Shark - EZ Robot Vacuum RV912S with Self-Empty Base, Bagless, Wi-Fi - Dark Grey

As most would certainly attest to, any daily chore requires the right tool when trying to accomplish any task as efficiently as possible. Robot self cleaning vacuum cleaners, in recent times, have seemingly gained in popularity; though as someone who has never used one, I still remained skeptical in their ability to effectively clean. In addition, it is also common to see these cleaners marketed as a complete solution to where you could substitute one in place of your standard vacuum cleaner. As a previous owner of Shark vacuum cleaner, I was curious to test their latest robot self cleaning vacuum cleaner with regards to cleaning performance in a pet environment to see if it could become a viable cleaning option. Starting with installation, everything was straightforward and pretty standard. To keep with an out of box experience, we followed the quick start guide as most people will start there. Inside the box, you will note the main unit, the self cleaning base, and a hard mat for the dock should you decide to store it on carpet. The robot itself is fairly light at 12 pounds. You will also find two swivel feet that will need to be installed first. For charging, the main unit will require six hours to fully charge, however, ours came pre-charged with about 40% battery. As for setting up the base, you should not have an issue. You will note two blue lights once you have the robot placed correctly: one on the base and one on the unit. Once in place, your cleaner will chime and then engage the self cleaning. Do not be alarmed as this is normal. On the front of the unit, you will find two buttons: Clean and Dock. Additionally, you will note the battery and Wi-Fi indicators on the front of the unit. As for application setup, it all went fairly smooth. We did not have any issue connecting to Wi-Fi. The application prompted for approval to join the network and we were good to go. As for our testing, it is imperative to note that your results will differ here, though hopefully this can give you an idea on what to expect. Our tests were done in a 2400 square foot home with a large golden retriever that is constantly shedding hair. Therefore, this was the perfect environment to test the cleaning performance. Also certain variables such as house layout and furniture placement will certainly impact your initial results. Furthermore, we ran two tests: one in a mixed environment with hard floors, furniture, and different types of rugs. The second was in the bedroom on carpet. In each setting, the robot was started from its base within that same vicinity. We ran it on continuous mode for roughly 20 minutes each. On the first test, the robot began in the living room and went immediately straight. It appeared after a pass or two that it was going to clean up and down in a grid pattern, though eventually this was not the case. When it came into contact with the chair legs, it kept having to readjust, but nonetheless it eventually made it around all four. Regardless, I was pleasantly surprised with how well it stopped and swiveled itself whenever it did hit something. The same thing was noted as it went in and out between the rest of the furniture. In the laundry room, it was able to quickly get itself out of a small area between the door and the wall. In areas of high traffic, dog hair was effortlessly vacuumed. As time went on, you could see that the robot was learning the house layout fairly quickly. It did exceptionally well with wall detection and base boards throughout the bottom floor. Once it reached the bathroom, it was able to power itself over a thick woven rug that certainly delighted us. After making a few passes in there, it took a diagonal path out of the bathroom, which was certainly an improvement upon its up and down movements previously. Upon further inspection, this certainly proved to be true. Within the application, there was map of the portion of your house that it had already cleaned. Another feature we noted while cleaning, was that within the application, you can also set the cleaning mode. Default is set to normal. On Economy mode, there was an audible reduction in sound. On maximum, its suction increase. However, it wasn't any louder than a normal vacuum cleaner. There was also no lag in communication between the application and the cleaner, which was a plus. Once we had discovered this option, we left it on maximum. After leaving the robot in continuous mode for 20 minutes, we then called it back to base. Interestingly, the robot then proceeded to retrace its steps back the way came. As it reached the base, it reversed back into the dock and adjusted its alignment accordingly. It was quite exciting to see. Once it detected a charge, the loud cleaning process began. Another feature that we quickly tested afterwards was scheduled cleaning. We had set the cleaning to begin at 8 PM, which began on the dot. I was certainly impressed. We then emptied the cleaning bin, which was quite full of dog hair. On the second test, we moved the docking station to the bedroom. We sat the docking station on the hard surface mat that came with the cleaner. Once resumed, the robot began cleaning in a straight up and down pattern as before. It did seem to adjust fairly quickly, even though in some small areas, it unintentionally went over areas it had finished previously. Once it reached bathroom, the transition from hard floor to carpet did not seem to faze it. Wads of pet hair were instantly sucked up as it continued on its journey. You could also see streaks in the carpet once it finished a pass that resembled traditional vacuum cleaners. In confined areas, the robot naturally took a bit longer to adjust its way out of it, but nonetheless, it was able to find its way out. As the cleaning progressed, once again the learning seemed to improve over time. Interestingly enough, once we called the robot back to base this time, the robot went directly to it as opposed to retracing its previous path. This was quite something. As before, the amount of hair that was picked up was quite a bit for such a small device. Overall, I was quite pleased with how it performed. With both tests completed, there were a few observations that I think are worth noting. First and foremost, houses of multiple or large pets will have to empty their cleaner much more frequently than the stated 15 days mentioned in the app. Second, the robot could not locate the base if you start it from the dock then move the base to a different room while it is cleaning. Always leave it where it started. Third, after roughly 20 minutes of cleaning, the battery had used about 10%. The charging rate of the battery was also pretty decent. We had left the vacuum cleaner on the dock at 7:30pm with 20% battery. At 10:10pm, the battery was at 60%. In addition, when the robot hits low battery, it will tell you he is low. Lastly, you should move all loose cords out of the way. Our robot got stuck and started to drag some cords, though he did not suck anything up or knock anything over. I would also be mindful of anything fragile on shelves or anything loose that is not sturdy enough to withstand small hits from the robot. The robot never had the force to hit anything tremendously hard, but I rather you take these precautions to avoid an accident. Overall, I was quite happy with the results, though I can certainly say that there are limitations as it can only clean so much. This is certainly a very good supplement to your standard vacuum cleaner as opposed to replacing it. You will still need clean with a regular vacuum cleaner, but nonetheless, I think the robot still does what it was designed to accomplish. In conclusion, the Shark Robot RV912S performed as it was designed to do. The initial installation and setup was simple and straightforward. Connectively, the application integration and communication was responsive. As the robot cleaning sessions prolonged, the efficiency vastly improved. The robot was able to take more direct paths where it still needed to clean and was aware of areas that it had already finished. In addition, it handled pet hair very well; filling the cleaning bin each time both our tests. As aforementioned, I feel the robot cleaner best acts as a supplement to your standard cleaner. It would not be able to clean everything, nor was it designed to do so. However, this does not diminish what it was able to accomplish. We could tell where it had vacuumed by just looking at the floor. Additionally, the robot was able to eventually navigate the house with ease. Given all of its caveats and features, and provided that you are content with these limitations, the Shark EZ robot should impress. Thus, with that said, the Shark EZ Robot Vacuum cleaner comes recommended.

This is review of Shark – EZ Robot Vacuum RV912S with Self-Empty Base, Bagless, Wi-Fi color Dark Grey. Just Love it, it help me to unload one part of house care routine effectively. Expanding the first impression, first of all it has couple of improvement needed, but in overall it is simple to setup and operate and clean, and following details are based on my experience of using only in hard floor. Setting consist of placing in a spot where should go, then connecting it with the Shark proprietary application via WiFi, which is quite standard alike other devices and brands work today. Then it need to have to charged fully which takes couple of hours depending on level of battery is charged from the manufacturer. To operate, it can be done in two ways; one from the vacuum itself, second from the application. From the same application, you can: 1. start, pause, and return to the base, and it offer dome data point. This consist of history of having run, which tell duration, and area covered graphical footprint map. 2. Schedule Status references at glance: 1. Ready to Clean, Returning to Base, Paused 2. Battery level The owner guide does reference to botboundary strips, but it is not included as per package specification I received. But did’t need for the are where I was focused on, although it would be needed if it is used on the second floor to avoid the stairs. Starting to vacuum, all it takes is from the Application tap on Play button (or from the device self the button Clean). And automatically start working, and return to the base when the battery is low or need unload collected dust and debris. In the process doesn’t require much care and can left alone to work. When it return to base, automatically empty to the base bin. Once the vacuum is completed, looking in the bin contained quite of dust that I didn’t expect, hence previous to Shark RV912S I didn’t notice it. In the process, to add-on, if there is a case of stuck in brush, the vacuum says such condition and get noticed in the application. Another good thing is that it can go and off between different surfaces on the floor. With this I mean, from the plain hard floor, if in between exist rug, it is able to vacuum it without any issue, then continue to the plain floor. For improvement I would say there are couple of aspects as one (some more usability and detail than other and doesn’t make critical for the usage): 1. In the application, when the status is “Returning to Base” due to low battery, the application still allow to start as the Play button is available. 2. Some how, when the vacuum is far away from the base, has problem recognizing returning path and end up lost as needed to take back manually to the base. 3. When the battery is low, its software doesn’t seem to calculate the remaining level and if enough to return to the base. 4. It is bit noisy although can be tolerated as get used to. However, if want to schedule it to run in hours during sleeping hours such not to interrupt daily movement, that is hard to apply case due to the noise. Despite of little details that feels need to be workout, it does help at least in my case to sort of delegate to automated device, and happy to see it does what meant for cleaning.

It’s great as a little helper, but I have 3 German Shepherds and it struggles with the hair quite often. It gets wrapped around the roller so quick I have to take it apart and clean it almost daily. Other than that the floors have never been cleaner! I kinda wish the dust bin on the base was as big as my last one, but you get what ya pay for I suppose.

The Bad: Sometimes it will erase the map of your home for no reason. Gets lost sometimes. The Good: self empty lasts fairly long time. Especially considering I have a dog and cat. Quite for the most part. I usually use the boost/ max suction mode. In all I like it very much. Unfortunately I can't run it on a schedule because of the pets. It will not avoid a doggie accident if you know what I mean. That's not a mess you want to clean. Not a vacuum replacement. But it helps in-between vacuums.

Still trying to figure out how the mapping works, but otherwise a good product.

Great buy so happy I bought it .. I have a inside pet and I no longer have to use worry about hairs every where, it picks up everything..

Nice helper if it’s brushes get caught it’s a simple tug to remove the object- the kids love it and the app is the only problem for me.

Absolutely love this! It has saved me so much time and has made a HUGE difference in my life. I now own 2 Sharks!