The Shark i Robot Vacuum

The Shark i robot vacuum and mop self empty vacuum is a great mid-range robot. It does a great job of cleaning and has some cool features.

It does a great job of cleaning and uses row-by-row patterns to clean floors. It also works well with rugs and be able to maneuver over tassels of rugs.

Features

Shark i is a robot vacuum cleaner with a number standout features. Its intelligent navigation system and self-emptying dock. Its IQ navigation system uses an array of grids for cleaning rooms-by-room. This ensures that no corner of your home is overlooked. It also emptys its dustbin into the bagless base following each cleaning, making it totally hands-free.

The i can also be controlled using Amazon Alexa and the SharkClean App, so there's no need for a separate remote. The vacuum also has a button on the top to manually control the vacuum.

The app allows you to create a vacuum profile and label it, schedule cleans and check the history of cleaning. You can also set virtual boundaries to prevent the i from entering areas where it could become stuck or knock over something that is fragile. You can also select different power modes, quietest so you can reduce energy consumption on tasks that are difficult.

Other noteworthy features include its NeverStuck technology as well as two grippy wheels that help it climb over obstacles like stairs or floor transitions. It is able to recognize and maneuver around obstacles like electrical cords. This is useful for pet owners with small shed dogs or cats.

The i comes with three power settings that include an energy-saving Eco mode, the default Normal mode and a high-power max mode. You can make custom cleaning schedules, which are ideal when you have a large home that requires frequent cleaning.

The i can be programmed to automatically return to its dock and empty its dustbin however, you must keep an eye on the battery life because it can overestimate how long it has left. It could also get confused and start a new cycle when you say 'Clean the Whole House', which is why you need to be careful about when you start or stop it.

Design

The Shark i robot has a elegant design and a classy appearance. Its main wheels are covered in rubber treads that give it great maneuverability. It's small and can be tucked away under the majority of furniture. Despite its size, it can still climb over rugs with high piles and get under couches.

The robot has several sensors that help identify your home, including cliff and boundary sensors. It also includes a module that can detect and avoids obstacles. The app lets you manage the robot's settings, schedule cleaning sessions, and track its cleaning history. The app is easy to use, but it doesn't allow you to create virtual no-go zones.

While the Shark i robot is a ideal choice for floors with no floor but it has a difficult time picking up large pieces of debris such as hair from pets and gets stuck on surfaces that are cluttered. The dirt compartment may get full and make it difficult for you to empty it after cleaning. It also doesn't have an auto-emptying dock, which means you'll need to empty its trash bin when it is full.

The vacuum's battery life is limited and often it will run out before it is able to return to its base. It's also a bit loud and the app does not allow you to select specific areas to clean. It's best used in combination with another robot vac, rather than as a standalone machine. However, the benefits of being able to delegate your vacuuming tasks to an automated machine is evident. The iRobot Roomba has superior mapping and navigation abilities and also an auto-emptying dock that can empty itself. It's also less expensive than the Shark i robot.

Cleaning Performance

Although it can be difficult to adjust to the rumbling noise that comes with any robot vacuum The Shark IQ seems to perform quite well in the vacuuming department. It doesn't get confused and retrace steps like older Shark robots, such as the ION85 or the RV871. The iQ also does a good job at mapping your home with an app-generated map which allows you to label rooms so that it can determine which direction to go, making it more efficient than ION 85 in terms of not having to go over the same areas over and over again.

However, it has to contend with carpets and floors that are not clean. It is able to pick up tiny particles but pet hair as well as bulkier objects like rice and cereals can engulf it. In addition, its dirt compartment fills up quickly and it can begin to lose suction power as it gets full, making this robot not the best choice for flat carpets or floors with high pile. It could also get blocked when it comes in contact with furniture that is tangled or furniture with a tipped edge.

It is easy to solve these issues by emptying the bin at the base. It also automatically empties its contents into the bin when it's full. This saves you the hassle of manually emptying the bin after every run. The large dust bin only requires emptying every 30 days. This will lower the cost of ownership in the long run.

You can also make use of the SharkClean app to set different cleaning settings, view its battery life, create an agenda, view your cleaning history and quietest create virtual boundaries that block it from entering rooms where it could get stuck or knock over fragile items. The iQ can also be controlled manually using its remote, which comes with directional arrows to guide it through your home.

Battery Life

Even in its high-suction "Max" mode the vacuum has excellent battery life. It can run for up to an hour with this setting, and that's sufficient for the majority of cleaning tasks in all rooms. It also comes with an efficient energy-efficient Eco mode that extends its maximum runtime to over 160 minutes. This is a great feature to have if you frequently move between rooms or are concerned about running out of battery energy while using the robot.

The robot vacuum also comes with a number of impressive automation features. Its companion app lets you see the remaining battery life and assign it to a particular room, pause or resume cleaning, and choose different power modes. It also supports voice commands if you own an compatible amazon robot vacuum Alexa or Google Assistant device and has physical boundary marking strips to ensure it stays out of certain areas.

This Shark model is good at maneuvering, but struggles to remove massive debris, quietest especially when its dirt compartment fills up. It's also prone to getting stuck on tassels of the rug and electrical cords. It can get stuck between the legs of chairs.

Overall, the Shark IQ robot vacuum is an excellent choice for those looking for a basic robotic that is simple to use and offers decent mapping capabilities. It's not superior to the roborock robot vacuum and mop S7 in most cases. The former is more robust and more robust, and has lower maintenance requirements, incurs lower recurring costs, recharges faster, offers a longer maximum battery life, and performs better on floors that are not bare and carpets, and is able to move over obstacles more easily.