| Pros | Price, lightweight |
| Cons | Noisy, warranty |
| Summary | This vacuum is an excellent choice that provides value for money – good suction, lightweight, self-standing, decent run time, and it’s affordable. |
| Our Rating | 81/100 |
| Manufacturer | Shark |
A cordless vacuum can do wonders for the home.
They tend to be much lighter, more efficient and they are getting better and better all of the time.
Many folks think that to get a good one, you need to drop a few hundred bucks on a Dyson.
Well, Shark is here to show that is not the case and their Shark Navigator Freestyle Cordless (link to Amazon) is one of the most popular budget-priced cordless vacuum cleaners on the market.
Very Easy To Use
The first thing I want to say is that Shark is great at making its vacuum cleaners easy to use and the Shark Navigator Freestyle Cordless vacuum is no different.
It is not too large, is lightweight, and everything from the power button to changing what “mode” you want (more on that later) is very easy and self-explanatory.
You should also Check out these Shark vacuum reviews.
The lightweight nature of the vacuum makes moving it around the house nice and easy. It actually only weighs seven and a half pounds which is pretty crazy. Shark has used a swivel head which at this price range is fantastic.
This makes moving around the living room floor or the kitchen so much easier as you can get around things like chair legs and tables. It does also have a series of LED lights on the head which can highlight things like pet hair and bits of food the kids thought they could hide under the front of the sofa.
It Can Take On Carpet And Hardwood Floor
One of the things that really surprised me about this vacuum cleaner is that it is able to clean both carpet and hardwood floors.
Granted it is not designed for really thick carpets, but as long as you went over it a few times I think it could handle it.
Usually, at this price range, you find that a vacuum cleaner will struggle with carpet or hardwood floor so it is great this one can handle both.
There are two settings on the Shark Navigator Freestyle Cordless vacuum. You just press the switch for which one you want. There is one for carpet and one for hardwood floor, the head actually has a fairly large open area so even larger bits of mess and hair can be sucked up fairly easily.
Speaking of hair, Shark has designed this with pet hair in mind so it is great if you have a dog or cat that loves to shed all over the carpet or a rug. The motorized brush roll is far more powerful than I would expect at this price range so kudos to Shark for using one like this in this vacuum cleaner.
Cordless Power At A Low Price
Cost-effective and a super choice for an entry-level vacuum, the Shark is in the budget range of cordless vacuums. This was the first time I saw that second-hand vacuums were selling for more than the price of a new one.
The value this machine imparts to the home clearly speaks for itself, with consumers feeling it is worth more than the manufacturer does.
Cleaning Made Easy With Bagless Technology
One of the worst things about vacuuming (apart from the vacuuming itself) is having to empty the canister and clean the vacuum cleaner. Thankfully the dust canister is really large so you can go a while without having to empty it, but when you do it could not be any easier. You pop it off and dump it out into the garbage.
Occasionally you may find that pet hair can get tangled around the brush roll, Shark has thought about this though, and made it very easy to get to it and cut it out. I think that is fantastic and something that more vacuum cleaner companies should do.
Most of the time you will be able to easily reach the tangled hair, but if you can’t removing the brush roll is nice and easy to do. The Shark Navigator Freestyle Cordless Vacuum has everything in easy reach so keeping it nice and clean is not hard at all.
What About The Filtration System?
Of course, at this kind of budget price range you are not going to be getting a top-of-the-line HEPA filter. However, Shark has used a two filtration system in this cordless vacuum cleaner. The dust canister has a filter at the top and the bottom.
These work very well together and will do a good job of keeping what goes in the canister inside it. Dust is the worst when you are vacuuming.
Shark has made these two filters easy to remove and clean and as this is a budget-priced vacuum cleaner I would advise that you clean them once a month or whenever you empty the canister to keep them working as well as they can.
Battery Life – Charge It Up!
One of the things that need to happen in the world of cordless vacuum cleaners and electronics, in general, is a big advancement in battery life. Usually, you are looking at 20 – 40 minutes of run time with a cordless vacuum cleaner.
This one though gives you 12 if you are using it on carpet and 18 if you are using it on the hardwood floor. This should be enough time if you need to give a room a quick clean, but 12 minutes of cleaning time may not be enough if you want to do the living room, a couple of bedrooms, and the hallways all at once.
The charge time is not too bad at four to seven hours and you could buy a second battery if you wanted. However, replacement batteries can cost up to half the price of the vacuum cleaner.
Floors, Where We’re Going We Don’t Need Any Floors!
If you get the Back to the Future reference then we can be friends. In all seriousness, the Shark Navigator Freestyle Cordless Vacuum is designed for floors and floors only. There are no attachments included with this.
Shark has cleverly designed this for floor use so that is important to note. It is lightweight and compact enough that you could lift it up onto a sofa or even do the stairs with it, but floors are what this is designed for.
Final Thoughts
The Shark Navigator Freestyle Cordless Vacuum (link to Amazon) offers great value for the money.
While this may not be ideal as a home’s only vacuum cleaner, as a second vacuum that you bust out when the dogs have shed hair or the kids have spilled their breakfast cereal it is great.
It is easy to use, far more powerful than it has a right to be at this price point, and in general it is another winner from Shark.
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