Shark PowerDetect Cordless Vacuum Cleaner, DuoClean Detect, Grey IP1251UKT

★★★★★ I Have Replaced Human Connection With This Vacuum, and I Regret Nothing There is a theory, and I subscribe to it fully, that the universe is not, at its core, a place of meaning or moral order, but rather a place of *dirt*. Specifically, my floors. And if the universe is fundamentally dirty, then what I have in my hallway is nothing less than a cosmological corrective. I refer, of course, to the Shark PowerDetect Cordless Vacuum Cleaner IP1251UKT, which I have named Gerald (after a long-passed hamster, but that is another tale). I bought Gerald recently. I no longer have friends. This is not, I should clarify, entirely Gerald's fault. The friends left of their own accord, citing a series of grievances that, when written down, look suspiciously like "she keeps vacuuming while we're talking" and "she vacuumed the patio at eleven o'clock at night" and, most damningly, "she brought a dustpan of cat litter in from the garden and then hoovered it up while making sustained eye contact." These are, frankly, the complaints of people who have never experienced *genuine* suction. Gerald sucks with a passion and a delight that most people reserve for things they actually enjoy. He does not suck reluctantly, the way a polite guest eats food they don't like. He *commits*. He has opinions about dust (as do I). Strong ones. The friends, as I say, are gone. Gerald is still here. Gerald does not cancel plans. Gerald does not send a message at 7 pm saying he's "not feeling up to it." Gerald sits in his place — obediently, silently, *ready* — like a dog who has never once chewed a shoe, because Gerald would simply hoover up the chewed shoe and move on without comment. He is, in essence, the dog I always wanted: loyal, useful, and entirely without biological needs. If he *did* have biological needs, he would, of course, clean up after himself. I will confess (and I feel no shame in this) that I have begun introducing dirt into my home for the express purpose of removing it. Last Tuesday, I scattered a light dusting of topsoil across the kitchen floor, stepped back, regarded it with the quiet satisfaction of an artist preparing a canvas, and then watched Gerald make it *not exist*. It was, spiritually, one of the most fulfilling moments of the year. Possibly of my adult life. The dirt is the point. Gerald is the point. Everything else is just waiting in between. Now. The weight. Gerald is not, I will be honest, what you'd call *svelte*. He has heft. He has *gravitas*. Pushing him through a room is less "effortless glide" and more "committed lunge," a full-body engagement that I have started describing to people as my fitness regime, which is both accurate and, given that I am describing it to no one in particular since the friends situation, somewhat theoretical. My upper arms are noticeably more toned. My core has opinions it didn't used to have. Gerald is, functionally, a gym membership that also removes pet hair from upholstery, which is more than my actual gym membership ever managed. He never complains about any of this. He accepts every task: horse hair, cat hair, dog hair, the inexplicable quantity of crumbs that appear as if deposited there by some kind of carbohydrate-based poltergeist, with the same wordless equanimity. Unlike, and I cannot stress this enough, the friends I used to have. In summary: if you are looking for a vacuum cleaner that will transform your relationship with your home, your floors, and the fundamental meaning of clean ... buy this immediately. If you are looking for a vacuum cleaner that will *not* gradually replace your social life ... well. Perhaps look elsewhere. Gerald is not for the faint of heart or the heavily scheduled. He is for people who have, after considerable reflection, decided that dirt removal is a perfectly reasonable thing to love. Five stars. Would scatter horse hair again. Reviewed from a very clean floor in Oxfordshire (Editor's note: I have a very unfulfilling job, which may have some bearing)

Good value, good detritus capacity. Handling is very stable with the stem having the break facility. Does this perform better than the Dyson Animal - have not done any back to back comparisons - but a lot better value. It seems as well made. Prefer this charger method rather than the wall station on Dyson. I like the head lighting and the overall performance including effective edge suction.

I have a Dyson v11 for downstairs (mainly ceramic and wood floors), but wanted something with a removable battery to replace a corded Henry (with a motorised brush). I've had the Henry for around 10 years and until recently the power and performance were amazing, but the motor started to sound dodgy, and the replacement motorised brush was disappointing. What I liked:- 1. Versus the Dyson, storage is much better. The Shark folds very neatly. 2. Power-wise on carpet, it's pretty great - the Power Detect puts in extra effort near edges, and I was amazed at how much hair it picked up. I vacuum the whole house weekly, (and upstairs had switched to the Dyson in the last few weeks). 3. It actually propels itself - I was on the fence about this as the propulsion needs getting used to, but handy if you're tired. What I didn't like: - 1. Nothing with which to clip on the extra tools to the main unit...just a bag to store them in 2. It would be good if the battery didn't need a special adapter for charging 3. Although you can adapt the main rod to fold/be more flexible for under beds etc, it would be good to be able to fix the angle. The mini motorised brush would be handy to use in smaller gaps between furniture, but it can't be controlled when the angled setting isn't fixed because it's too light 4. The Dyson interface that shows a time for battery life is better than just a line with a percentage remaining.

Good quality hoover, battery doesn’t last that long as our old one and is a lot heavier. Charger is also chunky. Caddy empties ok; sometimes gets dirt stuck and sometimes stick the catch but it does the job. Not as good with dog hair on heavy pile carpet.

So disappointed. It has some neat design features but fails miserably on the things that count - the sucking ability and how long the charge works. This is fine for hair and dust, but it struggles to pick up bits, like cat litter, even on the strongest setting and I have to go over the floor a few times to get it all up. The bits frequently fall out when stored, even when I've used it for a little while after finishing. The dusting brush quickly stopped gripping onto the crevice tool so that when it is held against a surface it slips up along the crevice tool so you're not dusting but pressing the hard crevice tool onto your surface. I'd gladly exchange the detection system, light and ability to colapse the pole to get under things more easily in exchange for better suction and a longer lasting battery charge. I need to use the top setting when using the handheld too so am only getting round my ground floor once before needing to charge. I'd send it back if I hadn't kept it beyond the return window. Sigh ...

Good vac, plenty of power , works well but feels awkward to me to use .

Disappointed. Useless at edges, doesn’t compare to my old Dyson. I’d go back to Dyson if I hadn’t paid so much for this. Love that it folds to store, love that it has a flexible wand, and has reverse action suction. Battery life is equal to old Dyson, sensor cleaning is ok, not as good as I’d expected. Lights on the cleaning head are good and I like the pet tool. Wouldn’t recommend and wouldn’t buy again.

Great vacuum cleaner it works well picking everything up at the edges no need to change the head and the floor detect is good .