Cleaning tasks can seem endless, especially when you have a pet. Lugging a heavy, high-powered pet vacuum around the house can be burdensome, and lightweight cordless models don’t always have enough power to get all the fur and dander.
Shark created an innovative vacuum solution for pet owners. Its cordless Pet Power vacuum offers continuous cleaning to deep-clean carpets and floors. The vacuum is specifically designed for households with pets and boasts a 50-minute runtime in standard mode.
This sounded like the perfect vacuum cleaner to address our own pet hair dilemma, so we tested the Shark Anti-Allergen Pet Power Cordless Stick Vacuum. Here’s what we found.
Our tester’s home has both carpet and wood floors, and they have two cats. They require a vacuum that’s lightweight, easy to maneuver and can get all the hair up to keep things looking clean. They used the Shark Pet Power vacuum and tested out features, performance and product claims to see if it held up to what the manufacturer promised. The focus was on the setup process, speed and responsiveness, noise level, battery performance and overall quality.
The Shark Pet Power vacuum is a cordless, anti-allergen, stick vacuum made for pet owners. The deep-cleaning technology works on carpets and hardwood floors. The complete seal design traps and holds over 99.9% of dust and allergens that contaminate the air in your home.
The Shark Anti-Allergen Pet Power vacuum is available for $349.99 at Amazon.
Upon opening the box, we found the vacuum to be well packaged. It looked like a good-quality product with a clean, appealing design. The stickers were easy to remove, and the directions were almost unnecessary. If you’ve ever seen a vacuum, the way the parts fit together is fairly obvious. With this particular model, the parts won’t click together if you don’t have them lined up correctly, so putting it together is still easy.
This vacuum is adaptable to various cleaning situations. Removing or adding the different attachments is straightforward, and the controls are intuitive and easy to reach.
The Shark has a switch that lets you change modes from hard floors to carpet. Each works well for its intended purpose. When you have a heavier pile of dirt or ground-in pet fur, you can engage the boost mode. This worked well, even on a high pile carpet. The unit features a flexible head, making it highly maneuverable, even cleaning underneath furniture with little effort.
We liked the fact that this model can vacuum more than just floors. We used it to clean couch cushions and fabric chairs that tend to accumulate noticeable black cat fur. It did an excellent job picking up hair in only one or two passes.
We can’t say it was overly noisy, but this Shark vacuum wasn’t quiet, either. In the low mode, if we had a conversation, we would have to raise our voice, though not to a shout. The boost mode was a bit louder.
The debris compartment opens and empties with a single touch. Make sure you have the unit in the trash can when releasing the dust, because it comes out fast. If you hold it too high, some dust might float up and out.
Unfortunately, the battery didn’t perform as hoped. While the advertising claims it will run up to 50 minutes, we could only get about 22 minutes out of this vacuum in standard mode. The boost mode, which obviously consumes power at an accelerated rate, only lasts about 10 minutes. To get the unit back up to 100%, we had to charge it for 2.5 hours.
The Shark cordless vacuum is a flexible, easily maneuverable cleaning appliance. The LED is a great feature because you can clearly see all the dirt, dust and hair on the floor when vacuuming. It has a sleek design and a good amount of suction, which can be enhanced with the boost mode, as well as being easy to empty.
The main drawback of this vacuum is the longer charging times and shorter battery life. It’s also a little frustrating that the vacuum doesn’t have a wall mount. The Shark doesn’t take up much space, but it doesn’t stand on its own.
The Shark Anti-Allergen Pet Power Cordless Stick Vacuum is an easy-to-use, capable vacuum that’s lightweight and not overpriced. While it isn’t the most powerful model on the market, it performs remarkably well and is a good fit for people who own pets. The bottom line is the Shark is a good value for the money.
Dyson Ball Multi Floor Origin Vacuum Cleaner
Dyson is the leader in vacuums. If you want the most powerful, top-performing model, this is it. You will pay more, however, and it’s corded and larger than the Shark Pet Power vacuum.
Sold by Amazon
Shark ZU782 Rotator Lift-Away DuoClean Pro Upright Vacuum
If you want power that never ends in a Shark vacuum, this corded model has what you crave. It includes all the features of the Pet Power model and is roughly the same price.
Sold by Amazon, Home Depot, Kohl’s and Wayfair
Bissell 2252 CleanView Swivel Upright Bagless Vacuum
For those with budget as a primary concern, Bissell has a highly affordable model available. This vacuum has swivel steering, a 13.5-inch cleaning path and an easy-to-empty dirt bin. For every unit purchased, Bissell donates up to $10 to the Bissell Pet Foundation.
Want to shop the best products at the best prices? Check out Daily Deals from BestReviews.
Sign up here to receive the BestReviews weekly newsletter for useful advice on new products and noteworthy deals.
Allen Foster writes for BestReviews. BestReviews has helped millions of consumers simplify their purchasing decisions, saving them time and money.
