Shark Navigator Lift-Away Pro

This Shark Navigator Lift-Away Pro, a competitive yet budget-friendly 2-in-1 vacuum cleaner might be the best purchase you make. You can use it in the upright mode as well as in a canister detached mode. With strong suction and versatile cleaning options, this vacuum is easy to use and handle.

It is ideal for removing allergens from the air and works perfectly well when it comes to sucking out the pet hair.

Moreover, thanks to the lift away feature, this product is extremely comfortable to use. Unlike most vacuum cleaners it does not feel like a hassle to take out and turn on.

This Shark Navigator Lift-Away Pro review will help you understand every aspect of the vacuum cleaner in detail. Also, it will answer the question, ‘is the Shark Navigator a good vacuum for your needs or not?’

Shark Navigator Lift-Away Pro review

Design and construction

Like all Shark Navigator professional vacuums, this Shark Navigator Professional Lift-Away upright vacuum follows the minimalistic approach. Design-wise it is not loaded with vibrant colors rather comes with colors hues like whites and greys. It has a sleek, modern design and is portable as well.

This Shark Navigator Lift-Away Pro NV356E is extremely easy to assemble. The vacuum can be put together in less than 10 minutes in its own rights. It comes with extremely easy to understand and clear instructions. Moreover, the instructions are accompanied by diagrams to help the users put together the product easily.

As far as the handling of the product is concerned, this vacuum cleaner is known for its ease of use. The maneuverability of this vacuum is to the point. It is easy to push and pull thanks to modern design and construction. It has a hose for cleaning the stairs as well.

Design-wise, the vacuum cleaner has a few flaws as well. The canister of the vacuum cleaner is pretty wobbly, especially on hardwood, tiled and marble floors. It keeps toppling and wobbling as reported by many users. Also, the vacuum cleaner does not come with a mount for the pet brush, it has mounts for both crevice tool and dusting brush.

Functions

The Shark Navigator Lift-Away Pro can be configured into three cleaning modes, for easy cleaning of all areas in your house. It not only has a great form but also has amazing functionality. Among the three cleaning modes, the most basic one is for bare floors which can be activated by pressing the button labeled ‘I’, the second mode is for cleaning carpets and rugs, which can be activated by pressing the button labeled ‘II’. With the latter, the motorized floor brushes start rotating in order to pick up any debris, pet hair, threads and dirt clinging to the carpet hair.

LED

There is an LED indicator for notifying the user whether the rotating brush is on or not. Sometimes, due to stubborn debris or blockage, the motorized brush can get jammed causing strain on the motors. In this case, the LED turns red. To notify the user of an ongoing internal issue. Usually, the blockage can be easily removed with the help of cleaning accessories that come in the package.

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Modes

As already mentioned, the Shark Navigator Lift-Away Pro can be used in both, upright and canister detached mode. To remove the canister, all the user has to do is press a single button. Once the canister is detached, the vacuum can be easily used to reach hard to reach places.

Accessories

As far as the accessories of the vacuum cleaner are concerned it comes with a crevice tool, a dusting brush, and a pet power brush. These can be attached to the seven-feet long extension hose, extension wand or the handle of the vacuum. The type of accessory you use depends on the areas you want to reach and clean. These extension accessories also provide the user with more reach so that the user doesn’t have to move around the canister a lot. The hose handle, on the other hand, helps in maneuvering in tight spaces but the user has to keep close to the canister with it.

Dustbin cup

The 2.2 dry quarts high capacity dust cup is one of the best features of this vacuum cleaner. As compared to other Shark Navigator lift away models this Shark Navigator professional Lift-Away upright vacuum has almost double the capacity dust bin they have. If you read other Shark Navigator Lift-Away Pro reviews, you will find that they usually need frequent bin cleaning. Not this one. The downside that comes with a larger dust cup is the heavier weight. When fully assembled, the Shark Navigator professional weighs approximately 14 Pounds. In canister detached mode, it weighs eight pounds which is heavier than Shark Navigator vacuums with a smaller bin cup.

Performance

In this Shark Navigator review, as promised, we will touch every aspect of the Shark Navigator Lift-Away Pro in detail. The vacuum cleaner has a powerful suction, which has proven extremely useful for both carpet and non-carpet coverings. Most vacuum cleaners cannot easily clean plush carpets but thanks to high suction power and brush retraction that comes with the Shark Navigator Lift-Away Pro NV356E, it can seamlessly clean plush carpets are well.

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The narrow suction tube that comes with the crevice tool helps in reaching hard to reach areas and tight corners to clean the debris and dust accumulated. These are the areas where the pet hair, human hair, and other debris accumulate due to the air circulation in the house. The same tool is ideal for window sills and furniture ledges.

As far as the upholstered items like curtains, drapes, sofas, lampshades, etc. are concerned, the dusting brush will be your best option. It is specifically designed to suck out the dirt ground-in, in materials like cloth and also removes any stuck pet hair. You will be amazed at the amount of fur that is accumulated on your drapes and curtains. The tool and vacuum’s high suction combined is ideal for deep cleaning.

Noise level

The Shark vacuum suction noise, unlike most vacuum, is pretty low. If we compare the noise levels to the same cost competitors, they are pretty low. Even though, not as quiet as premium level vacuum cleaners, the noise levels are enough not to disturb people around the area of cleaning. You can easily vacuum the hall or the lounge if your children or other members of the house are sleeping in their rooms.

When the canister of the vacuum is detached it can be only used in the bare floor brush i.e. the rotating brushes cannot be activated when the canister is detached. Due to this, hard to reach places to areas under the furniture with carpet cannot be cleaned as efficiently. However, it does work enough for daily routine. For deep cleansing of the house, you can always move the furniture.

Moving on to the maneuverability of the Shark Navigator Lift-Away Pro, the vacuum is very easy to handle and move. It can get a little tricky with all the transitions between upright and handheld mode. Whereas, if all things are considered, the ease of use and maneuverability of the vacuum can be given 8 out of 10 points. The long cord plays a positive role by letting the user move the vacuum around without having to worry about the length of the cord. Also, the Shark Navigator vacuum attachments make it even easier to reach all the places. However, in handheld mode, the vacuum cleaner, due to its heavyweight can put a strain on the hands. Hence, for longer use, it can get inconvenient but for spot cleaner and for cleaning smaller areas it works perfectly well.

Maintenance

Coming to the most asked question, “How to clean Shark Navigator Lift-Away pro?”. Well! the maintenance of this vacuum is not at all difficult. All you have to do is be particular about replacing all the necessary parts when it is time.

The dirt cup, since it is huge, does not require emptying regularly but if you have a large house, we advise you to clean the dirt cup after every cleaning session. You don’t necessarily have to wash the dirt cup, rather cleaning it with a damp cloth will do.

The vacuum cleaner has parts like foam filters, HEPA filters, Brush roll, and the dust away genie pad which requires replacement after some time. The Dust away genie pad and the Foam filters need changing after 12 months, whereas the brush roll and the HEPA filter requires changing after 24 months.

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According to the manufacturer’s maintenance manual, the yearly maintenance cost of your Shark Navigator Lift-Away Pro will be approximately $60 a year. However, this also depends on your vacuum usage. If you don’t use it a lot. Some parts might not need changing as soon as it is stated in the manual. In most cases, the manufacturer’s recommended replacement and manufacturing schedule is usually very aggressive.

Add-ons and filtration

In order to simplify the cleaning process, it comes with a number of cleaning accessories and add-ons. Your vacuuming does not end with the floor, you need to dust other things like upholstery, shelves, furniture, etc. A good vacuum always comes with accessories to clean things other than the floor. This particular vacuum cleaner comes with a dusting brush, an 8 inches crevice tool, a pet power brush for removing pet hair, dust away attachment for hardwood floors, two microfiber pads to go with hardwood floor attachment and an accessory bag for keeping all the accessories.

Next, is the air filtration, if you are a regular Shark Navigator buyer, you would know the manufacturer always emphasizes on the installment of proper filters to purify the air along with proper cleaning. This one comes with built-in HEPA filters that clean the air in the room along with cleaning the carpets. These filters are washable and reusable.

Pricing and value

Before buying anything, the first question we ask ourselves is whether the quality and performance of the product are worth the cost or not? To establish any product’s value, we evaluate its features and factors and compare them to its price.

As far as the value of Shark Navigator Lift-Away Pro is concerned, since it comes with a modest number of accessories and cleaning styles and its maintenance cost is pretty low, the value is towards the higher side.

As compared to Dyson and other premium brand vacuums with the same specification arena, this vacuum cleaner comes at one-third the price of those vacuums. It is not as heavy-duty as Dyson vacuums but for the given price it provides superb value.

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Final thoughts

Summing up our Shark Navigator Lift-Away Pro review, we can say that this upright vacuum model is sturdy, durable and efficient when it comes to cleaning. The amazing suction power, the ability to clean all types of floors and the fact that it can clean pet hair with efficiency make it a good and reasonable buy.

Despite the certain design flaws the vacuum passes all the tests with flying colors and has a good range of reviews from its previous consumers. We recommend this vacuum to people with large houses.