Following decades of growth in the USA, home tech leader Shark and its appliances landed on UK shores in 2014, with vacuums leading the way.
The home cleaning essentials came in at a couple of notches cheaper than those of their nearest competitor, Dyson, but seemed to promise the same quality of design and innovation. Soon enough, Shark – famed for its anti-wrap technology – became a frontrunner, selling more vacuums in the UK than any other brand in the past year.
The Shark Stratos Anti Hair Wrap Plus Pet Pro Cordless Vacuum [IZ420UKT] box makes big promises, not least a cleaning time of up to 120 mins (that’s if you buy the version with the spare battery and use the vacuum only in eco mode).
There’s also DuoClean – Shark’s integrated system which features two brush rolls in one head (one soft, one bristled) and anti-odour technology. The detail of some added flexibility in a stick vacuum is an exciting notion for a cleaner as reluctant as myself, as well as the pledge that this has Shark’s “best ever hair pick-up”.
The bit that really makes me feel like I’m living in the future, however, is Shark’s Clean Sense IQ – an infrared sensor that detects dirt invisible to the untrained eye and ups the suction.
Shark’s Stratos collection includes two other cordless designs with single batteries and varying number of tools, plus upright vacuums which start at £299.99.
Is this just buzz, or will my vacuum cleaner actually be smarter than me? Let’s find out, shall we?
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The test environment
We got our puppy at a French boulangerie, so of course we named her Brioche. She quickly grew into the scruffiest, smartest, furry beast on Earth, with eyes as big as her feet and feet as big as the moon.
She is the centre of our world, but oh God, there is fur. There is so much fur. Every time she stands up for a good old shake my living room looks like an explosion in a Boris Johnson fancy dress shop. There’s fur everywhere. The carpet, the curtains, the sofa, my eyeballs. We also have another dog Trevor and a cat Lillian - you can imagine how hairy things can get.
Then there’s me. Even my own father calls me Hagrid. Sometimes I think the only real cure for my long, red, curly mane would be a lawnmower. To top it off, I’m living inside a renovation project – cut me and I’ll bleed dust.
The point I’m making here is that there is no better place to test the Shark Stratos Anti Hair Wrap Plus Pet Pro Cordless Vacuum Cleaner (try saying that three times in a row). Especially because up until now I have been using my nan’s borrowed 25+ year old Sebo, which is about the size and weight of an articulated lorry.
Packaging
Shark makes a huge effort to ensure there’s very little single use plastic, bar a couple of bits of tape here and there. The machinery is safely bound in cardboard and each accessory comes wrapped in paper. All in all it’s a pretty slick package – I’m of the opinion that you should never gift a household appliance unless it’s requested, but I must say if I found this under the Christmas tree I’d be ecstatic.
Included in the package is: the vacuum; a motorized floor nozzle (yes, it does on occasion feel as if its taking you for a walk); a flexology wand; a crevice tool; a multi surface tool; an anti-allergen brush; a motorized pet tool; a charging dock for the battery; a charging cord; an anti-odour cartridge (this is probably the least environmentally friendly part of the whole operation as it’s hard plastic and only built to last around six months before a replacement is required); a spare battery and a handy tote to everything together.
Design
The engine slots into the stick, the sticks slots into one of the many heads and away you go. I had it together and working in under a minute, and that’s definitely down to ease of use rather than my own competency. It’s a slick machine, gliding along the floor smoothly as it sucks up an alarming amount of dust and hair (turns out the Sebo was doing a surface level job).
The battery’s remaining percentage is displayed digitally, a handy feature that doesn’t necessarily give you an idea of time left (owing to some areas requiring more power), but does give you a rough estimation of how long you’ve got before it conks out. The batteries take just over three hours to recharge, but the dock means that both can be charged at the same time.
The flexible stick also means that you can fold the Shark Stratos in half and tuck it away when it’s not in use, which earns it a few more brownie points. It is also excellent for getting under the coffee table, so you don’t need to drag furniture around.
Every detail feels well thought out, from the light the vacuum projects so you can catch any bits you might miss otherwise to the anti-odour capsule, which gives off a lovely, fresh laundry smell.
Emptying the vacuum did require some light reading, which I wish I’d embarked on before emptying a not-so-delicious smattering of dust all over myself. You remove the stick from the machine and press a button, which releases a catch and tips out the dust and hair from the bottom. Again it’s all very easy. Perhaps too easy for some…
Functionality
It’s hard to give an honest review that won’t shame my family name for generations to come, but er… this vacuum works. The carpets in my bedroom are in their third decade and while I do give it a good go with the elderly machinery at my disposal, it was clear from a 10-minute zap with the Shark Stratos that I may as well have been using a toddler’s toy until now. By the time I finished my living room I was already at the dust-traps max capacity. It filled so rapidly and so efficiently that I half expected Kim Woodburn to let herself in and smack me around the head with a feather duster.
Shark’s Clean Sense IQ claims ring true; the vacuum whistled along quite merrily, but rose to an outraged shriek when it hit a particularly dusty area. The noise was never shattering, but you wouldn’t want to turn it on if there were people sleeping in the house.
I found the main head a little cumbersome at times – this isn’t a problem for the young and fit, but I do suspect someone a little older would find it weighty. That said, the smaller, lighter heads (especially the motorised pet tool) are better suited to stairs and sofas anyway, so there shouldn’t be too much heavy lifting required.
I would be surprised to wring much more than half an hour out of each battery, but I suspect that may be because the machine was working harder than a jumbo jet to deal with the dirt around my living quarters.
Where to buy the Shark Stratos Cordless Anti Hair Wrap Plus Pet Pro Vacuum
Shark Stratos Cordless Anti Hair Wrap Plus Pet Pro Vacuum - Was: £479.99, now: £379.99
SHARK Stratos Anti Hair Wrap Plus Pet Pro IZ420UKT Cordless Vacuum Cleaner - Silver - Was: £549, now: £449
Shark Stratos Anti Hair Wrap+ Cordless Vacuum Cleaner - Was: £450, now: £350
Shark Stratos NZ860UKT Pet Pro Model Upright Vacuum Cleaner with Anti Hair Wrap Plus & Anti-Odour Technology - £399, Amazon
Shark Stratos Anti Hair Wrap Plus Pet Pro Cordless Vacuum Cleaner -Was: £479.99, now: £379.99
Verdict
I am a true convert. Evangelical, even. I will be telling strangers in the Post Office queue about the sheer power of the Shark Stratos Cordless Vacuum.
I genuinely couldn’t believe the amount of dust it was pulling up, but seeing is believing, and the transparent dust trap laid my cleaning sins bare. It is the best vacuum I’ve encountered in my thirty plus years on earth. I am in awe.
