The best Shark vacuums we've tested in our lab – read our honest reviews

Score: 98/100

We couldn’t wait to get our hands on this innovative vacuum from Shark and it didn’t disappoint, claiming the highest score of all the best cordless vacuums we’ve tried. It solves a hidden problem, picking up dust and dirt when moving backwards as well as forwards. As a result, our experts found it lifted everything they laid quickly and effectively on all floor types, ultimately collecting 99.9 percent on average!

It automatically adjusted suction as it moved over dirtier areas and impressed our testers as a great handheld vacuum too (although that brush head doesn’t have the backwards vacuuming design). Even pet owners will be pleased, as it collected most fluff.

You can buy it as a standalone vacuum, or with a docking station, which charges the vacuum when not in use, and automatically empties the bin, so you’ll only need to deal with it around every 45 days.

Sadly, we've yet to find a perfect vacuum – this one had mixed battery life performance, lasting an impressive 60 minutes on eco but timing out after 15 minutes when we used it on max to clean the car. Sometimes the vacuum head refused to move in the desired direction too. But, it's our worthy winner – which is no mean feat in a market full of innovative, powerful vacuums.

Score: 94/100

This is one of the best handheld models our testers have ever tried. It has a dedicated pet tool, which means fur vanished with one pass. It also lifted every last crumb from all floor types and banished 99% of dust laid. Talk about an overachiever.

As you’d expect for a compact vacuum, the battery doesn’t last that long, but we found the 10 minutes run-time ample opportunity to clean a small car. It will recharge in four hours, and while it’s not the lightest handheld we’ve ever tried, given its overall performance, we’d make room for it in our cupboards in a flash.

Score: 92/100

While having a handheld vacuum is great for dealing with the odd spill or cleaning your car, it’s not up to tackling your whole home. That’s where the Detect Pro comes in. It was Shark’s top-of-the-range cordless vacuum until our winner arrived on the scene in late 2024, and it's a more affordable pick. It aced all our cleaning tests, too. In fact, it lifted over 100% of the dust laid (so we know it cleans deeply) and picked up crumbs and pet hair in no time.

A lot of this cleaning prowess comes down to its tech, which includes a setting that detects the floor surface and adjusts the suction accordingly, and another that does the same but with room edges and corners.

Testers found it lightweight and liked the way it moved across all surfaces, including the often-tricky long pile carpet. The head is flexible too and there’s a crevice tool for reaching into nooks and crannies.

You can also buy a version with a docking stand that auto empties – this may prove handy as one of our expert’s main gripes was with the canister emptying process, which can be fiddly at times.

Score 92/100

Another handheld model that our team really rated, this one stood out for the ease with which it cleaned hard flooring, earning full marks. It was also one of the best handheld vacuums for car cleaning, as it’s lightweight and comes with an effective crevice tool.

It struggled a bit on carpet, but the upholstery tool did a good job at clearing up pet hair. It has a small capacity, and the battery runs out quickly on max power, lasting about seven and a half minutes, as opposed to the 15 when used on standard. However, it recharges in a quick three hours.

Score: 91/100

Vacuuming can create a musty smell but not with this Shark, which has built-in air-freshening tech to leave your home smelling sweet.

It's a top cleaner too, leaving our surfaces free from debris, including pet and biscuit crumbs. Testers enjoyed the intuitive design, and the “Clean Sense IQ” tech, which will ramp up the suction if the vacuum passes over a notably dirty area.

Turbo mode ate up the battery life quickly – in about 12 minutes – but it ran for 35 minutes on standard, and it comes with a second battery if you need extra oomph for longer.

It wasn’t the best vacuum we’ve tried for cleaning cars, and the strong suction makes it feel less smooth on hard flooring, but these are small misgivings for an otherwise stellar cleaner.

Score: 84/100

Shark’s first robot vacuum (with mop) has finally arrived, and it was a hit with our testers. It whizzed round our test room in just 15 minutes, picking up nearly everything in its path. Crumbs and pet fur were no trouble (bar the odd stray hair or clump), but it brushed some finer dust particles to the side rather into its path. So, it’s always worth doing periodic deeper cleans with your main vacuum as well.

Testers praised the mopping function and its intuitive design. The app is clear, and it maps, recharges and avoids stairs automatically. It self-empties too, but some dirt clung to the canister so you may need to tip the rest out from time to time. But, as is often the case with Shark products, it's great value for the technology and functionality it offers.

Score: 83/100

This upright is the counterpart of the air-freshening stick vacuum above, so it will leave a fresh fragrance in its wake. But it has a much larger capacity, making it well suited to bigger homes. You have to plug it in, but there’s eight metres of cable and the hose extends two metres, so you shouldn’t have to swap sockets too often.

And it’s a powerful buy, lifting dust well and scoring full marks for per hair removal. Like some other Shark vacuums we tried, the canister is a little faffy to empty, and the big head means it can be tricky reaching into corners. But it was quiet on test, and generally easy to use.