As several other reviewers have mentioned, the battery in this unit lasts about six months to a year. After that, you will get about 30 seconds of full power and then it slowly dies out. This comes in handy pretty much never. It has been uselessly hanging on the wall in my kitchen for a few months gathering dust (that it ironically can't vacuum up) and drawing electricity because I'm just not ready to throw out a $30 item. Hoover was once dominant in the vacuum industry, they should consider this product an embarrassment.