Bcs reviews

Setup ease and security of tank and hose attachments
loading weights ease of loading and security of integrated-weight system

Real forex bonuses

The Best Scuba BCDs of 2020 Reviewed, bcs reviews.

comfort overall comfort, both in and out of the water
adjustability ease of adjusting and range of adjustment
attitude and stability in swim and vertical (head-up and head-down) positions, overall sense control of attitude and trim
streamlining is drag noticeable at depth?
Stowage usefulness and accessibility of cargo pockets, D-rings, loops, etc., for securing accessories
valve operation ability to control when inflating/deflating by power inflator and manually, ergonomics of the controls
ascent control ability to maintain desired ascent rate and attitude
surface floating position comfort and stability while inflated at the surface
ditching weight system ability to drop weights quickly, security from accidental ditching scubalab tested 15 back-inflation, jacket, hybrid and back-plate/wing bcds

The best scuba bcds of 2020 reviewed

Scubalab tested 15 back-inflation, jacket, hybrid and back-plate/wing bcds

A BCD—also called a BC or buoyancy compensator—is the core of your scuba gear setup. Divers are very particular about their preferred BCD style, as one slight tweak can throw everything out of whack underwater. Scubalab's test divers kept this in mind while evaluating 15 new bcds for their 2020 review. This review, which had a big focus on jacket-style, hybrid, back-inflation, and backplate/wing bcds, was conducted with real-world testing, resulting in the best head-to-head scuba gear review out there. Check out our review for the best scuba bcds of 2020 below, and visit our gear page for more on the latest scubalab reviews.

2020 scuba bcs reviewed:

Jacket and hybrid bcs

Scubapro X-black

Aqua lung omni

Genesis origin

Hog hybrid pro

Seac EQ-pro

Back-inflation bcs

Atomic aquatics BC2

Cressi commander evolution

Cressi lightwing

Cressi scorpion

Dive rite hydro lite

XS scuba phantom SL

Back-plate/wing bcs

OMS deep ocean 2.0

OMS mono wing 27

Seac modular max

TUSA BC0502B t-wing

How we test

Ergo test

Testing was conducted at blue grotto dive resort in williston, florida, by divers equipped with slates and waterproof test sheets. Divers recorded their observations and assigned scores from 5 (excellent) to 1 (poor) in each of the following categories:

Setup ease and security of tank and hose attachments
loading weights ease of loading and security of integrated-weight system
comfort overall comfort, both in and out of the water
adjustability ease of adjusting and range of adjustment
attitude and stability in swim and vertical (head-up and head-down) positions; overall sense control of attitude and trim
streamlining is drag noticeable at depth?
Stowage usefulness and accessibility of cargo pockets, D-rings, loops, etc., for securing accessories
valve operation ability to control when inflating/deflating by power inflator and manually; ergonomics of the controls
ascent control ability to maintain desired ascent rate and attitude
surface floating position comfort and stability while inflated at the surface
ditching weight system ability to drop weights quickly; security from accidental ditching

Objective test

We conducted three tests in a swimming pool to measure criteria important to performance and safety.

Flow rate we tested the ability of each BC’s exhaust system to prevent uncontrolled ascent in the event of a stuck power inflator. At 10 feet of depth, each BC while loaded with 20 percent of the claimed buoyant lift was held upright while the power inflator and upper exhaust were simultaneously activated for 20 seconds. Industry standards require that at the conclusion a BC has not become positively buoyant.

Buoyant lift each BC was fully inflated with the power inflator while mounted upright to a neutrally buoyant bucket. The bucket was then progressively weighted until the BC would not support another pound without sinking.

Inherent buoyancy to determine how a BC’s built-in buoyancy would affect weighting requirements, each BC was submerged, with care taken to remove all air from air cell, pockets, padding, etc. Weights were then added in half-pound increments until the BC would support no further weight without sinking.

Pioneer BCS-303 review

Key specifications

pioneer’s BCS-303 provides a convenient and cost effective way of getting a complete high-definition home cinema system in one fell swoop. Because the five satellite speakers (2 x front, centre, 2 x surround) are extremely compact, each one measuring just 96 x 96 x 85mm, it’s perfect for bedrooms or living rooms without an abundance of space. An alternative version of this system, the BCS-707, comes with two pairs of tall speakers for the front and rear channels.

The system comes in two boxes – inside one is the XV-BD707, a combined blu-ray player and AV receiver, and in the other is the S-BD303 5.1 speaker system. The blu-ray receiver is a straight-laced but fashionable-looking unit, coated in pioneer’s regular gloss-black finish. Its build quality is superb by normal all-in-one standards mainly thanks to its robust aluminium top panel.

The fascia features an illuminated volume dial, covered USB port and MP3 player input on the right hand side, while a row of small playback buttons runs along the top for up-close control. On the back is a useful, if not comprehensive, line-up of sockets, including HDMI v1.3, component, composite and analogue stereo outputs, as well as two optical digital audio inputs for your external sources, an ethernet port to tap into the unit’s networking capabilities and an aerial input for the built-in FM radio tuner. Unsurprisingly the terminals for the supplied speaker cables are springclips.

Not a bad selection then, but it’s a shame there are no HDMI inputs for passing other high-definition devices through the system. Not only would this have allowed you to switch between sources and take up just one HDMI input on your TV, but it would have also let you enjoy surround sound from those sources without rigging up a separate optical cable.

As for the speakers, the satellites are a step up from the usual light, plasticky boxes supplied with some all-in-one systems – they’re weighty and dressed in a classy gloss-black finish and a cloth grille on the front. That goes for the centre speaker too, which is elongated to fit into narrow AV rack shelves. At just 130mm wide, the side-firing subwoofer is one of the slimmest we’ve come across, which means it should be easy to accommodate. The front is styled in a matching gloss black finish, and the rear sports nothing except a springclip speaker terminal – par for the course for passive subs.

Rigging the whole thing up is a piece of cake, as the cables are all colour-coded to match the terminals on the back of the main unit. There’s no automatic calibration on board, which means you’ll have to tweak the sound manually if the factory settings don’t suffice, but the speaker setup section of the setup menu is easy to find, allowing you to adjust the volume and distance from listening position for each channel – a test tone lets you check the results as you go along.

There’s an surprisingly generous range of features on board, the highlight of which is the unit’s DLNA media streaming through the ethernet port. The list of playable formats includes divx plus HD, MKV, MP3, WMA and JPEG, any of which can also be played back from USB storage devices and external hdds (FAT16, FAT 32 and NTFS) via the front-mounted port.

In fact, the USB port is a talented blighter – with a USB device connected you can rip tracks from cds into MP3 format, plus it’s used for BD live storage as there’s no built-in memory. Sadly though, there’s no support for wi-fi dongles.

In the box, you’ll find an ipod dock, which lets you play music from your ipod or iphone and control it using the system’s remote. You can even stream music from devices like mobiles, laptops, MP3 players and pdas thanks to the built-in bluetooth (A2DP) support. To use this function, you need to buy pioneer’s optional AS-BT100 adapter and plug it into your external device.

There’s also a range of ‘sound effect’ presets that can be toggled through using the dedicated button on the remote. There’s a choice of two ‘pioneer’ settings – one designed for this system’s small speakers and one for the BCS-707’s tall speakers – as well as bass blast, PLII movie/music, clear voice (improving the clarity of speech), game, night, music retouch (for compressed music playback) and loudness. Not a fan of dsps? Then the bypass mode will give it to you straight. On the visual side, there are some basic picture adjustments (contrast, brightness, colour, sharpness) and a few presets to choose from.

The BCS-303 features a very smartly presented menu system, which is exactly the same as the one found on LG’s players and systems last year. In fact, the remote and manual are exactly the same too, which makes us believe the blu-ray receiver is an LG in disguise. Still, that’s not necessarily a bad thing, as the menus’ attractive icons and crisp fonts are a real joy, and the cursor reacts responsively. The MP3 and CD playback menus are pleasant to use too, listing songs clearly – it’s just a shame there’s no on-board gracenote database to name tracks when you rip them.

The similarity to LG’s cinema systems and the inclusion of home link media streaming makes us wonder why pioneer didn’t also provide an internet streaming function, given that a) the company’s latest standalone player (BDP-330) already features youtube access and b) most other home cinema systems offer some sort of web content.

Anyway, onto the more pressing matter of performance, and the system’s quoted 1,100W sounds optimistic but it certainly packs a punch when playing films like ”the dark knight”. Crank up the volume as little as halfway and it fills the room with a powerful sound, which comes into its own during the vehicle chase through gotham. There’s a healthy dollop of bottom end beneath bazooka explosions, trucks smack into each other with a crisp, bracing crunch and the forceful reproduction of the thumping score is a visceral experience as well as an aural one.

Its handling of dolby truehd’s high-resolution detail is also impressive. You can hear plenty of delicate high-frequency sounds during blistering action scenes and quieter passages, while dialogue is conveyed with openness and clarity.

It’s a forthright, dynamic sound but not one without problems. Although loud, the bass output isn’t as taut or focused as it should be. When batman approaches sal maroni at the nightclub, the thumping dance music sounds resonant and boomy, overpowering the other effects, which happens with most bass-heavy action scenes. Thankfully, you can reduce the level but we could never quite get the sub and sats working in complete harmony.

We also tried out a selection of music cds and the pioneer delivers a pleasant if not mind-blowing sound. There’s a pleasing balance across the frequencies and vocals sound clear, yet the sound is a little too narrow and coloured to compete with more competent separates systems.

Picture-wise there are no flaws to report. The ”dark knight’s” dense, shadowy images are transferred to screen with admirable precision, maintaining that crucial sense of filmic depth, while colours are on point and all the detail within each 1080-line frame is resolved with entrancing sharpness. Dvds don’t dazzle in the same way, yet it does a fine job at keeping artefacts at bay when upscaling them to 1080p.

It may not be particularly dazzling in terms of looks, features or sound quality, but the BCS-303 is a decent, dependable all-in-one system that offers good value for money. The inclusion of media streaming, bluetooth support, an ipod dock and a long list of playable media formats via USB all count in its favour, picture quality is superb and the compact speakers are wonderfully discreet. Wi-fi support, HDMI inputs and better sound quality would have earned it even more brownie points but on the whole this is a good effort.

Pioneer BCS-707 review

Key specifications

Here we’re testing another of pioneer’s systems, the BCS-707, which is similar to the BCS-303 in most respects, except that its speaker configuration is considerably different. Whereas the BCS-303 came equipped with a set of five compact bookshelf speakers that you could perch discreetly around the room, the BCS-707 comes with four whacking great towers for the rear and front channels, which should make a real style statement when erected either side of a swanky flatpanel TV.

As you might expect at this sort of price, these tower speakers fall some way short of the meticulously robust build quality you get from the likes of monitor audio or teufel, but the cabinets do feel reasonably solid and from a distance look rather attractive. The top half houses the drivers, which are covered by cloth grilles, while the gloss black panel at the bottom gives it a touch of contemporary class. Each tower needs to be screwed to a circular wooden base, rounding off the look nicely.

The speaker line-up is completed by a gloss-black centre speaker that’s compact enough to easily squeeze onto an AV rack shelf, and a slender passive subwoofer. It may be remarkably light and hollow but looks nice and the fact you can tuck it into a tight space is a real godsend. All of the cables you need are supplied in the box and connect to springclip terminals on the back of each speaker and on the main unit.

The combined blu-ray player and receiver supplied here is the XV-BD707, the same unit used by the BCS-303 system. As we noted before, it takes no risks aesthetically with its straight lines and chunky dimensions (it measures 430(w) x 64(h) x 304(d)mm) but that doesn’t mean it’s not attractive – the snazzy gloss black finish and illuminated volume dial bring a bit of pizzazz. There’s a clear, easy-to-read display panel on the front, as well as a covered USB port and minijack input for an MP3 player. A row of small buttons runs along the top covering frequently used functions.

On the back you’ll find an HDMI output, which is specified as v1.3 so 3D playback is out of the question. Even more disappointing than that is the lack of HDMI inputs, which would have allowed you to switch external sources though the system, such as a PS3 and sky box. However, if you want to feed audio signals into the pioneer you can use the two optical digital or the analogue stereo inputs.

The rest of the sockets are run-of-the-mill – component and composite video outputs, FM aerial input and an ethernet port for accessing the system’s network features, which include BD live access and DLNA streaming from pcs and any other compatible devices you have hooked up. It’s the shame there’s no built-in wi-fi or support for a wireless USB adapter, which makes network installation a little more hassle than it should be.

Still, it’s nice to see media streaming on the feature list at this price. It works extremely well and supports a wide range of formats, including divx plus HD, MKV, MP3, WMA, JPEG and AAC. You can also play your files from USB storage devices and external hdds using the front mounted port or rip CD tracks into MP3. The inclusion of an ipod dock in the box gives you yet another way of playing digital content, and it doesn’t stop there either – splash out on pioneer’s bluetooth adapter (AS-BT100) and you can stream music from phones and laptops too.

There’s plenty more too – dolby truehd and DTS HD master audio decoding; more sound modes than you can shake a stick at (including ones for gaming, MP3 playback and a ‘pioneer’ setting designed specifically for this system’s tower speakers); dolby pro logic II; 1080p DVD upscaling; and a selection of picture presets that can be applied during movie playback by pressing the display button, which brings up a handy sidebar menu.

Installation is simple. The home menu makes it clear where to find the setup menu, and once there all the options are laid out in a clear and easy to digest manner. The cursor is a little sluggish to move around though. Under the speaker setup section, you can tweak the distance and volume of each channel with a pretty graphic to help you, or you can simply hit the ‘spk level’ button on the remote and use the front panel display. It’s all fairly unsophisticated stuff but that’s what you want from a system aimed primarily at newcomers. The remote is nicely laid out, with large, clearly labelled buttons, which makes day-to-day operation a hassle-free business.

In our review of the BCS-303, we suspected that the main unit was a rebadged LG, and obviously, that applies here too. The remote, onscreen displays, sockets and design aspects of the main unit are identical to those found on LG’s systems from last year.

Obviously, we’re keen to discover how this system’s tower speakers perform in relation to the BCS-303’s compact satellites, and the good news is that they offer a slight improvement, although elsewhere the system suffers the same flaws.

But let’s start with the good stuff – with ”the dark knight” on blu-ray, the system injects the dolby truehd soundtrack with plenty of dynamism and zest, resulting in a crisp, sprightly sound. As the real and imitation batmen fighting off the bad guys in the car park, the BCS-707 concocts an intoxicating mixture of snappy gunshots, meaty punches and screeching car tyres, while the stirring score chugs along urgently in the background. There’s some nice attention to detail too, like the chink of bullet cartridges hitting the floor and gentle echoes off the walls, plus the soundstage is expansive.

The centre channel also conveys speech clearly. Harvey dent’s dialogue in the courtroom is prominent and articulate, and ‘s’ sounds are shaped without sibilance. Even commissioner gordon’s mumbly conversations with dent are easy to hear.

But the main problem is bass performance. The subwoofer overpowers the other speakers with its boomy output, and makes loud effects like explosions and shotgun blasts resonate for longer than they should – with more tautness and grip, bottom end performance could have been much more satisfying, but that’s not something passive all-in-one subs are known for.

And like so many all-in-one systems in this price bracket, the general feel of the sound is too boxed-in, lacking the openness and dazzling clarity you get from more serious speakers. The BCS-707 is only likely to satisfy the needs of casual listeners looking to improve on the sound offered by their TV speakers.

It’s much the same with music – when playing the gritty soul of john legend & the roots’ ”wake up!” on CD, the BCS-707 achieves a pleasant balance with clean top-end, smooth vocal reproduction and a tidy sense of rhythm and timing, but a lack of integration from the subwoofer and limited dynamics don’t always hit the spot.

There are no problems with blu-ray picture quality though – the BCS-707 delivers super-sharp 1080p images with radiant colours and a contrast balance that keeps gotham’s city streets looking suitably mean and menacing without losing sight of the detail contained within.

Provided you leave your audiophile aspirations at the door, the BCS-707 is a respectable home cinema system, especially at this price. There’s a decent selection of features, including DLNA networking, wide format support, lots of sound modes and a supplied ipod dock, plus it’s easy to set up and looks stylish with its moody, modern black finish.

But sadly, the cons outweigh the pros. There are no HDMI inputs, no support for wi-fi, 3D or web content (all of which are slowly becoming standard features on rival systems) and the speaker build quality isn’t the greatest. But the biggest disappointment is the sound quality, which is too boxy and bass-heavy to completely convince.

Bcs reviews

For many years, folks asked me: вђњdonвђ™t you have a company logo?Вђќ and we really didnвђ™t, as I just never took the time to come up with oneвђ¦we just had вђњearth toolsвђќ written out in a blocky font, and that passed for a logo.

Finally, though, I decided to put some effort into it, and I hired my sister-in-law trina peiffer (my wifeвђ™s twin sister) to make a line drawing of the earth tools sign we have here at the shop. This sign is made out of a 4-foot length of eastern red cedar log; the letters are carved with a chain saw.

I made this sign about 15 years ago (below is a photo). I figured this was a logo with some вђњmeaningвђќвђ¦not just some arbitrary design. Hope you like it!

Can't get through at our main number above? Try this number: 312-761-0629 OR email [email protected]

COVID-19 measures

Due to the COVID-19 (corona virus) global pandemic, we are operating with a reduced number of staff. Also, supply chain disruptions may cause delays in shipping. We appreciate your business and your patience in this time of national emergency, and weвђ™re working as hard as we can to get orders out as fast as possible, WITHOUT cutting corners on the proper equipment setup, prep & checkout that we are famous for. ORDERS ARE SHIPPED ON A FIRST-COME, FIRST-SERVED BASIS.

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NEW: REGIONAL DELIVERY SERVICE!!

- DELIVERY SERVICE SUSPENDED DUE TO COVID-19 -

We are now offering a вђњregionalвђќ delivery service for tractor & implement orders within a 400-road-mile radius of our location in owenton KY. Earth toolsвђ™ ownerвђ™s father-in-law charlie will be doing the deliveries. Charges for this service will be a bit more than for shipping by truck freight (call for a quote to your specific location), but delivery will be with a pickup truck (and trailer, if needed) that can get to most any location вђ“ unlike a semi-truck. Also, scheduling of the delivery will be more flexible, to better meet your needs. More вђњperksвђќ of this service are that the equipment will be FULLY assembled, and charlie will show you basic operation of the tractor. Minimum merchandise order for this service: $6000. Call for a delivery quote!

- DELIVERY SERVICE SUSPENDED DUE TO COVID-19 -

Why are new BCS tractors BLACK?

Beginning in late 2017, the BCS factory started a new вђњpaint schemeвђќ for their tractors and implements: the tractors are just painted BLACK, and the BCS-branded implements are painted SILVER . So, on the tractors, the only "blue" parts are now the plastic вђњbeautyвђќ shrouds for the handlebars.

WHY?

Because the BCS factory in italy produces 3 brands of walk-behind tractors on the same assembly line: BCS, ferrari, and pasquali (BCS purchased these other 2 companies in the 1990sвђ¦and no, this is NOT the automotive вђњferrari!Вђќ) . Historically, they had different paint-lines for each tractor and implement line (blue for BCS, green for ferrari, and yellow for pasquali)вђ¦but sometime in 2017, they decided to optimize efficiency by painting all the tractors and implements вђњneutralвђќ colors and just letting the plastic shrouds and decals delineate what brand tractor it would be. Hence, black BCS tractors started appearing in the USA in early 2018. (since there were still lots of вђњblueвђќ BCS tractors and implements in the supply-chain вђњpipelineвђќ, some blue equipment will still be supplied in the coming months.)

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GARDEN TOOLS

Your source for small farming equipment & tools

WHAT A WALK-BEHIND TRACTOR IS:

A walk-behind tractor (also called walking tractor, two-wheel tractor or hand tractor) is essentially a single-axle / 2 wheeled version of a 4-wheel farm tractor, capable of operating many different implements with a single power source. Walk-behind tractors are used worldwide for small-scale agricultural, horticultural, industrial, landscaping and home use. Unlike the psuedo-professional equipment of the same physical size produced for the U.S. Market such as DRВ® and troy-biltв®, european 2-wheel tractors are built to standards of quality and durability expected of agricultural equipment…just like a 4-wheel farm tractor, these rugged two-wheel machines are designed to give thousands of hours of service life with their all-gear drive and automotive-style clutch.

Of the 30 or so companies manufacturing 2-wheel tractors in europe, BCS is by far the largest. Founded in 1942 near milan, italy, BCS sells their equipment in 80 countries and has over 500 dealers in north america. Grillo , from cesena, italy, has also been manufacturing walk-behind tractors for over 60 years. Grillo and BCS have worked together in the past, but they currently operate as competitors… earth tools has chosen to represent both the BCS and grillo brand walk-behind tractors, in order to give our customers a more complete tractor selection.

Earth tools inc, located near the population center of the U.S. In kentucky, differs from all the other walk-behind tractor dealers in north america in several ways:

SPECIALIZATION : experience counts. The earth tools founder has been using, selling & servicing walk-behind tractors since 1977, and earth tools is currently the only full-time power-equipment dealership in the USA dedicated solely to walk-behind tractors. We are currently the largest walk-behind tractor dealership in north america by a huge margin (over 6 times larger than the next largest dealer). (because of our 40+ years of experience with these machines, BCS america regularly calls us for technical consultation!) our 15 employees have more combined experience with BCS and grillo walking tractors than anyone else on the continent.

More implements : we offer and stock more implements for walk-behind tractors than any other dealer in north america, greatly expanding on the implement offerings of such companies as BCS . We currently stock over 45 different types of implements, some of which are “earth tools exclusives”.
We are the original (and in some cases, only) importers or manufacturers of the following products, which we have introduced into the north american market over the years to fit walk-behind tractors:

(for a FULL list of implement types, click HERE)

Service & parts : we provide complete service and parts for all equipment we sell. Not only do we have a dedicated in-house service staff, we also keep over \$250,000 worth of spare parts in stock, including new and used parts for ACME engines found on older BCS machines (see acme engine parts). Parts orders usually ship out the same day or the next day via the parcel carrier of your choice, and we have service staff on-hand to help you through any repair that might be needed. (no, we don’t transfer your call to pakistan for technical service!!)

Replacement engines : we carry a full line of replacement engines to fit all BCS walk-behind tractors. We also carry conversion kits to convert older BCS machines to current engines.

Price : discounted prices on all tractors, implements and accessories.

Reasonable shipping rates : for customers beyond a comfortable “driving distance”, we offer equipment shipped 99% assembled at very reasonable ratesвђ¦ right to your door, not just to a shipping terminal. All tractors set up & test run by us prior to shipping. We also offer a delivery service for qualifying orders within our region. Call for a quote!

EARTH TOOLS, inc.
1525 kays branch road
owenton, KY 40359

(502) 484-3988 tel.
(502) 237-1026 fax.

NOTE REGARDING
HOLIDAY CLOSINGS :

Annual winter vacation: closed from christmas eve until the first business day of new year.

Also closed martin luther king day, memorial day, USA independence day (typically july 4th), labor day and the thursday and friday of thanksgiving in nov. (USA).

Bosch unlimited BCS122GB review

High suction on turbo mode

Two batteries extends run time

Great hard floor performance

Good carpet cleaning

Very quiet in use

Key specifications

Review price: £499.99

Cordless, bagless design

0.4l dust bin

Two 3ah batteries

Fast charger

Allfloor floor head

Rotationclean filter cleaning

Flexible crevice tool

2-in-1 brush tool

What is the bosch unlimited BCS122GB?

Top of bosch’s new cordless stick cleaner range, the unlimited BCS122GB comes with two 3ah batteries and a fast charger. That allows it to claim near infinite run time, by charging one battery while you are using the other. With two power modes, excellent filtration and a fully articulating floorhead, it’s certainly a contender.

On turbo mode, the BCS122GB’s suction power is outstanding, delivering a great clean on hard floors and carpets alike. It’s not perfect though, with lacklustre normal power mode, an easily stopped brush bar and poor 2-in-1 brush tool.

Yet the 18 minutes runtime (nine minutes x 2) on the turbo mode gives you ample high-power floor cleaning to rival any current mains-powered cleaner.

Bosch unlimited BCS122GB – design and features

The unlimited series is part of bosch’s 18 V power for all system that shares the same range of 18V lithium-ion power packs between different tools. That covers everything from cordless drills to garden machinery and the BCS122GB cordless stick cleaner.

The theory is that as you are unlikely to be vacuuming and hedge-trimming at the same time, you only need one or two batteries. As the lithium packs are one of the most expensive parts of any cordless appliance, that is a shrewd move. The BCS122GB is supplied with two 18V 3ah batteries and a seriously fast charger.

This combination allows bosch to claim ‘unlimited’ runtime for this cleaner. On standard power setting, it will go for an hour, and the charger can power up a battery in 55minutes. With the two batteries, theoretically, you simply won’t run out of power.

The cleaner is the default shape for handheld vacuums with stick cleaner pretensions. It has a rear-mounted pistol grip with trigger operation, a low-slung battery and a compact 0.4l bagless bin. Unlike other well-known handheld cordless cleaners, the BCS122GB’s trigger is a defined on/off switch. One press to start, another to turn off.

On top of the body is the turbo switch. That might not be as corny as tesla’s ‘insane’ power mode, but it seriously ramps up the BCS122GB’s suction. Runtime takes a nosedive accordingly.

Unusually, the BCS122GB has a single filter unit, rather than the multifarious foam, paper, mesh and pleated filters of its rivals. But thanks to bosch’s very sleek filter design that doesn’t diminish the filtration, and the company claims that a hygienic 99.9% of particles will be captured.

The BCS122GB’s filter has a fine mesh canister with a large pleated filter inside. You can give the inner filter a light clean by turning the red handle on top, known as rotationclean. That causes little paddles on the inside to flick the pleats, knocking out trapped dust.

We first saw this tech on some of bosch’s mains-powered cleaners and it worked well for both filtration and reducing the filter cleaning chore. It’s not washable though, so we do wonder how its performance will fair over time when particles get permanently lodged in its fibres.

The bin itself takes a little getting used to as it releases from the cleaner by tipping forward and away. Emptying is as simple as pulling out the filter unit and tipping out the contents.

With just a battery and bin attached, the main cleaner body tipped our scales at a nicely light 1.8kg. The handle is well back, giving it a slightly nose-heavy feel, but the battery beneath the handle position counters that to an extent. That is most noticeable when you aim ceiling-wards for cobwebs – the BCS122GB’s weight feels well distributed and doesn’t put too much undue stress on the wrists.

The beefy metal tube and robust floorhead with its own motor do add a weighty feel to the whole ensemble though. Yet as a fully kitted-out stick cleaner, it still manages to keep under the magic 3kg mark. That makes for a cleaner that is both manoeuvrable and easy to cart around the house.

Bosch unlimited BCS122GB – accessories

The unlimited BCS122GB is the top-spec model of the series and comes with a solid, if not fully comprehensive, list of toys.

Its charging dock has more than a hint of industrial power tool about it. It’s purposefully black and is clearly built to withstand builder-scale abuse.

A single charge light illuminates flashing green for charging, green for fully charged and red to signify issues, such as when the battery is too hot to charge. That scenario triggers a pack-cooling mode that fans the battery for up to 20 minutes before charging starts automatically.

The tool roster is no less impressive. The main floorhead is bosch’s allfloor highpower head, featuring a motorised brush bar, a pop-out roller for easy cleaning and a fully articulating neck. It’s not overly wide but it isn’t too large or heavy, so it makes navigating around the room a cinch.

Clip-on tools include a 2-in-1 furniture nozzle with pull-down dusting brush and a bonkers long and very flexible crevice tool. That is ideal for getting down behind radiators, but takes some wielding to accurately pinpoint spots of dust. A good-length metal tube optionally extends reach for all tools. Clips and fittings between tools and tubes are top-notch.

The package is complete with a neat wall mount for the cleaner with tool storage pegs underneath. It is a passive unit, so it won’t charge your cleaner while it is stored – but it’s a neat storage solution.

Bosch unlimited BCS122GB – charging and run time

The two batteries supplied with this model are remarkably compact and light for their capacity. For comparison, a lot of budget cordless cleaners come with 1.5ah or 2ah batteries that are larger and heavier. The solid capacity promises a whole lot of run time from the cleaner, with the ability to swap out batteries and charge while you are cleaning.

Moreover, the charger is one of the most potent we have ever seen supplied with a vacuum cleaner, punching out 8 amps to make for very fast charging. That sort of charging grunt demands cooling and the dock has its own fan that cools both the charger and battery pack. The upshot of all this serious engineering is the ability to power-up an 18V 3ah pack in under an hour – around 55 minutes, in our tests.

In constant use, we got single-battery run times a fair bit longer than bosch’s claims. These ranged from a truly staggering 89 minutes on normal power mode with just a detail tool attached, to a fairly respectable nine minutes on turbo power mode with the floorhead running. An hour and half of cleaning from a single battery is our new vacuum cleaner runtime record by miles – and you get two batteries. Three hours of vacuuming anyone? No, us neither.

Even using normal power mode with the motorised floorhead we got around an hour’s worth of cleaning. That is truly outstanding run time. Turbo mode with the non-motorised tools delivered around 14 minutes.

However, those huge runtime differences highlight the equally massive difference in suction power between modes, and we think bosch has got it very wrong here.

While we have no complaints with the power or runtime in turbo mode, standard mode simply sacrifices too much suction for those long, long runtimes. Given you get two swap-out batteries and a fast charger, it isn’t even necessary. The bosch comprehensively outruns fixed-battery competitors like dyson anyway.

As it is, the normal mode provides ineffectively low suction power. It’s of very little use in typical day-to-day household cleaning and I guarantee most users will simply default to the turbo setting all the time. At which point, nine minutes is not much at all for general floor vacuuming duties. Good job bosch supplies two batteries.

We would have much rather seen the normal mode offer twice the suction and half the runtime. That would give you about half an hour of ‘normal’ cleaning with the floorhead per battery. As it is, with its two batteries, the unlimited BCS122GB offers over two hours of not very much at all on normal mode.

Thankfully, because of the two batteries, this bosch delivers plenty of serious turbo-mode cleaning runtime. With the fast charger taking 55 minutes, power is not quite unlimited, but you can get a very long way around the house in 18 minutes.

Bosch unlimited BCS122GB – how noisy is it?

Bosch has done a lot of work on the unlimited BCS122GB’s high-speed motor, airflow and noise damping – and it’s a real success. This is comfortably one of the quietest stick cleaners we have wielded.

On normal power mode with no tools, this cleaner barely registered 65db of noise output. That is much quieter than most of its premium cordless competitors and the sound is an inoffensive drone – as opposed to the dentist-drill sound of some.

At 65db, the BCS122GB competes with some of the market’s best low-noise and ‘silence’ mains cleaners. You won’t disturb the neighbours even during midnight cleaning sorties.

Bump the setting up to the significantly more powerful turbo mode and the bosch’s lack of noise is even more impressive. Tipping our db meter at just 71db (A-weighted at 1 metre), this cleaner on its highest power mode is as quiet or even quieter than most cordless models on their lowest power setting. Brilliant!

Bosch unlimited BCS122GB – how does it clean carpets and hard floors?

The bosch has two power levels, normal and turbo. To summarise, let’s call these settings ‘poor’ and ‘properly effective’ respectively.

The normal power mode produces very little in the way of suction or airflow, making it suitable for only the lightest dusting duties. Placing a hand over the bare nozzle offers very little pull. That suction spread across the full width of the floorhead feels even less. In this mode, the BCS122GB would lose a sucking contest to a bike pump and drinking straw. For lightest cobweb busting or dusting shelves, it just about suffices. Just.

The turbo mode is a very, very different story, albeit one you must manually engage every time you switch on. Punch that button on top and the BCS122GB does a tesla and goes ‘insane’. Suction and airflow are multiples of the normal power mode, delivering great cleaning ability. Jekyll and hyde? You bet.

On hard floors the effective floorhead and great turbo suction drag in loose dust and dirt with ease. The bosch passed our spilt oats test with flying colours, removing all the oats in a single pass. It removed particles in the grouting groove and didn’t flick or brush anything away from the head. Perfect.

We did give hard floor cleaning a try on the normal mode, but even the great floorhead could not save the day. The lack of suction left oat particles in the shallowest of grouting groove.

Using the floorhead on carpet, the BCS122GB moves around fairly easily in either mode. The articulating head steers accurately with a light twist of the wrist, and the suck-down effect on turbo mode is noticeable but not overly onerous. On our carpet test that translated into a good clean in just two passes.

Close-to-edge cleaning was very impressive, and even close up, the turbo mode delivered a decent clean in just this single run. It took a couple of passes to get rid of all the heavier carpet powder particles, but the good suction did well in one pass.

However, all is not completely roses with the floorhead. The motor that rotates the brush bar lacks ‘torque’ driving power. When the turbo mode suction pulls the head down onto the carpet, the brush bar slows or even stops completely. Lift off a little and it picks up again, only to slow or stop when it bogs down on the carpet.

That is a trait we are much more used to seeing with air-powered ‘turbo’ brushes and it can make cleaning rather frustrating. The floorhead’s cleaning power is great, but the brush bar slowed or stopped far too often on carpet for our liking. Switching to normal power mode stops that happening – but the clean is then fairly poor.

We have little doubt bosch has specified a lower torque brush bar motor to save power and increase runtime but – like the ineffective normal power mode – it’s a false economy. We would happily trade a couple of minutes of turbo runtime for a brushbar that cleaned consistently without slowing or stopping. It’s not an issue we have experienced with bosch’s premium competitors either. That alone lets down an otherwise excellent carpet-cleaning performance.

Unfortunately, the 2-in-1 brush tool continued to let the side down. While the pull-down brush is a good size and has about the right stiffness bristles, it doesn’t stay pulled down. The clip that secures it in place is very flimsy, meaning that every time you put some pressure on the brush, it collapses back onto the tool. The clip got progressively worse as we used the cleaner over a few weeks, rendering the brush pretty much useless, save for the very lightest dusting duties.

Bosch unlimited BCS122GB – how does it cope with pet hair?

We tackled several areas of mixed collie and labrador hair on carpet and hard floors and the unlimited BCS122GB never failed to deal with the fluffy issue in hand.

On hard floors, you can even get away with the normal power mode as the powered brush bar’s sweeping action makes up for the lack of suction grunt. It is never going to drag hairs in from all sides in this mode, but pet-hair tumbleweed that the floorhead went over ended up in the bin.

Using turbo mode on our fairly short pile stair carpet, the floorhead offered great pet hair pick-up. The short pile meant the brush bar didn’t slow or stop too often either. Caveats about the brush bar notwithstanding, pet hair pick-up across carpets proved very effective when using turbo mode.

On the downside, there is no small turbo tool supplied for use on pet beds and upholstery. At the unlimited bcs122gb’s £500 asking price, that is a serious omission. Most of bosch’s main competitors at this price range come supplied with a small turbo tool.

Bosch unlimited BCS122GB – how easy is it to use on stairs?

We used the unlimited bcs122gb on stairs with both the tube attached and with the floorhead connected directly to the cleaner body. Both worked well and, if you have straight steps, the tube gives extra reach and you can support it with your other hand. For more complex stairs, shortening up the system and using the floorhead directly works well.

The head’s superb articulation allows it to turn into all but the tightest of turning steps, although it remains too large to flip up and do the verticals. For those, we used the triangular upholstery tool, which was effective if not swift.

While being cordless and having a direct floorhead is undoubtedly the ideal scenario for stair cleaning, we again missed having a small turbo tool for these duties. The main floorhead is a little unwieldy and a small tool would have also allowed us to clean the carpeted step verticals.

Should I buy the bosch unlimited BCS122GB?

Bosch’s flagship cordless stick vacuum offers sublime cleaning power on turbo mode and great runtime thanks to its two batteries and fast charger. Yet a number of niggles take the polish off of its performance, particularly considering its premium price.

The normal power mode runs forever but has next to no suction, the turbo mode suck-down slows the brush bar on deep carpet and the 2-in-1 brush tool simply doesn’t work very well. At £500 we would have also expected a mini turbo tool for pet bed and upholstery cleaning.

At its best, the BCS122GB offers staggering good cordless cleaning. But at this price, we would expect a more polished all-around performance.

Verdict

The unlimited BCS122GB is supremely powerful, long runtime cordless cleaner, but with caveats that we would not expect at this price.

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Key specifications

Bosch unlimited BCS122GB review

High suction on turbo mode

Two batteries extends run time

Great hard floor performance

Good carpet cleaning

Very quiet in use

Key specifications

Review price: £499.99

Cordless, bagless design

0.4l dust bin

Two 3ah batteries

Fast charger

Allfloor floor head

Rotationclean filter cleaning

Flexible crevice tool

2-in-1 brush tool

What is the bosch unlimited BCS122GB?

Yet the 18 minutes runtime (nine minutes x 2) on the turbo mode gives you ample high-power floor cleaning to rival any current mains-powered cleaner.

Bosch unlimited BCS122GB – design and features

On top of the body is the turbo switch. That might not be as corny as tesla’s ‘insane’ power mode, but it seriously ramps up the BCS122GB’s suction. Runtime takes a nosedive accordingly.

The bin itself takes a little getting used to as it releases from the cleaner by tipping forward and away. Emptying is as simple as pulling out the filter unit and tipping out the contents.

Bosch unlimited BCS122GB – accessories

The unlimited BCS122GB is the top-spec model of the series and comes with a solid, if not fully comprehensive, list of toys.

Its charging dock has more than a hint of industrial power tool about it. It’s purposefully black and is clearly built to withstand builder-scale abuse.

Bosch unlimited BCS122GB – charging and run time

However, those huge runtime differences highlight the equally massive difference in suction power between modes, and we think bosch has got it very wrong here.

Bosch unlimited BCS122GB – how noisy is it?

At 65db, the BCS122GB competes with some of the market’s best low-noise and ‘silence’ mains cleaners. You won’t disturb the neighbours even during midnight cleaning sorties.

Bosch unlimited BCS122GB – how does it clean carpets and hard floors?

The bosch has two power levels, normal and turbo. To summarise, let’s call these settings ‘poor’ and ‘properly effective’ respectively.

We did give hard floor cleaning a try on the normal mode, but even the great floorhead could not save the day. The lack of suction left oat particles in the shallowest of grouting groove.

Bosch unlimited BCS122GB – how does it cope with pet hair?

We tackled several areas of mixed collie and labrador hair on carpet and hard floors and the unlimited BCS122GB never failed to deal with the fluffy issue in hand.

Bosch unlimited BCS122GB – how easy is it to use on stairs?

Should I buy the bosch unlimited BCS122GB?

At its best, the BCS122GB offers staggering good cordless cleaning. But at this price, we would expect a more polished all-around performance.

Verdict

The unlimited BCS122GB is supremely powerful, long runtime cordless cleaner, but with caveats that we would not expect at this price.

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