As we’ve already mentioned, the floor-cleaning head features a hard brush roller with flexible silicon ‘PowerFins’ and a soft, fluffy roller; both rotate when the vacuum is switched on to improve pick-up. Six LEDs at the front of the head light a path, plus Shark’s Anti Hair Wrap technology stops hair from becoming tangled around the brush roller. Credit to Dyson for pioneering the cordless vacuum category with a series of capable — yet pricey — Cyclone V series stick vacs.
The dirt tank is simple to empty, and a nice protective cover over the power button is designed to keep it clean. The Shark Ultralight Pet Pro competed with the Dyson V8 for the title of dual-use champion. (They both also feature a fun, gun-like design that resembles a blaster from a sci-fi movie.) The Dyson emerged victorious for one reason—it can do everything the Shark can, without a power cord. The Shark’s crevice tool is far superior to the Dyson’s, as shown in the picture below—the Shark left nearly nothing behind.
Plus, the Vertex series from Shark includes dual rollers in the floor head and one is equipped with grippy rubber fins to maintain contact with the floor. While making use of the 60-minute battery life, which is significant compared to many other cordless models, you can feel this technology working. We noted the vac essentially pulls itself, and we gave it a perfect rating for maneuverability.
The cordless vacuum, which weighs under 2 pounds, is one of the most lightweight and portable options on this list. And while it’s powerful in its own right, it’s definitely designed for quick jobs. It only runs for 12 minutes on a full charge, but it comes with a USB charging cable, in addition to its standard charger, so you can plug it in practically anywhere. It’s compact enough to store in your car or office and the 2-in-1 crevice tool and dusting brush conveniently stores with the vacuum on one stand so you always know where it is.
One of the best ways to see how clean your carpet off is to wait until night time, turn the light off and put a torch on the floor. Any bits of dirt and debris cast a huge shadow shark cordless across the room. It might sound a bit silly, but having a light on the front of the vacuum does the same – it makes it clear where the dirt is so allows you to pick it up.
We also really enjoyed this vacuum’s brush roll shut-off feature, which made it easier to clean slick surfaces like hardwood and grouted floors. It helped minimize the amount of debris kicked out while suctioning, but you do have to move the vacuum directly over any mess when the brush roll is turned off. The brand’s first cordless stick vacuum can be used in three different configurations, as an upright, stick and handheld vacuum. If you’d bissell crosswave cordless prefer an upright model, the Shark NV360 Navigator Lift-Away Deluxe Upright Vacuum is a great choice. This more basic Shark vacuum lacks features like a self-cleaning brush roll, but still qualifies as a quality upright vacuum, thanks to its fully-sealed system with HEPA filtration and lift-away canister option. Similar to the Navigator series, this early Rotator design from Shark is a great option if your home has lots of carpeted areas.
The Dyson V15 is actually better than lots of plug-in vacuums at cleaning rugs. The Shark Vertex Cordless Stick Vacuum is on sale(opens in a new tab) for $199 as of Nov. 29 at Walmart, just in time for you to finally take the plunge into the world of cordless vacuums if you haven’t already. This deal is part of the megastore’s Cyber deals — an extension of Cyber Monday, if you will. Normally sold at a price of $349, you’ll save $150 with this discount of 43%.
Our top cordless vacuum picks are listed below — and keep checking back, because we’ll update this list periodically whenever new models make their way through our lab. Since most homes have different cleaning needs, knowing what and where you’ll be cleaning can help you decide which cordless vacuum is right for you. Shark’s MultiFlex technology also makes it possible for the IONFlex to fold over for compact, freestanding storage. The MultiFlex technology also allows you to easily move the vacuum under tight or awkward spaces like beneath a bed or couch.
The vacuums are listed in order of overall sand removed in total, from the most to the least, so feel free to think of this as something of a sand test leaderboard. The width of the test bed is proportional to the vacuum’s nozzle width, which we measure ourselves. We also use nozzle width, plus the flooring type, to calculate the soil density for each test, per International Electrotechnical Commission guidelines. The IEC is a global standards body responsible for managing testing procedures, among other things, for vacuum manufacturers. The replaceable, rechargeable battery works for up to 50 minutes, when not in power boost mode. In addition, we thought that during your research you may want to compare important brands.