The Shark Rotator Powered Lift-Away is a bagless upright vacuum. Like most Shark uprights, its Lift-Away design lets you detach its motor unit from its floorhead and clean tight spots with its wand. This vacuum has a simpler single-roller head compared to newer models in the lineup, like the Shark APEX Upright. The TruePet variant we tested comes with three tools, but other variants have different ones. It's not hard to maintain, but there are quite a few parts that you need to clean. Luckily, there are virtually no recurring costs.
While there are two differently named variants of this vacuum, they only really differ in color and the attachments included. Further information is provided in the 'Differences Between Variants' section.
The Shark Rotator Powered Lift-Away is decent to use on bare floors. It's effective in cleaning fine and medium-sized debris on this surface, but larger debris can get stuck in its floorhead instead of being sucked up. It has mediocre maneuverability because it's bulky and hard to fit underneath couches and tables. On the upside, it has a good dirt compartment.
The Shark Rotator Powered Lift-Away is decent for low-pile carpet. It's good at dealing with large and medium-sized debris but struggles with finer material worked into carpet fibers. It has a decent build quality, and it's not hard to maintain, but there are a lot of parts that you need to clean regularly. Luckily, there are virtually no recurring costs.
The Shark Rotator Powered Lift-Away is okay for high-pile carpet. You'll likely need to make an extra pass to fully clear away fine debris on this surface type, though it does fairly well with medium-sized and large debris. It has a good-sized dirt compartment and a decent build quality. Sadly, it's not very maneuverable and has a short hose range.
The Shark Rotator Powered Lift-Away is okay for cleaning pet hair. It might take an extra pass to clear away hair that's been worked deeper into carpet fibers. Even though the brushroll isn't removable, you can still access it to clean any tangled hair. It also comes with a turbo brush to help clean hair on couches.
The Shark Rotator Powered Lift-Away is good to use on stairs. It can be used as a handheld vacuum, but it's fairly heavy to carry up and down the stairs. Also, the hose length is short. Still, it performs well on low-pile carpet and has decent performance on bare floors and high-pile carpet.
The Shark Rotator Powered Lift-Away is good for cars. The Shark Rotator Powered Lift-Away can be used as a handheld vacuum. Unfortunately, it's heavy to hold and the hose is short, which isn't convenient to vacuum your car with. However, it performs well on low-pile carpet and comes with a crevice tool to help vacuum those hard-to-reach areas.
The Shark Rotator Powered Lift-Away isn't designed for cleaning workshops. It can't clear away liquids, and its various internals could be damaged if you were to use it for cleaning heavy-duty debris like metal shavings.
We tested the NV752 variant of the Shark Powered Lift-Away. Other variants, which differ mainly in the included attachments, are listed below.
Model Number | Body Color | Included Brushes and Tools |
NV650 | Silver | Soft bristle brush, upholstery tool, crevice tool, hard floor tool |
NV651 | Light Purple | Dusting tool, power brush, soft bristle brush, upholstery tool, hard floor tool |
NV652 | Burgundy | Dusting tool, turbo brush, soft bristle brush, upholstery tool, hard floor tool |
NV751 | Light Purple | Dusting tool, power brush, soft bristle brush, upholstery tool, hard floor tool |
NV752 | Bordeaux | Turbo brush, upholstery tool, crevice tool |
Note that you can purchase any extra tools on Shark's website. If someone comes across this vacuum that's different from ours, let us know in the discussions, and we'll update our review.
The Shark Rotator Powered Lift-Away is good overall and performs best on carpet. Even though there are better upright vacuums for use on bare floors, like the Shark Navigator Lift-Away Speed, most people will be happy with its versatility.
See our recommendations for the best vacuums, the best vacuums for carpet, and the best Shark vacuums.
The Shark Rotator Powered Lift-Away is better than the Shark Navigator Lift-Away Deluxe. The Rotator is better built, has a slightly longer power cord, and performs better on all surface types. Conversely, the Navigator weighs a little bit less.
The Shark Rotator Lift-Away ADV is more versatile than the Shark Rotator Powered Lift-Away. The ADV has fewer maintenance requirements, a longer power cord, a lighter construction, better maneuverability, and superior performance on bare floors, especially regarding pet hair. However, unlike the Rotator Powered, you can't turn off its brushroll. The Rotator Powered also outperforms the ADV on low-pile carpets and has a bigger dirt compartment.
The Shark Navigator Lift-Away Speed is better overall than the Shark Rotator Powered Lift-Away. The Navigator performs much better on bare floors, is more maneuverable, and is lighter to hold. That said, the Rotator has a somewhat better performance on low-pile carpet, a slightly bigger dirt compartment, and a longer range.
The Shark APEX Upright is better overall than the Shark Rotator Powered Lift-Away vacuum. While the APEX performs similarly to the Rotator on carpet, it performs significantly better on bare floors. The APEX also has a bigger dirt compartment and a slightly longer hose length. On the other hand, the Rotator is easier to maintain.
The Shark Rotator Powered Lift-Away is a more well-rounded vacuum than the BISSELL Pet Hair Eraser Turbo Plus. The Shark is slightly easier to maintain with a lot fewer recurring costs, and its dirt compartment holds more, too. It also has a better performance on all surface types too. However, the BISSELL can maneuver slightly better and has a removable brushroll.
The Shark Rotator Powered Lift-Away is better to use on carpets, while the Hoover WindTunnel 2 Whole House Rewind is better for bare floors. The Shark cleans most hair and large debris on all surface types. It has better maneuverability and isn't as heavy. The Hoover has a better range, and it's easier to maintain.
The Dyson Ball Animal 2 Total Clean/Origin is better overall than the Shark Rotator Powered Lift-Away. It has outstanding performance on any surface and a longer range, and it's easier to maintain. You can use the Shark as a handheld vacuum, making it a better choice for cleaning stairs and cars.
The BISSELL Adapt Ion Pet/XRT is a better vacuum for cleaning pet hair than the Shark Rotator Powered Lift-Away. The BISSELL is easier to maintain, it's cordless, so it has an unlimited range, and it's much more portable. If you have shedding pets, this vacuum can easily pick up pet hair, and it can be used as a small and lightweight vacuum, too. It also has significantly better maneuverability. However, the Shark is a better choice if you need to clean small and large debris as it outperforms the BISSELL on all surface types in this regard. It also has a larger dirt compartment, and you don't have to worry about recharging it as it's a corded vacuum.
The Shark NV752 has a decent build quality. The wand is made of metal, while the rest of the vacuum is made of hard plastic. Overall, the vacuum feels like it could be more sturdy, and the dirt compartment could break if dropped, but it's still better than the Shark Navigator Lift-Away Speed. Fortunately, each part has clips that make the vacuum easy to assemble, and it's easy to attach/detach the parts when switching configurations. There's rubber on the handle to help with grip, and the flat vacuum head makes it stand upright.
This vacuum isn't very hard to maintain, but there are quite a few parts you need to clean, and they aren't the easiest to access. Consider the Miele Dynamic U1 PowerLine if you're looking for an upright vacuum that's much easier to care for, so long as you don't mind giving up a more portable handheld configuration.
You must air dry any part that's washed with water for at least 24 hours before using it again.
The vacuum is fairly easy to store. It takes up room and stands up on its own. There's space to put the crevice and upholstery tools directly on the vacuum, but you can't store the turbo brush on it.
This vacuum has mediocre range. The cord length is long, but the hose is fairly short, which isn't convenient when vacuuming a car.
This vacuum has okay portability. The Shark NV752 is heavy, but luckily, there's a carrying handle that makes it easier to bring to another floor.
The Shark Rotator Powered Lift-Away TruePet doesn't have a battery.
This vacuum has a few extra features to enhance the user experience. It has three surface level settings: Hard Floor, Low Pile Carpet, and High Pile Carpet. You can adjust the height of the main head if you're using it on carpet. You can also slightly adjust the suction on the turbo brush with a slider for when you need to clean delicate furniture with it.
The Shark NV752 variant includes three tools and brushes. Other variants have different tools that come with it. Note that the turbo brush, called the TruePet Mini Motorized Brush, is meant to clean pet hair and not to groom your pet like the pet grooming tool on the Dyson Ball Animal 2.
This vacuum does a decent job of dealing with debris on hard floors. It's fairly effective in dealing with fine and medium-sized debris like sand or rice, but larger debris like cereal can get caught in its floorhead and fall back out once the vacuum is turned off, forcing you to clean it back up again.
This vacuum's suction performance at its floorhead is poor. Its cleaning head sits somewhat high above the ground and doesn't form a seal that's all that tight, so it can have a harder time dealing with debris wedged in deeper crevices. That said, suction through its hose is quite strong, so you'll have no trouble dealing with stubborn debris when cleaning in its semi-handheld configuration.
This vacuum has excellent airflow. It won't have much trouble lifting away heavier debris and sucking it into its dirt compartment.
This vacuum is a little noisy, though the sound it emits isn't all that high-pitched, and it won't be overly disruptive as long as you're vacuuming a separate room with the door completely or even partially closed.
The Shark NV752 has mediocre maneuverability. The rotating head helps you navigate objects, but the vacuum is heavy, and its bulky size makes it hard to clean underneath couches and tables. You can detach the hose to clean furniture, but since the hose is a bit short, you have to move or hold the body while vacuuming. It doesn't properly clean rugs on the 'Bare Floor' setting because the brushroll is off, and when it's on the 'Low Pile Carpet' or 'High Pile Carpet' settings, the rug gets stuck.
This vacuum does an excellent job of picking up pet hair on fabric furniture when used with its upholstery nozzle. While it has a miniature turbo brush, this tool doesn't perform all that well. The simpler straight-suction upholstery nozzle is a little more unwieldy but ultimately does a much better job of dealing with hair on fabric.
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. That said, be careful when emptying its dustbin, which can release a cloud of dust and debris.
This vacuum does a mediocre job of handling debris on crevices. It lacks the necessary suction force at its floorhead to draw debris out from cracks as it moves. If you want to clean deeper cracks, use the vacuum in its Lift-Away configuration with the crevice tool attached; you can see a video of the vacuum in action when configured in this way here, and a post-cleaning image here.