Shark - IQ Robot Self-Empty® XL

We have hard surface floors here with a runner by the side door. I’ve had two basic roombas both of which ended up “front lawned” ie I pitched them out the front door. I had come to the realization that a robot vacuums only lasted about two years before something catastrophically failed, besides the battery I bought a shark iq RV2520AFCA to replace them on a Boxing Day sale it was marked down about 75%. I had low expectations, I’ve had to replace the battery and for some reason the brush catches in one specific place at the back door and pops off. Besides that and having an issue with a failed firmware update starting it at 2am for a week it’s been solid for a few years.

we bought a shark self emptying (rv140) a few years ago from lowe’s and it’s been one of the best purchases we’ve made for our house. we have a german shepherd and she sheds all the time. this robot vac has kept up with the dog hair and kept our floors clean for 3 1/2 years now with no issues. we run it daily only on our hardwood floors downstairs. highly recommend.

Got a shark and send him out to suck up the pet hairs daily. I spend less time cleaning floors now. It’s a good thing. 

Thing is - I don't need a new robo vac right now - my shark RV2520AOUS with auto empty is going strong. I run it every single day.. which is about how often it needs to run to keep up with the 3 pets, but it does keep up. It's been going strong for 2 years. As long as no one leaves clothing on the floor, it doesn't really get stuck, and one or two no-go zones take care of some problem problem areas. It does the recharge resume, it returns to base every 30 minutes to empty and resume. I mean.. it's a champ. I don't get all the "Shark sucks" hate.. maybe the Roborocks are better/faster. --= but the Shark is.. "Good Enough for me(tm)" I do have to empty the "60 day" bin every week, becuase it fills quickly, but once per weeks is not bad at all. I could not imagine replacing bags once per week, that would cost so much. I do the recommended foam filter cleaning once every three months, I swap the brush roller about once every two or three months, and the rotating side brushes more often. The best part is I only paid $150 for it as a refurb unit from woot.. so for the price, it has absolutely off the chart value. I have probably spent more on replacing filters, the roller brush and the side brushes than I did on the original unit.

I have three floors of primarily hard flooring to clean. Sweeping has largely ceased to be a thing due to my robot vac. It does area rugs decently as well. It’s not heavy enough to really get down in the fibers so I pull out the real vacuum every couple weeks and do over the rugs.  I don’t use the damp cloth “wiping” feature because my upper floors are slippery and the robot spins in circles over its own tracks once it has wet the floor. In my basement, my tiles are kind of rough and I don’t think damp wiping would be effective so I don’t use that part either. When it’s time to unleash the robot vac, I do a quick run around for any large enough items or debris that it’s gonna choke on and remove them. I sweep dust and debris out of the corners where the robot wouldn’t fit out onto the main floor. Then I run the bot and come back later to empty. (Usually done before 90 mins) They make ones with vacuum bases that empty themselves. It’s convenient. If you get a vacuum base, get one with washable base filters instead of a vacuum bag that needs replacing after every fill. My friend bought an expensive one that vacuums and mops with spinning pads that self empties, self rinses, and dries its mop pads back on its base with heated water. He seems to like it. His house is all wood-look tile. Unfortunately his has vacuum bags as consumables. I also worry spinning action might swirl some missed grit around on any more delicate flooring. I’ve got a Shark IQ with the self-emptying base(vacuum only),  a secondhand Roomba 890(vacuum only, manual empty every use), and a Yeedi K700 in white and rose gold coloring(he’s pretty). Yeedi has the optional mop bin with the wipe cloth I don’t use. And is manually emptied every use. They make it simple to pass a mop myself after the robot does its run. 

Little to none. Not paying more for it to spy on me less, I'll just cut it off at the knees like I do my SharkIQ ones. They work just fine, can still remap and run their schedules. There would never be a time where I'd want to use their crap app to tell them to go out when I'm randomly somewhere else, so no need for cloud.

I have a Shark Detect Pro on my main floor and a Shark IQ in my basement. I also have two long haired GSDs. I run the IQ daily and the Detect Pro twice a day. The rollers do tend to get hair wrapped around them but once or twice a week but I think that’s any robot vacuum. The single side brushes that come on the robots are lame. Amazon has replacements that have 3 brushes, I recommend those. The dust bin also needs to be emptied every week, not 30 days like advertised. I only have hard floors so I can’t comment on how it handles carpet. The app is terrible and I use Google Assistant to have the robots run according to my schedules.

Don't get a roomba. I got the J7+ for the pet and toy friendly avoidance options and half the time it isnt running because of a clog in the vaccuum bin or base station. The bin is usually easy to fix, but this last time it was the tube that goes to the bag (another expense i didnt have with the shark) and that required disassembly. It also burnt out its suction fan in the first month I had it, prompting a warranty replacement of the part which meant had to disassemble the unit, install the new part, and send back the defective part. Incredibly frustrating. Comparatively, my shark IQ that I sent to the basement for eating too many toys runs consistently and clogs *maybe* once every 3 months, but the shark app sucks nuts, and the model I have uses the black strips for keep-out zones so it just ran everywhere and I prayed it didnt eat any cables. Its very robust about going up and doen ledges, but it is also way more prone to tracking pet messes about, that happened once with a pile of cat vomit and I was a little traumatized.

I have the J7+ and it does get up pet hair well on hard floors, BUT it clogs constantly. It can't handle any debris larger than a quarter in diameter at most without it getting stuck in the bin due to the size of the emptying tube. I have a kid whose paper scraps freqently end up on the floor and those clog it about once every 2 weeks and prompt me to have to take apart the base. If I dodnt spend so much on it Id have thrown it away by now. My shark IQ did not have that problem, but its app sucked and it runs over a lot more stuff. It has eaten and unloaded barbie shoes into its base, wheras the roomba i always find the shoes in the unit when it throws an error.

I definitely see the utility of a robot vacuum, but I’d recommend having a good primary bagged vacuum first and then investing in a good bagged robot vacuum as a secondary. Not sure you’ll find that in your budget, so you might need to save up for it. FWIW, I have this one: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/shark-iq-robot-vacuum-review-map-out-and-clean-your-smart-home-for-under-dollar400 and it’s a piece of shit 3 years after buying it. It’s constantly trying to throw itself down the stairs and it gets lost a lot.

I have one of the Shark models where it’s a double canister vacuum. The robot is a small canister vac on wheels and the emptying doc is also a canister vacuum. It worked well for the first 2 years and has been slowly dying the last 3 years. I can’t get it to connect to my phone any more and the app is pretty terrible. Not the same model, but it looks similar to this: https://www.bestbuy.com/product/shark-navigator-robot-vacuum-self-empty-base-gray/JXJVXLJPRR/sku/6641726 I think if / when we replace it, I’m going to look at Roborock and iRobot. I also think I want to get one where at least the dock is bagged. I really wish I could find one where the robot itself is a bagged vacuum but not too sure if that exists.

I just want to tell you how helpful these things are. I bought a SharkIQ (should have bought a roborock) when it was on deep discount on Prime day. What makes this different is that I have a big workshop/shed which is dusty/dirty and an absolute maze. The Shark managed over a few weeks get all the dust and dirt under control despite it not really being designed to work in this way and on rough concrete. I chose the shark specifically because it had brushes, not rubber rollers, not many with brushes and almost bought a Makita DRC300Z as that is more what is technically needed. (no HA integration and it requires connecting to the AP in the vac to control it via app, no infra mode at least when I was looking at it) Robot vacs are worth their weight in gold to many with ADHD. Many of us do not see mess, dust, dog hair etc. HA in general is scaffolding to help with my (and my wife's) neurodivergent wiring, and the vac is just a great addition to all this. Unfortunately the SharkIQ integration is having [ongoing issues with re-authentication](https://github.com/home-assistant/core/issues/123392) which appears to be Shark changing their API.