What you can expect from the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal
What testers say about the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal
On vacuuming, the pair of testers who tried the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal landed far apart. Vacuum Wars, which measures pickup run by run, placed it in the upper half of its results and saw it pull embedded grit and flattened pet hair out of carpet. Just A Dad Approved lived with it for months and marked it 4.5, two and a half points beneath the 7 that sits mid-table on its ten-point card, because of the route it takes. It would not hold straight lines, went back over ground it had covered and circled when it sensed dirt, leaving larger pieces behind.
Mopping is the part both rate. It drew an 8 from Just A Dad Approved, half a point over that card's midpoint, after the ultraviolet stain detector sent it back over dried marks. The weak point is how wet it leaves the floor. Vacuum Wars weighed 5.3 grams of water on its test area, nearly five times its 1.1-gram average, and floors took a long time to dry, which on glossy tile shows as streaks.
Dust goes from the bin into a container with no bag, an arrangement 6 per cent of comparable docks share, and the wash water reaches 85 degrees, with 75 degrees the norm elsewhere. The robot's 104 millimetres put it 7 millimetres over the usual height, so the lowest furniture keeps it out.
Pros
- Leaves hard floors looking as clean as mopping them by hand Tom's Guide ↗
- Clears cereal and pet hair from both carpet and hard floors very well Tom's Guide ↗
- Finishes a full clean of a large floor with plenty of charge left Tom's Guide ↗
- Its UV light finds hidden stains, and it goes back to scrub them TechRadar ↗
- Picks up human and pet hair from rugs without any trouble TechRadar ↗
- Long battery life, so it rarely runs flat before a big home is done TechRadar ↗
- Avoided most obstacles in testing, a big step up for a Shark robot Vacuum Wars ↗
- Gets embedded grit and flattened pet hair out of carpet better than most Vacuum Wars ↗
- Bagless dock with washable filters keeps running costs down Vacuum Wars ↗
Cons
- Leaves much of the fine cat litter behind in deep carpet Tom's Guide ↗
- The robot and its dock quickly gather a coat of dust and hair Tom's Guide ↗
- Splitting a room on the map took several attempts in the app Tom's Guide ↗
- Keeps only one map, so it cannot clean more than one floor TechRadar ↗
- Uses a lot of water and can leave streaks on shiny floors TechRadar ↗
- Sometimes skips rooms or cleans a different room than the one asked TechRadar ↗
- Leaves floors very wet, and they can take a long time to dry Vacuum Wars ↗
- Taller than most robots, so it may not fit under low furniture Vacuum Wars ↗
- Manages only low door thresholds and fails on slightly taller ones Vacuum Wars ↗
Where the testers disagree
- Mopping: Tom's Guide: Leaves hard floors looking as clean as mopping them by hand · TechRadar: Its UV light finds hidden stains, and it goes back to scrub them against TechRadar: Uses a lot of water and can leave streaks on shiny floors · Vacuum Wars: Leaves floors very wet, and they can take a long time to dry
- Carpet: Vacuum Wars: Gets embedded grit and flattened pet hair out of carpet better than most against Tom's Guide: Leaves much of the fine cat litter behind in deep carpet
Each point sums up, in our words, the review of the test it names, and its link leads to that review. We do not summarise RTINGS or Wirecutter: their lists are linked above.
