Pat PilcherSummary
Shark Cordless PowerDetect Clean & Empty Stick Vacuum
Witchdoctor’s resident vacuum expert tackles a novel new model which self-empties but PAT PILCHER finds there’s a lot more to recommend it.
$749
Nowadays, we’re awash with fancy cordless stick vacuum cleaners. Many sport oodles of features such as tangle-free brushes, improved batteries and so on. They say competition drives innovation, and this time, the next big thing regarding cordless stick vacuums is self-emptying. Some might groan at yet another feature to wrap their heads around, but not having to fart about with dust bags has a definite appeal, especially if, like my wife, you’re asthmatic. This was obviously the thinking at Shark as their new Shark Cordless PowerDetect Clean & Empty Vacuum System is designed so you’ll never have to fiddle about with dirty dust collection bins again.
But is this hype, or is the Shark Cordless PowerDetect Clean & Empty a better vacuum cleaner than its counterparts?
Our house is a large 110-year-old villa consisting mostly of Matai wooden floors and many rugs. We also own a greyhound who, during summer, sheds several dog loads of fur and has a habit of leaving dog bakkie crumbs scattered throughout the house. In short, our home was a great test candidate for the Cordless PowerDetect Clean & Empty (it was also well overdue for a good vacuuming).
The vaccy consists of two main bits: the stick vacuum and its self-emptying base. Design-wise, the vacuum sticks to the tried and tested design used by nearly every cordless stick vacuum maker to date. The vacuum unit has a pistol-like grip, a clear collection bin, and a detachable filter. Attached is a long pipe to which a powered cleaning head is attached. This design does mean that the bulk of the vacuum weight is at its top. Still, Shark has cleverly distributed weight so that vacuuming an entire house doesn’t feel like a high-intensity gym workout.
On the top of its filter is a small LCD display showing you the battery levels and the cleaning mode used. There’s also a power button on the display and a trigger on the pistol grip, which cycles through the three available cleaning modes. These consist of eco (which has the lowest suction but offers the longest battery life) and boost (which delivers the highest suction levels but zaps the battery more quickly). The third setting I found myself going back to again and again is called PowerDetect. It uses a cluster of sensors in the cleaning head to automatically sense when dust and dirt are present and what sort of flooring is being cleaned. It will intelligently adjust the suction power to suit, offering an intelligent balance between suction power and battery life.
The self-emptying base is both simple and sensibly designed. It consists of a docking station that you can slide the stick vac into and both recharge and empty- cruft and debris are automatically sucked out of the vac’s dust bin into a 2-litre collection bin built into the base. One feature I liked was the addition of a switch on the base that disables self-emptying. You’d be forgiven for thinking this wasn’t much of a big deal, but the self-emptying process is quite loud, so being able to disable it means that family members can sleep undisturbed, or your hangover won’t threaten to explode your entire head clean off your shoulders when vacuuming after a hard night. Another nice feature is a slot for odour-neutralising pods, replacing the usual musty vacuum odour with something more fragrant.
Being Shark gear, clever features abound. The killer feature must be the simplest, consisting of a button on the vacuum’s pole. Clicking it allows the pole to bend in its middle, making vacuuming under furniture a doddle. I also like the clever cleaning head design. Its roller brush consists of a soft roller for collecting smaller debris and bristles for deep carpet cleaning. This combination (and clever bristle placement) handily meant that, unlike the many vacuums I’ve reviewed, the cleaning head didn’t accumulate pet hair or get jammed up. As well as the default cleaning head, Shark also supplies an attachment designed for getting into tight spaces and a smaller cleaning brush.
The DetectClean mode did a great job at picking up the cruft on both my wooden floors and rugs. I was also pleased to note that rug tassels were rarely a problem. The DetectClean mode could use the cleaning head sensors to switch between lower power modes for our wooden floors and automatically increase suction power as soon as I vacuumed any rugs. As handy as this sounds, all these extra sensors must be kept clean, and regular maintenance is needed if the vacuum is to use the DetectClean mode over the long term.
Another subtle, but nice touch was its ability to detect when I was vacuuming against a wall. This saw the light on the edge of the cleaning head power up to ensure I didn’t miss anything while cleaning. Shark’s marketing bumpf states that, unlike other vacuums, the DetectClean will pick up debris when the cleaning head is moved either forwards or backwards. This was borne out with testing and handily meant one pass picked up everything, saving me a lot of extra work.
In use, I found the Cordless PowerDetect ran just over an hour in Eco mode, which equates to around two vacuuming sessions in our house. In PowerDetect mode, this was extended while Boost mode saw the battery running out after 15-20 minutes of use. That said, battery life is unlikely ever a problem as the empty station continually keeps the vacuum charged.
Shark’s Cordless PowerDetect sports a well-thought-out and executed design that offers plenty of power and genuinely useful touches, such as high-tech dust detection and the simple (yet insanely useful) hinged pole that gives it a definite edge over most of its competitors. While this comes at a $749 sticker price, you do get a lot of vacuum cleaner for your money.
