We bought the Bosch Athlet 25.2v in 2015 and yes; it does do everything that Bosch claims to do… for the FIRST TWO YEARS! After that, its battery power starts to drain.

It’s been five years since we bought it, and we can literally get only FIVE MINUTES worth of power before it needs recharging. I’ve checked online for negative reviews of the product—which I now wished I had done before—and lo! What do I find? Lots of customers reporting the same thing, which was something the positive reviewers somehow forgot to mention!

Worse, as the battery is physically built into the unit, you cannot buy a replacement, which means the whole machine must be thrown out, even though all the parts work perfectly.

Now I get that it comes with just a two-year warranty, and that as it is battery-operated you would expect some decrease in power, but for $449 I expected something more than lasting for less than a decade. If I had known that I would be spending that much to get just two years of full use and after five years it would be worthless, I would not have bought it.

Moreover, we have owned heavily-used workhorse vacuum cleaners that have lasted for twenty years, albeit on cord, which makes this situation even more infuriating. Finally, we’ve been supporters of Bosch products for over thirty years (microwaves, dishwashers, cooktops, washing machines), so that makes their failure for this product truly disheartening.

My suggestion: Be warned about being in love with it before the relationship leaves you broken-hearted.