Makita XLC02ZB 18V LXT Lithium-Ion Cordless Vacuum, Tool Only

I have the Milwaukee M12 compact handheld vaccum, and was super disappointed with its performance. Thats what led me to this Makita one. It outperforms the Milwaukee on every level. I like to keep it in my car and use it once a day after my commute. Keeps the carpet looking great. I will be buying one for all my vehicles. The extension and pointed nozzle get down between the seats and the center console really well, suction power is great, and the battery time is around 15-20 minutes of continuous operation. I did purchase a backup 3.0AH battery just in case. The only aspect I dont like is that you have to keep your finger on the trigger for the vaccum to remain on. Milwaukees vacuum lets you lock the trigger in place and keep the vacuum running as you work. I highly recommend this product for keeping around the house/in the car for picking up small food messes, kitty litter spills, or anything else as long as its dry!

I trust Makita product. It is very reliable and durable. Quality of this product also meets Makita quality standard, I believe. However, what I dont like is how we damp the collected dust. The dust sticks to filter inside and I need to use my hand to remove them. My hands get dirty, eventually. It could have been a much better product if we have hands-free damping mechanism.

With three hairy, constantly shedding dogs in our 6,000 sq ft house, this makes capturing those inevitable dust bunnies an easy task. Add to that the light weight, good power, and standard Makita batteries (which we have plenty of) this not only saves time but our backs as well as we can just walk around and make quick work of our daily cleaning task.

Below is my review written a month or two after I bought this two years ago. I still give it four stars even though in the last month it has failed to pick anything up. When I took it apart I realized what happened. My painters had helped themselves to this vacuum and used it to pick up sanding and sheetrock dust and other debris. What you see in the photo if you enlarge it is a ton of sawdust and a bunch of pet hair. I used a real shop vac to get rid of all of the dust and hair and put it together so that it works again but I’m waiting for the cyclonic attachment for this to come on Monday to see if that helps with the filtration problem. I see in the manual that there’s a high-performance filter available for this but it did not come with mine so I’ve been using the “normal pre-filter“ and it obviously doesn’t keep out pet hair. So my advice is to either get the high-performance filter to use over the pre-filter or buy the cyclonic attachment (and you can see the reviews for it on Amazon. I will update with a description of that once I see how it works). Otherwise, this has been a real jam for me and I haven’t had any problem with cracking or battery charging or anything else. I just think Makita could’ve done a better job with filtration. you shouldn’t have to buy a separate attachment for $35 to keep dust out of the inside of a vacuum! Early 2019: I just got this, so cant review longevity. So far here are my pros and cons: PRO: Suction is fantastic! No kickback of granular things like cat litter AT ALL! TIP: Leave the head on the pile youve sucked up for a fraction of a second to give it time to get all of it into the hose. Otherwise some will be left on the floor. PRO: Battery life is great! I charged it maybe 30 mins out of the box and it cleaned my entire kitchen, family room and spots in bedroom bathroom. Still more charge left. CON: The icons on the charger are inscrutable! I still cant figure it all out but when the middle light on the bottom turns green you are good to go. PRO: the head fits in every small areas. It swivels and can run very flat. CON: The head is very small so you have a lot of moving it around compared to something like the Shark Navigator. It is more like a dust buster with a handle. PRO: Because it is more like a dust buster, you dont really vacuum the same way: you just move the vacuum over the whatever and it picks up. No continuous back and forth. PRO: Works great as a hand vac in the car and on the stairs! Does a better job than the carwash does at cleaning out salt and crumbs in the grooves on the seats! PRO: I love the on-board edge cleaner! CON: There is no way to lock the switch ON so you have to constantly hold it down. This is a ridiculous omission considering the Makita drills which do have this feature. My trigger finger would get very tired so it was on/off on/off. Such a simple thing to fix! CON: The handle where you have to grab and trigger the switch is too short by about an inch. I am 54 and have very long arms (used to be 56) so I cant imagine someone taller being able to use this without bending over. CON: I dont see how you can wall mount the charger and there are no instructions for it. You have to remove the battery from the vac and put it in the charger (tough on my arthritic hands) and leave it setting somewhere until the sound goes off. Shark Navigator has a stand that you set the vac on, it charges and you just leave it there until you need it. I find this lack of abilities in the Makita really problematic. CON: The vac doesnt stand up by itself (but neither does the Shark Navigator). SUMMARY: despite the negatives, the positives are worth it: much better suction. Cleaning the dirt cup is easy...you just rotate it a quarter turn to remove it but you do have to use your fingers to peel off pet hair, if any, and occasionally rinse it out (like the Navigator).

We love this over-priced vacuum and use it daily. When it stopped working after 3 months because of a dead charger, I expected a quick replacement from Makita. Instead, I had to mail the charger to a repair center and wait more than a month before they mailed the replacement! I called Makita and asked that they simply send a new charger but nope, they have a stupid policy and by golly they cling to it. Too bad because otherwise, I would be writing about to say how well it works.

I was looking for a handheld after my previous one stopped charging and my husband found this one. Im so glad he did. It keeps a charge for a long time and does a great job plus it has added versatility because of the extension that lets me clean around toilet and pedestal sinks! Amazing!

First off, you should NOT buy this vacuum if: You don’t own any other Makita power tools. You expect this to be your main vacuum. You need this to clean thick carpet. Also I HIGHLY recommend getting the “199553-5 Cyclonic Vacuum Attachment” with it, so much so that IMO it should come with it and be part of the kit. I paid ~$120 (on sale) for the quick charger, 2 AH battery, and vacuum and at most would pay $150 for that kit. At ~$120, I do think it’s a great deal as the battery and quick charger alone are easily worth ~$90, so getting the vacuum for ~$30 is great. However, this is also why I say you need to have other Makita power tools, because if you have no use for the charger or battery outside of this vacuum it’s a terrible deal. I use this vacuum to clean my car and garage, and for these tasks it’s fantastic. It’s super light and with the added filter is the perfect length for me to clean the floor (I’m 6’3”) and I use it all the time to clean up random stuff like metal chippings from drilling to dirt tracked in from outside. It can clean short carpet (stuff like entry mats) very well. However, it does not clean thick carpet well as the suction isn’t super strong (at least compared to my Shark vacuum). As I mentioned earlier, I think you essentially HAVE to buy the extra filter as it allows you to use the vacuum without needing to change the main filter and it also seems to improve the suction of the vacuum as well. The added filter essentially acts as the “bag” of the vacuum and makes it much easier to dump out the collected dirt and “protects” the main filter significantly. So much so that I still haven’t had to replace it despite using it frequently and owning it for almost a year. Again I do NOT suggest this as your main/only vacuum as it’s just not up to that task, but as a second/portable vacuum this is a GREAT vacuum.

This works well, but yep observations; 1) strange to keep the trigger pulled while vacuuming. 2) the top part is oddly heavy because of the battery. Took a little to get used to it and now it’s all good.

Very light. Battery lasts forever. Great for floors and stairs. Not good enough for carpet though. Sadly, it’s just not strong enough for carpet. Otherwise, I love this thing. No cord, no hassle, zips through kitchen and bathroom in seconds. Picks up hair like crazy, no tangled rotary thing so hair cyclones right in. Great little tool.

Works great