The roller on this vacuum does the best job on mid-height carpet to brush the fabric noticeably and does pick up pet hair on carpet. Moderate performance on flat floors picking up pet hair, why is that, even with 2-level motor setting. This unit is expensive, it replaces a Riccar commercial-type upright heavy-duty model that I can't even buy anymore, and the roller works better than the Riccar. I think if the Sonic had a better height adjustment might be better. Will have to see if there's some way to correct the height for floors, but not apparent from the base instructions. Would buy again overall... but maybe it needs a hose / nozzle backside attachment like the Riccar and it would cover all the bases.

We recently purchased Karistan looped carpeting throughout our house. A beaterless vacuum cleaner was recommended to clean the new carpet. Does the job and I like that it has a dual speed so that the slower speed can be used on stone and wooden floor. My only regret is that attachments are not available for this vacuum to clean our carpeted steps.

My first impressions are very good of this vacuum cleaner. I even thought it even looked a bit sexy with the black and gold, then I remembered - it's a vacuum cleaner, not my favorite thing.
I've seen a lot of people asking questions about this vacuum cleaner and will try to answer some here.

I bought this particular vacuum mainly because it states it is designed for soft carpet. We moved from a house with hardwoods throughout, into a house with very soft, plush carpet as well as laminate and tile. I soon burned up my faithful 20 year old Kenmore canister vac with beater bar attachement. While looking for a replacement and seeing that other people were having the same trouble I had with my old vacuum not wanting to pull through the carpet, I realized that I had essentially killed my old vacuum by insisting it work beyond it's limits, and that I needed a different type of machine. This Soniclean Soft Carpet cleaner caught my eye. It is recommended by a couple fine soft carpet makers and it wasn't sky high expensive like some.

It came well packed in the retail box. The use instruction booklet is pretty straightforward. The only assembly was attaching the upper handle and cord hook to the machine. An allen wrench is included. The cord is long and doesn't retract, just winds around the two hooks on the handle. I noticed that the cord and plug did not get warm while in use. I good sign.
The included replaceable paper HEPA bag was already in place. ( I bought extra bags that are sold separately on Amazon as I'm not sure I can find them in my small town. It was $25 for eight bags.)
The vacuum cleaner came with one scent pod which is filled with liquid and goes just inside the outer zipper bag in a special holder. Pull the silver seal tab and snap in place. I was skeptical of the pod because I am sensitive to a lot of fragrances, especially those like the plug in room deodorizers, but I thought I'd give it a try so I could include it in the review. It is a very fresh scent, slightly floral, but not overpowering at all. I only sneezed once while vacuuming the house, so that good for me. If you are sensitive you can leave out the pod. It doesn't affect the performance either way.

It is very lightweight for a full size upright. They have used a heavy cloth with nice zipper instead of rigid plastic for the bag compartment and left off the auto cord rewinder. Those things add a lot of weight. The paper inner HEPA bag is also lighter than those messy plastic cups you have to empty, and is much cleaner to handle and dispose of.

This cleaner self-adjusts to hard floor and carpets of different heights and seems to do a good job. It has a little foot button on the back of the head to lower the handle. Much better than some new ones I've seen where you just jerk it in and out of position. This handle will go all the way to the floor if needed.
The front of the head is approx. 2 inches high, the back is 4 1/2" high. It's 14" wide at the front including a small rubber bumper. The overall height to the tip of the handle is 44".

It is a little loud, especially on "carpet" mode. It isn't a high pitched squeal at least, like my old dying canister (should have been a warning), but I always use earplugs anyway so not a big deal for me.

This vacuum does NOT have a hose and therefore no accessory tools. I may miss the tools that my old canister had, but I'll work around it with a hand vac.

There are 2 air vents on the bottom front. Fully open is for the softest plush carpet that drags down most machines. Fully closed is for bare floors. You can open, fully close, or half close either or both to adjust suction and drag. I found that closing one halfway was perfect for my carpet. I also found that you don't have to reach down and close them for bare floors. It seemed to have plenty of suction at the setting for my carpet. It may lose a little suction as the bag fills, but so far it's great. It did a good job of cleaning and I didn't feel like it was struggling at all. I noticed the nap was standing up nicely after vacuuming, much better than with my old vacuum. It is fairly easy to push and pull. It does leave faint lines in the carpet, but those never bother me. It actually helps to see where I have been. The head has little brushes on the side front that help with edges. It seemed to do a good job around the baseboards.

It has two speeds. First for "carpet/bare floors", second for "carpet". That sounds confusing, but it just means the beater bar that vibrates and helps on thick carpet will not be vibrating on the first speed. (The roller brush turns on both speeds). You don't want the beater bar on while doing bare floors and it's not necessary for low pile mats. Speaking of mats, I don't recommend using it on small lightweight rugs because it will suck them up and jam the machine. (guess how I learned that) If, however, the area rug or runner is big and fairly heavy, if you go at it on an angle instead of straight on, it won't pick up the edge so easily. I was very happy to note that the Soniclean didn't scratch my hard floors (tile and laminate) like my old canister vac's beater bar attachment did which caused me to have to change heads mid cleaning.
The second, higher setting, "carpet" turns on the beater bar for thicker, softer carpets. The rocker type switch takes a little getting used to. I kept turning it off instead of just turning it down. There is a blue light on the front of the machine that pulses when the vibrator bar is turned on. I suppose to remind you to turn it off if you change to hard floors. It does not have a regular light though.

It took less time to vacuum my house with the new cleaner (yay!) since I didn't have to switch attachments from carpet to bare floors. The whole house had a nice, light, clean smell from the scent pod. My carpets look better than ever and my bare floors are clean and unscratched. A very nice replacement for the vacuum cleaner I killed. I'll let you know if I still love it in a few months.

We have Earth Weave carpet, that is natural 100% Undyed & Untreated Wool. After the carpet was installed we were using our Dyson vacuum on it and it was tearing up the new carpet. We found this vacuum on Amazon and it has worked great! My only complaint is that it is a very simple vacuum without a lot of features. It doesn't have a hose, which makes it more difficult to vacuum stairs and corners. But the suction is great-- not too much that it destroys the carpet, but not too little that it doesn't pick up dirt. I also wish that the brush stopped spinning when in the upright position. Otherwise, it is easy to use and I'm very thankful I can have clean carpet that stays looking nice.

Awesome vacuum! Lightweight, powerful, and glides across the carpet. Love it!