Shark Corded Stick Vacuum Cleaner [HZ400UKT] Anti-Hair Wrap Technology, Electric Blue & Shark Grey

Product Information

So, if you’re looking for the best carpet vacuum cleaner, the HZ500UK isn’t the one to choose. But if you’re happy to accept average cleaning performance in return for great hard floor cleaning (see next section) and advanced features, then it’s an option to consider. Hard Floors No, the HZ500UK is the basic version of this vacuum cleaner and doesn’t come with a pet tool. You’ll need to spend more to get the HZ500UKT (known as the True Pet version) to get this extra accessory. Verdict

The Shark HZ500UK comes with a HEPA filter. This is brilliant news for people with allergies, as HEPA filters are effective at preventing dust, pet dander, and other allergens from escaping into the air. It’s also designed with Shark’s Anti-Allergen Complete Seal. So, who should buy the Shark HZ500UK? If you’re looking for a lightweight upright that’s easy to manoeuvre, then it’s a great choice – particularly if your home has hard flooring or laminate. It’s also an excellent option if you struggle with heavy uprights, but don’t want to switch to a cordless vacuum. This performance even beats the Dyson Gen5detect, which left more Cheerios behind on a single pass across hard floor, although it, too, didn’t struggle to collect the remainder on a second pass.

The Shark Stratos IZ400UKT is a brilliant performer at a very attractive price

The combination of DuoClean floorhead and relatively strong suction means the Shark HZ500UK does a decent job of removing pet hair from carpets and hard floors. The only accessory you’ll need to find a home for is the power tool. Unlike the main powered floor brush, the power tool’s bristles are spun purely by airflow.

We think the HZ500UK is a solid choice if you need a lightweight and easy-to-use vacuum cleaner, but don’t want the limitations of a cordless vac. It’s effective at cleaning hard floors, comes with Shark’s excellent DuoClean floorhead, and is more convenient than a full-size upright. We think it’s let down a bit by average carpet cleaning performance and the tiny dust capacity though. A small 0.3-litre capacity to reduce weight (although this means it needs to be emptied regularly.) The Stratos did leave a line of flour behind the motor head, where the fins on the roller seemed to funnel the flour without offering enough agitation or suction to lift it all up. This amounted to 4% of the flour on that first pass, although that’s still way above average. It was happily collected by subsequent passes made at a different angle. How does it compare to other corded uprights? And is it worth buying over a traditional upright (such as those on our buyer’s guide?) Keep reading our Shark HZ500UK review to find out. Overview of the Shark HZ500UK’s Features It’s not the most powerful vac on the market, although raw suction strength isn’t everything when it comes to cleaning performance. The Shark still manages to provide decent all-round cleaning performance – particularly on hard floors. Let’s take a closer look at common cleaning tasks. CarpetsWe think the Shark is one of the best upright corded vacs when it comes to ease-of-use. It’s lightweight (3.9kg,) easy to push around the floor, has swivel steering, and the handheld mode is great for stairs or cars. You can also still attach the wand when in handheld mode, making cleaning cobwebs and other high locations easier. Another useful feature is the LED headlights in the floorhead. Most Shark vacuums include headlights, which make it much easier to spot dirt and dust that might otherwise be missed. The lights are particularly useful for cleaning under furniture, which is a much easier task with the Flexology design. Other Design Features The Shark Stratos Anti Hair Wrap Plus Pet Pro IZ400UKT comes heartily recommended. It’s a terrific cleaner at a good price. Its performance in our tests rivals that of vastly more expensive models, and I love the fact that you don’t need to switch the floor head over when moving from one surface to another.

If money is no object then the Dyson Gen5detect remains a superior option, but not to the extent that it’s worth paying almost twice the price. Its battery lasts a bit longer and it comes with a few more bells and whistles, but you’re definitely not getting twice the vacuum. In terms of battery life, the vacuum performed reasonably well. At full power it lasted 10mins 47secs, which is slightly short of the competition. In Economy mode, however, it was only a few seconds short of the more expensive Dyson Gen5detect, while in Clean Sense mode it lasted almost 41 minutes. We don’t move the vacuum during this test, so we’d expect that time to drop in real-world use as the vacuum encounters more dirt and increases the suction. As we mentioned, there’s no motorised pet tool included with the Shark though. This makes it difficult to get rid of hair from furniture, stairs, or car interiors. For this reason, we don’t recommend it for pet owners, particularly if your dog or cat sheds a lot. Unlike other floorheads, the DuoClean has two brush bars that work together. The larger front brush-roll is a softer bar that’s perfect for removing dust and dirt from hard floors, while the rear is a more standard bristle brush roll to stir up debris from carpets. But before we go any further, it’s worth repeating that this is a corded vacuum cleaner – despite having a design that’s similar to most modern cordless vacs. The 10-metre cord means you can vacuum for as long as necessary without recharging, although it also reduces the convenience of the vac. In general, we think corded vacs make more sense for larger homes or extended cleaning sessions, although cordless vacuums are more convenient.

It’s less effective than the top carpet vacuums when cleaning carpets, however, which is something to keep in mind if your home is mainly carpeted. The small capacity may also be an annoyance if you want to use it for cleaning multiple rooms, as you’ll need to empty it frequently. The HZ400UKT’s stand-out feature is Anti Hair Wrap technology, which uses a combination of blades and bristles designed to stop hair from becoming entangled around the brush, clogging it up. It was well put to the test in a house with three girls (all with long hair) and four cats; the brush was refreshingly free of hair, making it stand out from the competition. An interesting feature of the HZ500UK is that it comes with Shark’s Anti Hair-Wrap technology. Shark claims this actively removes hair and deposits it into the dust canister, meaning you shouldn’t need to remove tangled hair from the brush bar.