Our Ecommerce Writer Molly oversees vacuum and cleaning content at Ideal Home. She tested out the Shark CZ500UKT DuoClean & Anti Hair Wrap Bagless Cylinder Pet Vacuum for two months before reviewing it. It is her essential vacuum for deep cleaning, and she thinks the intuitive controls are excellent for everyday use. FAQs How to choose the best Shark vacuum Pull the floor head off and you can easily clean close up or even around the ceiling, with the Shark IZ320UKT nicely balanced. In the box, Shark has been very generous with accessories. You get a crevice tool, a multi surface brush (hard brush and upholstery tool), mini pet brush (great for carpets and sofas) and the anti-allergen brush, which you can use for dusting pretty much everything from blinds to furniture thanks to its articulated joint. Flour proved a bit more of a challenge. On hard floor, the vacuum collected enough flour from a 50g spillage in a single pass to register 50g on my scales afterwards, although close inspection showed it wasn’t entirely perfect, with some flour still left over. A few subsequent passes on the Boost setting removed the rest effectively. Flexology means your vacuum can be pivoted under furniture using an elbow hinge at the centre of the tube. It saves you from bending and reaching, but it's only available on cordless vacuums.

Cordless upright vacuum cleaners can have a run time anywhere between 12 minutes and 75 minutes. The majority are around the 20 to 40 minute mark. There's a suite of onboard tools which can be used with this vac too, Molly's favourite being the Anti Hair Wrap Power Tool which is great for upholstery and smaller jobs. The IZ300UK has three battery power levels, and while it claims to have a battery life of up to 60 minutes, this is on eco mode and when using a non-motorised tool such as the crevice tool. Expect a lower battery life for day-to-day use. If this is an issue for you and you want that hour-long window, opt for the Shark IZ320UK which is the exact same model but with another battery, so you can switch out your first battery when it's finished. I then combed cat hair into the carpet and ran over it using the standard power setting. Again, everything was collected with ease.

Shark quotes battery life at up to 60 minutes per battery running on Eco mode without a powered tool. I tested with a powered tool and found that it lasted 61m 28s on Eco power, 33m 58s on Standard and an impressive 17m 58s minutes on Boost. Recharge time is four hours for both batteries. With cordless vacuum cleaners, in particular, the raw figures give an idea of performance, but it’s only by testing them for real that you can see how good suction really is, as it’s a combination of power and tool efficiency that’s important. The Shark makes a lot of noise, so it's not a good choice if you tend to vacuum while others are asleep or working from home - even if they're on the other side of the house.

Switching between carpet and had floors is very easy thanks to the DuoClean brushrolls, which switch over with the touch of a button. It's also possible to go between three power levels, although we found the lowest level perfectly strong enough for the majority of tasks. Maintaining this handheld vacuum will just mean that the 0.45L capacity will need emptying as and when it gets full of fluff. And the dust cup and filter can be washed with water from the tap. She also loved the portable vacuum cleaner element that is accessible with just the push of a button. This is thanks to Powered Lift-Away which is super handy for using the suite of attachments to refresh upholstery or vacuum skirting boards. Even if you prefer to use a smaller, handheld vacuum cleaner, the IZ251UKTDB has got you covered. We found that when equipped with the motorised pet tool it did an extremely thorough job and was easy to use on steps, even those that are awkwardly shaped. Shark claims that it has all the power of a corded vacuum cleaner but in cordless form, and after testing we couldn't agree more. It's got DuoClean which makes switching modes immensely straightforward, and the controls make it easy to see how much battery you have left. To charge, simply lift out the battery on the side of the dust tank and pop it into its charging port.

Shark’s latest cordless stick vacuum delivers stupendous cleaning abilities but is a little unwieldy to manoeuvre

There's no doubt that our testing process proved that this vacuum is worth the large price tag that it carries. Even if you don't have pets, the ease with which this vacuum does away with hair is astounding, and our Ecommerce Editor Molly found that it was unmatched when it came to suction. DuoCleanis Shark's self-adjusting brush roll that automatically adapts to carpet and hard floor without you having to switch over.

One of the most important factors for a cordless cleaner is the run time. This dictates how long you can clean before recharging the vacuum. It comes with just two accessories: a crevice tool and a two-in-one upholstery nozzle and dusting brush. Lots of premium cordless vacuums come with several more accessories, including a mini turbo brush - which is handy for giving awkward spots a thorough clean. Cordless vacuum cleaners are growing in popularity due to their lightweight design and ease-of-use. We have plenty of styles from a range of top brands, so you’re sure to find the right model for your home.One of the attachments which comes with this Shark vacuum is the pet tool. As with many of the best vacuum cleaners for pet hair, it's was excellent at drawing out embedded hair from rugs, blankets and anywhere else your four-legged-friend likes to reside. Overall, this is a strong contender for those looking for a large capacity Shark vacuum that they can rely on. It's somewhat quieter in eco mode, but both the floor head and motor are still notably louder than some other cordless vacuums we've trialled. Like many of Shark's corded and cordless models, the IZ300UK is fitted with a flexible cleaning tube called Flexology. This means the vacuum conveniently slots underneath coffee tables and sofas, helping you clean those hard-to-reach areas. Overall, this is a superb performance, surpassing the abilities of the more expensive Dyson models, including the V15 Detect and the V11 Outsize. The relatively new innovation to Shark's portfolio is Flexology which allows the wand to go from straight to angled, is a feature which we highly rate. It means that you can get your vac under the beds and various items of furniture that are raised up on legs. What we found, however, is that the floorhead wasn’t as easy to direct accurately as is the case when it’s used with the rigid wand.

The screen is also used to show the current power mode (Eco, Standard or Boost) and, if you have the floor head attached, the floor mode (carpet or hard floor). Shark has included its DuoClean head, which has a soft roller for hard floors and a brush for carpets. For this model, Shark has included its PowerFins tech, which adds fins to the roller to really get into carpet fibres and agitate dirt. It’s also got Anti Hair Wrap tech, which really works to prevent hair from wrapping around the rollers.You get two batteries in the box, plus a charger that can take both batteries, so you can keep them both topped up all of the time. If you prefer, you can just charge the battery in the vacuum’s body by plugging in the power cable at the rear. We really like to get a hands-on experience with the products which we feature across Ideal Home, in line with our testing protocol. It means that we get tounderstand more about whatyouare getting for your money. If you want to complete a deep clean in your home without having to empty your vacuum, then the Shark DuoClean & Anti Hair Wrap Bagless Cylinder Pet Vacuum CZ500UKT will be a brilliant choice for you. It's large capacity, easy to use controls and excellent suction power on carpets shone through doing our review process, which was completed by our eCommerce Writer Molly. Run times vary greatly between different models and types of cordless cleaners. Generally, the more expensive the model, the longer the run time – although there are exceptions! I measured the Shark IZ320UKT at 71.2dB (Eco), 75.4dB (Standard) and 76.8dB (Boost). That’s about average for a cordless vacuum cleaner with this much power.