The Best Shark Robot Vacuum
Shark's robo-vac ticks most of the features you'd expect from a midrange machine. It provides reliable cleaning performance, as well as an easy to use mobile app. It also produces precise home maps.
It also provides Matrix Clean navigation, a system that makes two passes that go back and forth, before moving side to side for complete coverage. Its base is bagless, unlike many other robot vacuums.
1. Roborock S4
This is an excellent robot vacuum for bare floors that collects debris and has a large dirt storage. The app lets you manage cleaning and docking. Its smart pathing feature is very effective. The app provides you with an overview of cleaning, which includes maps showing where the S4 was cleaned, as well as cleaning time and battery life.
Its maximum suction of 2,000Pa is enough to lift an AA battery off the floor. It also rivals that of some full-sized vacuums. The side brush and combo brush are located closer to the front of the machine than other Roborock models. This could be to help reduce clogging.
The S4's advanced mapping system can map a house up to four levels deep. It will also keep track of the areas it has already cleaned. This makes it simple to set up a schedule for cleaning without the need to manually move robots from room to room. You can even mark off zones as no-go zones which will stop the S4 from entering these areas during the cleaning process.
It was able to vacuum all levels of our home easily and was extremely effective on bare flooring. However, it was not successful in picking up hair from dogs, which is a common issue for a lot of robotic vacuums. Only 8.5% of the dog hair it picked up was collected in the dustbin and the majority was clumped around the brushes and suction inlet.
Comparatively to other Shark vacuums in the market, in comparison to other Shark vacuums, the S4 is noticeably more compact and lighter, which improves maneuverability. It can make tighter turns and avoid obstacles that bog down other robots. Its low profile design makes it easier to squeeze under furniture. It has improved climbability to navigate flooring transitions and different flooring heights. It can easily get to the bottom of stairs and is a good choice for larger homes that have multiple floors. The application allows you to set a schedule and also includes an automatic control for vacuuming. It is also able to return to its charging station to charge automatically between cleaning cycles. It has a large battery of 5200 mAh that can last for up to 150 minutes in normal mode, or 2691 square feet between charges.
2. Shark EZ Robot Self-Emptying
This Shark robot vacuum is a fantastic option for pet owners looking for a machine that's simple to use and intelligent. Its self-emptying base that is bagless is a major benefit in comparison to competitors that use disposable dirt bags in their bases. You simply detach the bin and then empty it over a trash can; this can get messy, but it saves you money on new bags.
The bin is large, so the EZ Robot can handle a lot of garbage. It also does well on floors that are unfinished. However, it has a difficult time with dirt embedded in low-pile carpet. It has excellent navigation capabilities and a tiny footprint.
The EZ Robot may not be as good as Roborock S4, but it is still a great option for those looking for a machine that can perform well and is affordable. It's well-built, offers a wide range of automation options, and offers impressive cleaning capabilities on carpet and floors with high pile. Its maintenance requirements are high and the recurring costs are high.
Another excellent feature of this Shark robot is its capacity to recharge and resume automatically where it was when it returns to its docking station following the full cleaning. This is a great feature, particularly when your home is big.
The IQ XL also comes with many other useful features. It is possible to schedule whole-home cleanings remotely and also review cleaning reports via the SharkClean App. You can also control the device using voice through Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant to initiate or stop cleaning sessions. The row-by-row feature is an advantage. It makes your home clean in neat rows, not a 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 may consider them to be solid barriers and fail to climb over them. It is also less effective or fast at navigating a space when it's full of pet hair. This can tangle the brushes and slow it down.
3. Shark AI Robot
This is vacuum robot a solid robotic vacuum from Shark that offers a solid combination of features. It has a self-emptying base that holds up to 30 days of debris and combines the cleaning power of both the robot vacuum and mop. It also has a precise grid-based cleaning mode and advanced smart home integration, with support for Alexa and Google Assistant. It can be set to clean on a schedule or activate at any time, or create virtual boundaries to block it from entering rooms that may contain fragile items or rugs.
The Shark AI Robot does a excellent job of cleaning floors that are not bare. It can pick up dirt effortlessly, like rice. However it has a difficult to remove larger, bulky debris from low-pile carpet and isn't capable of maneuvering around furniture. It is in a"do not disturb" mode which allows you to use it at home without interrupting your daily routine.
Another positive is that it makes use of LiDAR technology to map your home, allowing it to detect and navigate around obstacles with greater precision than those that rely on gyroscopes and infrared sensors. This helps it avoid collisions with delicate objects as well as optimize dirt pickup on various surface types. The LiDAR system also works faster than gyroscopes, which can cause the robot to slow down and lose control when it encounters uneven surfaces.
Other features include a remote control, automatic mopping and multiple vacuum modes. It can charge and recharge itself while it is working. The biggest issue is that it only maps out one floor. If you have two floors, it's required to be manually moved to the areas, and then programmed to repeat.
Another drawback is that it can be a little loud, particularly in mopping mode. It also has a lot of parts that need to be cleaned or replaced regularly, which increases its cost per year. Fortunately, the base self-empty feature reduces the costs associated with these items and it's compatible with bagless filters, which further reduces its annual expenses.
4. Shark ION Robot RV700 series
The Shark ION Robot RV700 Series is a complete package that you would expect from a mid-range robotic vacuum. It has a reliable cleaning performance, a superb mobile app that can create precise maps of your home, as well as a outstanding cleaning performance. It also comes with a bagless basis that eliminates annual purchases for dust bags to replace. In our test of cleaning it was able to remove 97.8 percent of the debris from hardwood and low-pile flooring, but it was not as effective on high-pile. Its maneuverability makes it simple to navigate around furniture and climb onto flooring with high pile. It can also easily pass over things like electrical cords and rug fringes without getting stuck.
The bristles that are high-tensile and in the helix pattern are sturdy enough to untangle and manage long hair, string, and other fibers. The brushroll also features an extension side that can be used when it encounters an obstacle. Its slender design allows it to glide under furniture, and proximity sensors allow it to adjust and evaluate the obstacles. The app allows you to schedule cleaning times or trigger the machine with a single button press. Its sound levels are average however it is possible to reduce the noise by using a do-not-disturb mode or a custom scheduling.
The RV700 is a bit more manual than the Roborock S4 or iRobot Roomba J7+. This is to be anticipated from the fact that it does not self-empty. But, it is better-built and easier to maintain, is faster in charging and gets rid of more debris on both bare floors and carpets with high pile. Its navigation system can also create virtual boundaries, and also detect and avoid obstacles, making it the best choice for "set it and forget it" robotic cleaners.
The RV700 Series does not have an incline sensor that could keep it from falling down stairs. This could be a problem for those who live in houses that are taller. It can't mop and vacuum at the same time and you must switch between modes within the app. However the RV700 Series is a less expensive alternative to the more sophisticated Roborock and iRobot models that have self-emptying capabilities and cliff detection. The most attractive feature is that it can be emptied and recharged while docked at its base, which makes it a good choice for those who don't want to deal with the inconvenience of emptying the dustbin after every use.