I know people are telling me to judge for myself whether it fits my needs, but I can't tell how good this vacuum is compared to something else i would buy instead.
At any rate, here are my few issues with this vacuum:
1 - The cable wrapping hooks. This vacuum doesn't have a retractable cable, it has two 'hooks' that you wrap the cable around. This is very badly implemented in this vacuum, in my opinion. The way this vacuum is designed, one hook is on the vacuum and the other is on the extension wand. This means, the 25ft cable can only be wrapped if I am using the vacuum upright. If I want to use the vacuum cleaner in liftoff mode, the entire 25ft cable has to be entirely unwrapped. I really wish that the both of the hooks were on the body of the canister. If i am holding on to this vacuum cleaner, I might even consider doing a bit of diy and adding another 'hook' or something on the canister so that I can wrap keep my cable wrapped while using it lift-off.
2 - hose length. If I am using the 'handle' to put tools on, the length of the hose is not very long. Its manageable, but I'd have preferred if the hose was longer. Sure, I can use the extension wand to make it longer, but that means I have to unwrap the entire 25 foot cable, use the extension wand, then rewrap the entire 25 foot cable, and I don't really want to do that every single time i have to use the extension wand. Idk, i think i might either buy a spare extension wand if eventually this seems too cumbersome.
This photo does a good job of describing my problem with both the short hose and the 'cable wrapping hook' being on the extension wand.
https://images10.newegg.com/BizIntell/item/96/660/96-660-065/item3.jpg , i hope it gets my point across sufficiently well. In the mode illustrated in the picture, it is impossible to have the 25 foot partially wrapped while in use. The entire thing has to be unwrapped.
3 - the design of the canister. When in liftoff mode, the entire weight of the motor is held on to the bin by two tiny clips. I'm surprised I haven't heard a single complain about this in the amazon reviews, maybe the clips are durable enough and don't tend to break and maybe i'm just being overly critical. I'm not sure if I am doing a good enough job of describing to you the image, its basically like:
if you are holding it in lift off mode, you are holding it by a handle. This handle attaches to the bin that dirt collects in. This bin has lids on both the top and bottom. Below the bottom lid is the filter and the motor. This filter and motor are held on to the bin by two 'clips' or 'tabs' (i have no idea what the right description of those things is). Those two clips on either side of the bin that you can see in the photo bear the weight of the motor and filter.
whats worse is, if the vacuum is in upright mode, the 'motor and filter' part is what takes the weight of the wheels+powerhead and the extension wand. So. If the vacuum is in upright mode and you use the handle to lift the vacuum, what is happening is - the handle bears the weight of the bin, the tabs on the bin bear the weight of the motor+filter+extensionwand+powerhead+wheels.
I'm not sure if i'm doing a good enough job of describing this. Look at this picture:
http://fleascience.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/shark-1.png
Look at the photo on the right.
When you are holding the upright vacuum by the handle, you are really just holding the bin, and that clip at the edge of the bin that you can see is taking the entire weight of the rest of the unit (only the two clips on either sides of the bin, not the one in the front.)
Again. I didn't find a single review on amazon that mentions this, so maybe I am being paranoid and these clips really are durable enough to last.
So yeah. Wow, I didn't think Id have this much to write about a vacuum cleaner. I guess this would qualify as my first online review of a product, so there's that.
I'd still like to stay away from commenting on the performance altogether. I have nothing else to compare it to, and my carpets look clean enough, but I probably can't tell what my carpet would look like if a kirby cleaned it.
Maybe its endearment for my first vacuum, but I do overall like the look of it when in upright mode, I have really grown to like the all white 'clinical', 'sterile' look of it a lot. The 'spaceship white' with the grey accents gives it a 'science facility' feel to it. Now that i have bought it, I do think it is subjectively prettier than any candy colored "pebble of plastic" sold by riccar/miele, I'd almost say the shark has an identity of its own. Its like if wall-e and eve had a baby and it was a vacuum cleaner with half the traits of each parent.
But yeah, if the only thing good that I have to say about it is "I have maybe grown to like its looks", maybe it isn't the right vacuum for me.
Hoover bagged uprights seem pretty reasonably priced on amazon.
