Shark Navigator Powered Lift-Away Upright Vacuum

Firstly : This is not a paid review. So you don’t have to scan for the magic words hidden in so many reviews. I love this thing for real. I bought this vacuum 6 months ago and waited to see what I really thought. Amazing! I’ve killed 2 different $300 Dysons so I needed a better option & read up on Consumer Reports. Shark has one of the lowest breakage rates. I can see why. It has easy to open connections to clear blockage. The can is large capacity & catches larger objects in a 1st compartment. Very easy to switch between hose, hard floor, carpet brush on the fly without turning off the unit. I have a huge great room in the country with two Great Danes & a husband who doesn’t take off his boots. I collect enough dirt & fur in a day to pot a plant in. We have wood floors with a few rugs, some stairs and large baseboard ledges. I can use the thumb switch on the handle to go from hardwood to rug without missing a beat. The hose detaches easily to run the baseboards, stairs, around dog beds. Nice feature of the hose is that you can use the extended long tube or the short tube handle - and you can use the short handle without having to unwind the power cable. With my old Dyson you could only use the hose if you unwound the power cable completely. Also on the hose is a suction control near the handle - basically opens up to let air in & release some suction. You are probably used to getting stuff stuck on the end of the hose and hearing the motor try to eat itself sucking the blockage. This saves the motor & makes fixing this quick & easy. I also use the vacuum with carpet brush on to go over my large loose canvas covered dog beds. Sucks the hair right off. I wasn’t thrilled with the plastic & purple color - not sure why vaccuums have to be colored like they are superheroes. But I can see how light this thing is & why they use plastic. The swivel head turns really easily. This thing is easy to maneuver. Only notes are that when using the hose the main unit doesn’t roll smoothly on it own & tends to fall over. It doesn’t hurt it but it’s annoying- so you keep one hand on the top handle. Also when using the hard floor (rolling brush off) pet fur can gather on the rollers so I occasionally flip the brush rollers on to get the hair off. I remembered to write this review after being at a party where someone pulled out their Shark to clean up tiny broken glass bits. Oddly enough, we all had Sharks & said how much we loved them. Though I will say a few ladies lived alone & had cheaper, smaller units - loved theirs for their own situation. I’m not sure anything smaller would work for us. Oddly the Comsumer Reports gave this vacuum a lesser rating on pet hair than my old Dyson. I don’t see it. I think it’s great with pet hair & I don’t feel like I’m going to have to replace this anytime soon. Hope this helps! I hate buying vacuums too.