Kenmore 600 Series Canister Vacuum
Verdict
The Kenmore 600 Series delivers strong suction and decent carpet cleaning, but it is bulky, awkward to maneuver, and saddled with mediocre filtration and fussy tools. It is worth considering mainly if you find it on a good sale and prioritize power and pet tools over comfort, maneuverability, and long-term refinement.
Pros
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Carpet — High-Pile Pickup ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 2 reviews 5.0Provides excellent cleaning on thicker carpets, with its powered head and strong suction working effectively even on shag and other high-pile surfaces, and in one comparison it pulled up extra dust that a premium Dyson cordless left behind.
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Carpet — Medium-Pile Pickup ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 3 reviews 4.5On medium pile carpet, the 600 Series delivers solid cleaning power and handles fine sand very well—matching the 200 Series in tests—and its motorized head has been shown to pick up all test sand on some medium-pile carpets, though its older powerhead design can snowplow cereal and leave a bit of cat litter and pet hair behind compared with the best-engineered canister heads.
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Suction & Airflow ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 3 reviews 4.5
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Controls & UI ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 1 review 4.5
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Floorhead design ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 1 review 4.5The Kenmore 600’s main floorhead is a motorized brush roll with belt drive and height adjustment, giving strong carpet agitation and deep cleaning but adding weight and making manual hair removal necessary when the brushroll tangles.
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Pet-Ready Features ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 3 reviews 4.2For pet owners, the 600 Series combines decent pickup from its main powerhead with a dedicated Pet Powermate tool that can deep clean cat trees and upholstery better than most cordless tools, though hair still tends to wrap on the main brushroll and some units report the small powered tool stalling or failing over time.
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Accessories & Tools ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 3 reviews 4.0
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Filtration / Dust Containment ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 3 reviews 4.0The 600 Series uses a multi-stage bag and HEPA exhaust layout, but the lack of a proper sealing gasket at the bag collar lets dust leak into the cabinet and some fine particles escape out the exhaust, so real-world filtration is only mediocre compared with modern fully sealed bagged canisters.
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Cord management ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 3 reviews 3.8The 600 Series includes a retractable cord that winds fully into the canister to cut down on cord clutter, and while its spring feels stronger than on the 200 Series the rewind is still slow, requires holding the pedal, and works best when the cord is pulled completely out first, so cord management feels more fussy than on many competitors.
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Overall durability/longevity ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 3 reviews 3.7Although the 600 Series continues a long running Kenmore canister design and some users, including one reviewer who used a Kenmore for about 20 years without issues, report many years of use, technicians point out taped together internals, non modular wiring that limits the number of viable repairs, and accessory tools that can fail early, suggesting that long term durability and serviceability are more modest than its heritage alone would indicate.
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Overall opinion ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 3 reviews 3.7Overall, reviewers see the Kenmore 600 Series as a powerful but flawed canister that offers strong suction, a useful Pet Powermate, and respectable cleaning for the price yet suffers from extra weight, leaky-feeling ergonomics, and weaker accessories than ideal, making it a reasonable option on sale for pet owners who value its tools but a less compelling choice than the better-value 200 Series or more polished high-end canisters.
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Price & Value ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 3 reviews 3.7
Cons
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Cord length ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 2 reviews 3.3The 600 Series has a retractable cord of about 26 feet that still feels a bit short in everyday use, often forcing users to change outlets more frequently than with some rival canisters even though it offers slightly more reach than the 200 Series.
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Ease of use ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 3 reviews 3.2Ease of use is a weak point for the 600 Series, as its stiff hose, dated wheelbase, slow cord rewind, and finicky Pop N Go hard floor tool make everyday cleaning more cumbersome than with many modern user-friendly canisters, even though on-handle controls and onboard tool storage provide some welcome convenience.
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Maneuverability & Handling ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 3 reviews 2.8
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Stair Cleaning ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 2 reviews 2.8The canister body can brace itself on stairs using its molded stair grip and Pop N Go or smaller tools, but the included motorized stair or pet tool often stalls or cuts out under load, making stair cleaning more awkward and less effective than the tool layout suggests.
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Weight ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 3 reviews 2.7The added tools and onboard storage make the 600 Series several pounds heavier than the 200, so it can feel a bit cumbersome to carry and pull.
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Hard Floor — Fine Dust Pickup ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 1 review 2.5On hard floors, the 600 Series has mixed results with fine debris: the powerhead can leave a narrow strip of dust where the belt runs and sometimes drops material back out of the nozzle, while the separate hard floor tool does a better job on fine dust but may scatter a little cat litter.
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Hard Floor — Large Debris Intake ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ 1 review 2.0Large debris pickup on hard floors is weaker than many canisters, as the main nozzle tends to snowplow cereal and allow heavier particles to bounce around inside the head instead of cleanly carrying them away on the first pass.
