I bought this vacuum to keep bedroom and bathroom floors tidy.  All three people living in my house have long, brown hair and I can't stand when it gets on the floor!  The vacuum works well for touch up jobs, but it wouldn't work for heavy duty clean ups (like our pet rabbits room which gets covered with hay and fur..).  The only reason I gave it 4/5 stars was that the hair got wrapped around the roller of the vacuum instead of being sucked up into the compartment and was very gross and tedious to remove!  It's perfect for use on the stairs, however, because it only weighs about 4 pounds!  As for the battery life-- I can vacuum about 2 medium sized rooms and a hallway before the battery wears out.  Definitely glad this one came with an extra battery so it can be switched out if you need to vacuum more.