Bissell PowerClean 4173 Review: Strong Pickup, But Check the Long-Term Reports

Introduction

The Bissell PowerClean 4173 is a cordless stick vacuum designed for both hard floors and carpets. It sells for around $200, which puts it below the average price for the cordless vacuums we test. On paper, it has a solid spec sheet, including a tangle-free brush roll, a sealed HEPA filtration system, and a claimed battery life of up to 40 minutes on low power. It also comes with two built-in specialty tools, a crevice tool and an upholstery tool, stored on the included wall mount rather than on the vacuum itself. It weighs 7.1 lb and has a 400 ml dust bin.

Who This Product Is For

The PowerClean is best suited for households that clean mostly hard floors and medium-pile carpets and want a cordless vacuum with strong everyday pickup. Its above-average hard floor performance and near-perfect carpet pickup make it a capable daily cleaner for typical debris, from fine dust to larger pieces like cereal. The sealed HEPA filtration also makes it a reasonable choice for anyone who is sensitive to dust being pushed back into the air while cleaning.

That said, the heavier handle weight and the modest attachment set mean it is less ideal if you plan to do a lot of above-floor cleaning, such as vacuuming upholstery or dusting high surfaces. The two included tools are basic, and there is no motorized upholstery tool or hose extension, which makes handheld tasks more awkward than they need to be.

Main Strengths

The most impressive thing about the PowerClean in our testing was its pickup performance. The tangle-free brush roll paired with a floor head that has a large gate in the front allowed it to pick up the full range of debris we threw at it, from fine dust all the way up to extra-large debris like Froot Loops on hard floors. Its hard floor pickup score was well above average as a result. On carpets, it was similarly strong, picking up debris nearly perfectly.

Even more impressive was the carpet deep clean test, where sand is embedded into medium-pile carpet and the bin is weighed before and after a set number of passes on max power. The PowerClean got a perfect score of 100%, which is rare for a cordless vacuum of any price. The average across all the cordless vacuums we have tested is 93%, so this result really stands out. Its crevice pickup test score was also above average, which tells us it has a reasonably good seal on hard floors.

Another pro is its filtration. Bissell calls this a HEPA sealed allergen system, and it passed our fog test with no visible fog, meaning the air going through this vacuum is actually being filtered before it exits. Good filtration is one of the more important qualities to look for in a cordless vacuum, because it is much more common than you would think for these machines to push microscopic particles back into your air while cleaning.

One more pro is that this vacuum is quieter than average. We measured it at 74 dB on max power, where the average is 77. Not a dramatic difference, but noticeably quieter in practice. It also has bright LED lights on the floor head to help you see debris you might otherwise miss, and it can stand up on its own without leaning against a wall, which is something we almost never see on a cordless vacuum and which we always appreciate.

Things to Consider Before Buying

The most significant con is the handle weight, which came in at 1,880 g, considerably above the average of around 1,512 g. Handle weight matters a lot with cordless vacuums because all of that weight is carried on your forearm as you clean. The heavier the handle, the more tiring it becomes over a full cleaning session. The PowerClean’s handle weight would put it in the heavier tier among what we have tested. This becomes particularly noticeable in handheld mode, where the shape of the handle is also a bit awkward.

The dust bin is also significantly smaller than average at 400 ml, where the average across the cordless vacuums we have tested is about 746 ml. That is not quite half the typical bin size, which means you will be emptying it more frequently. And when you do empty it, it is a manual process that requires removing the canister completely. It does not have a push button or one-touch emptying mechanism.

The battery life on low power at 40 minutes is a touch below the average of 45 minutes. We also measured it on max power with the floor head attached, and it came in at about 13 minutes, which is right around average. When you combine that number with its airflow, you get its battery efficiency score, which gives you a picture of how efficiently the motor uses battery power. It was actually above average here at around 18 points compared to the average of about 16. So it is not that the battery is inefficient; it is more that the overall run time is modest.

It also does not have active hair removal, the plastic comb systems built into the brush housing that prevent hair from tangling on the roller during use. It does have what Bissell calls a tangle-free brush roll, but it was not enough. For example, in our 14-inch hair test, it scored a little below average. There are multiple vacuums at this price point and lower that handle long hair noticeably better.

There is one more thing worth addressing, and it is something that our test results cannot fully capture. The customer reviews for the PowerClean give us real pause. We looked carefully at the one-star and two-star reviews. While some of the complaints about battery life are likely cases of people running the vacuum on max power without realizing it, there is a pattern that is harder to dismiss. Multiple verified purchasers reported that the vacuum stopped working entirely after just a few months of use, with issues including the brush roll ceasing to spin, loss of suction with no apparent cause, and mechanical failures of the wand connection. These reviews describe regular maintenance being done correctly and the failures happening anyway. When that pattern appears consistently, it is worth flagging.

Buying Advice

Our testing experience was positive, but we can only test what we can see in a few weeks. We cannot see what happens to a product in five months. After adding up all the scores, the Bissell PowerClean ended up ranking around 30th place out of all the cordless vacuums we have tested, which means it did not make our top 10 list. And at $200, it is facing real competition. There are vacuums ranking significantly higher that sell for less.

If you already own this vacuum, our test results suggest you will get solid performance from it. But if you are deciding whether to buy it, we would encourage you to weigh the strong pickup and filtration against the heavier handle weight, the small dust bin, and the durability concerns raised in customer reviews.

Conclusion

The Bissell PowerClean 4173 performs well on the fundamentals: good pickup, great carpet deep clean, solid filtration, and quiet operation. But the heavier handle weight, modest attachment set, small dust bin, and the pattern of long-term reliability complaints in customer reviews are meaningful trade-offs. At around $200, it faces real competition from vacuums that rank higher and sell for less. If you prioritize strong everyday pickup and sealed filtration and can live with the heavier feel, it is a capable cleaner. But if above-floor cleaning or long-term reliability is a priority, it is worth looking at other options in this price range.