
Everything ships in a pretty small box — you get a crevice tool, a brush tool, a wall mount, a charger, and a manual with the screws to mount the dock. The charger has its own charging port built into the wall dock, and the plug rotates so it fits however you need it, plus there's storage up top for two tools. The vacuum comes with about 50% charge out of the box, so it's worth topping it off before first use — either by plugging the charger straight into the unit or by setting it on the wall dock.
Display and Controls
There's a nice display right on the handle. Press the trigger and it stays on — no holding it down the whole time. It starts in low mode, and since it's a touchscreen, tapping it switches to high; tap again and it turns off. The display shows battery percentage while cleaning, which is a nice touch at this price point.
Cleaning Performance: What It Actually Picks Up
Carpet and a Rug
On carpet, this made quick work of a big mess, including some genuinely heavy beads. It's very lightweight, moves easily, and it's quiet too. On a rug with some dog hair mixed in, it did a great job there as well — lightweight, powerful, and quiet is a solid combination.
Hardwood Floor
On hardwood, low mode handled things well, though bumping up to high made quick work of everything, including the beads that kept rolling around. After cleaning up a genuinely big mess across carpet, rug, and hardwood, the battery still had 80% left — a solid showing for a vacuum in this price range.
Long Hair
There's a comb built into the brush roller to help strip long hairs off as it spins. A little hair did wrap around during testing, and it needed a quick pull to clear once fully emptied out, but nothing that took real effort.
The Telescoping Wand
The wand telescopes, which is a nice touch — it ships in a smaller box and is genuinely sturdy once assembled. Fully extended, it's about 40 inches from the wheel to the handle; collapsed, it's about 31 inches, so there's roughly 10 inches of adjustment. That's a real plus if more than one person in the house is using it, since the length can be dialed in for comfort.
Emptying and Cleaning It Out
To empty it, there's a big button — press it and everything drops out, no mess. Occasionally a little hair gets left up around the opening, so plan on clearing that once in a while. Taking the unit apart for a deeper clean is straightforward too: there's a filter and a screen up top that pull out and rinse, plus the brush roller itself unlocks and lifts out for cleaning. Reassembly is easy — everything lines up with a notch and clicks back into place.
Filtration
This one doesn't have a true HEPA filter, even though some of the marketing around it suggests otherwise. It's a fine filter and screen that rinses clean, but if HEPA-grade filtration for allergies is the priority, this isn't the vacuum for that.
The Wall Mount
The V500 doesn't stand up on its own, but the wall mount is genuinely well thought out. It screws into the wall, the tools face down and click into place so they stay put, and the charging cable plugs in right at the top rather than routing down through the mount. To use the vacuum, simply rotate it out of the dock; to recharge, rotate it back in.
Is It Worth It?
For a budget pick, the Tikom V500 is a strong value — lightweight, quiet, and it handled a genuinely big mess on carpet, a rug, and hardwood without much trouble. The adjustable wand is a great touch for households with more than one person using it. Just know the battery doesn't go the distance on High, the filtration isn't true HEPA, and it'll wrap a little hair during heavier pet-hair jobs. For lighter, everyday cleaning, it's an easy recommendation.