Today's best Shark vacuum cleaners have become a serious rival to the likes of Dyson, with their powerful suction and innovative design features. This brand now crops up repeatedly in our best vacuum cleaner roundup, and with good reason. They're well designed and well built, with clever additions that range from simple-but-super-useful (a flexible wand that lets you get right under furniture without bending down) to hi-tech (sensors that detect dirt, floor type and edges, and respond accordingly), to unexpected (an odor-neutralizing puck that keeps your vacuum and floors smelling fresh).
The Shark vacuum range is massive, encompassing everything from cordless stick vacs to uprights to handhelds. All that choice can be overwhelming though, and not least thanks to this brand's inconsistent and confusing naming conventions. To help you crack through the jargon and figure out which is the right Shark vacuum cleaner for you, we've put together this guide.
All the models in this list have been thoroughly tested by experienced reviewers in real-world scenarios, and been given the stamp of approval. You'll find our favorite picks for a range of customer needs. Read on for the best Shark vacuums on the market today.
The quick list
Best overall
The ultra-versatile cleaner can sense everything from how dirty the floor is to whether it's near the edge of a room, and respond accordingly. The most feature-rich Shark, and not wildly expensive, either.
Best for carpet
If you have mostly carpet, the Stratos Cordless packs more power than our #1 pick, for a deeper clean. It's slightly heavier and less tech-packed, but it delivers when it comes to suction.
Best lightweight
A handheld vacuum that can be transformed into a floor vac by adding a wand and floorhead, the WandVac System is lightweight and comfortable to use. The very short battery life means it's for small cleanups only.
Best upright
If you're looking for outright power and don't mind going for a heavier, corded model to get it, this is the Shark vacuum for you. It's perfect for deep cleans and tackling ingrained dirt.
For
- Powerful suction
- Excellent hair pick-up
- Transforms into portable handheld
- Pleasant anti-odor smell
Against
- Short stretch hose
- Debris becomes trapped in dust cup
- Longer cord would be useful
Best affordable
This is one of the most affordable Shark vacuums we've tested, and great value for the price. The modular design is versatile and the suction is good. You will have to cope with going corded, though.
Best handheld
If you just need something for small-scale cleanups, this versatile handheld vacuum has enough battery and suction to clean a whole car. It comes with well-designed and useful attachments for different kinds of jobs.
For
- Great pick-up
- Good battery life
- Versatile tools
Against
- No swappable battery
- Slightly fiddly bin mechanism
- Not the quietest
The best Shark vacuum overall
The Shark Detect Pro is the best Shark vacuum around right now, and one of the very best cordless vacuums on the market in general. It's one of the newest models out, and as such, packs the most complete range of features of any Shark vac – but it still comes in at a reasonable price.
This clever vacuum can sense its environment and respond accordingly for a clean that's both effective and battery-efficient. It can detect a how dirty the floor is, if it's near an edge, what kind of floor its on (hard or carpet) and if its in a dingy area. For the first three, it'll boost or lower suction, and for the last it'll switch on its headlights to illuminate the area. On test, we found these features worked extremely well – this vacuum is one of the best we've tested on edges and corners.
Rather than providing you with tons of different nozzles, Shark has created a 'QuadClean' floorhead that combines different materials, and is designed to offer outstanding pickup on all types of dirt and a variety of floor types. Like many of its stick vacuums, the wand can bend to 90-degrees to help you reach under furniture, or removed for use in handheld mode.
All the technologies mean it's ultra-versatile and a great choice if you have a range of floor types in your home. However, if you have mostly carpet, you might be better with the Shark Stratos Cordless (#2), which is little heavier, but packs more outright power. And if you're in the US and want the very latest thing, the Shark PowerDetect Cordless Stick Vacuum does everything the Detect Pro does and more, albeit at a slightly higher price.
There's HEPA filtration and a sealed filter mechanism to lock dust into the vacuum, but if you suffer from allergies, you can pick up a version that comes with an auto-empty system. This sucks the dust straight from the canister when you dock it, minimizing the number of visits to the bin and the amount of dust escaping back into the air. Our review model included this optional extra, and our tester was supremely impressed with it.
Read our full Shark Detect Pro Cordless IW1111 / IW1511UK review
The best Shark vacuum for carpet
If your home is mostly carpet, you'll want a vacuum with some oomph. Enter: the Shark Stratos Cordless. It's heavier and bulkier than the Detect Pro (#1), but packs more power, which is what you need if you're going to get dust and dirt out of your carpets. The dust cup is generous in size, meaning fewer trips to the trash while you're cleaning. Like a number of Shark's newer vacuum cleaners, it has an odor-neutralizer built in, designed to keep your vacuum fresh, even if the dust cup is full of dog hair.
It can intelligently detect dirt on the floor, and increase suction in response, although it doesn't have the edge-sensing powers found in the Detect Pro range. The main floorhead has two rollers to enable it to tackle hard floors as well as carpet, and there's a guard that siphons off hair as it's collected, rather than letting it clog the rollers. All that makes it a great choice for pet owners, or indeed particularly hirsute households in general.
That extra power and larger bin size means it's heavier than some Shark stick vacuums, but it's still a cordless stick vacuum, and the design is impressively maneuverable despite that extra weight. You've got that popular flexible wand, and the floorhead can pivot at 90 degrees to get into the corners of closets and the like.
If you want maximum power and are prepared to sacrifice some of that maneuverability to get it, check out the corded upright model in this range (the Stratos Upright #4). Those two cost around the same, and are the priciest models in our ranking, although nowhere near as expensive as Dyson's range-toppers. If you want outright power, it's worth the investment, though.
Read our full Shark Stratos Cordless IZ862H / IZ400UK vacuum review
Best lightweight Shark vacuum
The Shark WandVac system is essentially a handheld vacuum with an additional floorhead and wand that can be added to transform it into an ultra-lightweight floor vac. On test, our reviewer found it comfortable and easy to use, with a surprising amount of power. It worked especially well on hard floors, although it's also suitable for use on carpet, and it comes with anti-hair wrap tech to stop your floorhead getting clogged with hair as you clean. As you'd expect, it's the cheapest floor vacuum in our ranking.
This vacuum is perfect for small, light cleaning tasks. The short battery life (up to 16 minutes in most territories) and small dust cup mean it's no good for a whole-home clean, and while it offers decent suction for its size, it can't compete with any of the brand's dedicated floor vacuums on power, either.
If you don't need the versatility of being able to use it as a floor vacuum, it's available as just a handheld, or check out our favorite Shark handheld vacuum at #6.
The best upright Shark vacuum
The Shark Stratos Upright is the most powerful vacuum on our list, which means if you're looking for something to do a deep clean, or have particularly hairy or messy pets, it'll be more than up to the job.
It's bulky and heavy compared to the stick vacuums in this list, but it has been designed to be as maneuverable as possible. For example, the dust cup / motor mechanism can be lifted off and held, while you use the cleaner head on the end of a stretch hose – either with our without the wand part attached. (Or tester noted that the stretch hose could have been a bit longer, though.) The wand doesn't bend in the middle for use at 90-degrees, but that wouldn't work with the upright vacuum design.
We also found that it did a particularly good job of picking up hair, while the cleaner head's anti-hair wrap technology helps prevent said hair from clogging up the dual brushrolls. An anti-odor puck ensures the machine, and your floors, stay fresh. All our testers who try this feature end up completely sold on it, gimmicky though it may sound.
If the cord is a deal-breaker, check out the cordless stick version from this line (#2), which still packs plenty of power and is a good choice for pet owners.
Read our full Shark Stratos Upright review
The best affordable Shark vacuum
Note: the version we reviewed is no longer available in the US. There is a very similar US version – the HZ3002 – with a similarly affordable price tag, but there's no bendable wand, and some of the specs are different to the model we're talking about here.
If you're on a tighter budget, the Shark Stratos Corded stick is one of the most affordable vacuums in the brand's range, and it's excellent value for that affordable price tag. This is far from a basic model – the suction is powerful, there's an anti-odor puck to neutralize bad smells (a feature that never fails to win over our reviewers) and anti-hair wrap tech to guard against clogged brushrolls. The bendable hose means you can get right under furniture without having to stoop down, and the floorhead pivots to 90-degrees to get into tight corners, too. None of these features are unique to this particular model, but they're still worth calling out.
The main thing you're sacrificing, really, is cordlessness. The 10m cable means you'll still be able to roam fairly freely, but if it's a dealbreaker, then you'll need to stump up a bit extra – the Detect Pro at #1 is actually the next up in terms of price if you're looking for a whole-home floor vacuum.
Read our full Shark Stratos Corded stick vacuum review
The best handheld Shark vacuum
Shark makes a few handheld vacuums, but our favorite is the UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus. It's compact and lightweight, and on test we found it packed enough suction power to pick up small and large debris, although it did sometimes take a few passes to grab the remnants of finer dust. We'd have preferred a swappable battery, but in lieu of that we're happy with the 15 minutes of runtime we got on a single charge (longer than the advertised 10 minutes). The dustbin is decently sizes, if a bit finicky to open. The three included tools make this vacuum particularly versatile and able to tackle a range of different cleaning tasks. All of this means we rate it one of the very best car vacuums around.
Read our full Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus review
How to choose the best Shark vacuum for you
Which is the best Shark Vacuum for you depends on your needs. If you need power and are okay using a cord, the corded options here (#4 and #5) are going to deliver the most suction. It's a good idea to proritize this is you have lot of carpet in your home, or particularly hairy or messy pets.
If portability is a priority, you'll want a cordless model. Not only are you not limited by a cord, but these types are typically made to be lighter and more compact. You won’t have quite the same dustbin capacity or power, but you’ll find these types to be easier to use.
Of course, the ultimate in hands-free operation will be a robot vacuum. There will be more initial setup as you’ll have to download an app and run the unit to map out your space, but once that’s all done, you can vacuum and maybe mop your floors with just a couple of presses in an app. These are ideal for regular cleaning but aren’t as good for any deep cleaning situations.
Frequently asked questions about Shark vacuums
What's better: Shark or Dyson?
While you can read our Shark vs Dyson: which vacuum cleaner brand is better? for a deeper dive. Comparing these two brands comes down to what kind of vacuum cleaner you want as Dyson focuses a large part of their line-up on feature-fill-cordless models as well as some canister-style ones while Shark has a much larger stable of vacuum cleaners including robot vacuums.
Shark on the whole is a bit cheaper than Dyson so if you’re on a budget, you’ll probably want to consider Shark. Both brands are very good when it comes to suction power, but Dysons generally come out ahead with battery life and weight.
What are shark vacuums best at?
Since Shark’s lineup of vacuums, unlike Dyson’s, is so varied, there’s no one category that rises above the others. The cordless models are fully featured and do great work for day-to-day cleaning while corded canister models are great for deep cleaning. And, though not as extensive as iRobot, Shark robot vacuums are pretty adept for a more hands-free approach; see our Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 robot vacuum review for one great example.
Basically, the company is very well-rounded in its offerings and the quality of those offerings.
Are shark vacuums good quality?
Shark has models at quite a few price points and the level of quality varies on how much you invest. The premium and mid-range models come with some great new features and some stellar performance. But, as you go cheaper, they get a little more barebones in terms of features and don’t have as much oomph. They can also suffer from reliability issues as some have reported online.
What does “Stratos” means?
You may have seen the word “Stratos” attached to some but not all of Shark’s models. This designation has been around 2022 for models equipped with stronger suction or cleaning power, anti-hair wrap technology to keep hair from tangling the brushrolls, and odor neutralizer technology to leave your floors smelling fresh.
How we tested these Shark vacuums
As with all the vacuum cleaners that we test, we put each review unit through its paces, seeing how it does with fine dust and dirt to larger debris. We check not only overall performance but specific circumstances, such as how a vacuum does with edges and corners, not to mention different types of surfaces such as hard flooring and carpets.
Additionally, we take a look at included features and how well they’re implemented – after all, a feature is not much of an addition if it isn’t well done. Where applicable, we also look at things like battery life and app support.
Read more on how we test vacuum cleaners.
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