Navigator Freestyle Cordless (SV1106)

I'm sure most people will consider this junk, but we got a Shark SV1106 in 2016, and it still works fine. We use it for at least a few minutes almost every day.I replaced the battery in 2020 and 2024. My wife empties it at least weekly, or more often if needed, and cleans it more thoroughly as much as possible every few months.

If you want one that will last for years, corded is the way to go. And with either one make sure you’re cleaning it regularly, I used to kill a vacuum a year till I started regularly cleaning the motor brush. My last one lasted 10 years I think? I have long hair and dogs. A seam ripper is the cheapest, easiest way to clean the motor brush I’ve found. I did have good luck with a Shark cordless navigator vacuum. Lasted about 3-4 years, toward the end I could tell the suction and battery life was starting to go. It goes for $129.

Robo vac if you can! You can schedule run times daily, and it keeps away the fur tumbleweeds. I also have a cordless Shark navigator for quick cleanups. It isn’t bad and I didn’t pay much for it. But the robo vac is my work horse for getting all that fur, a self emptying one is even better! My robo vac mop sucked though, so I only use it to vacuum and I still mop with my trusty spin mop.

I have a cordless shark freestyle and I love it. Large canister, no bending over, easy to clean and best of all amazingly lightweight.

What sold me was how little I need to think about it. I hated my old vac because every time I went to use it, the battery was dead or the cup was full. This one just sits in the dock, ready like the most powerful cordless vacuum.

I have own three sharks. I think the first was the NV210, it was a tank. Lasted us ten years but I kept it and filters clean, and I abused it by cleaning up pea stone, Dry wall dust, and banging into wood trim. Good cheap vacuum. The second was the rechargeable stick. Not great. Poor suction, terrible battery, very difficult to clean. Only lasted three years, including one battery swap. Would not buy again. The third is our current plug-in vacuum. Shark lift away with the power odor eliminator pod. It’s decent, but the brushhead is weird, it takes its time to wind up to full speed. It’s a different roller than a typical beater brush and apparently doesn’t get hair stuck around it. Good suction for the price, I was very wary of dropping a grand for a vacuum after I had such good years with our previous shark. haven’t needed to work on it much yet and I have a wet/dry vacuum now for house projects. I spent a lot of time in this sub last November prior to decide on the best vacuum. My wife was adamant she wanted a standup, she wanted battery powered (to replace the shark mentioned above) but I was able to convince her to relax on this requirement. And she wanted bagless, this couldn’t sway her. After a time of tolerating the shark rechargeable I had enough and tossed it. This past week I bought a Dyson v15 refurbished on Amazon, it was brand new and works great so far although it my wife mentioned it doesn’t handle pea stone well dragged in by two doodles from our garden. She’s beyond happy so I’m happy. However now I want a better plug-in vacuum. She’s a quick mess cleaner, I’m a deep cleaner, and the new shark is not a vacuum I’d buy again. I probably would buy a Miele C1.

I'll never go cordless again. We have a handheld Shark flip, corded, I'm thinking it's 30 years old. We moved from a two storey house, had a canister Miele upstairs (at least 30 years old) and a Kenmore canister downstairs (over 40 years old). After the move we bought a refurb Shark Navigator, bagless, I just recently changed out all the filters, that's 3 years old. Does a great job, easy maintenance. And that's the secret. Do all the maintenance. Got a power head squeak? Fix it. Need a motor? Get one. Time for a new hose? Still available. The only thing I couldn't fix myself was when my spouse was vacuuming bugs out of a windowsill without any attachments. Sucked up a windowblind pull cord. Had to take the hose and the cord to a service center. Weird. 

The Shark Stick Vac does a great job. You can get it cordless or with a cord. If you end up with the Ryobi, you could always get a tool that has the same battery and use for the vacuum. I love all of my Ryobi outdoor tools. I have a lot of different tools, including the zero turn mower and push mower, plus a lot of hand tools. They all work great. The leaf vacuum does a great job mulching, too.