Shark - Cordless Vertex Pro Powered Lift-Away - Blue & Gray

Good Vacuum. Very lightweight. I am writing this review to inform people looking to buy a SPARE BATTERY. XBAT350, the model battery Shark says is compatible with this vacuum is out of stock on the Shark website. XBAT300, which is in stock, is the exact same battery, and uses the same charger. The only difference is the older XBAT300 does not have a little hole on the bottom, which prevents it from being fully sat into this cordless vertex lift-away vacuum. This can be remedied by drilling a small hole through the plastic on the bottom as seen in the pictures. This makes the XBAT300 battery work with this vacuum. Shark customer service was no help when I contacted them to see if this was possible.

this is the best vacuum for the value. I appreciate the standard configuration for ease of use. Many others are to top heavy to be agile.

I own this for 1 month now and it works great in my 720 sf apartment. I have luxury vinyl flooring with area carpets in Living Room/Kitchen and carpeting in the Bedroom. Battery lasts a long time before recharging and then charges quickly.

This is a great vacuum with a BIG CATCH: long-term parts availability is limited to non-existent. Even though this vacuum came out only a few months ago, parts for it are drying up fast. For example, I needed the "deep-cleaning motorized pet tool" (part # 857FFJ362H) to do my stairs and upholstery. Seeing it out of stock on their website and unavailable from other stores, I contacted product support and they told me that this particular part is no longer in production. Looking on Reddit, parts availability also seems to be a common complaint. Had I known of this problem, I would not have spent this kind of money on the vacuum.

Does great keeping up with my 3 pets and 3 kids! I do wish it had longer battery life or came with 2 batteries.

This is the worse vacuum cleaner I have ever purchased. Dog hair gets wrapped aroud rollers every time I use it. It cliggs up abd I have to take the rollers aoart to cut away the hair. This vacuum was ADVERTISED to orevent dog hair entanglement. I wasted over $500 for this garbage

After unboxing the unit and realizing that everything just snaps together, no real assembly required. I was pleasantly pleased. I charged the battery fully before first use, the battery easily pops in and out and snaps into place with no effort. Easy to charge with the included charging stand. I own a German Shepard and they shed like know bodies business. Im constantly sweeping the carpets and I always get tons of hair each time I sweep. So the need for a good vacuum is very important. After one pass with this cordless Shark vacuum im very surprised on how much hair and dirt this little thing picks up. I was initially worried about the size of the container that captures the hair and dirt. But it really is the perfect size for my needs. I have two main rooms that have carpet and this seems to do just as good of a job as my full size plug in the wall shark vacuum. Im removing the same amount of hair it seems. Bright LEDs on the front of the vacuum so you can see any dirt you may have missed. Easy disassembly so you can clean the unit and unclog any blockages. The lift away feature is a great addition so you can carry the unit with you while you vacuum crevasse and ceiling fan blades or the drapes ect... The digital read out on the handle is a nice touch. This is where you see how much juice you have left in the battery and how fast you have the rollers spinning. The higher the setting the faster the battery will drain. But so far the battery has lasted me plenty of time to get the floors swept. I think this is the perfect vacuum for those that have a small living space like an apartment or small home. I would invest in a full size Shark vacuum if you have anything bigger that that.

INITIAL IMPRESSIONS & SET-UP The Shark comes well protected and packaged in its box. Shark must have paid someone a good deal of money to figure out how to fit all those pieces in a box as small as it is. However, it was money well spent as its dense packaging not only saves space, but the parts are wrapped in heavy paper and do a good job at protecting them from abrasions during shipment. Because of the packaging, the Shark requires a little work to assemble before using, but it is nothing hard or intimidating. The only difficult part of assembly is waiting for the battery to charge before use. That took about 3 hours for me, as it was fairly discharged, and the battery is good sized. USE The Shark is a nice change from the traditional stick vacuums that are common throughout. With the Shark, you can use it like a traditional upright vacuum, or detach the power section and use it like a canister vacuum. While this may not be as convenient as a dedicated stick vacuum, it has allowed Shark the ability to install a huge battery pack. The Shark also comes with several attachments, such as a furniture brush, a crevice tool, and my new favorite attachment: a ceiling fan and blind cleaner. That small tool alone is great!!! I found myself using it far more than I ever thought I would. I no longer reach for Swiffers to clean my ceiling fans and shutters. The Shark sucks up that dust and traps it all in the HEPA filter, something no Swiffer can offer. AWESOME!! Shark claims this Vertex has the power of a full-size vacuum in Boost Mode. Boost Mode does make it a very powerful vacuum, but that power comes at the price of major battery usage. Shark recommends limited use of Boost mode because of the power consumption, and I can see why. Luckily, the default Medium setting power is more than sufficient for most day-to-day cleaning chores. Battery life on Medium and Eco are on par with recent vacuums from other manufacturers. But, none of the other manufacturers I’ve tried have the performance of the Shark on its Boost mode. A feature that I feel is worth pointing out, as it doesn’t apply to many other vacuums on the market is the Shark’s ability to go nearly horizontal to floor while cleaning. While I like my other stick vacuums, you must put them at an odd angle to get them under things like beds and dressers. You can’t just natively push them under a bed for cleaning, as they get closer to horizontal, the power head lifts off the floor, rendering the vac useless. Shark’s approach eliminates this pet peeve. While using the Vertex like a canister vacuum, you can simply push the power head directly under something to clean it. You don’t have to act like a contortionist to get the angle just right for cleaning. A true game changer. That has always frustrated me about others’ stick vacuums. NEGATIVES While I praised the Shark for its unique design in the previous section, it is also a negative. Using the Vertex as an upright just feels odd. I still haven’t fully come to grips with the vacuum in this configuration. Also, if you do need to use the vacuum to clean under something, you must remove motor assembly, making it an item you now must also carry, therefore tying up both hands while you sweep. I’m not trying to be a whiner, but I feel it is something that should be considered prior to purchasing. The Shark’s unique design doesn’t feel as natural as an upright or isn’t as convenient as a stick vac. It is like an odd hybrid. The odd placement of the LED lighting seems more of an afterthought than an actual design element. The are 3 LED’s each placed at the end of the brush head. Those LED’s do help light up the floor but leave an odd dim area directly in front of the brush head. Shark would be wise to study Tineco’s implementation of LED’s on the brush head, as Tineco’s solution does a far superior job at lighting up the floor during use and spotting dust and dirt. CONCLUSIONS The Shark Vertex is a unique approach to everyday vacuum selection. Shark has spent a great deal of effort studying the market and designed a product that strays from the norm, in both good ways and in some, not so much. While the Shark doesn’t quite of the natural, ease of use, feel as a stick vacuum for basic, day to day messes and cleaning, it does offer a much greater selection for cleaning options. The detachable motor assembly puts the Shark in a league all by itself. While stick vacuums can be multi-purpose machines, the excel in basic floor care. The Shark not only does great at floor care, but the ability to separate the motor assembly and turn it into a canister vacuum is a truly novel approach and makes the Shark far more versatile than ANY cordless stick vacuum. I would never have thought about cleaning ceiling fans and shutters with a stick vacuum, the Shark makes it a no-brainer. One thing that does remain in this vacuum, as it does other products, is Shark’s magic self-cleaning brush rolls. I’m not sure how they do it, but I still don’t have a single hair wrapped around the rolls in the Shark. This can’t be said for any other vacuum in my house. How they figured out that bit of magic is great. In the end, this is a product that should be on your list of options for those wanting a cordless vacuum. While it doesn’t do everything perfectly, it creates a unique niche that others either can’t or haven’t. This is one product that achieves the ability to do more than its competitors’ products.