Top critical review
3.0 out of 5 starsGood for hard floors and low carpet, not for thick pile carpet.
Reviewed in the United States on March 14, 2024
I have a Hoover self-propelled upright vac that's bullet proof and built like an Army tank. It does a great job on all kinds of floors, but it's heavy. As my wife and I get older, we find it difficult to carry the Hoover 'heavy weight' up and down stairs. I thought we'd keep the Hoover on one floor and get a second vac for the other. I reviewed information about upright vacs in Consumer Reports and picked out the one that was rated high for both hard floors and carpets. I received the 'reconditioned' Shark Navigator a few days ago and tested it today. There are pros and cons. One part, the 'accessories holder' was missing. We checked and double checked the packing material, but it was not to be found. Assembly instructions were not included. The Warranty sheet for reconditioned products sent me to the 'reconditioned' website. I wanted to print a copy, but one page of the assembly instructions would not print properly. I ran an open search on the internet with the brand and model and found the instructions I needed at the Shark website. The file printed properly with wording big enough to read without a magnifying glass. After assembling the machine without the accessories holder, I plugged it in and turned it on. A big 'plug' of dirt landed in the cannister. It had been in there for a while because the 'plug' was in the shape of the inside of the hose. The person who 'reconditioned' the machine didn't check for dirt plugs in the hose. The machine sucks like crazy! If dirt is loose, it'll be sucked into the machine. It worked great on hard floors and thin or low pile carpeting. We have two rooms with deep pile carpets, and this is where the old Hoover self-propelled really shines. It took lots of effort to push and drag the Shark through deep carpet. I have arthritis in my wrists so that wasn't working. It sucked up dirt just fine, though. The other thing most folks won't like is that the Shark leaves tracks and grooves in thick carpet. It makes carpet look like it was used as a drag strip! Someone had put deodorizer/fragrance in the machine. It was strong and stunk up the entire room with an awful smell. I hate deodorizes. They smell worse than the odors they try to cover up. Couple that with a design that blows exhaust in your face and it's disgusting. The air exhaust is louvered upwards to direct the air flow away from the floor. With the handle angled down in a normal vacuuming position, the air blows into the operator's face! I wonder if the people who designed the machine actually tried using it. I'll try washing the filters to get the odor out. I suggest users take the machine outside before emptying the canister the first time. I accidentally hit the button that opens the trap door as I was pulling the canister free. It dumped the dirt on the machine and floor. I had to use my DeWalt handvac to clean up the mess. Hoover doesn't make a self-propelled vac anymore. Maybe I should have applied the money I spent on the Shark on a used self-propelled unit, instead. Whether I send the Shark back will depend on if I can get that awful odor out of it.