With nearly 10 different models, Shark’s cordless vacuum cleaner lineup offers options for every family. In order to find the top performers, our expert Product Testing Team put five of their most popular models to the test. They worked over 40 hours in the Product Testing Lab, gathering over 300 data points and sucking up gallons of debris in order to find the best Shark cordless vacuum cleaner for every home and price point.
However, there are a few compromises to justify its lower purchase price, with a smaller-capacity battery and a less potent suction motor. If you don’t necessarily want a self-emptying vacuum, the Wandvac shark handheld vacuum System is also available in a standard model for a lower price. It comes in four different colors, and the cordless design is lightweight and versatile, making it useful for cleaning small spaces.
The benefit of this is that the water element is all self-contained – no water enters the vacuum. Instead it is distributed across the soft roller as you pull the trigger, hoovering and mopping as you go with dirty water then distributed into a separate chamber. The V12 Detect Slim offers powerful suction and airflow, and it excels at picking up dust and debris on both bare floors and rugs.
It’s a little louder and slightly less smooth to maneuver than the Crosswave, but it does have a more attractive black and white body and comes with a couple of handy tools for cleaning the machine. Considering the quieter, cordless Tineco iFloor 3 is only about $50 more than the Eureka (at the time of publication, anyway), it’s easy to pass on this one. The Bissell Crosswave Pet Pro Multi-Surface Bagless Wet Dry Vac is a less-expensive Pet Pro model, but it’s corded. It was lightweight compared to the X7 and I appreciated that the clean water tank had indicators for small areas (up to 350 square feet) or or large areas (up to 700 square feet). But this is a corded device that simply doesn’t compare to the similarly-priced (and cordless) Tineco iFloor 3. In terms of suction, it’s hard to compare two vacuums outside of a lab.
It also makes it easier to store the vacuum as it folds in half and stands by itself so you can just stick it in a corner if you’re short on space and it won’t tumble over every time you knock into it. This little beauty promises to free your vacuum roller of clogged hair, while still sucking it all up efficiently in the first place. It could be a game-changer for long-haired households so I was keen to try it out and see how well it works.
The Stratos also comes bundled with a folding wand to easily clean under tables and chairs, though you can find the same accessory on some variants of the Cordless Pro. It’s noticeably lighter and slightly easier to maintain by virtue of its removable brushroll, which makes it much less of a hassle to clear out any tangled hair. Starting with the specs is typically the way to go – think about how long of a runtime you need from your cordless vacuum, what floor types you have in your home, and how powerful you’ll need the cleaner to be. Dust canister sizeThe size of the dust canister will also affect how many interruptions there are to your cleaning session.
That’s because it vacuums, mops, deodorizes, and even disinfects in one go. In fact, we loved its ability to do everything with just one pass, saving us time and effort. However, we found that the larger size made the vacuum cumbersome and heavy to use in handheld mode so it’s best suited to using on the floors throughout the home rather than reaching shark handheld vacuum for the corners in the room. Impressively powerful for a cordless vacuum and packed with excellent value-adding features, the Shark Detect Pro Cordless Auto-Empty System is an excellent all-rounder that will suit most people’s needs. However, they do not typically have as much suction power as their electric-powered (and much bigger) counterparts.
Everything fits together snugly, with no evident squeaks or rattles while in use. That said, the clear plastic dustbin does feel noticeably more fragile than the rest of its body. However, there is one area where they struggle to match corded vacuums, and that’s the capacity of the dust canister. However, it’s also extremely expensive compared to other cordless vacuums and it’s much bulkier. Next up, think about what features you might need from your new cordless vacuum.