In an unspoken sort of way, Roomba has been crowned “the best” on the sole basis that it’s the most established brand in the robot vacuum market. But Shark has always had competitive street cred when it comes to vacuums in general, and its newest rounds of robot vacuums make Shark a force to be reckoned with among Roombas and Roborocks.
Having tested the top botvacs from all of the top brands, I can easily narrow down the best three Shark robot vacuums that you should be eyeing heading into 2025.
Are Shark robot vacuums as good as Roomba?
It’s not the definitive one-word answer you were hoping for, but making an unequivocal call between the two brands without exploring the gray area just wouldn’t make sense. As in the Instant Pot vs. Ninja Foodi debate, both vacuum brands are constantly growing their lineups, expanding their price ranges, and filling blind spots in which the other brand may have previously been the winner.
However, Shark typically does one thing better than Roomba: Making the best robot vacuum features affordable. Now that robot vacuums have firmly moved from the new-fangled The Jetsons vibe they gave off in 2017 to an appliance just as normal to have at home as an upright vacuum, a trifecta of standard cleaning features (outside of the regular vacuuming itself) has arisen that is kind of expected at this point in the robot vacuum game: These are mopping, smart room mapping, and automatic emptying.
iRobot and Shark both have several options that offer all three or some mix-and-match version of two. With Shark’s debut of its Matrix robot vacuums in spring 2023 and then the fall 2024 release of its most automated robovac yet (the PowerDetect line with a NeverTouch Base), Shark is your best bet for securing more robot vacuum features at a lower price (compared to the prices on the Roombas with matching capabilities). There’s also a high chance that any given Shark robot vacuum is on sale at any given time over year, even if it’s not Black Friday, or the holidays, or Prime Day. So don’t take the price named for each Shark vac below too seriously — I list the MSRP by default, but have also noted the most common sale price that each vacuum frequently drops to in “The Good” section.
Shark really shines at spot cleaning
Sometimes, there’s an unexpected mess that you want to clean without messing around with a map on the app. In those cases, Shark Matrix robot vacuums make spot cleaning much easier than Roombas do. Setting a zone for a one-time clean in the Shark app is as easy as dragging a square in the designated spot cleaning tab, compared to having to create and name an official cleaning zone on the map in the iRobot app. Most modern Shark robot vacuums also have a physical cleaning button if you want to pick the robot up and place it in the right area — an underrated feature that modern Roombas completely skip.
Though the list of Shark robot vacuums to choose from isn’t as big as iRobot’s is, comparing the differences between them on paper can still get confusing. That’s why I’ve tested most of the main Shark robot vacuums in my own home to compare them to each other in an IRL setting — as well as compare them to other robot vacs from iRobot, Roborock, Eufy, and more that I put through the same standardized obstacle course. Here are the three best Shark robot vacuums that I’ve tested and that you should consider in 2024:
How we tested
As a senior shopping reporter, I have been testing popular robot vacuums for Mashable in the various apartments I’ve lived in since 2019. My hands-on analyses span from budget models under $200 that just cover the basics to $1,500 (or more) premium models that are the market’s most advanced in the way they clean, navigate my home, and take care of their own recurring maintenance.
So far in 2024, I’ve had hands-on experience with the Roborock Qrevo Master, Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra, Eufy X10 Pro Omni, Shark Matrix RV2300, Shark Detect Pro, Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1, Roomba Combo j9+, Roomba Combo j5+, Narwal Freo X Ultra, Dyson 360 Vis Nav and Yeedi M12 Pro+. I am also currently working with the Roomba Combo 10 Max + AutoWash Dock and Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 with neverTouch Pro Base.
My own personal three-bedroom apartment — not a lab — makes up the testing grounds for every robot vacuum, where a combination of hardwood floors, tile floors, and rugs of various piles are tackled. Over the course of at least four weeks, each robot vacuum is put through a series of standardized tests that flow into a scoring rubric that I’ve created to exemplify all factors of owning a robot vacuum and trusting it on a daily basis. That rubric is made up of four pillars:
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Cleaning thoroughness: I’m pickier than average about what it takes for a floor to feel “clean,” and I’m trusting these robot vacuums in my own home — and pitting them against my trusty Dyson. To encapsulate the full spectrum of debris a robot vacuum might encounter, each robot vacuum and its suction power settings complete an obstacle course of standardized tests for multiple types of debris on both hard floors and rugs, an efficiency score being given to each. The robot vacuum and mop combos also complete three additional scrubbing tests on hardwood and tile. As for the actual “dirty” status of those floors being tackled, each robot vac is sent over both fresh messes (like crumbs, drinks, and sauces I spill purposefully) and more lived-in messes that build up over time (like dried or sticky splatters, shoe prints near the door, dust bunnies in corners, and matted-down cat hair on the rug).
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Navigation: I consider a robot vacuum’s ability to maneuver to the right spot in the first place as a litmus test ahead of getting into any nitty gritty cleaning capabilities. In my testing, each vac’s navigational brainpower is analyzed by its smart mapping accuracy and ability to find specific rooms and zones for spot cleaning, as well as its ability to swerve safely around walls or between chair or table legs. Robot vacuums that can successfully detect phone chargers, pet waste, and laundry with small obstacle avoidance technology are given an extra star.
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User-friendliness and politeness as a house guest: The ideal robot vacuum will be a relatively seamless addition to your household, and blend in nearly as easily as any other appliance used daily would. If a robot vacuum is loud, clunky, or generally a pain to use, you’re not going to want it in your house at all — so things like noise level, battery life, size, aesthetic design, and the intuitiveness of using the app can make or break the experience.
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Maintenance: Some robot vacuums are more automated than others when it comes to how they take care of themselves past the actual cleaning. If someone is already considering the robot vacuum route because of the hands-off cleaning experience, they might want that convenience to extend to dustbin emptying or mopping pad cleaning, too, which would get them off the hook from maintenance for days or weeks at a time.
Finally, I can’t not consider the overall bang for your buck for each robot vacuum. Are its features on paper and actual cleaning competence worth the price tag, and how practical is that cost for the average household?