1.5kg ultra-light body will change the vacuum cleaner industry! Sharp "RACTIVE Air" is a gem that can withstand high places

Sharp has announced the RACTIVE Air EC-A1R, a cordless stick vacuum cleaner equipped with a power brush with a built-in motor. It will be released on December 8th, and the actual sales price is around 60,000 yen excluding tax. While there are many models with actual selling prices exceeding 70,000 to 80,000 yen at the time of release, this machine has the impression that it is relatively inexpensive. And it is said that the biggest feature is "lightness". Let's take a closer look at the appeal of RACTIVE Air and Sharp's goals from the press conference.

Conventional vacuum cleaners can't clean about half of the dust

We introduced that the major point of RACTIVE Air is its "lightness", but the aim is to "always keep your home and air clean." A life that doesn't accumulate dust," says Takashi Suzuki, general manager of Sharp's Small Appliance Division. According to Mr. Suzuki, about 50% of the dust in the house is on the floor. 20% of it accumulates on furniture, and 30% on shelves and refrigerators. In short, vacuum cleaners are not able to clean about half of the dust in the house.

Therefore, the concept of RACTIVE Air is to clean not only the floor but also the upper space such as furniture and shelves. That's why they've made a serious effort to reduce the weight.

Thorough weight reduction with "dry carbon" used in aircraft

RACTIVE Air adopts "dry carbon", which is made by molding the carbon material on the seat at high pressure. This material is used for parts that require lightness and strength, such as airplanes, rockets, and automobiles, as well as golf shafts and fishing rods.

Tetsuya Okuda of Sharp's product planning department said, "By adopting extremely slim and light dry carbon, the overall weight of the vacuum cleaner is reduced by about 40% (compared to the premium model "EC-SX520" weighing 2.4 kg). realized. The burden of operation has been greatly reduced. You can smoothly clean under the table, which is easy to get dirty," he said, and talked about the market background and the product's strengths.

"The performance of the cordless vacuum cleaner has improved and it can be used as the main vacuum cleaner, and in 2015 the sales composition ratio surpassed the canister type. However, the main focus is on being able to clean the whole house with one And the stick vacuum cleaner is getting heavier year by year.From 2014 to 2016, it has become about 30% heavier, and the reality is that it is far from the need for quick cleaning.Therefore, we narrowed down to cleaning quickly. The basic design has been reviewed from scratch.Everything other than the battery motor has been removed to achieve an overwhelming weight reduction without compromising basic performance.However, there is no compromise in suction power.Premium model " By adopting the same motor as the EC-SX520 and narrowing the pipe, we increased the pressure and achieved a faster wind speed than the canister type.” (Mr. Okuda)

"Magic balance" and "garbage sensor" are omitted for lightness

I actually tried holding it, but 1.5kg is the normal stick vacuum cleaner that weighs 2kg or more. is overwhelmingly light. In addition, it comes with a crevice nozzle and a "hataki nozzle" that can be adjusted at an angle and makes it easy to clean the top of the air conditioner, so it seems that you can easily clean the whole house including high places.

Another attractive feature is the "choikake hook" on the back of the main unit. It has a hook that can be hung on the back of a chair or the kitchen counter. It's convenient when cleaning is interrupted.

By the way, when it comes to cordless stick vacuum cleaners, the things that come to mind are "charging" and "storage/installation." In order to take it out and use it quickly at any time, two things are essential: "easy to charge" and "can be stored and installed without getting in the way". Some manufacturers come with wall-mounted brackets that support charging, and in the case of free-standing models, they come with a charging base.

In the case of Sharp, by adopting a "separate charge" that removes the battery and charges it with a charger, if you purchase an optional battery (8640 yen), you can also "charge while cleaning". increase. The battery charging time is about 80 minutes, the cleaning time is about 8 minutes in strong mode, and about 30 minutes in standard mode.

We also have a stand for installation (sold separately), but even if you don't buy it, the new hook makes it easier to store.

Carbon is a material used in high-end road bike frames and high-end camera tripods, so the cost is never low. However, while the premium model EC-SX520 is priced at around 70,000 yen, the RACTIVE Air is priced at around 60,000 yen. According to Mr. Tetsuya Okuda of the Product Planning Department, the reason for this is "divided".

"Since we pursued weight reduction this time, we decided not to use the self-supporting ``magic balance''. Also, the ``garbage sensor'' that detects dust is not installed in the RACTIVE Air." (Mr. Okuda)

If you want high performance, we recommend the high-end model, but for those who want to reduce the burden of regular cleaning, the RACTIVE Air is definitely recommended.

I felt the possibility of opening up a new category for this machine

A cordless stick vacuum cleaner is a handheld vacuum cleaner with an extension tube and head attached, like the RACTIVE Air and Dyson. There are two main types: the type that sticks, and the type that stands on its own like Electrolux's "Ergorapido Series". The former type has a heavy body at hand, so the weight on the hand was a burden when cleaning the floor. However, this model is groundbreaking in that it has become possible to clean high places easily, even for women with weak strength, by thoroughly reducing the weight. With the appearance of this machine, a new category called "lightweight model", which is a completely lightweight body itself, may start in the future - I felt that this product has such potential.