Shark vs. Dyson Cordless Vacuum Face-Off!

I bought my first cordless vacuum only two years ago but now wish I had done it long before that – I’ll never go back to corded! I have both Shark and Dyson cordless vacs and often get asked which one is best. The truth is that they each have their pros and cons so it depends on what you’re looking for in a vacuum. Today I’m doing a face off of Shark vs. Dyson cordless vacuums to show you exactly how these two brands compare – it should give you all the info you need to decide which one is best for you! (post includes affiliate links – full disclosure statement available {here})

Shark vs. Dyson: Which Models I’m Testing

I’m comparing two of the most recent and popular Shark and Dyson cordless vacuums including the Shark IZ163H Rocket Pet Pro with Multiflex, the Shark IZ462H Vertex, the Dyson v10 Animal, and the Dyson v11 Animal.  Here’s the whole crew lined up and ready to clean:

Sources from left to right: Shark IZ462H Vertex Cordless Vacuum (find newest version {here}) |  Dyson v11 Animal Cordless Vacuum  |  Dyson v10 Animal Cordless Vacuum  |  Shark IZ163H Rocket Pet Pro with Multiflex Cordless Vacuum

All four of these vacuums can be converted into powerful handheld vacs too so you’re getting a cordless vacuum and handheld all in one:

Let’s jump right in to how these Sharks and Dysons compare on key features including run time, battery type, weight, suction power, dustbin capacity, attachments, special features, and price…

Run Time

Figuring out and comparing run times of cordless vacuums is tricky because the times reported by the brands are not under conditions of typical use. Dyson v10 and v11 cordless vacuums reportedly have up to 60 minutes of fade-free run time with a non-motorized attachment (the typical floor attachment is motorized). The Shark Rocket Pet Pro and Shark Vertex reportedly have up to 40 minutes and 60 minutes, respectively, of runtime in standard mode measured at the hand vac (again, not with the typical floor attachment). So we’re not really comparing apples to apples here between the two brands and neither is telling us how long to expect the vacuum to run when being used as most of us would.

I did my own test with all four vacuums using the standard rotating floor cleaning attachment that each one comes with:

My house is about 50% hardwoods, 25% low pile carpet, and 25% medium pile carpet so Jeff and I took a vacuum in each hand and used them on hardwoods for 5 minutes, then medium pile carpet for 5 minutes, back to hardwoods for 5 minutes, and finally to low pile carpet for 5 minutes. We then started through the same rotation a second time and noted when each vacuum died. For both Sharks and the Dyson v10, we ran them on the low setting on the hardwoods and low pile carpet and the next highest setting on the medium pile carpet. The Dyson v11 has an auto sense feature that detects the type of surface it cleans and increases or decreases the suction accordingly so no toggling to different settings was needed.

The winner for run time? The Dyson v11. It ran for a total of 37 minutes under my test conditions. Next came the Dyson v10 that ran for 32 minutes, the Shark Vertex that ran for 29 minutes, and then the Shark Rocket Pet Pro that ran for 26 minutes. If your house has more hardwoods than mine, your run times would be longer. With more carpet, expect run times to be shorter.

When you’re vacuuming with a cordless vacuum you can move from room to room and around a room much more quickly than with a corded vacuum because you don’t have to constantly plug and unplug the vacuum or deal with the cord tangling or getting caught on something. I’ve found that I can get my vacuuming done in about half the time with a cordless as I did with my old corded vacuum. So for me, the run time of any of these vacuums is plenty – I’ve never had one die on me before I was done with what I wanted to get vacuumed. But if you feel you need a longer running time, you’d want to go with the Dyson v11 or buy one of the Sharks along with an extra Shark battery and charger that you could swap out, giving you double the run time (more on that next!).

Battery Life Indicators

All four vacuums have battery life indicators to tell you how much charge is left in them. For the Sharks and the Dyson v10, it’s three lights in a row that light up to indicate full charge, mid charge, or low charge. The Dyson v11 has a much more sophisticated digital display that shows the estimated battery life remaining which is really nice:

The time adjusts throughout the time you’re vacuuming depending on the surface you’re vacuuming and the setting that you have your Dyson on.

Battery Type & Recharging Options

Something I didn’t think about when I bought my first cordless vacuum was whether or not the battery was a click-in battery that could be removed for recharging. Why is this important? If the battery doesn’t click in and out of the vacuum for recharging (which is the case with the Dyson v10), you need to store your entire vacuum by an outlet for recharging. If you have an outlet in the space you normally store your vacuum then this is no big deal! The Dysons actually come with a nice wall mounted docking station that you can attach your charging cable to and then just pop your vacuum onto for storage and recharging. I have my Dyson v10 mounted in a nook at the top of our basement stairs where we had an outlet installed specifically for this purpose:

But BEFORE we had the outlet installed, we didn’t have a good out of the way spot to recharge it so most of the time it was sitting in the corner of our home office which isn’t ideal.

While the Dyson v10’s battery is not removable for charging, just to make things confusing, earlier Dyson v11’s do NOT have a removable battery but more recent versions do. My sister has a Dyson v11 Animal with a screw-in, non removable battery but my Dyson v11 Animal’s battery is a click-in replaceable one.

Both Shark vacuums DO have a removable click-in battery. Having a removable battery allows you to pop the battery out and recharge just the battery at an outlet while you keep the rest of the vacuum wherever you want. This really opens up your options for recharging. For example, I can recharge my click-in Dyson v11 or Shark vacuum batteries in the shallow storage closet off our kitchen:

while storing the rest of the vacuum anywhere I want. The two Shark vacuums I tested have another pretty cool feature that makes them easy to store too – the multiflex feature (where it bends in the middle of the stick) allows them to fold down to a much shorter height for compact storage:

Weight

All four vacuums weigh less than 10 pounds but the Dysons are a bit lighter than the Sharks. The Dyson v10 Animal is 5.9 pounds and the Dyson v11 Animal is 6.68 pounds while the Shark Rocket Pet Pro is 7.17 pounds and the Shark Vertex is 9.04 pounds. All four are quite easy for me to carry up and down stairs (they are all a LOT lighter than my old corded vacuum).

When weighing all four of them as a handheld with the standard crevice tool attached, both Sharks and the Dyson v10 all weigh within two ounces of each other (3 pounds, 13-15 ounces). The Dyson v11 is about 9-10 ounces heavier.

So the Shark Vertex is the heaviest of the vacuums but the Dyson v11 is the heaviest of the bunch when used as a handheld.

Suction Power

As with run time, the power of Dysons is reported in a different way than Sharks making it impossible to compare the two brands with specs alone. Dyson measures suction power in air watts with the Dyson v10 at 151 air watts and the Dyson v11 at 185 air watts. The power of Sharks is reported in watts with the Shark Rocket Pet Pro at 181 watts and the Shark Vertex at 281 watts. Watts and air watts aren’t the same thing. Watts is not as accurate of a reflection of suction powder since it refers to the total amount of power supplied to all components of the vacuum (including the lights), not just the suction power.

Doing my own tests using the two Dysons and Sharks to vacuum up various items on hardwoods,

as well as using them as handhelds what I found is that all four have very good suction powder and they all got the job done. Overall, I felt that the Dyson v11 has the best suction power and the Shark Rocket Pet Pro has the least suction power of the four (remember however that I’m not Consumer Reports doing this in a test lab – this is just my experience from putting them to use on everyday tasks). However, the power fins that both Sharks have on their rotating floor vacuum elements give them a leg up over the Dyson Animals on vacuuming larger items like dry dog food and Cheerios.

And as I side note, both Sharks have lights on the vacuum heads that help illuminate dirt and dust which is a feature I really like that my two Dysons don’t have.

Trigger vs. Toggle Switch

Another difference between the Dysons and Sharks is whether they have a trigger or on/off toggle switch. Dysons have a trigger that you have to hold down with your trigger finger the entire time you’re vacuuming. They do this as a way to conserve battery power and it does come in handy when you mistakenly suck up the edge of a rug as it’s a lot faster to release the trigger than to flip a switch to turn the vacuum off. The Sharks both have a typical on/off toggle switch that you don’t need to hold down.

If you have arthritis or other issues with your hands, having a typical on/off switch like you do with the Sharks might be preferable. I did recently find a clever work-around for the trigger on the Dysons though – you can actually buy {this on/off clamp} that attaches to the trigger so that you don’t have to continue holding it down while vacuuming. I just ordered one to try and will let you know what I think!

Dustbin Emptying & Capacity

Another difference between the cordless vacuums I tested is in dustbin size – both Dysons I tested have double the size dustbins as the Sharks. The dustbins for the Dysons hold 0.8 quarts while the dustbins for the Rockets hold 0.34 quarts. All four vacuums have simple one-touch emptying where you push a button and the bottom pops open and the dust is supposed to fall out without ever having to touch it. However, with all four vacuums I often have to use my hand to get the crap in the dustbin because it doesn’t fall out on its own (which I think is due to having a family of girls with long hair).

While you’d think a bigger dustbin would always be better, there is one advantage to the smaller dustbin of the Sharks. I’ve found it’s easier to reach in and get all of the vacuumed up crap and debris out of the Shark dustbin since it’s a lot shallower than the Dyson dustbin.

Attachments

Each cordless vacuum comes with a different assortment of attachments. The Sharks both come with a crevice tool and pet multi-tool and the Shark Vertex also comes with an anti-allergen brush. The Dysons come with several additional tools including a couple that I really love. One is the mini motorized tool that can be attached to the end of the handvac portion of the Dyson and works SO well for cleaning stairs and upholstered furniture:

The Dyson v11 Animal also comes with this clear wand storage clip that’s super simple but also very clever. You clip it onto the stick of your Dyson and it holds the two most commonly used attachments so they’re always available and easy to grab:

My Dyson v11 Animal also came with this up-top adapter that twists and locks at different angles for cleaning high-up areas of your home like shelves, mantels, and ledges:

Strangely this is an attachment that is included with some Dyson v11 Animals and not others – as of the time of this post, it comes with the Dyson v11 if you buy direct from Dyson {here} but not from other sources.

While Sharks might not have as many attachments, one feature I did want to make sure to showcase is the multiflex feature on both Sharks – it’s awesome! About halfway down the vacuum stick there’s a hinge and lock/unlock button:

When you unlock it, the vacuum flexes at the hinge point and can go under furniture SO easily. I truly love it – you can vacuum under coffee tables, sofas, chests, and all sorts of other furniture pieces with ease:

Cost

Based on all of the features I discussed, if I had to choose between a Shark or Dyson and the cost for all of them was exactly the same, I’d go with a Dyson. But that’s not the case – when looking at cost, the Dysons are priced significantly higher than Sharks. While the Dysons may have more features than the Sharks, the Sharks are great vacuums for the price and their multiflex feature is awesome.

If You’ve Decided on a Dyson…

If you’ve decided on a Dyson it’s often because you want the best in suction power and run time and are willing to pay more for it. Both the Dyson v10 Animal and v11 Animal are excellent vacuums and I think you’d be happy with either. The v11 has a bit more power, the digital display of remaining battery life, and (in most recent versions) a removable battery which I consider a huge plus but it’s more expensive too. How will you know if the Dyson v11 Animal you’re ordering has the removable battery? Some listings will include the detail that it’s the sv14 version (non-removable battery) or the sv15 version (removable battery) so look for that!

You can buy the Dyson v10 Animal directly from Dyson {here} and on Amazon {here}. Also check pricing on the v10 Absolute {here} – the v10 Absolute is the same exact vacuum as the v10 Animal but with an extra fluffy roller head attachment for hardwood floors which normally makes it more expensive but sometimes it’s on sale for less!

You can buy the Dyson v11 Animal directly from Dyson {here} (customer service told me it’s the sv15 version with the removable battery 🙌🏻), on Amazon {here} (some reviewers say theirs came with a screw-in battery and others got one with a removable battery), and on HSN {here}. Update! Dyson has stopped carrying the v11 Animal and replaced it with the newer Dyson v15 Detect that has the same features as the v11 but with a few upgrades – you can find it {here}. 

And it’s brand new so I haven’t tried it out but if you want the latest and greatest, Dyson’s newest version is the v15 Detect that retails for $699.99 and can be found {here}

And a word of warning about shopping for Dysons. You’ll find “bargain prices” on older Dyson vacuums (the lower the “v” number, the older the Dyson model) but the Dyson v7 and v8 are are much less powerful than the newer Dysons. The v11 actually has 40% more suction power than the v8.  If you chose not to buy a Dyson v10 or v11 because of the price, in my opinion it’s better to go with one of the newer Sharks than the older Dysons that are a similar price.

If You’ve Decided on a Shark…

If you’ve decided on one of the Sharks it’s often because you want a well performing cordless vacuum that won’t break the bank and you would like to have a click-in removable battery and the versatility of the multiflex wand. In deciding between the two Shark vacuums, I would make the choice mainly by your budget. The vacuums are both quite similar but the Vertex is a step up in suction power and its larger wheels make it easier to push on carpet.

You can buy the Shark IZ163H Rocket Pet Pro {here} and the Shark IZ462H Vertex {here} (newest version {here}).

I hope you guys found this post helpful – let me know if you have any questions or experiences of your own to share!

XO,