A good cordless vacuum is an excellent investment for any home. Personally, I have been a bit unlucky with vacuums. I remember on my 35th birthday a few years ago, my vacuum cleaner literally exploded. To be fair, it was a few years old and overworked, but since then I have been having trouble finding one I liked. I have had others that were too heavy, ones that were too noisy and didn’t clean both hard and carpeted surfaces and I had one that just didn’t clean. Recently, I was given the chance to sample the Shark Duo Clean Cord-Free Vacuum. I received a sample of this in exchange for a review but as always, all opinions are my own.
Firstly, this vacuum comes in a few different models. I received the Shark Cordless Single Battery pink model with True Pet, which is what it sounds like – a version capable of cleaning a home that is filled with pet hair. There’s also an upright lift-away model, a cordless model with two battery packs and a corded stick model. Depending on what features you want, they can come in a range of colours, from pink, navy, blue, rose gold or orange. You can find these on the Shark website.
This vacuum is being touted as the world’s first vacuum with DuoClean and Flexology technologies and you might be wondering what that is. Here is what it says on the Shark website:
“Unique to Shark, DuoClean Technology features 2 brush rolls in one vacuum head. We removed the front wall and replaced it with a soft brush roll so you can seamlessly clean between carpets and hard floors without stopping to switch heads.
Flexology technology means this vacuum can reach and be stored almost anywhere in the home. With one click the flexi-wand bends so you don’t have to! Comfortably reaching and cleaning under low lying furniture.”
It sounded good, especially the part about being able to comfortably reach and clean under low lying furniture, as that is something I know that I struggle with and I am sure lots of consumers are the same. So, I started testing this vacuum to see how good it was. The first thing I liked about it was how light it was compared to my old vacuum cleaner. I struggle with chronic pain issues and vacuuming had become a nightmare, or a job that I regularly delegated to my spouse because I simply wasn’t able to do it when the pain flared. I am not lying when I say that I actually took some joy in using this vacuum because I was able to move it, control it and get it underneath my couch with minimal effort. I’m sure the novelty will wear off. I am just glad to have found a light, flexible cordless vacuum that does a good job and won’t have me running back to my physio.
Another thing I really loved about this was how you can separate the vacuum so there is just a handheld part and you can use this for stairs and cars. It’s really easy to take apart and put back together with no stiffness. I like it a lot.
My house has hard floors on most surfaces. Only the stairs are carpeted. What is great is that this device will intelligently adapt to whatever settings you choose so switching from hard to carpeted floors is easy. You just press a little icon next to the main power setting. There’s also two other icons for “extend runtime” which is everyday cleaning and “max power” for more intense jobs. My personal preference is to use max power all the time because I have a lived-in home with a dog and a messy seven year old boy! It does drain the battery quicker, but it’s worth it for a really good clean.
The next task was emptying it, which is a job nobody enjoys. I can’t say that I have the same enthusiasm for this part. It should be easy to empty this device as there is no bag and there’s one button that you depress to release the dust storage part, but I found it really tricky. The button was stiff and it didn’t release the storage compartment easily. In time, this might get easier as it is used more often and is less stiff, but I have been using it for almost a month and I would say I empty it every other day. It hasn’t gotten any easier so far.
It comes with one lithium-ion power pack which is easy to remove and install and lasts for around twenty minutes of use. This should be adequate for cleaning one floor of an average house thoroughly or two floors if you are just having a quick run around with the vacuum. It charges overnight and there are three blue bars on the battery that tell you how much power is being stored. Once the battery is fully charged, all three bars are lit and will not blink as they do when charging. I was satisfied with the battery, although an extra one would come in handy. There is a “parts and accessories” section on the website where you can purchase a replacement battery for £69.99. I think that price is a bit steep and I’m not sure I would pay that when one battery is adequate for most jobs.
That brings me to the parts that come supplied with the vacuum. I received a motorised pet tool, a long crevice tool, an upholstery tool and a dusting brush. They all come in a handy little bag with the Shark brand name on it. While these tools were great for every job I tried around the home, when it came to the point where I wanted to clean my car, they weren’t much use, to be honest. Because of my pain issues my car had not been properly vacuumed in a long time, to the point where I was starting to joke that it was a mobile skip rather than a car (which would have been funnier if it wasn’t true). So, this was a big job. There was dust, pet hair and all sorts of weird stuff on the floor that I just couldn’t figure out what it was. The vacuum was really going to be put to the test. While it did a good job, it was hard work and I needed to go back the following day after a recharge of the battery pack. I wondered if the vacuum just wasn’t powerful enough for the job, but it was powerful enough for both the hard floors and the carpeted stairs in my home, so it should have had adequate suction for the car too. The tools also didn’t get into the all the nooks and crannies that there are in a car. There is a car detail kit available to purchase but obviously I haven’t tried it so I can’t recommend it, but it sounds interesting and is only £19.99 so it is something I will be looking into.
One feature I haven’t mentioned is the headlight feature. This vacuum has headlights. I’m not really sure why but it looks good and it amused me. I’m sure there is a specific function for the lights but I have been using vacuum cleaners with no headlights for my whole adult life and never once thought to myself that I could really do with them. I just thought I would mention them.
Overall, this vacuum is a hit with me and my family. I would give it a solid 9 out of 10. If I am honest, although the suction power was good, it wasn’t as powerful as the heavy vacuum from a competitor that my spouse has been using until now and that is where it really fell down. It would also be good if the dust compartment was easier to open. I think with the addition of the special car kit that is available this could be an excellent all-rounder and I really believe this is one of my favourite products that I have reviewed for OxGadgets. What is most important to me is that it has allowed me to vacuum my house for myself again and after years of struggling with heavy cleaners and then giving up and delegating the job, I can’t tell you how good it feels to have discovered a lightweight vacuum with adequate suction that basically just does the job it is supposed to do.
You can read more about this product on the Shark website. The pink cordless vacuum I sampled is currently priced at £379.99 and there are options to pay for it in instalments. It’s not the cheapest on the market, but it is a good investment. It also comes with a five year guarantee on the vacuum and a two year guarantee on the battery.