Shark Lift-Away Upright Vacuum Cleaner [NV601UKT], Bordeaux/Steel Grey

I’m one of those people who doesn’t really leave reviews. But I’m so impressed with this machine. I’ve been a Dyson owner for about 10 years. My 3 year old Dyson wasn’t performing as well, wasn’t picking up as well. And despite cleaning etc.. it didn’t improve. So I was on the hunt for a new hoover. I saw the reviews for this Shark hoover and liked the ‘lower than a Dyson price’. I’ve used this on the whole house already. Fantastic performance. We have a dog and it’s fab on pet hair. The LiftWay makes stairs SO easy compared to my old machine, as I was either lugging it up stairs or stretching the hose to a risky point. No such issue with this liftaway function. The Shark is great on carpet and hard floors, just a flick of the switch. Also it has suction control, maximum or minimum so if you have deep pile carpets and it’s a bit of a push to glide the hoover over, you can just adjust the suction. After cleaning my whole house, the brush bar had hair around it. What I also find so great about this machine is the brush bar comes away from the machine with one click of a button, making it incredibly easy to de tangle very quickly and easily. It’s also very simple to empty the dust cylinder. It’s lighter than my old Dyson, and takes up less room in storage. I have to say this is the best, most cleverly designed hoover I’ve ever used in my 35 years or so of buying hoovers. There are no downsides to this machine. Everything on it is easy to use and I didn’t find anything fiddly about it. I’d give it ten stars if I could. Don’t hesitate, this one’s a genuine winner of a hoover. Congrats to the designers and makers of this machine!

This is an excellent vacuum.Its design is superb.It comes apart and clicks back together again with absolutely no trouble at all.It is a doddle to use.The buttons, levers and slide switches are superbly easy to use - not made fiddly for cheapness' sake.It is simple to empty and again at no point does it become fiddly.The filters are easily accessible and though I have not done so yet they are washable.It is so easy to change to using a tool on the end of the suction tube when doing the vacuuming. To dust a window sill in the middle of vacuuming the carpet is so easy and takes so little time you hardly notice the interruption.The suction is better than the Henry I used before I got this one.We have traveled a lot and our shelves are littered with mementos all of which I dust (and the shelf they are sitting on) using the brush bit of the crevice/brush tool with the suction reduction fully open. None of the pieces, some of which are delicate, have suffered any sort of damage.My hints, -On carpets use it with the suction reduction wide open. On hard floors close it.On hard floor I do not engage the brush, unless there is a stubborn bit that does not come up, then I switch to carpet mode by sliding a switch and the brush starts to rotate brushing whatever it was off the floor. With my Henry I had to stop, get a brush to unstick whatever it was and then carry on again - a hassle I no longer have.Having raved about the machine, what are its down sides. - few and pernickety.Although long I would have liked the flex to have had about a couple of metres more.The small rotating hair pick up brush gadget, does not fit on the vacuum base unit alongside the crevice/brush tool and it has a fixed angle so you cannot have the brush flat on the carpet under a low slung chair or sofa.It is a little heavy, but you need that to get the incredible suction it has - your choice really rather than a downside.All in all a fantastic machine and worth every penny.

I have had Dyson vacuums for the past few years and bought the Shark as I was not completely satisfied with the performance or quality of my last Dyson. The Shark is not as funkily designed as the Dyson and is rather more functional in appearance. It arrived neatly packed in the box with simple assembly instructions. It all snaps together very easily and the buttons and features are all easy to use and identify.The Shark performs very well on both carpet and hard floors and switching between the two surfaces is just a matter of sliding the on/off switch up and down. All this does is activate/decativate the sweeper roller in the head but this, combined with the suction control function makes cleaning both surfaces a doddle. The cleaning head has bright LED lights that illuminate dirt and hairs on the floor so you can see what you are doing. Cleaning performance (I have used it twice now) appears to be very good and it easily lifts pet hair from carpets. As I have cats and dogs this is important and I would give the Shark a full 5 stars on this.The liftaway function for the stairs makes cleaning them a breeze and I have to say the powered pet brush works better than the equivalent accessory on my last Dyson. Again, the Shark comes apart and goes together again very easily. The vacuum is still very new and time will tell how robust it is but my first impressions are that it is well made, well designed and very functional. Ultimately, I want a vacuum cleaner that does the job it is supposed to do well. Being a piece of funky design is very much a secondary concern. The Shark gets my approval, as a result. Good value and good performance all round. if I have any criticisms, they are only slight... The cable could do with being a couple of metres longer and the dust collection "cup" could be a bit bigger. You have to empty it after every use. But it is nice to know that this is also necessary because the thing as sucked a lot of dust and pet hair up!