Ridgid 3 Gallon NXT Portable Wet/Dry Vac vs Ridgid 9 Gallon 18V Cordless NXT Wet/Dry Vac
vs
Quick take: The Ridgid 3 Gallon NXT Portable Wet/Dry Vac costs $20 less.
| Spec | Ridgid 3 Gallon NXT Portable Wet/Dry Vac | Ridgid 9 Gallon 18V Cordless NXT Wet/Dry Vac |
|---|---|---|
| Price | ~$79 | ~$99 |
| Type | Wet-Dry Shop Vac | Wet-Dry Shop Vac |
| Suction | 5 HP | 82 CFM |
| Battery | Corded | 69 min |
| Navigation | — | — |
| Filtration | VF3500 cartridge filter (VF3700 wet filter sold separately) | VF4000 General Debris Filter |
| Cordless | No | Yes |
| Bagged | No | No |
| Noise | — | — |
| Dustbin | 3 gal | 9 gal |
| Water tank | — | — |
| Self-empty dock | No | No |
| Auto mop washing | No | No |
| Hot water washing | No | No |
| Obstacle avoidance | No | No |
| Carpet detection | No | No |
| Auto mop lifting | No | No |
| Multi-floor mapping | No | No |
| App control | No | No |
| Dimensions | — | — |
| Weight | 12.6 lbs | — |
| Warranty | Lifetime | Lifetime |
Pros & cons
Ridgid 3 Gallon NXT Portable Wet/Dry Vac
- ✓RIDGID Sweep built-in dustpan is a genuinely useful, unique feature
- ✓Lightweight and stackable for easy storage
- ✓High CFM (100) for its compact size
- ✓Corded, so no battery runtime ceiling to manage
- ✓Full lifetime warranty on the vac body
- ✗3-gallon tank empties fast on anything beyond a small job
- ✗No wheels — this is a carry unit, not a roll-around one
- ✗Tethered by a 15-foot cord
- ✗No published noise rating
- ✗Ridgid also sells a larger, non-NXT 4-gallon portable (WD4070) that's easy to confuse this with
Ridgid 9 Gallon 18V Cordless NXT Wet/Dry Vac
- ✓Compatible with Ridgid's existing 18V Octane battery lineup — no separate battery ecosystem to buy into
- ✓Dual battery ports extend runtime without hot-swapping mid-job
- ✓A real 9-gallon tank, not a scaled-down handheld
- ✓Professional reviewer of the predecessor model found no significant drawbacks and praised its wet pickup speed
- ✓Casters and blower port carried over from the corded NXT lineup
- ✗Sold as a bare tool — battery and charger add significant cost on top of the tool price
- ✗No built-in drain spigot, unlike the corded 12/14/16-gallon models
- ✗No published noise rating
- ✗Runtime depends heavily on how many batteries you run at once
- ✗The battery/charger warranty is separate from the vac's warranty and requires its own registration