If you're shopping for a SEBO upright, you've probably narrowed it down to these two: the SEBO Felix at $799 and the SEBO Dart at $649. They're the two most popular SEBO uprights we sell at Ballwin Vacuum Center, and the question we hear at the counter at least once a week is: "What's the $150 difference, and which one should I get?"
Fair question. Let's break it down honestly.
The Quick Answer
The Felix is the better all-around home vacuum. The Dart is the tougher, simpler workhorse. If you have a mix of carpet and hard floors and want the most versatile machine, get the Felix. If you want the simplest, most bulletproof SEBO upright and mostly have carpet, the Dart saves you $150 and won't let you down.
Now the details.
SEBO Felix — $799
The Felix is SEBO's premium home upright, and it's our best-selling SEBO machine for a reason. Here's what the extra $150 gets you:
Swivel neck steering. This is the big one. The Felix's power head pivots, so you can glide around furniture legs, under table edges, and along baseboards without muscling the machine around. If you've ever wrestled a traditional upright around a dining room set, you know exactly why this matters.
Variable suction control. A dial on the body lets you turn the suction down for delicate rugs, curtains, or bare floors, and crank it up for deep carpet. The Dart doesn't have this — it's full power, all the time.
Parquet floor brush included. The Felix comes with SEBO's premium parquet brush for bare floors. Flip the head, clean your hardwood, tile, or laminate without worrying about the spinning brush roller scattering debris or scuffing the finish. With the Dart, you'd need to buy a separate hard-floor tool.
Brush roller on/off switch. Turn the brush off for bare floors, on for carpet. Simple, but it makes a real difference in cleaning performance and floor protection.
Weight: about 15.4 lbs. Not a featherweight, but the swivel neck makes it feel lighter than it is because you're guiding it, not pushing it.
SEBO Dart — $649
The Dart is SEBO's commercial-grade upright, and "commercial-grade" isn't marketing fluff here. This is the machine SEBO built for cleaning companies, offices, and schools — places where a vacuum runs for hours a day and nobody babies it.
No swivel neck. The Dart has a fixed handle. It goes where you push it. Less maneuverable than the Felix, but there's also less to wear out. It's a deliberately simple design.
Full power, always. No suction dial. The Dart runs at full suction on everything. On carpet, that's great. On a delicate area rug, you'll want to be careful.
Simpler feature set. No parquet brush in the box, no brush on/off switch. It's a straightforward, powerful upright that does one thing — deep-clean carpet — extremely well.
Built like a tank. The Dart shares SEBO's commercial DNA: thick housing, heavy-duty motor, parts that are designed to be serviced rather than replaced. We've sold Darts to cleaning companies that run them daily for years.
Head-to-Head
Maneuverability: Felix wins, no contest. The swivel neck is a genuine quality-of-life upgrade.
Bare floors: Felix wins. Parquet brush included, suction control, brush on/off. The Dart can do hard floors with an attachment, but it's not its strength.
Carpet deep-cleaning: Tie. Both have SEBO's excellent brush roller and strong suction. The Dart's commercial motor is arguably a hair more aggressive, but in a home setting you'd never notice the difference.
Durability: Both are SEBOs, so both will outlast anything from a big-box store. The Dart's simpler design gives it a slight edge in "nothing to break" terms, but the Felix is no fragile flower — we've got customers running 10-year-old Felixes.
Price: Dart wins at $649 vs $799. That $150 buys real features on the Felix, but if you don't need them, it's $150 you keep.
The Verdict
Buy the Felix if: you have a mix of carpet and hard floors, you want the easiest vacuum to push around furniture, or you just want SEBO's best home upright. For most households, the Felix is the right call.
Buy the Dart if: you mostly have carpet, you value simplicity over features, you want commercial toughness, or you'd rather save the $150. It's the smart-money pick.
Either way, you're getting a German-engineered machine backed by SEBO's 10-year motor, 10-year parts, and 7-year labor warranty when you register it. And both are machines we service right here in our shop — which is worth something when you need a belt or a bag ten years from now.
Still torn? Come by the store and push both of them around. That's what the floor models are for. Or call us at 636-394-6822 — we'll talk you through it honestly, even if the answer is "the Dart is plenty for your house." We're at 14544 Manchester Rd in Ballwin, MO, family-owned since 1983. Free shipping on orders over $75 at ballwinvacuum.com.
