Cordless vacuums are all pretty similar in appearance these days, as there are only so many ways to design a cordless stick vacuum. And for the most part, they're usually not very repairable. If the motor busts, you're out of luck. The Fraction cordless vacuum from Deglace, a French company, is designed to be different. Every single part of it is fully replaceable, from the motor to the battery. I got to see it at CES 2026.
At first glance, the Fraction isn't much to look at. It's no stylish Dyson, with flashy purple or blue plastic and translucent dustbins. It's also not bulky. What it looks like is a functional, very plain black cordless vacuum with a single display on top that provides control over modes and a view of battery life, along with a shiny silver trigger. Interestingly, the vacuum is made of aluminum, rather than plastic, as I expected. There are only two finishes, black and white.
The dustbin is seamless and looks like it's part of the body, but like everything else, it can be replaced and the filter inside is washable. Ajay Kumar/Zooey Liao/CNET
The vacuum of Theseus
The main vacuum body isn't much to look at, but there's AI under the hood to tell you when things need maintenance. Ajay Kumar/Zooey Liao/CNET
But looks isn't really what the Fraction is about. The functional, almost industrial design hides the fact that a lot of engineering went into the vacuum, as Geoffory Hulot, CEO of Deglace, told me. Every single part of the vacuum is user-replaceable by hand, no tools required.
The parts that can be replaced include the battery, motor, dustbin, filters, main section and even the display. The idea behind this is similar to that behind products such as the Framework laptop and the Fairphone. Hulot told me that his goal with the Fraction was to reduce the problem of waste, both environmentally and for consumers. The HEPA 14 filter is also washable and comes with a fabric prefilter.
The battery and motor can both be replaced, along with everything else. Ajay Kumar/Zooey Liao/CNET
He demonstrated for me how the replacements work. Most of the components can be removed by pulling and twisting in the right spot. When you need to replace it, the new one should simply snap into place. In theory, over the course of years of usage, you could replace every single part of a cordless vacuum without ever having to buy a whole new unit. Is it still the same vacuum after all that? I'll let the philosophers decide that one.
Performance and capabilities
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