This roundup was written by Anna Mejorada, a writer for The Spruce, who shares her home with a happy pomeranian named Gidget who politely leaves the room when a vacuum enters the space. Before researching and writing about pet products for a living, Mejorada embarked on a self-mandated, ongoing quest to find the optimal items for her dog. She is now delightfully devoted to helping humans discover and select the most favorable products for their pets.
We’ve tested several Dyson upright vacuums over the past few years, including the Ball MultiFloor 2, and haven’t found a great reason to recommend one over our other picks. You probably don’t need HEPA filters—for most people, regular filters are totally fine. HEPA filters are defined as those that remove 99.97 percent or more of airborne particles of 0.3 micron in diameter; nothing captures 100 percent, though, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (PDF). (You can read a lot more about them in our guide to air purifiers.) But HEPA filters are not a magic bullet, according to Caroline Blazovsky, the indoor air quality specialist. If the gaskets around the HEPA filter aren’t perfectly tight, the filter itself is pointless—the vacuum is still emitting dust. And even a perfectly sealed bagless vacuum cleaner will eject a bunch of dust whenever you empty it.
If you’re regularly reaching for your main vacuum to clean little messes, then this lightweight model could very well become your go-to for smaller jobs. Shark produces a variety of different vacuum types at various price points. They’re smartly designed to reconfigure into a handheld design if you need a closer clean, and cordless options are available. When comparing their stick vacuums to Dyson’s offerings, Shark vacuums feel better built and sturdier. However, they also tend to have a similar but slightly worse performance on carpet.
With the brush roller turned on (its loudest setting), we measured the vacuum’s volume at about 76 decibels. That’s actually pretty loud compared with the best high-end vacuums, but it’s quieter than other cheap vacs we’ve tested, which regularly exceeded 80 decibels. And it operates at more of a midrange hum shark robotic vacuums than a high-pitched whine, so it’s not as grating to listen to over time. Newer Shark models with the anti-wrap brush roll that we tested sounded like a dirt bike with a card pinned to the wheel. Our verdict
During testing, our reviewer Annie concluded that the suction was more impressive as a handheld unit.
This 2-in-1 vacuum and mop robot from Shark is by far one of our favorite models from the brand. We’ve had the opportunity to test it in a variety of real-world settings to understand its performance completely. While our initial setup experience was a bit confusing because there is not much guidance given on setting up the shark dustbuster home base and emptying station, we found the actual programming of the vacuum to be a breeze. The Shark app leads you through a series of programming settings and the robot maps out your home. You can also tweak the map to get it exactly how you want and establish no-go zones and carpeted zones and name different rooms.
We tested the top-of-the-line Shark Apex and found it to be a good vacuum, but probably not worth the extra cost over the Navigator. It has a dual-brush cleaning head that supposedly helps it pick up hair and dusty debris off of bare floors. But that adds a lot of bulk to the vacuum, and we never found bare-floor pickup to be a problem with the single-brush models in the first place. The Miele canister vacuums are among the quietest vacuum cleaners you can buy. We measured a C3 model—running with the power head attached and the brush roll spinning at the maximum suction setting—at 74 dBc, which is about five dBc quieter than our main pick.
She has expanded CR’s cookware category to include not only more pots and pans but also other essentials like stand mixer attachments, sheet pans, and vacuum sealers. Since the mid-1990s, Mary has held senior positions at People.com, MSNBC, and Ladies’ Home Journal. Liam McCabe is a former senior staff writer for Wirecutter, and has covered the wild world of appliances since 2011. shark pet hair vacuum After testing dozens of robot vacuums, he is neither worried about AI nor holding his breath for self-driving cars. He enjoys visiting factories and learning about regulatory loopholes, and has flooded our testing area only three times. We look forward to testing Miele’s Boost CX1, a bagless canister vacuum designed as a compact option for people living in small spaces.