8 best Shark vacuum cleaners, tried and tested by an expert

Emptying dirt from a cordless vacuum cleaner is not a fun job but the beauty of this Shark model is it automatically deposits everything you’ve sucked up into a completely sealed base that holds dirt and debris for up to 30 days. For a cordless vacuum cleaner, the suction on this is truly impressive – it easily tackled pet hair, dirt and debris on hard floors and carpets for up to 60 minutes.

It also has an LED display, showing you in real-time what its doing. From red indicating a high amount of dirt to blue indicating no more dirt detected. This display also shows battery status and a choice of three modes: eco, boost and auto.

This vacuum’s ergonomic design and lightweight build make it easy to manoeuvre, even around furniture and stairs. Plus, the washable filters help maintain optimal performance, making sure no dirt gets trapped in the machine over time, damaging performance.

With an impressive 750W of power, this strong, durable vacuum cleaner makes doing housework faster and more efficient. The compact design suits quick tidy-ups, while the 8m cord length is perfect when you want to tackle the whole house without getting tied up in knots. We found it just as easy to use on stairs as on floors, as the canister detaches from the main unit at the push of a button to transform into a light handheld that reaches all the corners and edges.

Powerful LED lights were very useful when it came to seeing under furniture, and we loved that this vacuum has a dust tank of 1.1l, which meant we didn’t have to empty it for a fortnight.

This nifty corded stick vacuum made cleaning (almost) a pleasure, thanks to it’s slim, lightweight design. We could easily clean under furniture, thanks to Shark’s flexology technology, which sees the flexible wand bend at the touch of a button. This was also the easiest vacuum cleaner to store, as the wand folds down, so you can squeeze it into the smallest of cupboards.

It’s designed specifically for homes with pets, so, you can expect anti-hair-wrap technology to stop hair from tangling around the brush roll, plus a special pet tool to remove embedded hair. The unique brush roll is great for homes with different floor types, as it consists of two different types of brush in one. A bristle brush-roll cleans deep into carpet pile, while a soft front brush-roll draws in large debris and small particles and lifts fine, stuck-on dust from hard floors.

More useful features include LED headlights in the floorhead, to help illuminate hidden dust and pet hair, and a 10m cord – the longest found among the vacuum cleaners we tested. We would have given it five stars if it wasn’t for the small 0.3l dust capacity, which needs emptying frequently.

While upright vacuum cleaners aren’t always easy on the eye, Shark has gone the extra mile to make this look more appealing, with rose gold detail on the dust tank and handle. At 6.7kg, it’s one of the heaviest vacuum cleaners we tested but some of the weight comes from anti-odour packs, which are well worth the extra heft. The packs effectively neutralise odours from pet hair, feet, human food or other messes from a carpet, and we found it had a huge difference on the air quality afterwards.

Another standout feature for pet owners is the anti-hair wrap technology, which actively removes hair from the brush roll as you push. We were also impressed by the vacuum’s suction on both hard floors and carpet, which is helped by a DuoClean brush. Two motorised brush-rolls work together in one floorhead, with the anti-hair-wrap brush-roll cleaning deep into carpets, drawing out embedded dirt and picking up hair, while a soft front brush-roll draws in debris and lifts stuck-on dust from hard floors.

Weighing less than 3kg, this is one of the lightest vacuum cleaners we tested. We could easily push it with just a couple of fingers, meaning we could pick up clothes, shoes or other items left around the house with the other hand and carry them until we got to a suitable dumping place. Asthma and allergy certified, this is proven to pick up and retain 99.9 per cent of dust and allergens.

It was the detect intelligence feature of this Shark model that impressed us the most, though, with four features working together to seek and destroy dirt. DirtDetect automatically increases suction power to detect and clean hidden dirt, while edgeDetect doubles suction power when the vacuum is near edges and corners. FloorDetect automatically detects the type of floor and adjusts the brush-roll speed, for optimal performance, and LightDetect illuminates low-light areas, to help you see dust and debris. Our only criticism is the tiny 0.46l dust bin capacity requires frequent emptying.

This is a great vacuum cleaner for anyone who likes to multitask while they clean. We could easily listen to a podcast or an audiobook while pushing this, safe in the knowledge it’s doing the thinking for us. It’s constantly working out what power levels it needs to pick up the most mess, thanks to the included clean sense IQ technology. No pet hair, clothing fluff or larger than usual objects came close to getting stuck in the brush, making it useful for busy households when there’s barely enough time to use it let alone untangle things that are clogging it up.

Three features really impressed us. Firstly, the vacuum has a dual battery pack, offering 120 minutes of runtime, which is double that of the next best model. Secondly, you can attach an anti-odour pack, to make your floors smell as good as they look. Finally, the hose folds back on itself, for compact and freestanding storage and charging.

While it’s not especially pretty to look at, what this model lacks in style, it more than makes up for in functionality. With one press of a button, this upright transforms into a lightweight portable vacuum that can easily clean stairs and soft furnishings with the included crevice tool and multi-surface tool. On sofas, the multi-surface tool worked wonders on pulling up dirt, thanks to its detachable bristles that can shift even dried-on spillages. The wand easily reaches the ceiling, to help us keep cobwebs at bay and clean around the light fittings. We also loved the pet tool, which is essentially a bristle brush that dislodges embedded hair from rugs, stairs, sofas, curtains and more, so it can be more easily sucked up.

We were really impressed by this vacuum cleaner’s Flexology technology, which means the hose bends and folds down on itself at a 90 degree angle, so the bottom part can operate parallel to the floor, for easy cleaning under sofas and tables. It was also a bonus to discover it comes with an anti-odour cartridge to insert into the floorhead, to protect the dust bin from emitting odours and to make the home smell fresher. However, as the dust bin is only 0.3l and needs emptying once during each clean, there’s not a huge amount of need for this, as the smells get emptied into the main household bin frequently.