Shark AZ1002 Apex Powered Lift-Away Upright Vacuum with DuoClean & Self-Cleaning Brushroll, Crevice Tool, Upholstery Tool & Pet Power Brush, for a Deep Clean on & Above Floors, Espresso

Heavier, difficult to maneuver

Im sure that given a bit of minor cyber skills you can find my review of the Dyson Cinetic Big Ball Animal Plus Allergy Vacuum. It was my second, and last, Dyson. Its main fault centered around the latch that held to flap to empty the canister, and the canister itself being a bit hard to empty completely. It finally dumped its contents on the floor enough times that I tried the Shark. While in the end I did not like the Dyson much, I will try to give it its due. It is a good at the basic function of getting stuff off the floor. It also had some good attachments that were at least partly well thought out (more on that in a bit). I have been a long time skeptic of Sharks offerings, mainly due to their television advertisements. the way the market their stuff does not engender trust from me, so I was ready to send it back at the first sign of trouble. But I did expect that my skepticism was not really warranted. I really think they should fire their marketing team and start over with new marketing. The first thing they should ask the new team is to rename what they now call their Zero M technology. But enough of my soapbox, Im just trying to say that all this amateur attempt at marketing hides the true value of this beast behind senseless and confusing and unfocused attempts at marketing. So Ive pointed out my two top criticisms for these two top of the line machines. Seriously. I was unprepared to see the Shark eat Dysons lunch so thoroughly (sorry, had to go there). From the unwrap to usage, there was never a point where I thought I should go back and try the Dyson again. It picked up as good or better than the Dyson, was far more useful, and easier to use and clean. The only point where I felt the Dyson did better was in the attachments, but that a thin win since Dyson chose to make their attachments harder to use by forcing you to align them a certain way to attach them. Places where the Dyson should shine, it is left in wanting by lazy engineering. It stores its hose around what you think of as its stem. You only have to lift it out and extent the stem to use it. The problem starts when you try to put it back. At nearly every point, the Dyson is a bit fussy and multiple attempts to replace the hose and stem will eventually seat it. Similarly, replacing the canister is fussy, never mind the brush when you need to clean the hair wrap. While the Shark Apex is not perfect, I would have had to clean the Dyson at least a couple times in the weeks since it arrived. I havent had to clean the Sharks brush roll at all. Bottom line for me though is how dead simple it is to empty the canister. a flip of an easily accessible button with the canister pointed in the trash can and its empty. There is a top latch to empty any large items that dont make it into the canister, and it is as easy to empty as it is to avoid contact with dust. I would have gladly compromised on the vacuums ability to get stuff our of the carpet as payment for the ability to get under cabinets and beds and such. The Dyson is flat out pathetic in this realm. The lift-away by itself made the Shark a winner. But one area I expected to find problems was with the way these things fit together. Where the Dyson was fussy, the Shark is effortless. The hose detaches from the stem, and re-attaches easily as does the stem from the body, and the lift away, and the canister. I found nothing fussy about the Shark. In the end, I didnt have to compromise. I usually vacuum the carpet twice with a new vacuum, once with the new one, and then once with the old one. While not all that scientific, I know that if the old one picks up lots of stuff, they new ones not up to snuff. Here I expected to see the Shark not do as well as the Dyson, and Here again, I was wrong. All that said, the standard disclaimers apply. This is my initial impressions after using the Shark for a few weeks. If you did go back and read my review of the Dyson, youd see I was initially somewhat happy with it, but after time I started running into disappointments and issues, resulting in updates to the review. The same policy applies here. I dont tend to wear disappointment well.

Going on three months now with the Shark Apex so I thought its a good time to review. Maneuverability is pretty good - smooth back and forth motion and no dragging around a canister. Suction is amazing on hard floors. The floors setting gets down pretty low and creates excellent suction. Carpet/rug is decent. I have a cat & dog so enough hairs to battle. My older Kenmore canister picked up hairs in one pass, but I have to do at least two passes with the Shark. The shark is very sensitive to jams, which is both good and bad. It is easy to remove jams by just removing the top plate of the vacuum head, but the Shark will also go into overheat protection mode - power will go on&off intermittently - so you need to wait a bit before starting up again. Dust bin canister fills up fast. Push-button canister dump kicks up dust and sometimes you need to give a good tap and shake. Really nothing you can do about that with a bagless vacuum but best to empty contents outside. One advantage of the bagless system is that you can actually see evidence that your vacuum is working properly, whereas it may take you awhile to notice any malfunctions with a bagged vacuum. Attachment units dont stay on during a regular vacuuming session so its easy to leave them scattered in other rooms. Overall though we are pretty satisfied. The Shark Apex is definitely one of the stronger contenders in this price range.

Edit 6 months later: Seriously if you are looking for a vacuum that will suck all of the dog hair up this right here is it. This thing is a dream to use. I breaks down super well so it cleans easily. It sucks great never once had a clog. I try to vacuum once a week with two dogs that shed quiet a bit and this thing is just as good as the day it got here. Okay I know the title is a little over the top but Im dead serious. So heres my story... 4 years ago I bought a vacuum and was great for spitting whatever your vacuuming back at you unless you were on hardwood floors. I also researched that one for months before I picked it. Got rid of that vacuum and got a completely different vacuum brand style and all. Spent 6 months researching before I made my decision. That vacuum had to be unclogged every pass on the carpet practically and empty halfway through a room even if I vacuumed every day. Then after about 6 months parts started breaking left and right. So back to my research I go. I deep dived an googled and inquired with friends and googled some more and deep dived and googled some more and then I found this Glorious machine. Now this is what the other vacuums were against 2 clean adults we kept the house nice and anywhere from 0 to 2 dogs. All of our dogs are short hair. I vacuumed once a week to keep on top of things and make sure to give them a fighting chance. Now in comes this work horse. I was shocked thoroughly but the amount of dirt and dust and hair that came out of our low pile carpet. I actually vacuumed twice the first time to make sure I got it as best I could. Directly after I carpet cleaned. THERE WAS NO HAIR TUFTS PULLED UP ANYWHERE. Also this is the first vacuum I have ever had that didnt smell like I kicked up a tone of dust. I can honestly say it helps my allergies. Seriously get this vacuum. You will not regret it.

I bought this to use on hard floors. It works great at sucking up dust and dust bunnies under the bed. However, it will not pick up bigger pieces off of the hard floor. Things like a dry bread crumb, a tiny piece of popcorn, or a pine needle tracked in from outside will only get pushed along. You have to disconnect the wand part and pick them up individually. The suction from the wand is great, its just not what I was hoping for. I like the novelty of how the components are all modular and are easy to take apart for different jobs. The tool stowage (crevice tool, etc.) is terrible.

Best vacuum Ive ever had, hands down.

I purchased this because Ive had shark products before. The suction is most important to me and this vacuum meets my needs. I like being able to keep up the maintenance on this machine. Everything is labeled nicely, so its easy to take apart, if needed. Its lightweight, which I like, and works well removing pet hair on furniture. The only downside to this machine is the rotation, its a little more stiff than I expected, which makes it harder to swivel,

I love this vaacuum, granted our old one wasnt working well, but I can not believe all the stuff this has picked up and betweeen my long hair and the dog, none of it is wrapped around the roller.. love it. I do find it a tad heavy to push around, but worth the effort.

This vacuum has quite a bit of power. We do home construction work and it does a good job on sheetrock dust. We also have 2 double-coated dogs and it does a good job getting the hair up. Its a bit heavy for me, but I find if I carry the tank by its handle, rather than attaching it to the suction part, its quite maneuverable and is less of a chore to push it around when attached. It has hard floor and rug height adjustments.

This is the second Shark Apex Ive bought (the first was the green version, without the Zero-M) and now Im having the exact same issue as I had with the first. It is super easy to put together right out of the box- and I love how heavy duty they feel (because some vacuums feel cheaply made). The issue I am having, and had with the first is that it will just stop mid-push. The whole thing acts like it was unplugged and just goes dead. The first vacuum I thought there was a shortage in the wire piece that connects itself to the vacuum on the side. I took it back to Lowes and decided to order on Amazon (faster shipping). Ive had this one about two weeks, and I cannot even do the hallway of my home (not a huge space) without it turning off. I called CS for the first one and they wanted me to pay them $20 to send me a new cord - I paid over $300 for this vacuum, and didnt use it for more than a few weeks. NO WAY am I paying another $20 for them to send it out. He also mentioned that if the motor gets hot, it automatically shuts off. I dont know if thats whats happening here- but if I were vacuuming huge spaces or for long amounts of time Id understand. I just had my vacuum on for 5 minutes to do my tiny hallway and couldnt even get that all the way done before it started turning off. So now Ill have to send this vacuum back to Amazon- and although I love the amazing suction it has- it isnt worth the hassle to buy another one. I am pretty disappointed because I had so many people tell me that Shark was better than Dyson.. =/ I guess Ill have to figure that one out for myself!