REASONS TO BUY
Excellent pickup performance
Great maneuverability
Handy fold-over storage
REASONS TO AVOID
Both brush rollers can't be removed
Low suction power
Difficult for sand
Shark Vertex Pro Lightweight Review
Lightweight, streamlined, and high-performance — these are the defining features of this capable stick vacuum
The Shark Vertex Pro Lightweight was one of our favorite models.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
By Rachael Lamore ⋅ Senior Review Analyst ⋅ July 18, 2025
Contributions From: Chris Maxcer
Our Verdict
With strong cleaning on both carpet and hardwood, a user-friendly design, and convenient features, the Shark Vertex Pro Lightweight hits the sweet spot between performance and price. It turns on a dime, making it so smooth to work around the house. Shark's DuoClean system incorporates a soft brush for hardwood with a typical agitating brush for carpet, giving it a one-two punch on debris no matter where we're at in the house. The drawback to this versatility is a weaker seal to the floor and reduced suction power compared to top competitors. While it may pick up pet hair from carpets better than most cordless options, the hair tends to accumulate in the tines or around the brush roller, which we cannot remove. If you can handle the occasional fur check and make a couple of extra passes on your carpet, then we still believe this is the best vacuum for most people.
Our Analysis and Test Results
As we're busy measuring suction, filtration, and cleaning performance in our labs, the Shark Vertex Pro Lightweight has one feature that gets a little less love than the numbers might reveal: Shark's MultFLEX bendable wand is legit.
Not only did it let us slide the vacuum under furniture, but it also let us store the vacuum differently than most cordless vacuums that require a wall mount. The design allows the wand to fold in half, positioning the canister over the head of the vacuum, creating a sturdy, self-standing vacuum that can be conveniently stored anywhere in a closet, with or without a wall.
To ensure that you have all the information and detail you need to make an informed choice, we thoroughly test each cordless vacuum on multiple surfaces with combined debris, as well as assess their ease of use and unique features.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
Carpet Performance
This vacuum, on average, sucked up 90% of everything we placed down in our low-pile carpet test. This is just 6% behind the leader, Dyson Gen5detect, which costs roughly twice as much.
This Shark tended to suck up all the Cheerios and rice, leaving the carpet visibly clean. The uncollected remainder was sand that slipped into the carpet fibers. While the Vertex is not as powerful as Dysons, it's more maneuverable, so making a few extra passes for sand is simple and painless.
A few pieces of debris here and there, but overall a great performance for the amount we put down during testing.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
Despite having less measured suction power than several competitors, it managed to suck up 57% of the debris in our rigorous 24-second test, averaging over 3 separate test runs.
This is most likely due to its impressive ability to tackle large material sizes. After our testing, we could see that most of the Cheerios and rice were sucked up. However, the majority of what remained was sand, a tough debris to lift deep within the fibers of a fluffier carpet.
A shining note with this vacuum is its impressive collection during our high-pile carpet testing. The Vertex tied with the Tineco Pure ONE S11 for the best performance with higher pile carpets, making it a great choice for anyone who has thick, shaggy rugs around the house.
Hardwood Performance
Soft brush rollers tend to shine here, and the Vertex DuoClean system is no exception. Why? The powerhouse soft rollers' gentle bristles act like a buffer when they move across the floor, leaving it exceptionally clean, even to the touch.
With its dual-head cleaner rolls, look at how well this Shark gobbles on the forward passes, collecting 95.99% of sand, rice, and Cheerios in our hardwood floor test.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
Since debris isn't buried deep in the fibers like carpet, a vacuum doesn't necessarily need to provide as much power.
After two trials, it was evident that this machine is stellar on hardwood. With a consistent average of 96%. That's not bad, especially considering the amount of material we tested.
As part of our hardwood testing, we assess edge-cleaning performance by observing how well the vacuum reaches debris near the baseboards in our in-house testing facility. Vacuuming parallel to the wall proved to be the most effective method, which can be especially helpful if you have long hallways. Approaching head-on was less effective, often leaving some debris behind.
This model's DuoClean head did a great job sucking up coffee grounds in a parallel run but was less effective head-on in our wall edge test.
For most people with a common mix of carpet and hardwood in their households, the DuoClean head will let them tackle any surface with very competitive results without needing to change heads, which is typically required by the leading Dyson vacuums we tested. If you prefer an easy-to-use vacuum that trades a tiny bit of performance in favor of versatility, it'll be hard to go wrong with this lightweight Shark machine.
Pet Hair
While its performance with pet hair is great, we experienced some annoying clumping on the underside of the cleaner head, requiring removal by hand.
We take our pet hair test seriously by ensuring our entire test carpet section is completely covered with hair so that pet lovers can trust our results.
Based on the hype surrounding the DuoClean brushrollers, we would have expected better pet hair management. To address some of these issues, we recommend that pet owners run the pet hair in a forward direction as much as possible to avoid the backplowed, hair-clumping problem we experienced.
Filtration
With only 31 particles recorded on our loggers, this is one of the best vacuums for limiting potentially harmful particles in the air. For those with allergies, it's a reassuring choice that's unlikely to trigger symptoms like sneezing or sniffles.
Filtration Particle Count
| Shark Vertex Pro Lightweight | |
|---|---|
| Small Particle Count | 33 |
| HEPA Filter | |
| Dylos Air Quality Designation | Excellent |
Ease of Use
A big part of this vacuum's ease of use uniqueness comes from its Multi-FLEX hinge, which is great for reaching under furniture to nab deeply hiding dust bunnies that have most likely built up for months. We think it'll be a winner for those who struggle to reach under furniture with typical rigid vacuum cleaner designs.
In our take-home test sessions, we also appreciated the Multi-FLEX hinge for easy storage without needing a wall mount. We definitely prefer this stand-alone storage option over needing to screw anything into a wall.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
With a handheld motor weight of just under 4 pounds plus an easy-swiveling head, most people won't have much trouble maneuvering around tough obstacles in the home.
Our only gripe was with the dual brush roll. There is a small blue button on the side of the vacuum that you push to release the soft DuoClean brush, allowing you to remove and clean it, as well as remove hairs from the comb. However, the other brush roller cannot be removed. We had to cut away the caught hair on the non-removable brush roller and couldn't remove it to wash it either. This is the only annoying issue we encountered during the cleaning process.
Those with long-haired humans in their household will likely have to cut away hair wrap from the rear brush roller, which our tests show is not truly anti-tangle, nor is it removable for maintenance.
Credit: Rachael Lamore
If you're concerned about this vacuum's ability on upholstery, don't be. The anti-allergen brush attachment that comes with the vacuum can clean many messes on items like pillows or couches.
This vacuum comes with three attachments: an anti-allergen brush, crevice tool, and pet multi-tool. Each tool is designed to make cleaning easier and more effective in specific scenarios.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
We tested its upholstery abilities by spreading coffee grounds across some pillows and an ironing board, and it easily cleaned up these messes. While it did leave a small streak of coffee grounds on the pillows, it wasn't much. Overall, it's an incredibly efficient machine, lending a helpful hand in various situations.
The measured handheld weight of just 3.8 lbs makes using the included tools a lightweight breeze.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
Battery
The low-power runtime is a bit low for larger households, so you might have to recharge during a whole-house cleaning.
On the other hand, we measured the handheld weight of this vacuum at just 3.8 lbs, contributing to its lightweight feel in use. Shark could have included a larger battery to provide consumers with longer runtimes, but likely decided to keep the weight low by using a smaller battery. Those who clean in shorter bursts of time will likely be able to keep up.
Our testers were pleased at this Shark's nimble feel and effective floor performance -- and wished it had just a bit longer battery life to help it compete better against higher-price competitors.
Credit: Natalie Kafader
Should You Buy the Shark Vertex Pro Lightweight?
We can confidently say that this is a smart purchase, regardless of your budget. Stick vacuums are expensive, and this one is no different. Still, it's relatively affordable compared to other high-performing vacuums on the market, and it's one of the most capable as well. While it's not at the absolute top in vacuuming performance, it's knocking on the door. This, combined with its useful features, creates a great all-around vacuum for any household. This model can do it all and is worth the investment.
What Other Stick Vaccuums Should You Consider?
If you're looking for an even better bargain, the Shark Pet Plus is a great choice. While not quite as effective, it makes up for that in price. For superior hardwood performance at a similar price point, the Shark Stratos Cordless is the way to go. It will cost you a little more, but you can squeeze a touch more performance out of it. Both these Shark models look almost identical and perform very similarly, so if you see one at a deal, they can be interchangeable.
Side-by-Side Comparison
Compare Shark Vertex Pro Lightweight versus top competing products:
—Rachael Lamore and Chris Maxcer
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