Shark AZ1002 Apex Powered Lift-Away Upright Vacuum with DuoClean & Self-Cleaning Brushroll, Crevice Tool, Upholstery Tool & Pet Power Brush, for a Deep Clean on & Above Floors, Espresso

I am the former owner of the Shark Rotator Pro Lift-A-Way. <--- this was my favorite vacuum ever. I have owned it for a few years and would have never considered giving it up until it quit, but my daughter is moving into a new home that is carpeted, so it turned into a hand me down. I thought about purchasing the same again for myself, but the one and only thing that drove me nuts was that hair (mostly my own, which is long) had to be cut from the roller often - so I opted for the Shark APEX AZ1002 DuoClean with Self-Cleaning Brushroll Lift-Away Upright Vacuum. This thing has great suction. I had just vacuumed the day before I got it, then vacuumed again when I got this new one. It picked up so much dust (and dog hair) out of the carpet I was shocked. It is definitely heavier and a little more bulky than my previous vacuum, but it is just a matter of getting used to it. The headlight works great, and I didnt notice until today (Im a couple of weeks in on this thing) that the part that you detach to use the hose (with attachments) has a light as well - thats pretty awesome. The roller has not had any hair wrapped around it. It did have a string that it sucked up from somewhere, but that was easily removed by using the handy hatch that sits above the roller (no need to turn this thing over to clean it). The control buttons are on the handle, up high where they are easily accessed with your thumb- the power button, and the adjustment button. All the things that detach/reattach (the hose, the wand, and the canister) are much better on this model than the last one, except the canister is heavier and take a second to get it on the tracks to remount it. The cord is a little longer than my other Shark, but both were absolutely sufficient and longer than cords on other vacuums I have owned. Would be nice if it was retractable - not sure Shark has a model that does that. Works well on hard floors, but would go with a lighter, more agile model if thats what I needed it for; Im a broom and dustpan kind of person, so no big deal there. If you are vacuuming area rugs, you will need to have someone stand on one end, because it will suck the whole thing up (or get acrobatically creative and do it alone). The area in which the vacuum is a bit lacking would be the hose, when using attachments, is so short, but I dont know how this might be fixed. Two attachments ride on the vacuum, but one of them gets knocked off easy because it sticks out away from the vacuum some. The attachments work find, but seem cheap compared to my previous Shark. The lift a canister is heavy when holding it (detached from the vacuum). I had gone around the house sucking cobwebs out of corners and near the ceiling so there was a lot of moving around - this thing will give you a work out. My other Shark came with a base with wheels that you could set the canister on and it would roll behind you - wish this one had that option. Someone in another review mention that the cord holder thing that keeps the cord up off the ground while you vacuum didnt work well - thats true. It gets knocked out of there pretty easy. It may have been the same review that someone also mention that the deal that holds the hose (like a ball into a joint) doesnt work well. Ive only knocked it loose once. The first time I used this vacuum, I noticed it doesnt really fluff the carpet up as well as my other Shark - I think it must have something to do with the hair free roller - I miss the stripes in the carpet. I would recommend buying extra filters so that when you wash them out, you can alternate while the ones that were just cleaned dry out. None of the less attractive things mentioned above is a deal breaker. This vacuum does the job.

This vacuum cleaner does its job well. It is light to use and handles hair well. It is equipped with an extra brush for hard floors, which additionally polishes it. Highly recommended

I bought the Dyson Ball Animal 2 for comparison and kept the Shark. Serious suction and maneuverability with this machine; as well, as well, the lift away features are great. Very happy! The only corrections Id offer are: - The main hose is too short for comfortable ceiling vacuuming applications and is a kind of cheap plastic and the main extender hose doesnt have a brush on it. Hey, you cant get everything you want; I recommend this item.

I have 2 dogs and 2 cats so we need a strong, durable vacuum for pet hair and litter and this works great. It’s got strong suction and gets everything up without getting hair wrapped around the bristles. I love that it has a light on the vacuum and the detachable hose too. My only complaint about this vacuum is that is heavy and is not self propelled so it’s taxing to vacuum more than a room or two at a time with it. Wouldn’t be a good option for anyone with arm or shoulder issues.

This is a beast of a vacuum! It is super at inhaling hair and debris from the edges of baseboards. When you switch from hard floor to carpet, you feel the brush kick on and it pulls you forward. It is very well made and worth the money!

EDIT/UPDATE: Once you get used to the rotating axis of the vacuum you appreciate it being there. It makes it much easier to use. The smaller cleaning path/head width makes it able to fit in places my previous vacuum could not. This is the best vacuum shark has ever made because it has the light on the handle, and you can open the garage to access thing that get stuck in the brush roll. Both of these feature are not present in the new models. Also there are no bags to continually suck $$ from you. The replacement vacuum I received did not have the squeaking issue. Also this cost $250 during amazon prime day so check out the website slickdeals to see sales on any item. __________________________________________________________________________________________ I just got this vacuum less than a week ago and it has already developed a loud squeal when pulling backwards during a normal vacuum stroke (straight forward and backwards) or when lifting the vacuum in it’s locked position. I just exchanged it for a replacement, hopefully the replacement does not do this. The vacuum is agile due to the swivel head but this makes it harder to use as you must stabilize this additional axis. While the cleaning path is wide for a shark, it is narrow at 11 inches compared to other brands. The light on the handle is great and not present on the new Vertex model. The wand is heavy and hard to use as the hose is very stiff and has little length without pulling the vacuum over. The canister is heavy to carry making the lift away and powered lift away modes difficult to use. The brush roll is accessible through its removable ‘’garage” which is no longer present in the new powerfins models. There are reviews of customers with legos and rocks stuck in the brushroll of the new Vertex which stops it from spinning, yet Shark says there is no way to remove it. They say the motorized head is a wearable part and not under warranty, regardless of how new it is. They will not tell you how to take apart the motorized head to access the brushroll, which btw requires a special Torx security screwdriver. YouTube channel vacuum wars has a review on this vacuum, but doesn’t mention this glaring downside. The motorized pet tool no longer comes with this vacuum and the place to put it on the vacuum does not fit other accessories, which is frustrating and ridiculous. The Pet Multi-Tool is not included which is a necessity. It is a brush and a wide non brush in one. The 3 basic tools required for any vacuum are a crevice tool, a wide non brush, and a brush. This only comes with 2 of these basics; the crevice and wide non brush (shark calls this an Upholstery Tool). It also comes with a Pet Power Brush but that is not one of the needed basics. This vacuum is heavier at 16 lbs (some sources cite 17 lbs) than it’s other (to me) comparable shark models, the UV850, UV700, and LA520. Vacuum wars has a review on the LA520 which is just like the UV850. The UV850, UV700, and LA520 all do not have the powered lift away feature or light on the wand, they each have a 9.5 inch wide cleaning path and weigh about 13lbs. The UV700 has an accessible brushroll through its removable “garage”; the UV850 and LA520 (or the Vertex) do not. These other non Apex models also do not have the ridiculous issue of one of the 2 accessory holders only working with the motorized pet tool.

Ive been a loyal Dyson owner for 11 years now, but when the thing lost suction due to a tear in the hose, I needed to decide if I should buy another hose (which I just replaced about a year ago), or a new vacuum. After doing some research, and reading a lot of reviews, the decision became clear. Im typically brand loyal, but was really impressed with what I was reading from Dyson owners switching over to Shark, therefore, I decided to take the plunge. I vacuumed one last time with my trusty Dyson on Sunday, and received the Shark on Tuesday. It was easy to assemble, and the lift-away feature is amazing. With my Dyson I need to pull the hose to the top of the stairs since the dang thing was so heavy. But with the Shark, cleaning stairs is a breeze. I did some very light vacuuming, because like I said, I had already vacuumed on the other day, but I was very impressed with how much the Shark sucked up that the Dyson had left behind (see the attached photo). I guess my only regret is that I didnt do the switch sooner.

I used to live in a house that had all wood floors & carpeted stairs... so Ive owned 2 Shark vacuums (Rockets gen1 & gen2-major improvements over gen1), which both performed very well for my needs. I recently retired & downsized to a smaller home with carpet & tile everywhere, so I decided to upgrade to a more powerful vac. (Forgot to mention I have a shorthaired dog that SHEDS.) I picked the Apex DuoClean w/ Zero-M because I felt it might be a good cross between a Rocket & a upright. After a couple of days of use, I must say Im loving the vacuum. The construction is tight & solid feeling. The suction power is better than the Rockets, and it pulls more dog hair off both the wall to wall & throw rugs - on the first pass vs many passes with the Rockets. I contribute this to the DuoClean brush in the front. I used to empty the Rockets canister 4 times when cleaning 3 bedrms & living room, the Apex had enough storage that I was able to empty it twice. The main motor is much quieter than the Rockets which tend to scream a bit loudly. The motor in the brush housing is a tiny bit noisier than the Rockets - I attribute that to the gears & extra brush. Being able to pull the power unit off and reach under the beds with the floor power unit is wonderful - the Rockets have that canister in the way and cant get as far in. I will recommend this vacuum to my friends! Now for the drawbacks, if you call them that. - A word of caution to all - since there is no longer a shield in front of the roller brush, instead having another rolling brush, this vacuum WILL eat all cords with a fierce appetite!! Id gotten into a nasty habit of just pushing the cords out of the way with the Rockets -- OOPS - LOL. - I do wish the hose was a bit longer, you do have to lift the main unit off and carry it if you want to reach up to catch a cobweb or do the baseboards. - This unit DOES NOT come with a duster attachment... It came with a crevise tool, a air assisted brush for pet hair on furniture, and a plain Upholstery Tool. You can not clean books, car interiors etc. easily. There is what is called a Pet Multi-Tool which is a combo of the plain Upholstery Tool with a duster attachment available for $19.95 on their website (Its not listed in Accessories - you have to Google for it but Sharp sells it & says it fits -- part# 247FLI850). Honestly, this should have been included instead of the plain Upholstery Tool - Thus the markdown from 5 to 4 stars. I hope this review helps. UPDATE: Shark substituted Part# 219FLIN800 instead of above mentioned #247FLI850, and it fits perfectly.

I just happened to see someone on Facebook asking about vacuums for pet hair. Something like 80% of the responses were suggesting this specific model vacuum. I was already in need of a new vacuum so Im glad I saw that post and completed the subsequent research and review reading. I knew my Walmart bought Bissel was not getting the job done. My carpet cleaner would pull up wet globs of hair every couple feet! After vacuuming! The day I received this Shark Apex I vacuum my bedroom floor with the old Bissel. Having a black cat and a Rottweiler there was plenty of fine black hair in my carpets. Especially beside my bed where my Rottweiler faithfully sleeps at night. After Bissel did its best I gave the Shark Apex a shot. Im not exaggerating at all when I tell you I had to empty its collection bin two times. It was literally full of dog hair. Full, tightly packed with dog hair. It was absolutely disgusting to realize how much hair my Bissel vacuum had been missing the last couple years. My carpet changed color. And I can say that after vacuuming my bedroom, hallway, hardwood floors (instead of sweeping) and sucking up a dozen collection bins worth of pet hair since purchasing this vacuum... the Zero-M technology has still kept the roller brush clean. After vacuuming my sons bedroom today I laid down the vacuum today and my 11 year old son immediately exclaimed, Theres no hair in it! when he bent down to look at the roller brush. Even my 11 year old was shocked. The little rubber flaps they call Zero-M Technology actually work pretty well. Its not amazing for stairs though. Id love to rip the carpet off my stairs and go to wood treads. Vacuuming stairs is never fun, and this vacuum doesnt solve that issue. Even taking the collection bin and motor off in hand held mode vacuuming the stairs is still a pain in the butt. Especially since this vacuum does self propel itself with the brush. That is great throughout the house, but not on stairs. It does a great job on hard floors though. I used it today for the first time on my hard wood floors. It does NOT scatter debris like most vacuum cleaners do on hard surfaces. That said, I likely wont use it on my wood floors very much. Ive seen videos online showing that the tiny rollers underneath tend to break apart over time. And since I can hear those rollers on my wood floor Im concerned theyll wear down and eventually begin scratching the floors (I mean, if my Rottweiler hasnt yet this vacuum probably wont either, right?).

I have had so many bad vacuums. This does not seem to be one of them. I have three people in my household with long hair that sheds onto the carpet and then normally gets stuck in previous vacuums. But this vacuum handles long human hair very well. I have not had the vacuum for a long time, so I am not sure how it will last, but here is what I have observed so far: Hair does not get stuck on the rollers - make sure you follow the directions and run the vacuum on the correct setting (bare floor) to get it to cut the hair off. For me, this was a big deal - and what I was specifically looking for in a vacuum. It seems to be amazing for cleaning hair so far. (I do not have a pet, so this review is about human hair - but it seems like it would be great for pet hair too.) I love how the vacuum swivels and turns - easy to handle. The tools - the way to attach tools to the vacuum (when not in use) does not really hold them well. It seems like the cord gets in the way of where to store the tools. They are not the easiest part of this vacuum to use either, but I am getting used to how to do it. The detachable part that you can carry around to vacuum is somewhat heavy, so it might be more difficult for things like cleaning stairs, but not unusable. I don’t use the tools very much, so I don’t care. The disposal of vacuum contents - I like that there is a handle and a way to drop the dirt out from the bottom. It seems like the dirt does not fly in my face as much as previous vacuums with the way this is made. The suction power seems great also. And all of the filters are easy to get to for cleaning or replacing.