Shark Navigator Lift-Away Speed Vacuum Review

This vacuum has okay build quality, with a mainly plastic construction, though its wand is metal. It doesn't feel especially sturdy overall, particularly its fragile dirt compartment. Thankfully, the vacuum itself is easy to assemble and disassemble, with plenty of easy-clip mechanisms that allow you to click various components together. However, it can be hard to decouple its canister from its main body.

This vacuum has many parts that need regular cleaning, and not all of them are easy to access.

• Dirt compartment: The dirt compartment comes away from the main body pretty easily after you've pressed the release latch. You should empty it after every cleaning session. You can also open it from the top to access the lint screen, which you should clean regularly.
• Brushroll: The brushroll isn't designed to be removed, which makes it pretty hard to clear away any tangled hair, especially because the floorhead is quite heavy. You can still get better access to it by using a coin, flathead screwdriver, or anything similar to lift the brushroll cover. While the manufacturer advertises the brushroll to be self-cleaning, some hair can still get caught in it.
• Pre-motor filters: The foam and felt pre-motor filters are located underneath the dirt compartment and can be lifted out easily. You need to clean them under water every three months.
• Post-motor (HEPA) filter: You can easily access the HEPA filter by removing the front cover on the vacuum. You should clean it once a year with water.

You must air dry any part that's washed with water for at least 24 hours before putting it back into the vacuum.

This vacuum incurs moderately high recurring costs.

• Pre-motor filters: The foam and felt pre-motor filters should only need replacing after a couple of years, though no specific replacement interval is given by the manufacturer. Regardless, you can buy a replacement set here.
• Post-motor (HEPA) filter: There's an inconsistency on Shark's website regarding how often you should replace the HEPA filter. In the user manual, it suggests cleaning it once a year, but in the HEPA filter's product description on their website, it suggests replacing it every six months. The score for this section is based on the recommendations listed within the user manual. You can buy a replacement filter here.

This vacuum is pretty easy to store. It's taller than a comparable canister vacuum like the Miele Classic C1 when not in use but has a smaller horizontal footprint. There's also onboard storage for its included crevice tool and soft bristle brush attachments. Unfortunately, you'll need to wind its power cord back up manually.

This vacuum's dirt compartment is good. It's larger than those of alternatives like the Shark Rotator Lift-Away ADV, and since it's made of clear plastic and has a max fill line, you can tell how close it is to being filled at a glance.

• Shark Navigator Lift-Away vacuum
• Vacuum body
• Dirt compartment
• Wand
• Main head with brushroll
• Hose with handle
• 1x post-motor HEPA filter
• 1x foam pre-motor filter
• 1x felt pre-motor filter
• User Guide
• Various tools and brushes
• Crevice tool
• Soft bristle brush (attached to crevice tool)
• Upholstery tool
• Hard bristle brush (attached to upholstery tool)

This vacuum has a disappointing range. Its power cord is decently long, but its hose is considerably shorter than alternatives like the Hoover WindTunnel 2 Whole House Rewind, making it hard to clean out-of-reach areas when using it in its semi-handheld configuration.

It's a decently portable vacuum. It's heavier than most cordless vacuums, even upright models like the Shark Vertex Pro Powered Lift-Away, but it's still lighter than pricier corded like the Miele Dynamic U1 PowerLine. There's a carrying handle that makes it easier to move between rooms.

The vacuum has a couple of quality-of-life features. There are two levels of surface type adjustment: "I Hard Floor" and "II Carpet". You can also slightly adjust the suction power with a slider on the handle of the vacuum. Opening the slider decreases suction power, which makes it easier to maneuver on carpeted surfaces.

This variant of the Shark Navigator vacuum comes with a couple of attachments. There's a combination hard bristle brush/upholstery tool and a combination crevice tool/slide-on soft-bristle dusting brush, though be aware that it can be hard to fully remove the dusting brush from the crevice tool. There's also an extension wand to give you more reach.

You can use the Shark Navigator Lift-Away as a semi-handheld vacuum by detaching its motor unit and dustbin assembly from its floorhead, which allows you to clean hard-to-reach areas with its wand. However, when used as a semi-handheld vacuum, it's still fairly bulky and much larger than traditional cordless stick vacuum like the Dyson V8.

The Shark Navigator vacuum has superb performance on bare floors. It has no problem clearing small debris like rice or bulkier debris like cereal. Its performance remains consistent as the dirt compartment fills, which is great if you have several large messes to deal with. However, it's worth noting that some small debris can get stuck underneath the floorhead, while its brushroll can scatter a very small amount of debris around. If you're looking for a comparable vacuum with even better performance on this kind of surface, you may want to consider the Shark Rotator Lift-Away ADV, which has a secondary soft brushroll.

The Shark Navigator Lift-Away has excellent performance on low-pile carpet. It clears large and fine debris like sand and baking soda without too much trouble. Its performance remains consistent as the dirt compartment fills too.

This vacuum has impressive performance on high-pile carpet. It can suck up most fine and large debris like baking soda or sand on this surface type, though you may need to make another pass to clear all of it.

This vacuum does a fantastic job of handling pet hair on a variety of surfaces. It can easily tackle pet hair on bare floors as well as low and high-pile carpet. While the manufacturer advertises its brushroll as being self-cleaning, longer strands can still get wrapped around it. Since it isn't removable, it can be a little tricky to clear away tangled hair.

This vacuum has terrible suction power in its floorhead. Its suction inlet is positioned too high above the contact surface to generate a tight seal. If you want to exert the maximum amount of suction force, you should use the vacuum in its semi-handheld configuration with its crevice tool, which generates a maximum of 73.58 inH₂O (18.31 kPa) of suction, which is more than sufficient for deep cleaning. However, the vacuum is ill-suited to cleaning bigger areas when used in this configuration.

This vacuum isn't too loud. It's quieter than most other uprights with more powerful motors, like the Dyson Ball Animal 3. Still, it's best if you vacuum in an enclosed room with the door partially or completely closed if you want to avoid disturbing anybody nearby.

This vacuum has alright maneuverability. Its rotating head makes it easier to navigate between obstacles, but the bulky shape of the floorhead and dirt compartment makes it hard to clean tight spaces or underneath furniture. Its floorhead can also get caught on rug tassels and very dense carpets, forcing you to turn it off to pull it free. Its somewhat heavy weight can be a nuisance when lifting it over obstructions like electrical cords. Thankfully, its crevice tool/soft bristle brush attachment is within easy reach, thanks to the onboard tool storage slot.

The Shark Navigator Lift-Away Speed does an excellent job handling pet hair across a wide range of surface types when used with its upholstery tool. While there's no mini turbo brush for better surface agitation, the straight suction attachment is effective in collecting long and short strands of hair on fabric surfaces.

This vacuum does a good job of filtering out fine allergens. Its foam and felt pre-motor filters, combined with its HEPA exhaust filter, allow it to capture a good amount of airborne particles. If you're especially sensitive to allergens, it's worth seeking out a bagged vacuum with a HEPA filter, like the Kenmore Intuition Bagged, which has an added layer of filtration in the form of its dirtbag. Removing a self-sealing dirtbag is a far more hygienic process than shaking out a plastic dustbin, which can release a large plume of dust and other fine particles.

This vacuum does a mediocre job of handling debris on crevices. It lacks the necessary suction force to draw debris out from cracks as it moves, so you'll have to park it in place to clear away debris. If you want better crevice-cleaning performance, you can use its crevice tool.

The Shark Navigator Lift-Away does a terrible job of removing stains. Even in the 'II Carpet' setting, which boosts suction power and speeds up its brushroll, it has minimal impact on dried-on debris.