Shark Stratos IZ420UKT Review: Automatic suction management

Not just a minor tweak on an old formula, the Shark Stratos Anti Hair Wrap Plus Pet Pro Cordless Vacuum IZ420UKT brings a brand-new floor head and automatic power adjustment into the mix. With excellent dust collection, a fantastic design and two batteries, this is a brilliant cordless vacuum cleaner for whole home cleaning.

Introduction

The Shark Stratos Anti Hair Wrap Plus Pet Pro Cordless Vacuum IZ420UKT marks a big change in design and strategy for the vacuum cleaner company, introducing a host of new features, including a new floor head, an Anti-Odour pod and automatic power modes. It’s a triumph of power, features and design.

I’ve reviewed the IZ420UKT (£549.99) model, which includes the pet hair brush and two batteries. There’s also the IZ420UK, which has one battery (£479.99), and the IZ400UK (£449.99), which has one battery and no pet tool. The base units and suction power are the same between all versions.

Design and features

• Automatic power mode
• Live battery read-out
• Anti-Odour pod

Although the Shark IZ420UKT superficially looks like its predecessor, the Shark IZ320UKT, this new model retains the best features of the old cleaner and adds some new ones into the mix.

From the old machine, there’s Flexology, which is Shark’s name for the hinged wand. This can be split in half for cleaning under sofas and the like without bending down, or folded over quickly so that the vacuum cleaner can stand upright without support. I found that great for storage and useful for those times I had to pause in the middle of a cleaning session.

It would be nice if there was some form of onboard tool storage. Shark does provide a bag for the large collection of tools, however. There’s a long crevice tool, a multi-surface tool with a removable brush, a mini motorised pet tool for furniture and pet beds, and an anti-allergen dusting brush.

At 4.07kg, the Shark IZ420UKT is a lightweight cordless vacuum cleaner. I found it easy to push around and lift up for higher cleaning jobs, such as around the ceiling.

Shark has placed the controls well: there’s a power button and mode control right where my thumb goes. Above the controls is an LCD that shows the battery life as a percentage. It’s not quite as detailed as the display on the Dyson V12 Detect, which shows battery life remaining in minutes, but at least a percentage gives an idea of how much life is left in the battery.

There are two batteries in the box, both of which fit into the same charger simultaneously. That’s well thought out, as it means that you can top up both batteries simultaneously and know that they’re both ready to go.

There’s a large 0.7-litre bin on this model, which has an eject button to push open the flap at the front. As long as the Shark IZ420UKT was pushed into a bin, I could easily empty it without spilling dust everywhere.

The bin is also removal, providing access to the two washable filters inside. Everything comes apart and goes back together easily.

So far, so normal, but the new features are impressive. First, there’s a new DuoClean floor head, which is designed for even better pet hair pick-up, while preventing hair from getting wrapped around either the hard floor roller or carpet brush. I’ve not had any hair clog up the floor head.

The floor head has the CleanSense display on it, which shows you how much dirt is being picked up. With the CleanSense mode selected on the vacuum cleaner, it can adjust its power according to the mess, which is good for battery life, as the vacuum cleaner only uses as much power as it needs. It’s a versatile system, whining down to low power when there’s not much dirt and then up to maximum power when the floor is dirty. It’s at least as responsive as the system Dyson uses.

There are also selectable Eco and Boost modes available if you want to take control. Eco can be useful for delicate items, such as vacuuming a keyboard, while the Boost mode is a good choice for when there’s a lot of mess to deal with.

The floor head also takes the Anti-Odour pod. This comes sealed in a can about the same size as a gourmet cat food tin, and slots into the floor head, releasing a pleasant odour as you clean, much in the same way as the similar system in the Henry Quick. There’s an intensity dial here to adjust how much odour is released. Replacements cost £4.99 each. 

Performance

• Long battery life
• Effortlessly cleans all surfaces
• Huge amount of raw power

I started by measuring the raw power of the vacuum cleaner in AirWatts (AW). On Eco mode, the cleaner had a reasonable amount of power at 39AW. On the CleanSense setting, the vacuum cleaner started at 118AW by default, but it does ramp power up and down. On Boost, the Shark IZ420UKT managed a massive 219AW.

To see how the figures translated into performance, I ran the vacuum through my real-world tests. Starting on the carpet, I sprinkled a teaspoon of flour onto the floor. On CleanSense, I let the vacuum cleaner do its thing, and a single sweep left me with a clean run through the mess.

I then finished cleaning the remaining mess by going on Eco power at the bottom and Boost at the top. As you can see, there’s no discernible difference between the power modes.

Next, I sprinkled flour against the skirting board on carpet tiles. This is a tough test, but the CleanSense mode and excellent floor head made short work of the mess with just a single sweep. The remaining mess you see was outside of the floor head’s width.

Cat hair combed into the carpet was no problem for this vacuum cleaner, either. One pass removed every hair straight away.

The DuoClean head is brilliant on the hard floor, too. It removed every grain of rice without dropping any back onto the floor.

Battery life is hard to measure on this, as, in CleanSense mode, power fluctuates. To get an idea, I vacuumed continuously around my office, which hadn’t been cleaned in over a week. Based on that, a single battery should last around 27m. That means a total cleaning time of just shy of an hour.

Based on how well this vacuum cleans, that amount of time is more than enough to clean an average-sized house, and you wouldn’t need a plug-in cleaner. On Boost mode, the battery drops to just 10-minutes, so use this sparingly.

I measured this vacuum cleaner at 69.1dB on Eco, around 73.6dB on CleanSense (although it does go quieter and louder) and 78.3dB on Boost. It’s not an annoying sound from this vacuum cleaner, and I found it pleasant enough to use.

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