Upright vacuums are quickly evolving from cleaning devices primarily intended for floors to all-in-one vacuum cleaners capable of cleaning both floors and above-ground areas in our homes. This transformation has also resulted in a big improvement in ease of use especially when vacuuming areas that are hard to access.
In this article, we will be comparing two upright vacuum cleaners from Shark. This company is not new in the world of vacuum cleaners and as a result, they have many impressive models in the market that it can be hard to choose one for your home.
The two models that we will be taking a closer look at are the Shark Navigator ZU561 and the Shark Navigator ZU62. Both these vacuums fall in the mid-budget range and they come equipped with some impressive features that make them particularly good choices for homes with pets.
Let’s jump in and find out which of these two devices will give you the best value for your money.
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Vacuuming Performance
Let’s start with finding out how good they are in vacuuming because after all is said and done, you buy a vacuum cleaner for vacuuming your floors. Any other abilities that the device might have will be secondary to its ability to get your floors clean.
Shark Navigator ZU561
This corded upright vacuum comes with decent cleaning capabilities that make it a great choice for cleaning floors of all types. You get powerful suction that will effortlessly lift dirt and debris from your carpets and hard floors.
The vacuum comes with Shark’s Zero-M brushroll that performs impeccably on carpets and hard floors. It easily picks up dirt, hairs, and debris from your floors. This brushroll stands out from most others in that it will pick up hairs and dirt from the floor and once the cleaning is complete, it will clean itself to give you clean bristles with no hair wrap.
This means that it has what it takes to produce impressive results consistently regardless of how long you have been using the vacuum.
Shark Navigator ZU62
This vacuum also performs impeccably when it comes to suction and the cleaning results you’ll get on different floor surfaces. It comes with a powerful motor that delivers strong suction that effortlessly picks up particles from all floor surfaces.
It’s also armed with the Zero-M brushroll that will remove stubborn hairs that usually wrap around the bristles after cleaning an area with a lot of pet hair. This feature is a welcome breath of fresh air for pet owners who struggle to clean the brushes on other vacuum cleaners. Here, all the hard and annoying work is done for you.
Maneuverability
Although upright vacuums are generally easy to use when vacuuming floors, they can be notorious when you have to work on hard-to-reach areas like stairs, corners or tight spots around the house. Many of them are also not very easy to use when cleaning above-ground areas. Let’s find out how these two perform in this important category.
Shark Navigator ZU561
This upright vacuum only weighs 13.4 pounds which is quite impressive for an upright vacuum. This low weight makes it easy to carry the vacuum to whichever part of your home that needs cleaning. Cleaning floors is easy and effortless because you won’t have to push a heavy machine all over the place.
It also comes equipped with swivel steering that makes the vacuum easy to turn as you clean your floors. When cleaning above-ground areas, this vacuum has you covered because it comes with Shark’s Lift-Away Technology that allows you to separate the main body of the vacuum from the floor tool.
With this technology, you will be able to lift the canister and use the extension hose to extend your reach. The hose is approximately 30 inches long, hence it is not as long as the one in the ZU62. However, since you can lift away the canister, this short hose is not a big limitation.
The power cord is 25 feet long.
Shark Navigator ZU62
At 16 pounds, this vacuum is slightly heavier than the ZU561. However, it is still light enough to be easily moved around the house as you vacuum. It also comes with swivel steering that makes turning easy as you vacuum.
Unlike the ZU561, this vacuum doesn’t come with Shark’s Lift-Away technology so the vacuum stays together as one unit. They have, however, compensated for the lack of this technology by including a 12-foot long extension hose. This long hose comes in handy when cleaning above-ground areas because you can leave the canister to sit at a central location and use the long hose to clean the surrounding areas.
The power cord is also 25 feet long.
Filtration
The filter is another vital part of any vacuum cleaner hence we can’t afford to overlook it in this comparison.
Shark Navigator ZU561
Filtration is not something that you’ll need to worry about with this vacuum because it comes with a HEPA filter that will capture a majority of fine particles in the air before it is released back into your home.
It also comes with Shark’s Anti-Allergen Complete Seal Technology that ensures that up to 99.9% of the small particles sucked up from the floor are held inside the vacuum. This is a big bonus if you have allergies because most of these particles are usually the triggers for most allergies.
Shark Navigator ZU62
This vacuum also comes with a HEPA filter so you can rest easy if you or someone in your household suffers from allergies. Like it is in the ZU561, this vacuum also comes with Shark’s Anti-Allergen Complete Seal that works hand in hand with the HEPA filter to ensure that none of the tiny allergens like dust, pet dander, mold, and pollen make it back into your home.
Conclusion
These two upright vacuums are quite similar hence they can almost be used interchangeably. However, the ZU561 comes with the Lift-Away technology that will come in handy if you will be doing a lot of above-ground cleaning. The ZU62 still does well with the long hose, but the fact that you will still need to move the canister can be a bother if you will be cleaning a large area.
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