The Best Shark Robot Vacuum
Shark's robot-vac checks all of the boxes you'd expect from a mid-range machine. It provides reliable cleaning capability and an easy to use mobile application. It also produces precise home maps.
It also comes with Matrix Clean navigation, a system that allows two passes back and forth before moving side to side for complete coverage. The base is also unbagged, which is different from other robot vacuums.
1. Roborock S4
This is a top-quality robot vacuum for bare floors that sucks up debris and has a large dirt compartment. The app lets you manage cleaning and docking. Its intelligent pathing is very effective. The app also gives you a convenient cleaning overview including an image of where the S4 has been cleaned, cleaning time and battery life.
Its maximum suction of 2,000Pa can be enough to lift an AA battery off the floor. It also rivals those of full-sized vacuums. With 19CFM the S4's side as well as combo brush is situated closer to the front of the unit than in other Roborock models, which could be a strategy to lessen the possibility of clogging.
The S4's advanced mapping system can map a home up to four levels deep and keep track of areas it has already vacuumed. This makes it simple to design a cleaning schedule without the need to manually move robots from room to room. You can also mark areas as no-go zones, which will prevent the S4 from entering those areas during a cleaning cycle.
It was able clean all floors of our house easily and was extremely efficient on bare floors. However, it had a difficult time picking up hair from dogs that is a typical problem for a lot of robotic vacuums. The only 8.5 percent was gathered in the dustbin. The remainder was clumped around the brushes and the suction inlet.
The S4 is smaller and lighter than other Shark vacuums. This improves its maneuverability. It can make tighter turning and avoid obstacles that slow down other robots. The low-profile design also makes it easier to place under furniture. It has improved climbing capabilities for navigating flooring transitions and different flooring levels. It is able to get to the bottom of the stairs and is a great option for homes with a lot of floors. The application lets you set a schedule and includes a manual control for vacuuming. It can also return to its charging station to charge automatically between cleaning cycles. It comes with a massive 5200 mAh battery, which is rated to run for 150 minutes or 2691 square feet between charges in normal mode.
2. Shark EZ Robot Self-Emptying
This Shark robot vacuum is a great option for pet owners looking for a device that is simple to use and intelligent. The self-emptying bagless base is a wonderful convenience, especially compared to other vacuums that use disposable dirtbags in their bases. It is possible to empty the bin on top of the trashcan by simply taking it off it. It's messy, but you save money on replacement bags.
The bin itself is fairly large, meaning that the EZ Robot is capable of handling a large amount of debris. It also performs well on floors that are clean, although it struggles with dirt embedded in low-pile carpet. It also has good navigation capabilities, and a tiny dock footprint.
While the EZ Robot isn't as good as the Roborock S4, it's still a solid option for people who want a high-quality, budget-friendly robot. It's built well, comes with many automation features, and has impressive cleaning capabilities on carpet and floors with high pile. Its maintenance requirements are very high and the recurring expenses are very high.
Another fantastic feature of the Shark robot is its capacity to recharge and automatically resume where it began when it returns to its docking station following the full cleaning. This is a great feature particularly if you live in an extensive home.
The IQ XL also comes with various other useful features. It is possible to schedule your entire home cleaning remotely and review cleaning reports through the SharkClean App. You can also start, stop and resume cleaning sessions by speaking via Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. The row-by-row mode is also an advantage. It cleans your home in neat rows, rather than the back and forth snake pattern, as other robots do.
The IQ XL has a major drawback in that it cannot climb over obstacles such as power cords. It could mistake them for solid barriers and not attempt to climb over them. It's not as fast or efficient in navigating a room when it's filled with pet hair, which can cause brushes to get caught and slow it down.
3. Shark AI Robot
This is a great robotic vacuum from Shark, offering a good combination of features. It comes with a self-emptying base that can store up to 30 days of debris and combines the cleaning capabilities of the robot vacuum and mop. It also offers an exact matrix grid cleaning mode and advanced smart home integration that supports Alexa and Google Assistant. It is possible to schedule it to clean, activate it on demand or set virtual boundaries to prevent the robot from entering rooms that contain fragile items or rugs.
The Shark AI Robot carries out an impressive task of cleaning floors, removing debris like rice with ease. It isn't able to taking large, bulky particles from carpets with low pile and is not able to move around furniture that is large. It does have a quiet mode, which means you can set it to work while you're at home, and it won't interfere with your routine.
It also makes use of LiDAR to identify your home. This allows it to detect and navigate obstructions more precisely than units which rely on gyroscopes alone or an infrared sensors. This allows it to avoid collisions with delicate objects as well as optimize dirt pickup on different types of surfaces. The LiDAR system is also faster than gyroscopes that can cause the robots to slow down or lose control when they come across uneven surfaces.
It's got a lot of other features, including the ability to control mopping with a remote, an automatic system and various vacuum modes. It is able to recharge and charge while working. Its biggest drawback is that it will only draw out the floor of your home therefore if you have two stories it will be necessary to manually transport it to the two floors at the beginning of the run, and then program it to repeat.
Another negative is that it can be quite loud, especially during mopping mode. It also has a lot of parts that need to be cleaned or replaced regularly and this adds to the cost of maintenance. The self-empty function is the basic feature that helps to reduce the cost of these items. It is also compatible with bagless filter, which can further reduce the cost per year.
4. Shark ION Robot RV700 Series
The Shark ION Robot RV700 Series ticks all the boxes you would expect from a midrange robot vacuum, with high-quality cleaning performance and a great mobile app that produces accurate maps of your home. The bagless base makes it unnecessary to purchase dust bags to replace every year. In our test of cleaning it was able to remove 97.8 percent of the debris from hardwood and low-pile floors, but it was not as effective on high-pile carpeting. Its maneuverability is sturdy and it can maneuver around furniture, climb onto carpets with high pile and climb over objects such as rug tassels, electrical cords, and rug tassels without getting stuck.
The bristles with high-tensile in a helix vacuum mop robot pattern are durable enough to untangle and manage long hair, string, and other fibers. The brushroll also features an adjustable side that can be used when it encounters an obstacle. Its thin design lets it slide under furniture and proximity sensors monitor and adjust to the surrounding obstacles. The app lets you schedule cleanings and activate the machine with the press of a button. It has a moderate sound level, but can be reduced by using the do not disturb mode or the custom scheduling.
The RV700 is a bit more manual than the Roborock S4 or iRobot Roomba j7+. This is to be expected from an item that doesn't self-empty. It is nevertheless more durable and simpler to maintain. It is faster in charging and removes more debris from both high-pile and floors that are bare. Its navigation system is able to create virtual boundaries, and also detect obstacles making it the ideal choice for "set it and forget it" robotic cleaners.
The RV700 Series does not have a cliff-sensor that would prevent it from falling down stairs. This could pose a problem for people who live in houses that are taller. It can't mop and vacuum simultaneously and you'll need to switch between modes in the app. The RV700 Series offers a cheaper alternative to the more advanced Roborock and iRobot robots that have self-emptying capabilities as well as cliff detection. Its biggest selling point is that it can be used to empty and recharged while at its base, making it an ideal choice for those who do not want to go through the burden of emptying the dustbin after every use.