Best Place To Buy A Shark Vacuum
The best Shark vacuum we've tested is the Shark Stratos Cordless. This cordless stick vacuum sits at the top of Shark's lineup of cordless stick options and features a broad range of convenience features. One of the most significant is its Clean Sense IQ system, which uses infrared sensors to adjust its suction power on the fly depending on how much debris is being picked up, resulting in improved performance on most surfaces compared to its immediate predecessor, the Shark Vertex Pro Lightweight. It also features an odor-neutralizing system that works via a replaceable cartridge in its floorhead, which is handy for pet owners. Its folding wand makes it easy to clean under most furniture while reducing its vertical footprint when it's stowed away.
best place to buy a shark vacuum
Check out the Shark Vertex Pro Powered Lift-Away if you're looking for something a little cheaper, as it's one of the best Shark vacuums for pet hair we've tested. While its upright design makes it bulkier and less maneuverable than a stick vacuum like the Shark Stratos Cordless, the flip side of this larger body is a bigger dustbin with a greater debris capacity, so you won't have to empty its dustbin quite as often. Performance is superb on a wide range of surfaces, as it easily clears away debris on hard floors and low and high-pile carpet. There are two different surface settings for bare floors and carpeting, though they only change the speed of its brushroll and not the height of its floorhead, so it's still liable to get stuck on rug tassels and thick carpeting. Unfortunately, it lacks the Stratos' automatic power adjustment feature and odor-neutralizing system.
The Shark Rotator Lift-Away ADV is a great choice if you're looking for a Shark vacuum that's a little more affordable and among the best Shark vacuums for pet hair that we've tested. While it's bulkier than the cordless Shark Vertex Pro Powered Lift-Away, it's worth a look if you prioritize deep cleaning performance and don't want to worry about running out of charge. Its dual-brushroll head helps it clear away debris on a wide range of surfaces, from bare floors to low and high-pile carpet, and it's pretty effective in dealing with messes in shallow cracks and crevices.
This vacuum uses the brand's 'Lift-Away' design, which lets you pick up and carry its canister body separately from its floorhead, making it easier to clean tight spots. While its range is limited compared to cordless models, the power cord is pretty long, meaning you can clean larger areas without swapping outlets. Still, if you don't want to worry about sticking close to a power outlet, the Shark Cordless Pet Plus is the best cordless Shark vacuum at a mid-range price point that we've tested. It's more maneuverable than the Rotator ADV but falls short in debris pickup performance.
The Shark Rocket Corded is the best budget Shark vacuum we've tested. Compared to a higher-end model like the Shark Rotator Lift-Away ADV, this corded stick vacuum doesn't feel especially sturdy, has a smaller dustbin, and a weaker suction motor, so you'll probably need to make an extra pass or two to fully clear away the same amount of debris. Nevertheless, this is still a good option for something affordable. At just over eight pounds, it's heavier than many cordless stick vacuums, but it's still much lighter than the Rotator, making it a lot easier to maneuver in tight spots or to pick up and carry around.
The best Shark robot vacuum we've tested is the Shark AI Ultra Robot, and it's worth a look if you don't need the deep-cleaning performance of a manually-operated vacuum like the Shark Rotator Lift-Away ADV. This robot vacuum can automatically empty its dustbin into an external dirt compartment mounted to its charging dock, reducing hands-on maintenance requirements. The AV2501AE variant has an extra-large dock with room for 60 days' worth of debris. Its LIDAR mapping sensor allows for quick and precise room mapping, and you can use its companion app to schedule cleaning sessions or set up no-go zones to prevent the vacuum from entering an area where it might get stuck or knock over something delicate.
The Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro+ is the best cordless Shark vacuum with a handheld design that we've tested. Unlike the Shark Rocket Corded or any other Shark stick vacuum, it's only intended for quick spot-cleaning sessions. It does a fantastic job dealing with pet hair and solid debris on flat, even surfaces and delivers a superb overall performance on carpets and rugs. It feels well-built and has a simple design that incurs few recurring costs. It comes with a crevice tool for tackling messes in tight corners, a hard-bristle brush to dislodge stuck-on dirt and debris, and a turbo brush for cleaning furniture, though it isn't very effective for dealing with pet hair on upholstered surfaces.
Unfortunately, this vacuum's battery life of little over 10 minutes isn't especially noteworthy, even by the standards of other cordless stick vacuums, and you'll need to work fast when cleaning bigger messes. It also has terrible air filtration performance, so it isn't the best option if you suffer from allergies. If that's a concern, consider the Shark WANDVAC, which does a much better job of sealing in allergens like pet dander; you can further bolster its filtration performance by purchasing an aftermarket HEPA filter. However, it's pricier than the UltraCyclone and has a much smaller dustbin.
Shark is a good household manufacturer that produces items like mops and irons alongside a selection of vacuums at different price points and styles. You can also use many Shark vacuums as handhelds, which is nice if you need to clean hard-to-reach places. If you want an easily portable model, Shark sells some cordless vacuums. However, they tend to have a few maintenance needs, and some models can be a little more tricky to clean.
Some simple but effective robot models are about the same price as good traditional vacuums. Meanwhile, higher-end models add advanced features like smart-mapping, targeted area- or room-specific cleaning, or even a self-emptying dock. Read more about the best robot vacuums.
One edge case to consider: If you have a lot of hairy pets, like four golden retrievers or a half-dozen long-haired cats, you might want to avoid bagged vacuums. Pet hair fills bags quickly, and the cost of replacing bags so frequently can add up. Read more about the best vacuums for pet hair.
If you like to keep your car tidy, any of our handheld vacuum picks can work, but one with an accordion hose and clip-on tools will make the job easier. This style is also great for cleaning up around the house. Read more about the best car vacuums.
The best Shark vacuum model for you will depend on the size of the area you need to clean, surface type, and whether you need a full-size device or something more compact. The Shark vacuums below represent top performers in their respective categories, based on efficacy, vacuum type, and overall value.
The top-of-the-line products below were chosen for quality, efficacy, and price to help you find the best Shark vacuum for your home. We also personally tested them on hard flooring as well as carpeting.
If filtration is a priority for your household, ensure that the filter of the vacuum has a HEPA rating, which indicates it is capable of removing at least 99.97 percent of particles from the air that passes through the filter. Also worth considering is whether the filter is washable or if it needs to be replaced when it becomes ineffective.
It depends on the type of filter. Some filters are disposable and should not be washed but rather replaced when they lose their effectiveness. Washable filters can be carefully removed from the Shark vacuum, but take note of the order of removal because they must be replaced in the same order.
We tested many different Miele canister vacuums, each suited to different types of flooring. Check out our chart to see which one fits your needs the best. But we wanted to point out the Complete C3 Calima in particular; we found in our tests that the air-powered turbo brush head it comes with works better on rugs than the electrified head included with some other Miele models. The C3 Calima is the most affordable model with a turbo brush head in the Miele lineup, and like other Miele vacs, it has a crush-proof hose and a totally sealed body, for better dust control and quieter operation.
To test for ease of maintenance, we tried to clog and tangle each machine with shredded copy paper, Cheerios, Lego pieces, and toy dinosaurs. We also took apart a few of the vacuums to see how difficult it would be to unclog them. The fewer tools and the less time needed, the better. We found that the cheaper vacuums we tested came apart in fewer places, making it harder to access clogs.
We tested the top-of-the-line Shark Apex and found it to be a good vacuum, but probably not worth the extra cost over the Navigator. It has a dual-brush cleaning head that supposedly helps it pick up hair and dusty debris off of bare floors. But that adds a lot of bulk to the vacuum, and we never found bare-floor pickup to be a problem with the single-brush models in the first place.
If you prefer bagless vacuums, but still want a model that filters out tiny particles, this sealed vacuum with a HEPA filter is a great option. While we haven't tested this model in our Lab, it has similar features to our previous pick for best overall, the APEX Upright Vacuum Cleaner, which has since been discontinued by Shark.
Consistently one of the best stick vacuums for its excellent performance and incredible features, the V15 Detect earned a Good Housekeeping Cleaning Award thanks to the bare floor brush that beamed a laser on the floor to spot and pick up even the tiniest bits of debris that were otherwise invisible to us.
Though its filter is washable, it is not HEPA certified and must be replaced every 6 to 12 months. Some other robot vacuums our experts have tested struggled with their mapping capabilities, requiring frequent re-mapping and struggling to go around obstacles without bumping into them. The S7 impressed our experts with its multi-floor mapping and extra features like a child lock and super responsive voice controls, naming it a GH Cleaning Award winner. 041b061a72