Shark Cordless PowerDetect
The new Shark Cordless Power Detect Clean and Empty makes some pretty bold promises and shows off some new skills. It can bend in half to reach awkward places, and it kind of has eyes.
With “Detect” in the name, Shark says it’s able to sense dirt on the floors. So, can it? It also empties itself, so you never need to get your hands dirty. And it’s both a full-size cordless stick that also doubles as a smaller handheld to clean upholstery and furniture.
PROS:
- Great suction power
- Folding wand makes its easier to clean hard-to-reach areas
- Auto Empty Dustbin
- 70 minutes of runtime of low settings
CONS:
- Long recharge time
- Manual dustbin cleaning is messy
What's Inside The Box
Unboxing the Shark Cordless PowerDetect, you’ll see what may look like a lot of confusing pieces, but everything actually goes together easily, and I’ll break it down for you.
The stick vacuum comes with three main components: the handheld vacuum containing the motor and controls, Shark’s unique MultiFlex extension wand, and the main motorized cleaner head. You can attach the cleaner head or any of the accessories directly to the vacuum, effectively transforming the Power Detect into a portable handvac. Making it great for upholstery, cars, or stairs.
Fully assembled, you can even stand the Shark Cordless Power Detect up by itself, and it won’t fall over like most stick or handheld vacuum hybrids.
Vacuum Accessories
The Shark Cordless PowerDetect comes with a 2-in-1 crevice brush tool and a pet multi-tool for hand vacuuming upholstery. The pet brush is semi-stiff, and the bristled brush comes off and becomes a velvety upholstery brush.
The pet brush is actually pretty genius and does a really good job of combing pet hair from fabrics so the vacuum can suck it up. Already, this is one of my favorite attachments ever.
Charging Dock
The vacuum’s charging dock requires a bit of easy assembly. All you need to do is just slide the charging post into the opening until you hear that satisfying click. Then, twist in the odor-neutralizing pod, which is just meant to help keep musty smells down.
Dirt Detection
The Shark Cordless PowerDetect uses many sensors that can automatically trigger certain vacuum actions. Some of these you’ll notice at work, while others do their job more in the background.
The most obvious is the dirt detection feature, which combines smarts with lighting. With the Shark Cordless Power Detect, whenever this sensor detects dirt, not only does the info screen show a dark purple indicator, but the backlights on the floor nozzle turn dark purple too, giving a satisfying visual of what the sensors are seeing.
Even the edge detect feature intelligently lights up the side of the vacuum at the edges. Unlike some other vacuums I’ve tried, which say they have dirt detection but all you’re really getting is a bit of a light show, the dirt detection in the Shark Cordless Power Detect seems to actually work.
Cleaning Performance
Let’s take a look at how it works on one of my dedicated cleaning tests. I always run vacuums through the same tests. I’ll spill different things like cornmeal, oats, and cracker pieces on both carpet and hard floors to see how much the vacuum can pick up.
The cleaning power and suction on this vacuum has been wildly impressive. It picked up absolutely everything and anything I could throw at it, from finer flour to bigger bits. Its performance was equally outstanding on hard floors, carpets, and rugs.
I even decided to try really hard to stump the Shark vacuum by emptying the entire dustbin, filled with pet hair and crumbs, onto the floor. Then I tested this vacuum, and I was amazed. The Shark Cordless PowerDetect was able to inhale an entire 4-inch-tall pile that was a week’s worth of dog hair. I was convinced the performance in this test would put the Shark Cordless PowerDetect on the exact same level as a Dyson V15 vacuum.
So I decided to try running this test with the Dyson V15 as well. The Dyson wasn’t able to conquer this big mountain of dirt. It got a bit, but after a while, it just ended up pushing the pile around.
That’s when I decided to set the Dyson down and pick up the Shark again, and much to my surprise, the Shark was able to step in and, well, wipe the floor. The sensor near the roller brush can also distinguish hardwood floors from carpet, which not only means the vacuum will crank up the power and suction, but the brush roller speed too.
Carpet Detection
I will also give one more shoutout here to Shark. I’ve been finding with more and more newer stick vacuums that they’re unable to vacuum plusher or flatter rugs without getting the rug fibers tangled up in the rollers and just shutting the whole thing down.
But with this vacuum, despite its mighty suction, there was no catching or pulling of any carpet or rugs, and I was able to vacuum everywhere deeply without problems. The only other vacuums I’ve seen that can pull this off are Dyson stick vacuums.
MultiFlex Extension Wand
For vacuuming underneath furniture, the Shark vacuum can perform a secret flexing trick. Just press the button on the vacuum’s joint to allow the bottom part of the wand to bend.
In practice, this means you can push the floor nozzle under tight spots easily. This feature is incredibly effective. It works well and saves you from having to lean, bend, or stoop.
Auto Empty System
Let’s get on to the last major component, and that’s the auto-empty dock. Think of the dock as a vacuum of its own, suctioning the dirt from the cordless stick’s onboard dustbin and sealing it away in a larger, bagless dustbin protected by a HEPA filter.
When the big bin on the dock is full, just press the release button to remove it, hold it over the trash can, and release the lower door to dump it out. I have to say that after using this vacuum for a few days, I was pretty shocked at the volume of overall dirt and dog hair it had inhaled from our house, which I thought was already pretty clean.
If you installed the odor neutralizer, every time the auto-empty sequence happens, you may get a whiff of a pleasant scent. While the neutralizer isn’t overwhelmingly scented, it does have the effect of making the air around the charging dock smell a little less musty every time you go through the emptying process.
The vacuum also auto-empties itself every time you put it back in the docking station. But if you don’t want that to happen, you can switch the dock to Quiet Mode, which will shut off the auto-emptying until you re-enable it.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I have to say I’ve been blown away, not just by the features of this vacuum but by its overall effectiveness. I’m going to come right out and say this vacuum could definitely be the Dyson killer that I think Shark is hoping it would be.
In short, I think this is one of the best cordless stick vacuums I’ve tried in years. With Shark Cordless PowerDetect, you’re not going to be disappointed at all. The Shark Cordless Power Detect Clean & Empty System sells for about $499 USD or $629 Canadian. You can save about $70 USD by getting the vacuum without the dock. But you do miss out on that convenience.