You can embrace hands-free cleaning with the Shark 2-in-1 Vacuum and Mop Robot. While it is fairly expensive, this robotic vacuum is extremely effective — it creates a map of your home, allowing you to label each specific room and create no-go zones, as well. In testing, the vacuum was able to pick up all sorts of dirt, dust, grass, and other debris with no problems, and its convenient self-empty base means that there’s very little maintenance needed on your part. Marisa Casciano is a senior commerce editor for The Spruce and has been in The Lab for our vacuum tests. She has firsthand knowledge of how our vacuum tests were both developed and performed, as well as where each product excelled or fell short.
In our testing, we loved its swivel steering and easy-to-empty dustbin, and we found that it does a superior job picking up pet hair from both carpeting and hard floors. The Shark Navigator DLX Upright Professional Vacuum offered powerful suction and performed great on low, medium, and high-pile carpets in The Lab. For that reason, it’s the right choice if you’re looking for a vacuum cleaner that’ll effectively clean your area rugs and carpeted floors.
Puisis also conducted an interview with Danielle Lessing, VP of Global Product Development at SharkNinja, to learn more about the features of Shark vacuums. If you need a basic yet beloved vacuum that won’t break the bank, consider the Shark NV360 Navigator Lift-Away Deluxe Upright Vacuum. This model has fewer vacuum features than others, but it costs less, too.
Since the Navigator Lift-Away is predominantly plastic, some of its parts can get brittle and crack over time. The chief complaint seems to be about the accordion hose on the wand; it’s a little stiff to begin with, and the constant flexing can wear it out. Another complaint regarding the hose is that the stiffness limits its mobility, and it doesn’t extend far enough to reach places that are high up. Other reviewers point out that the clips attaching the dust cup to the rest of the main assembly can break off after a couple years’ use, particularly if you carry the assembly by the handle in lift-away mode. With all the miles I’ve put on my numerous Shark vacs over the years, I’ve never had one fail.
Different retailers will sell the Lift-Around with different tool lineups. The one we saw had an upholstery brush, a small bare floor brush and a crevice tool. She’s an experienced product researcher with years of experience in covering large shark pet hair vacuum and small appliances. For this piece, she used in-depth research and evaluations on features, cleaning modes, and accessories, in addition to the firsthand insights from our product testers at home and in The Lab, to inform her writing.
We came close to recommending the Shark Navigator Swivel Pro NV150 because the dustbin is easy to empty and the handle is comfortable to hold. In our fine-debris pick-up test, however, it picked up less sand and baking soda than any of the other upright models we tested. Buying a plug-in vacuum is like saving for retirement or sorting your laundry—a boring but sensible endeavor that should pay off in the long run. Cordless sticks and robot vacuums are convenient, but the best plug-in uprights and canisters clean better and last longer.
If you’re tired of dragging out a full-size vacuum to suck up pet hair every few days, the Shark Pet Pro Cordless Vacuum is a great option for your home. The battery-powered model has an impressive runtime of 50 minutes, and in our testing, we found that it could shark pet hair vacuum often last more than an hour without losing suction. Its main cleaner head has a self-cleaning brushroll that prevents pet hair from getting tangled around it, and the vacuum also comes with a crevice tool and pet multi-tool that’s ideal for cleaning upholstery.
The detachable pod and extendable stick help you reach beyond rugs and carpet. The brushroll inside the floor piece targets the annoying issue of hair wrapping around the brush and reviews say it does a great job of preventing that. The machine cleans thick carpet, hardwoods, and pet hair with powerful suction (the strongest of any Shark vacuum, says the brand) and traps debris inside the large dustbin where its completely sealed with a HEPA filter. The anti-wrap dust cup allows you to empty the dustbin without your hands touching any of the dirt and there’s a lot to like about that. Customers describe it as a bulky machine, therefore it’s best for people who have the space to store it. Each of these types of machines has their own pros and cons to mull over.
It’s 16 inches in diameter and weighs just under 13 pounds—that’s almost two pounds lighter than the Blizzard CX1 vacuums and seven pounds lighter than the Complete C3 Calima. The Navigator Lift-Away does a decent job of filtering out dust and other allergens. It has a post-motor HEPA filter, and the transfer points are also sealed with rubber gaskets. In our own emissions test, we also found that the Navigator Lift-Away released less than 2,000 particles sized 0.5 micron or larger per cubic foot.