Review on 🦈 Shark LZ601 APEX UpLight Lift-Away DuoClean Stick Vacuum, Self-Cleaning Brushroll, Forest Mist Blue - Enhanced for SEO by Lindsey Jones

This little beast does a great job cleaning, but there are a few things that could be done better. Set up is simple and straightforward - I'm blind and can't read printed text so I didn't have a manual. But I didn't need one, I could easily figure out how the pieces fit together and they snapped exactly into place. Then of course I had to try it! I have a small one bedroom apartment and a huge German shepherd who sheds like his life depends on leaving a carpet of wool everywhere. The self-cleaning brush roll seems to work - you don't have to stop every now and then to clear the hose and brushes of hair. And it left a beautifully polished underfoot feel on my linoleum kitchen floor. Very good suction power. I also find that it reaches up to the walls. With most vacuums I've had, I've had to use a magic wand to work around the edges along the walls after I've finished the main areas. However, this roller has no cover, and if you point it directly at the walls, it cleans the edges well. That alone means I can finish vacuuming twice as fast as before. Then I lifted it off the base and used a stick and brush to vacuum up small carpets and dust. The dust box looks tiny at first glance, but after the actual vacuum cleaning it is completely sufficient. I used to have a Hoover T-Series wind tunnel, which by comparison seems to have a giant trash can that I kept pulling clump after clump of hair out of. This one kind of gathers all that hair into a tight ball that doesn't fill the small trash can and ends up right in the trash can. Make sure you dump it from both the top and bottom - it looks like all the hair goes into the round top bowl while the dirt goes into the vertical bowl. Okay, now to my complaints. Firstly for those who complain that this vacuum cleaner is heavy and for those who say that it is light. Both are correct. In terms of weight, this is probably the lightest handheld vacuum I've seen. However, its design places the motor at the top of the handle just below the handle, combined with a very light base. So all the weight at the top right is in your hands. Also, the point where the stick connects to the base has a twist rather than a standard hinge. This way you rotate your wrist to "aim" at the base instead of using force to rotate. Therefore, after getting used to it, it became easier for me to maneuver and penetrate hard-to-reach places. There's definitely a learning curve, it's very different from what you're used to. But wow, it gets between chair legs, under coffee tables, in corners. I love it! However, you will definitely be using other muscles. Instead of using your shoulder and pecs to rock back and forth, use your forearm muscles to carry the weight and also control the thing. I wish Shark would place the motor closer to the bottom of the stick and lower the weight so I don't have to carry it around all the time while actively vacuuming. However, I like the new steering design. Second, this thing blows air in your face. Since it has a HEPA filter it should theoretically be fine as it is "clean" air. But if you're sensitive, it's still a problem. Besides, I just don't like it. Placing the motor on the handle closer to the base and further away from me would also solve this problem. Finally you have to remove the vacuum cleaner from the base to use the wand. But 1) there's no way to carry it on your shoulder - you have to hold it in one hand while maneuvering the wand with the other. It's just not possible when you're blind - I need another hand to feel what I'm doing; 2) Sometimes I don't want to take it away, I want the stand to hold the block in one place for me while I use the wand to vacuum my dog or the curtains for example. You can't do that as the tubing is part of what holds it to the base. I think this could easily be designed better to allow us access to the hose at all times. Because of these design flaws, I'm giving it a rating of less than five stars, but overall it's a good vacuum. The excellent self-cleaning brush roller combined with strong suction makes it an indispensable tool.