REASONS TO BUY
Bagless disposal system
Multiroom coverage
REASONS TO AVOID
Poor carpet cleaning
Poor at cleaning large materials
Poor pet hair performance
Shark AI Review
This robot missed the mark on most of our tests and consistently earned below-average scores
Credit: Shark
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Our Verdict
The Shark AI missed the mark by exhibiting below-average performance across most of our tests and challenges. Our team was somewhat disappointed by Shark's offering, given the vacuum manufacturers' reputation for capable products. It exhibited very few great performances apart from cleaning flour out of carpet. Although, it is one of the only models we tested with a bagless disposal system, which we hope to see more of as robot vacuums progress in their evolution. But, everything else it did was underwhelming. We recommend looking at other models in our best robot vacuum review.
Our Analysis and Test Results
Consistently falling short in many of our tests, the Shark AI missed the mark significantly. We expected a little more from Shark — which typically makes top-ranked vacuum cleaners.
We expected more than the average performance from a Shark vacuum.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Performance Comparison
We tested the performance of the Shark AI in six unique sets of tests and put it up against some of the most highly rated robot vacuums on the market. See how it stacks up across each of those tests below.
Its underwhelming performance failed to set the Shark AI apart from its peers.
Credit: Jessica Riconscente
Navigation
The Shark AI did a decent job in our navigation tests. It covered everything, including areas between chair legs, only occasionally missing some spots between furniture legs.
The app lets users configure rooms, zones, and spot cleaning.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
It also did a good job at obstacle avoidance, without ramming objects or abusing furniture; however, it took inefficient and erratic paths to complete jobs and took longer to clean certain areas than others.
The AI was not intelligent enough (ironic considering its moniker) to avoid simulated pet poop in our poo-avoidance tests. It also could not recognize the obstacle after nudging or touching it, instead opting to make a great effort to run over the simulated poop and clean it. It's a bad visual, and you can imagine what a real mess this would cause with actual pet waste.
That performance stinks!
Credit: Jessica Riconscente
Home Coverage
In our home coverage test, comprising 20% of each robot's overall score, the Shark AI did better than the majority of products we tested.
Navigating furniture and tight spaces.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
The app allows you to set multiple rooms, as well as virtual barriers and no-go-zones, define spot cleaning areas, and does a good job of working through single rooms. However, it could have done a tighter job around edges, and we found that it broke our virtual barriers several times. Despite some shortcomings, the Shark AI does a good job of overall home coverage.
Covering areas under obstacles.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Carpet Cleaning
The Shark AI earned a good performance in our carpet cleaning tests, weighted at 15% of the overall score. However, it did behave a little erratic in some of our tests.
This model did a terrific job cleaning both rice and oatmeal from carpets.
Credit: Jessica Riconscente
The Shark AI is nearly perfect in its ability to lift rice from the carpet. It also did an exceptional job in our oatmeal sub-metric, picking up all grains and only leaving some small bits in one small area.
Unfortunately, when it came to cereal, it did a terrible job, or one might say it didn't do a job at all. It left nearly all the cereal behind, practically undisturbed. It did a slightly better job lifting flour, but not great, as this seems to be a difficult task for many robot vacuums.
The Shark AI running the gauntlet of challenges that all our robots must face.
Credit: Jessica Riconscente
Hard Surface Cleaning
The Shark AI could not carry its impressive carpet cleaning performance over to our hard surface cleaning metric.
Rice was a very difficult material for the Shark on hard surfaces; it did more flinging and displacing than cleaning.
It did well on the course compared to other robots we tested when it came to oatmeal pickup. Cereal also proved to be a difficult task for the Shark AI, as it is for many robot vacuums, but it practically could not clean any cereal at all.
Lastly, it did a sub-standard job cleaning flour, failing to pick it up, but to its credit, it did not distribute the mess as badly as many other products we tested.
The Shark AI failed to impress in its hard surface cleaning performance.
Credit: Jessica Riconscente
Pet Hair
The Shark AI did a terrible job of collecting pet hair from carpets, leaving more than 95% of hair behind. This was one of the worst pet hair pickups we've experienced.
The Shark AI is not for anyone hoping to get some automated pet hair maintenance done in between more thorough house cleanings — so if you have furry friends, look elsewhere.
Convenience
Convenience is arguably the biggest reason to get a robot vacuum, which is why we included it among our many tests. The Shark AI does not have a remote, joystick, or repeat function and does not allow you to specify a spot to clean — all hurting its performance in this metric.
Across our convenience tests metrics and evaluations, our test team found the Shark AI did a great job of allowing the user to make adjustments and understand a historical timeline of operation using an app. Unfortunately, all that great convenience was also hampered a bit by the map-saving limitation of a single map. Like most of the convenient models we tested, the AI also does have a dust collection system.
This model has a fairly compact and convenient dust removal system.
Credit: Abriah Wofford
Should You Buy the Shark AI?
The Shark AI isn't a complete disappointment, but it only offers below-average performance. With a fairly expensive price tag, we simply can't recommend it over many other cheaper and more capable models.
What Other Robot Vacuums Should You Consider?
For those looking to get a robot vacuum or looking to upgrade, consider the Eufy RoboVac X8 Hybrid. It is one of the best all-around products on the market that we tested. For the same price as the Shark, pet owners should take a serious look at one of the best models for pet hair and poo-avoidance, the iRobot Roomba j7+.
—Jessica Riconscente and Benjamin Hickok
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