It was much easier to tell when Shark was using its AI feature and when it found spots. The UV Reveal uses the LEDs on the vacuum’s sides to show you when it’s scanning the floor with its ultraviolet light to find spots and stains, then it waits until it finishes its initial clean to analyze the footage and identify where it wants to return. The vacuum then heads back out, literally announcing from the base station: “I’ve detected stains. I’m going back out to viciously attack them.” It’s both amusing and informative, and then you can watch the Shark go and scrub at various spots on your floor. It didn’t do this for either cherry spill I made, but it did find a spot on the floor where I spilled orange juice weeks ago, leading me to worry about how well I know how to clean my floors on my own. The Shark app will also give you a cleaning report at the end, telling you where it found stains.
Dyson’s AI is a little more mysterious. Its Spot+Stain uses the vacuum’s HD camera to find spots, and then its AI analyzes how many times it needs to pass over a spot in order to clean it. However, it doesn’t alert or inform you at any point. I had to notice it going back and forth on a spot while it cleaned, knowing that the AI had found a spot it wanted to scrub. I felt like the scrubbing results were similar to the Shark’s, but I really liked how the Shark kept me informed and showed me how the feature was helping clean my floors.
Cleanliness Winner: Tie
Photograph: Nena Farrell
These vacuums were both good robot vacuums and mops overall. They left my carpets feeling almost as fluffy as a Dyson stick vacuum, left my hard floors feeling spotless (besides the tricky second cherry juice spot, of course), and didn’t leave behind streaks or dump out debris. The biggest cleaning difference was in the Cheerio-powered corner test, but if your cabinet and furniture toe kicks are higher than 4 inches (you’ll want at least 4.25 inches of clearance for the vacuum to comfortably traverse), you likely won’t have any issues. The Shark does have an extendable arm for better corner cleaning, but overall, the experience of vacuuming my carpet and rug and mopping my floors was largely similar.
Base Station Winner: Tie
Photograph: Nena Farrell
Both of these robot vacuums have large base stations that require a foot or two of clearance on either side and include two water tanks and a bagless debris system. The bagless debris is great because you won’t need to replace the bag as you do for other robot vacuums, though it does require a bit more work to clean that debris out of the receptacle. The Dyson base actually lets you see the debris, similar to the design on stick vacuums; for this reason, you might prefer the Shark if your vacuum is somewhere you’ll see it often. Although perhaps you’d like the visual reminder to empty it regularly. Both keep the water tanks hidden, but each carries and refills with attached handles, and both bases will use water and air to clean and dry the vacuum’s mop pads.
Final Results
Winner: Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal
Shark’s PowerDetect UV Reveal robot vacuum wins the throw-down with its better corner cleaning, more informative AI, and better navigation, plus a lower profile that lets it get into more spots in my home without any problems. It can do everything the Dyson can and is often on sale for under four figures. I really like how easy it is to see what the vacuum is doing and where it finds dirty spots in your home, and the NeverStuck Technology helps it get around obstacles. The extendable arm makes it better at cleaning tricky corners, too.
Still Solid: Dyson Spot+Scrub Ai
While Shark pulled ahead, it’s not to say the Dyson Spot+Scrub Ai isn’t a good robot vacuum and mop. My apprehensions are that it was usually easier to understand what the Shark was doing than with Dyson, and Dyson’s height and camera placement work against it for many of my furniture pieces (mainly my Ikea furniture and builder-grade cabinetry, though many other people are likely to have it in their homes too). I’d measure your toe kick height before buying this vacuum to make sure it can actually get underneath it, and make sure you don’t mind being able to see the dry debris at all times (or don’t mind frequent emptying).
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