The Best Shark Robot Vacuum
Shark's robot-vac checks all of the boxes you'd expect from a mid-range machine. It's reliable in its cleaning capabilities, an easy-to-use mobile app and provides accurate home maps.
It also comes with Matrix Clean Navigation, a system which performs two passes back and forth before moving to the side for complete coverage. Its base is bagless, unlike the majority of robot vacuums.
1. Roborock S4
This is an excellent robot vacuum for flooring that is not in use that comes with a huge dirt container and can pick up debris. The app lets you manage cleaning and docking. Its intelligent pathing is extremely efficient. The app gives you an overview of cleaning, which includes a map showing where the S4 was cleaned, the cleaning time and battery life.
The S4's maximum suction is 2,000Pa which is comparable to some full-sized vacuums. With 19CFM the S4's side and combination brush is closer to the front than in other Roborock models, which could be an effort to reduce clogging.
The S4's advanced navigation system is able to digitally map your home up to four levels and will recall the areas that it has cleaned, making it simple to establish cleaning schedules without having to manually move the robot between rooms. You can also mark off zones that are not allowed to enter, which will block the S4 from entering those spaces during a cleaning cycle.
It was able clean an entire floor of our house easily and was extremely efficient on bare floors. However, it had a difficult time cleaning up dog hair which is a common issue for many robotic vacuums. Only 8.5% was captured in the dustbin. The remainder was clumped up around the brushes and the suction intake.
The S4 is lighter and smaller than other Shark vacuums. This makes it easier to maneuver. It is able to make more precise turns and avoid obstacles that bog down other robots. Its low-profile design makes it easier to get under furniture. It is more able to climb for navigating flooring transitions and different flooring heights. It can easily get to the bottom of the stairs and is a great option for larger homes with multiple floors. The app lets you set a schedule, and also includes a manual vacuum control. It can also return to its charging base to recharge between cleaning cycles. It has a large battery of 5200 mAh that can last for 150 minutes in normal mode, or 2691 square feet between charges.
2. Shark EZ Robot Self-Empty
This Shark robot vacuum is a great choice for pet owners who need a smart, easy-to-use machine. The self-emptying bagless base is a huge convenience particularly when compared to other models that utilize disposable dirt bags on their bases. You can empty the bin in the trashcan by removing it. It's messy, but it will save money on the replacement bags.
The bin itself is also quite large, which means the EZ Robot is capable of handling a good amount of debris. It also does very well on floors with no carpet. However, it has a difficult time with dirt embedded in low pile carpet. It has excellent navigation capabilities and a small footprint.
While the EZ Robot isn't as good as the Roborock S4, it's still an excellent choice for those who are looking for a reliable affordable robot. It is well-built and offers many automation options. It also has outstanding cleaning capabilities on floors that are bare and carpets with high pile. However the maintenance requirements for this model are demanding, and it has high costs that are recurring.
mop robot vacuum of this Shark robot is its capability to recharge and automatically resume where it was when it returns to its docking station after the full cleaning. This is a great option, especially when your home is big.
The IQ XL is also equipped with a variety of useful features, including the ability to remotely schedule whole-home cleaning and review reports using the SharkClean app. You can also use voice control through Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant to start, stop, and resume cleaning sessions. The row-by-row cleaning mode of the robot is a major benefit, too - it will clean your entire home in neat rows rather than a snake-like pattern that is back-andforth like many other robots.
The IQ XL's biggest drawback is its inability to climb over obstacles like power cords, which it might consider solid barriers and not climb over. It is also less effective or quick in navigating a space that is cluttered with pet hair. This can tangle the brushes and slow it.
3. Shark AI Robot
This is a great robot vacuum from Shark that provides a range of features. It comes with a base that can hold up to 30 days worth of debris, and it also combines the cleaning power both of an automated mop and a vacuum cleaner. It has a grid cleaning mode, and it features advanced smart home integration that supports Alexa and Google Assistant. You can program it to clean, activate it at any time, or set virtual boundaries to prevent the robot from entering rooms with fragile items or rugs.
The Shark AI Robot does a great job cleaning floors with no carpet. It picks up debris effortlessly, like rice. It isn't able to removing large, bulky particles from carpets with low pile and is not able to move around furniture with large dimensions. It does come with a do-not-disturb mode, so you can program it to work when you're at home, and it won't interrupt your daily routine.
It also makes use of LiDAR to map your home. This allows it to detect and navigate obstructions more precisely than devices that rely on gyroscopes alone or an infrared sensors. This helps it avoid collisions with delicate objects as well as optimize dirt pickup on different surface types. The LiDAR system also operates more quickly than gyroscopes, which could cause the robot to slow down and lose control when it comes into contact with uneven surfaces.
Other features include a remote control, automatic mopping, and various vacuum modes. It is able to charge and recharge while it's working. The biggest flaw is that it only maps only one floor. If you have two floors it's required to be manually transported to those areas and then programed to repeat.
It can also be a bit loud especially when it is in mopping mode. It also has a number of parts that have to be cleaned or replaced frequently and this adds to its recurring costs. Fortunately, the base self-empty feature cuts down on some of these expenses and is compatible with bags-free filters, which lowers its annual costs.
4. Shark ION Robot RV700 series
The Shark ION Robot RV700 Series is a complete package that you would expect of a midrange robotic vacuum. It offers dependable cleaning performance, a great mobile application that creates precise maps of your home, and excellent cleaning performance. It also has a bagless base that means no annual purchase of dust bags to replace. In our test of cleaning performance it was able to remove 97.8 percent of dust from carpeting with low pile and hardwood floors, though it wasn't as effective on high-pile carpeting. Its maneuverability is sturdy and it is able to maneuver around furniture, climb on carpeting with high pile, and traverse things like electrical cords and rug tassels without getting stuck.
The bristles that are high-tensile and in a helix pattern are strong enough to untangle and manage long hair, string, and other fibers. The brushroll also has an extension side that can be used when it encounters an obstacle. Its thin design allows it to coast underneath furniture and proximity sensors monitor and adjust to obstacles. It can be set to begin cleaning with a pressing of a button, or scheduled for a daily schedule by using the app. The noise levels are moderate, but it can be quieted down with a do-not-disturb feature or a custom scheduling.
The RV700 is more manual than the Roborock S4 and iRobot Roomba J7+, which is to be expected from a non-self-emptying model. It is more robust and easy to maintain, charges faster and gets rid of more debris on floors that are not bare and high-pile carpeting. Its navigation system can create virtual boundaries and detect obstacles which makes it the ideal pick for "set it and forget it" robotic cleaners.
The RV700 Series does not have an incline sensor that could keep it from falling down the stairs. This could pose a problem for people who live in homes that are taller. It's not able to mop and vacuum simultaneously and you'll need to switch between modes in the app. The RV700 Series offers a cheaper alternative to more sophisticated Roborock and iRobot robots that have self-emptying capabilities and cliff detection. Its primary selling point is the possibility of being recharged and emptied when docked at its base. This makes it an excellent choice for those who don't wish to empty the onboard dustbin each time they use it.