Shark Powered Lift-Away Vacuum Cleaner with TruePet

We recently bought this vacuum cleaner to replace our 1 year old Dyson DC40 which had broken (the upright hold had failed) and had struggled to hold up to it's big name potential. Whilst the Shark NV681UKT is similar in price it so far has outstripped the Dyson in cleaning capability, flexibility and usability.Shark NV681UKT Powered Lift-Away Vacuum Cleaner, TruePet Model, BordeauxCleaning Capability:Whilst it is accepted that a new vacuum cleaner will generally perform better than an old vacuum (clean airways for best suction etc.) we were no less amazed at the level of dirt and fibre the Shark pulled from our carpets. We have two Cocker Spaniels, two children and vacuum daily but, as you can see from the picture linked to this review, the Shark was able to pick up a lot of extra fibrous matter. This was particularly the case for a thick rug we have in the Living Room.The NV681UKT comes with specific Pet Filters (which can be replaced) as well as a small powered attachment for stairs cleaning and a direct cleaning head for tiled/wooden floors.Flexibility:The Shark NV681UKT has a feature that it calls 'Powered Lift-Away'. Essentially you can take the vacuum body away from the main head structure and carry it with you to use on the stairs, cleaning the inside of a car or in other awkward to reach places. Whether it is my lack of experience with vacuum cleaners or not however I have not seen one with lights on the front - what a great idea! The lights are bright and spread a good pool of illumination in front. As an example of use, the downstairs bathroom in our house is only small and now there is no need to activate the room light/auto-fan combo to vacuum for 30 seconds as the Shark provides sufficient light.Usability:The Shark is much like other vacuum cleaners in terms of usability. It is quite a bit bulkier than our previous Dyson DC40 but about the same weight. It's odd because in use the Shark feels heavier than the Dyson however that is presumably the increased suck/pull making it harder to move rather than a significant increase in the weight. In 'Lift-Away' mode the vacuum is light and easy to use with the hose. The capacity of the vacuum cleaner is not huge, but neither is it small and emptying presents no great difficulty, mess or faff thankfully.Cables are obviously the bane of a corded vacuum cleaner however the clip that holds the cable away from the ground is not particularly strong and will more often than not release the cord. It's not the end of the world to hold the cable clear but it’s still a shame.Positive Points:* Great cleaning ability* Unique Design and Flexibility* Suited to houses with pets* Range of attachments for different surfaces* Lights!Negative Points:* The weak cable clip is a bit of a pain* Smaller capacity / more frequent emptyingIt's a struggle to get overly excited about a vacuum cleaner however in comparison to other cleaners we have used in the past it is clear that Shark have put a lot of thought into the NV681UKT. The Lift-Away function and the lights make for an easier job of keeping the house clean and the price is less than other notable brands for which the Shark outstrips in performance. We are very pleased with our purchase.I will update this review over the coming months to give my thoughts after an extended period of use but a great first impression.Highly recommended.

Much better than Dyson it replaced. Simple construction and operation.Pros:- Good vacuum performance- Lift away is useful for getting to more difficult areas- Very easy to empty and clean- Hard floor / carpet control on the handle makes transition very easy especially as we have rugs on hard floors- Yje small tool for stairs is very good (if the high pitched noise is something I don't want to listen to for too long)- The light is actually useful rather than gimmick I expected it to be!Cons- as others have said it does tend to fall over as the hose doesn't have much flex in it. You just gert used to this and don't pull out the hose so much- power cord is slightly too short when storing as the plug always ends up just short of the top so tends to fall off the cable clip - 15cm more cable would have avoided this

I’d read a lot of reviews on this product before buying as I wanted to be sure it was the right thing for us. Saw some people complaining that the lift-away unit falls over when it’s stood on the stairs (you’re supposed to hold it), or that it’s really heavy (it’s not - check the information before buying if you feel you want a lightweight product), or that the cord isn’t long enough. So far not encountered any problems! Had been using a refurbished dyson for 3 years thinking it was cleaning our carpets fairly well, how wrong we were! This vacuum is far superior, it now looks like we have a new carpet. The amount of dirt and dust that came up the first few times cleaning was rather gross! Good to know we now do have clean carpets! Opted for the pet add on as although we don’t currently have pets, we have a curved staircase and the tool is brilliant for doing the stairs instead of using the normal floor head. Find the vac easy to use and love the lift away feature for doing the skirting boards, stairs, under furniture etc. So far would definitely say it is worth the money. The cord is plenty long enough to do downstairs and the stairway, and then plug in again upstairs, admittedly we live in a modern terrace so we haven’t got loads of space but even still the cord should be long enough for most without unplugging numerous times. Only niggle would be that it doesn’t retract and you have you wrap it up but this isn’t a major issue. Although there are better rated machines on Which? And another websites, I feel this is brilliant value for money and is making cleaning almost enjoyable.