Shark NZ801UKT Review: Is This Upright Vacuum Worth It for Pet Hair?

Powerful cleaning for carpets and hard floors

There is a reason this Shark upright has remained an appealing option for households wanting a traditional corded vacuum with a few clever twists. At its heart is a 750W corded motor combined with Shark's DuoClean floorhead. Rather than swapping floorheads as you move around the house, two motorised brush-rolls work together to tackle carpets and hard flooring. LED headlights on the floorhead are another genuinely useful touch for spotting dust and hair along skirting boards, underneath furniture and in darker corners. The 8m power cable also gives it a generous reach. There's no battery to recharge or runtime to ration, which gives a corded vacuum like this an obvious advantage if you prefer to clean several rooms in one session.

A particularly strong choice for pet hair

Pet hair is where this Shark's feature set becomes particularly interesting. Shark's Anti Hair Wrap technology is designed to remove hair from the brush-roll as you clean, reducing the familiar job of cutting wrapped hair away afterwards. The pet model also includes a dedicated Pet Tool for tackling hair on upholstery and other surfaces. That combination makes more sense than simply giving a vacuum powerful suction and calling it pet-friendly. It addresses both sides of the problem: picking hair up and helping prevent it from becoming wrapped around the cleaning mechanism. There's also an Anti-Allergen Complete Seal system designed to retain dust and allergens inside the vacuum rather than allowing them to escape back into the room. For normal use around cats and dogs, the sensible precaution is the same as with any powered vacuum: keep pets safely away from the moving floorhead, brush-roll and cord while you're cleaning.

What about the weight?

This is probably the biggest consideration before choosing this Shark upright. At approximately 7.3kg, this isn't an ultra-light vacuum, and anyone specifically looking for something effortless to lift and carry should take that into account. Where Shark has been clever is with Powered Lift-Away. Instead of manoeuvring the complete upright everywhere, the main pod can be lifted away from the floorhead, making it much easier to tackle stairs, underneath furniture and above-floor areas. Importantly, the powered brush-roll can continue operating in Powered Lift-Away mode. So the fairest description isn't that this Shark is lightweight — it isn't. It's a substantial upright that's been designed so you don't always have to use it as one.

Easy enough for everyday cleaning?

Despite the amount of technology packed into it, the basic cleaning routine is straightforward. There are integrated handle controls, Easy Steer technology, a quick-release wand and a 0.83-litre dust capacity. The combination of DuoClean and Powered Lift-Away also means fewer interruptions for changing floorheads or finding another vacuum for the stairs. The dust cup will naturally need emptying more frequently than the much larger bins found on some traditional uprights, but 0.83 litres strikes a reasonable balance for a machine offering this much flexibility.

Who is the Shark upright vacuum best for?

This Shark makes most sense if cleaning performance matters more to you than having the smallest or lightest machine possible. It's particularly well suited to a home with shedding pets, mixed carpets and hard floors, stairs and upholstered furniture. The combination of Anti Hair Wrap, DuoClean, Powered Lift-Away and the dedicated Pet Tool gives you one machine capable of handling considerably more than straightforward floor cleaning. If your priority is something exceptionally light to carry, a smaller cordless model may suit you better. But that comes with a different set of compromises, particularly battery runtime.

Also of interest: if you would rather something kept on top of pet hair between deeper cleans, have a look at our best budget robot vacuums for pet hair round-up and our Roborock Q7 M5 review.

Final verdict

The Shark upright vacuum combines the dependable power of a corded cleaner with some genuinely useful features that make it considerably more versatile than an old-fashioned upright. The Anti Hair Wrap system and Pet Tool are the headline attractions for pet owners, while DuoClean makes moving between carpets and hard flooring straightforward. Powered Lift-Away is arguably just as important because it gives this relatively substantial vacuum a much more flexible way to tackle stairs, furniture and awkward spaces. Add the long cord, LED headlights, sealed allergen system and five-year guarantee when registered, and there's a strong package here for households that want serious whole-home cleaning rather than the absolute lightest vacuum available.