I’ll admit it: I’ve residual trepidation from the final time I reviewed a Shark smart vacuum. The firm’s different home appliances may be reasonable dupes for pricier choices, however once I acquired its first-ever good robotic vacuum, I ran it 35 occasions and it by no means developed a map. I lived in a 1,000-square-foot home the place I might stroll from my mattress to my daughter’s room in 12 steps.

So my expectations for Shark’s new AI Ultra robotic vacuum have been very low—particularly since I hate most robotic mops. I’ve examined many through the years, and few have appeared quicker or more practical than merely dragging out my handbook Swiffer. But time has handed, each for me and for Shark. Now that I dwell in a bigger home with various kinds of flooring, the Shark AI Ultra has grow to be one in every of my most dependable cleansing companions. It could not scrub as exhausting as Ecovacs’ huge and costly Deebot X1 Omni, nevertheless it’s surprisingly efficient at half the value.

Location, Location

If you’re conversant in robot vacuums, you recognize that they are usually fairly finicky about placement. That goes double for a robotic vacuum that doubles as a mop. If you need to have the ability to begin the vacuum out of your cellphone, with out carrying it into the kitchen, it’s important to … nicely, discover a place to place it within the kitchen. That means, the robotic doesn’t must journey, dripping, throughout your carpet.

Most robotic vacuums I’ve tried may be safely stowed in discreet places (I’ve even parked a number of below the sofa), however oftentimes mopping vacs take up extra space. Chances are you may have to maneuver the rubbish bin and the pet food bin within the kitchen, as I did, to make room for the Shark AI Ultra. Accessories are additionally a difficulty. Some vacuums, just like the iRobot Roomba j7+, have storage bins contained in the docking station, however others just like the Shark require you to empty out a shelf in your closet. 

When you turn between mopping and vacuuming, you additionally must swap out the dustbin, so I wanted to discover a handy place the place I wouldn’t neglect about that too. It comes with an efficient and fairly innocuous-smelling cleansing resolution. (If you don’t prefer it, you should utilize plain water.)

The Shark dock itself is pretty unobtrusive. I measured it at 14 inches excessive and 19 inches deep, which is not too large in comparison with different auto-empty docking stations. After I plugged it in and it charged, it mapped my (now bigger) home precisely after one 20-minute mapping run—an enormous enchancment over my first Shark robotic vacuum.

To Each Their Own

Everyone makes use of their robotic vacuum and mop in another way. Some folks need to decide up their entire home after the youngsters are in mattress, arrange a routine, and get up to a glowing new home, like a bunch of elves got here by within the night time.

I used to scrub like that. But now that my husband is touring for work and I’m single-parenting two grade schoolers, a canine, and a grouchy hamster in the course of the week, I take my bits and items of cleanliness once I can get it. Shark’s SharkClear app (iOS, Android) is remarkably easy and simple to make use of. Once I mapped my home, I designated separate rooms and added a no-go zone across the hearth, the place vacuums are inclined to fall in.

When my youngsters are at school, I decide up the kitchen, fill the mopping bin, and lock it into the underside of the robotic vacuum. I significantly respect that the app presents a time estimate (that’s moderately correct) for a way lengthy the cleansing will take. I used to be additionally stunned by how efficient the mopping was. It’s very exhausting for a robotic vacuum to calibrate mopping appropriately. If it releases too little fluid, it’s not efficient. Too a lot and it leaves your flooring a dripping, soggy mess.

The Shark’s bin releases simply sufficient cleansing fluid, and most significantly, it wiggles because it mops to clean the ground. If you choose UltraMop within the app to spot-clean, you possibly can see the squiggly sample within the flooring because it mops. The microfiber cleansing pad, which was straightforward to slip on and off the bin, confirmed a number of that dust.