I respect Shark’s ambition. With its latest vacuum (recently unveiled at IFA), Shark is solving two big problems. The first is that simply lifting the mop pad above the floor is often not enough to prevent an unpleasant wet mop pad from dragging across your clean carpet. That’s why the latest Shark robot vacuums come with a mop plate that automatically removes while vacuuming.
The second, more interesting problem is that robot vacuums tend to get stuck on small shelves and rugs around the house. So sharks now have what I call a “spoils hitch” to overcome obstacles in their path. At first glance, both of these improvements are very nice and work. “Is that robot vacuum hitting the floor?” my husband asked as we made our way from the kitchen to the living room. But in exchange, Shark fails at some of the basic tasks of robot vacuums. If you’re interested in this vacuum, we recommend waiting for the price to come down and for the company to work out some basic bugs.
I’ll smell it later.
Setup is very easy. This is a great-looking robot vacuum with a docking station that includes a clean water tank, a dirty water tank, an amazing 0.33 liter capacity trash can, and a refillable odor neutralizer capsule to keep everything from stinking up. is. heaven. Compact at less than 18 inches tall and less than 15 inches wide, it’s extremely easy to set up. I downloaded the app and added the vacuum. Shark also provides a list of cute and funny names. (I chose “Steve MacLean.”)
Photo: Adrian So
Pre-clean mapping was quick and easy and didn’t require any vacuum activation. This map is kind of weird and by no means accurate, but it does get the general orientation of the room correct, and the inaccuracies in the map don’t reflect on how the robot cleans.
When you start cleaning, you can choose between a vacuum cleaner or a mop (but not both). If you use a vacuum cleaner, you can choose between sweeping or deep cleaning. I found this confusing since you tap the cleaning button before selecting the mode. Don’t worry, you just have a little bit of PTSD from starting too many robot vacuums in the wrong cleaning mode and not being able to stop them. You can also choose to clean one room at a time or one area at a time (more on that later).
It takes about 90 minutes for the vacuum to perform a full vacuum of 750 square feet and uses about 60% of the battery. This means you can vacuum and then mop if necessary. It has a removable mop pad so you don’t have to plan your cleaning in advance. Non-removable mop pads require you to vacuum before mopping. You also can’t track the vacuum’s progress on the map. This is an easy way to ensure complete coverage or use accurate maps.
If it’s 3 times, you’re out
Photo: Adrian So
Ostensibly, the Shark vacuum comes with DirtDetect, a feature first introduced in iRobot’s Roomba series. A sensor at the bottom of the vacuum can identify areas that are unusually dirty and focus on them. Very effective on iRobot, less so on Shark.
