I attended the launch of the Shark Stratos upright vacuum in the fall of XNUMX, where it was introduced among many other corded and cordless stickmates. After taking them all for a spin around the room, testing them on oats and scattered fluff, it was the upright model that caught my eye, given its size, power, and attractive green hue.
Shark is known for creating some of the best vacuums on the market, with models that offer quality, innovation, and power. After enjoying decades of success in the US, the brand is now recognized worldwide. Dedicated to the development of high-end home appliances, from vacuum cleaners to steam mops, air purifiers, and even some of the best hair dryers, Shark seems to offer what customers want.
Shark Stratos is the brand's most advanced range of vacuum cleaners. Shark claims these models offer the best hair catcher ever, combining Shark's unique DuoClean floor head and new Anti Hair Wrap Plus. Certain models in the range, like the Shark Stratos upright vacuum, even feature innovative anti-odour technology, leaving your home and vacuum cleaner fresher after a clean.
Upon testing, I found that there was a lot to like about this vacuum. Its power, hair and debris collection, and dust holding capacity were pretty amazing. However, I felt somewhat tied to the mains with just an XNUMXm cable, and while emptying the dust bin was easy, I needed to reach inside to free any trapped lint.
- Shark Stratos Upright Vacuum at Best Buy for $449.99 (opens in a new tab)
Shark Stratos Upright Vacuum Price and Availability
- List price: € 429 / € 399
- Available in the US and UK
Known as the Shark Stratos Upright Vacuum in the US and the Shark Stratos Anti Hair Wrap Plus Upright Vacuum in the UK, this vacuum is available direct from Shark or through dealers for prices around €429 / €400. In the US, you'll find it at Best Buy - opens in a new tab, Target - opens in a new tab, and Walmart - opens in a new tab - while in the UK, head to Amazon ( opens in a new tab), Argos (opens in a new tab), and John Lewis (opens in a new tab).
Its price is comparable to the rest of the ranges in the Shark collection. If you have pets, go for the Shark Stratos Upright Vacuum with TruePet for €499.80 in the US (opens in a new tab) or get the Shark Stratos Pet Pro Anti Hair Wrap Plus Anti-Odor Upright Vacuum for €429.99 in the UK Kingdom (opens in a new tab). Both models come with a dedicated pet hair removal tool.
Other vacuum cleaners in the Shark Stratos range include a cordless broom and a corded broom.
The specs of our Shark Stratos upright vacuum review unit
- Price: € 399 / € 429
- Dust Cup: 0,28 gallon / 1,3 L
- Number of Speeds: 3
- Hose Length: 5ft/1,5m
- Cable Length: 26,2ft / 8m
- Weight: 17,2 lbs/6,7 kg
These specifications are the same for the US and UK models of the Shark Stratos Upright Vacuum.
Shark Stratos Upright Vacuum Design Review
- Floor head glides on carpets and hard floors
- Scent technology in the floor head releases a pleasant scent
- Easily converts from upright to portable
The overall design of this upright vacuum is super impressive. It comes with a number of features I've come to appreciate in Shark vacuums over the years, as well as some unique new additions to the Stratos line.
The first is Shark's signature DuoClean floor head, which consists of two motorized rotating brushes inside the unit. It glides satisfactorily on carpets and hard floors, picking up all kinds of dirt and debris. Anti Hair Wrap Plus technology also means the vacuum picks up all the hair from your floors and never gets tangled around the rotating brushes.
One of the novelties to highlight is the anti-odor technology. While it's not something I paid much attention to before testing this vacuum, it certainly will now. An anti-odour dial can be inserted into the floor head of this cleaner, with the dial turned to select the intensity of the odor. The goal is to prevent the dust cup smell from filling the air; and noticed a nicer smell after vacuuming. Please note that the dial is not available in a range of scents, with the Sea Breeze type scent being the only one currently available. Sharks recommends replacing cartridges every six months, with replacement cartridges available for $14.99 (2-pack) (opens in a new tab) direct from Shark. As of this writing, we were unable to find replacements in the United States.
The head of the floor here is also home to another signature Shark feature: LED lighting. Helping to remove dust and illuminate less-lit areas of the home, such as the hallway, these lights are both functional and stylish.
In use, the Shark Stratos vacuum performed brilliantly at cleaning floors. However, it is quite heavy at 17,2 lbs/6,7 kg, which made it difficult to clear the stairs. Fortunately, you can disconnect the main unit from the floor header and connect the wand for use in Powered Lift-Away mode. This makes it easy to clean under furniture, which is not so easy in its upright form.
With the floor head removed, I also rotated the crevice and multi-surface tools. The crevice tool was good for getting into the corners of the ceiling and cleaning the top of the baseboard, while the multi-surface tool was great for removing cookie crumbs from the couch and bed. Fortunately, there's storage space for both tools on the back of the upright vacuum.
More generally, a slide switch on the handle lets you choose between three floor settings: hard floors, low-pile carpeting, and shag rugs or area rugs. The power button is also on the handle.
The 8m power cord wraps around the side of the vacuum on two hooks; one is next to the handle, while the other is next to the base of the dust cup. The dust bin offers a decent 1,3-litre capacity, which means I didn't have to empty it after every cleaning session, and emptying is just a matter of pressing the 'dust bin release' button.
This vertical vacuum cleaner also has a complete antialert skin, which captures 99,9% of the dust and the airflow inside the vacuum cleaner. Although it's hard to test, my husband or I noticed that we didn't start sneezing or get watery eyes while using this vacuum - something we can be sensitive to - so we'll take that as a victoria.
Shark Stratos Upright Vacuum Performance Review
- awesome suction
- Easy to transform into a portable vacuum cleaner
- I love the smell it gives off
I've been using the Shark Stratos upright vacuum as the primary vacuum in my three-bedroom house for a month now. Downstairs has tile flooring in the kitchen and hardwood and carpet throughout the rest; The first floor is mostly carpeted. With a young child and life in general, this upright vacuum has certainly been challenged over the past month of testing.
On hard ground, the Shark Stratos performed well, picking up rice chips from the ground in a single pass. I kept it on the hard floor setting and the cleaner worked perfectly. Our kitchen floor is also home to a rag rug, which I quickly learned was best avoided with this vacuum; running over it with the Shark Stratos, the cleaner would just start vacuuming it up. However, most vacuums have issues on this mat, so it wasn't a problem.
The transition from hard floors to other rugs was seamless. I'm a big fan of the DuoClean floor brush, hard to beat in my opinion. Although it worked great on carpets with the hard floor setting, for a deep clean I'd switch to the low pile/carpet setting, and soon I might see stuffed bunnies circling in the clear trash can.
Once the floors were cleaned I moved to the cobwebs in the corner of the living room. I set the Shark Stratos upright vac to Powered Lift-Away mode and attached the crevice tool. While I did manage to get into the corners of the room, it proved a bit difficult with the 5ft/1,5m plumbing in our period property with high ceilings.
While the main unit of the floor head was removed in Power Lift mode, I attached the floor head to the handle to vacuum the stairs. I had the Shark Stratos upright vacuum plugged in not too far from the bottom of the stairs, so I was sure it would have enough reach to clean the 13-step stair, so power from the 26,2-foot power cord / 8 m was enough. It wasn't as easy vacuuming stairs as it was with one of the better cordless vacuums, for example, it was certainly more manageable in this more portable vacuum mode than as an upright vacuum because the weight was more balanced.
On the first floor, when vacuuming carpets, the Shark Stratos upright vacuum excelled. Upright vacuums are known to be more powerful than cordless and handheld devices, and this Shark vacuum has further reinforced that fact. I placed it on "thick rug/rug" and moved the vac back and forth across the floor until all (accessible) areas were vacuumed. When I was done, the trash can was almost full, which was very satisfying, and my house smelled so much fresher.
This method of vacuuming my house was repeated every three to four days during the Shark Stratos upright vacuum test period.
Luckily I never had to empty the dust bin while cleaning. While the XNUMX gallon/XNUMX liter isn't the largest I've seen, it's still pretty generous and proved to have enough capacity to clean my entire house. One small issue was with the drain, where debris (mostly lint) was getting blocked at the top of the catcher, forcing me to reach out...