Shark - Navigator Lift-Away
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Reddit Reviews:
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Based on 1 year's data from Jan 28, 2026 How it works
Liked most:
1964
80
"A good robovac is a life changer. Even a $350 basic S8. It is a great place to start. ... I promise you that you will not be disappointed by a basic S8. It will change your life even if it can't fit under every piece of furniture you own. ... My two S8s just finished vacuuming our entire house in about 46 minutes. ... While my floors were being cleaned, I sat comfortably on our patio in the cool shade with a slight breeze and composed my far too long response to you while sipping a diet soda and relaxing. ... I will have to spend about four minutes maintaining my two S8s. This will be my entire contribution to my home floor cleaning effort for today. Four minutes!"
"I got the Q5 Pro for $139. ... costs $450 less than what I paid for the S6 ... it is the best value option out there imo."
"Like 500$ these robots are currently the steal of the century ... You can get a mova p10 pro ultra (cannot remove its mops), equivalent to the l40/x40 for 500$ after a discount code"
350
70
"I’ve seen on the camera the poor guy making multiple trips to self empty while in one room but it’s cut the hair buildup tenfold."
"With three they can just make it to a full week for emptying. ... Life changing."
"does a great job. This is with 1 cat and one drooling toddler."
71
12
"I like the bag. Our bagless vacuums always made a MESS cloud of dust when trying to empty them in the kitchen. I'd have to go outside, and it would still make a cloud all over me. This was easy, close the lid on the bag, lift it out, toss it in the trash, put a new one in. It holds more than I'd typically think, because unlike our bagless, the dirt all gets packed into the bag, it gets more dense. So it holds more than you would expect."
"We've neglected the hell out of it. It has 1555 hours on it with minimal maintenance. Ran it every night for 4 years or so. So I always thought these things were tanks. It still works"
"All the parts that will have tangled hair (like rollers, empty bin, rotating brushes, and wheels) are extremely easy to remove and clean, almost with no tools needed. I literally take only ten minutes to remove every dog hair inside the system."
1938
566
"Been using them for about four years working out in my gym, and cycling daily (45+ minutes on a bicycle outdoors)."
"I even washed them accidentally and still worked perfectly fine afterwards."
"I still have the Kirby my grandma bought brand new in 1970."
5
1
"So many little design choices to make it easy to pull apart and clean or get to tight spots or even just manage the cable as you're moving around the house."
"the ability to lift off the canister and just use that is really useful."
"it can come apart in a canister configuration as well as upright."
Disliked most:
19
20
"cleaning the brush roller often for the wife and dogs long hairs is very annoying and a bit gross"
"I really like the idea of the 2 rollers for the hair so it can’t tangle. HUGE problem in my household. lol."
"X20+ doesn't have anti-tangle features, so you will end up with the main brush full of hair after each cleaning session and you have to manually clean the brush after that."
9
17
"The j7 got stuck often, maybe 1 out of 4 cleanings it either sucked up a cat toy or jammed itself under something."
"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."
45
78
"getting stressed out about the whole process of plugging in, lifting, storing the giant Kirby and not vacuuming at all in the end."
"heavy as hell"
"You do NOT want a Kirby if you have stairs - trust me."
6
7
"That makes them clench down, and therefore makes them hard to push and pull on that type of carpet. ... it was very difficult to push on that carpet until I adjusted it."
"All 3 are excellent options though as long as you don’t plan on having wall to wall carpets or more rugs/thicker pile rugs over the next 20 years or so."
"Only if you have a few, small low pile rugs. The turbo head isn meant for carpeting."
34
70
"I then bought the 3m model Navigator, which lasted a year before it stopped working completely ... and finally tried out the old faithful, base Navigator, didn 't even make it 6 months."
"I used it fairly gently for maybe a year or so then it bricked itself. ... It's just dead. ... Seems like poorly built garbage."
"There is so much weight on the bottom hinge that it eventually gives way. ... Don't expect longevity. ... It was broken by 2023. ... Whatever you do, DO NOT buy the Shark Lift Away models. They are absolutely terrible in longevity, being built with cheap plastic parts at the bottom hinges, which will break in a few years. ... It is very poorly designed in that section. ... Longevity is awful. ... The problem is the weight of the canister/motor on the bottom hinge in the lift-away and other similar designs. You'd expect they would have used metal hinges to take some 15 lbs of equipment weight on it. But when it finally broke, I was shocked to see that it was all plastic. The floor and carpet attachment are now useless."
bourj 1.0Shark NV352 Navigator Lift Away Upright Vacuum $179 and works great
Capital-Cry-6024 1.0I bought this one - thank you!!
LocalLuck2083 1.0If on a budget, Shark navigator lift away on sale. Seen at as low as $120
The most basic lift away https://www.nytimes.com/wirecutter/reviews/shark-navigator-lift-away-vacuum-review/
RaccoonAreFriends 1.0Shark Navigator https://amzn.to/4l4n4dv it’s powerful machine that works on both carpet and hard floors surfaces. It’s bagless and the pod is detachable so you can hard to reach areas more easily
Rise-Bitter 1.0I agree with the elitism. And I'm a huge Shark fan. Have been for 15 years or so. My nv350 went on for 12 years....only died cause I dropped it down the stairs. I got two Sharks from Walmart on clearance, one for $85 (zu561) and one for $65 (nv360). Those two will probably last me the next 20 years. But I also have three cats and wanted to see what the hype was about. I found a two year old Sebo D4 Premium for basically $480. That is way more than I'd ever want to spend on a vacuum. I can afford it by all means but like you I could never justify it. The other side of me loves electronics and wanting the best of the best. And I do have to say.....the Sebo is incredible. Value is subjective so for me I do see a difference in the amount of dust and cat hair left over after a week of vacuuming with each. And the difference on carpet and what it pulls up. But its also a whole different ball game using a canister vacuum vs plugging in a vacuum and just going. Not having to worry about what suction level or head and attachment I'm using. So I do have some respect and awareness of the other side.
VintagePHX 1.0My first shark lasted 15 years until it just didn't suck enough (pun intended). Granted, I didn't have a ton of carpet but we do have a kid and cats. The one I have now I got from my dad when I had to move him into memory care. It's nearing 10 years old. Probably didn't get a ton of use by him. Still works fine, although I don't like this model as much as the OG lift away I had. Clean the canister and clean/replace the filters and it does fine.
Doggoroniboi 0.5The new shark power detect is awesome with the auto empty base but a bit out of your price range. If you want a really cheap one as a secondary I’d recommend smoture (vacuum wars tested it and it actually looks pretty great for the price) and you could get a $199 upright shark from Costco while staying in your price range. Costco is great because sharks aren’t very repairable so being able to return 2 years later is great if you have a membership. Having an upright and a cordless is the way to go, deep clean every week or two with the upright then use the cordless for daily pick ups
Legitimate-Bobcat646 0.3There isn’t anything out there that has enough power to really clean carpets but also be lightweight like a battery powered vacuum cleaner. I would look at a shark corded vacuum with the brushroll shut iff capability. They’re lightweight enough and easy to use.
tornadotwister 0.2I found myself purchasing a new vacuum about every 2 years. Then I purchased a Dyson pet , and it was great. Had a 5-year warranty, and promptly lost suction at the 6-year mark. It was the best vacuum for the almost 6 years I had it. Now I have a Shark, an apartment vacuum because it is mostly for bare floors, but the cord is short. Have had it for 2 years now. I would take advice of the professional cleaner - the porta-vac.
Adventurous-Emu-4440 0.2Second vote for Shark. I had the very first Dyson, and later a Dyson Animal. I’ve since had a Shark Navigator Lift Away, and another Shark, whose model name I can’t remember. Give me some grace, I’m old! Both Sharks were FAR superior to either Dyson, and FAR cheaper! They picked up EVERYTHING, including tons of dog hair, the brush rolls rarely tangled, and when they did, they were easy to clean. A bonus on the Lift Away is that it comes apart so that you can use the top part as a (comparatively) lightweight canister vac, which is great for stairs, overhead cleaning, etc. I’ll never buy another Dyson. If you tried to give me one, I’d ask if I could have another Shark instead.
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