What is the best Shark robot vacuum? Here are my top 3 picks after testing at home.
Shark vacuums shine at spot cleaning, but have a big blind spot
Scheduled full-room cleanings are a huge part of the convenience of a robot vacuum. The other half has to do with unexpected messes that need to be dealt with right now with as little clicking around in an app as possible.
In my at-home testing, Shark robot vacuums are extremely straightforward and reliable spot cleaners. Setting a zone for a one-time clean in the Shark app is as black and white as dragging a square in the designated spot cleaning tab. The Shark knows to shift itself into Matrix cleaning mode for any spot cleaning situations, and automatically goes over the spot multiple times from multiple angles. Many other budget robot vacuums won't take a second look unless you remember to toggle the number of cleaning passes from one to two. Matrix cleaning automatically covers one of my tips for making your robot vacuum work better.
Is dependable spot cleaning a Shark-only skill? Of course not. But Shark robot vacuums still get credit for do it while staying firmly in the budget robot vacuum category, and they're on sale frequently.
On the other hand, Shark's one big blind spot (literally) is small obstacle avoidance technology. Shark is forever being upstaged by frequent new releases from iRobot, Roborock, Eufy, and Dreame, who all have models at Shark prices that can steer clear of obstacles like cords and pet waste. Based on my experience, Shark hasn't mastered this skill yet. But Shark is due for a major update to its lineup, and has been due for a while — Shark takes forever to release new robot vacuums. A highly-agile Shark robot vacuum has to be on the way in 2026... right?
New robot vacuums announced at CES 2026
Shark didn't participate in CES 2026. But several other top robot vacuum brands did, and their new flagship robot vacuum and mop combos are going to create major room for improvement for Shark's flagship PowerDetect robot vacuums, which desperately need a successor. The top robovacs to look out for are the Roborock Saros 20 Sonic and Qrevo Curv 2 Flow, the Dreame X60 Max Ultra Complete, and the Narwal Flow 2. I will be testing these at home as soon as possible and will update this guide accordingly once all are officially available for purchase.