Dyson Medic

What is the difference between the Dyson DC40 and the Dyson DC41?

I was asked this question the other day, and although regarded by some as a bit of a Dyson guru, I didn’t have the foggiest idea. I knew they were both recently released “Ball” machines, but as to the difference between them? No idea at all. 

So today, whilst in a retail outlet that shall remain nameless, I grabbed a photo of them both side by side and started slightly dismantling them on the shop floor, much to the staffs consternation.

So here is the skinny: In basic terms, the DC41 is the bigger one and the DC40 is the smaller one. The DC40 is nowhere as near as small as the DC24. Think of them like a DC15 and a DC25 side by side. (If you know your Dysons, that will make sense.) It isn’t terribly obvious from the picture I took though.

The DC41 has a slightly wider cleaner head. It also looks like they share quite a few parts.

The Dyson blurb says this for the DC40:

Dyson DC40 Multi Floor is a lightweight Dyson Ball upright vacuum cleaner with the latest Radial Root Cyclone technology. It generates high suction power at the cleaner head, which automatically self-adjusts for different carpet types and hard floors.

And this for the DC41:

Dyson DC41 Animal is a full-size Dyson Ball upright vacuum cleaner with the latest Radial Root Cyclone technology and an extra tool for pet hair. It generates the strongest suction power at the cleaner head, and automatically self-adjusts for different carpet lengths and hard floors.

There is between £20 and £40 between them at retail price (depending if you choose the “Animal” or “Multifloor” DC40). The top DC41 model is currently £389 on Dysons website. It will be cheaper from independents.

The DC41 has 255 Air Watts of suction power against the DC40’s 200.

Bin capacity is 2.1 litres on the DC41 against 1.6 litres on the DC40.

Dimensions of the DC41 are 1071 x 394 x 340 mm (HxWxD) against 1070 x 350 x 310 mm (HxWxD) for the DC40.

Maximum “reach” (however you define that) is claimed to be 14 meters on the DC41 against 11.95 meters on the DC40.

The length of the flex is 9.5 metres on the DC41 against 7.5 metres on the DC40.

The DC41 weighs 7.8 kilos compared to the DC40 which weighs in at 6.7 kilos.

By comparison, the DC15 weighed 12 kilos, the DC25 weighs 7.4 kilos and the DC24 weighs 5.4 kilos. In my opinion, these machines are both re-worked and re-designed DC25’s that have been designed to replace the DC24 and the DC25. The DC24 was simply too small for most homes (it should have been marketed at pensioners and single folks in small apartments) and suffered too many warranty issues when in day-to-day family use.

Time will tell how good these two products are. If you own a DC40 or a DC41, tell us below what you think of it?