Alternatively, read everything you need to know about Henry Hoover. Other contenders worth considering Anti Hair Wrapoffers a self-cleaning brush roll thanks to an in-built comb. This removes pet and human hair before it gets the chance to get tangled.

Lift-away canister, dual brush floorhead, LED headlights, anti-hair-wrap floorhead, claims around allergen filtration To ensure we can properly compare the performance of all the vacuum cleaners we test, we put them through a barrage of challenging tests. We measure suction to get an idea of how powerful each vacuum is. If they use batteries, we time how long it takes for them to run down. Where the device has more than one power setting, we repeat the tests on them all. Digital control display This tells you in minutes exactly how much battery life you have left, and updates depending on the cleaning mode selected The second was the wealth of new technologies that Shark boasted about with this vacuum when we got a first glimpse of it at IFA 2023. This vacuum has four detection technologies so that cleaning your home is more thorough than ever. When we were testing, we found dealing with high-traffic areas much easier thanks the the amped up suction and the FloorDetect technology makes transitioning into different rooms across your home much easier too. Tech giant Samsung and Tineco, part of the Eco Vac robotics group, are starting to challenge the big brands with a handful of premium cordless vacuum launches.

The best Shark vacuums you can buy in 2023

This power switch is the reason I’d recommend the V12 to people with pets, ahead of Dyson’s other vacuums. It takes away the need to constantly hold down a button. This makes it easier to swap hands and navigate obstacles like sofas, dog toys and feeding bowls. All this is especially effective with the hair screw attachment which comes included in the price. (Standard cleaning heads are often defeated by long pet hairs.) Take a look at our review of the Shark Anti Hair Wrap with PowerFins and Flexology IZ300UK review to get our initial thoughts. Automatic cleaning mode This means you don’t need to worry about switching settings when you move from carpet to hard floor. I have a few small gripes with the carpet cleaner. Firstly, it leaked dirty water if I left it stood upright for a few minutes (though this was easy to clean up). Secondly, despite repeated passes, some stains were too deep-rooted to lift - although the SpinScrub hand tool attachment was the most effective. It didn’t struggle with the more recent stains, so I suppose I shouldn’t expect miracles. Thirdly, I found if I sprayed too much from the pre-treatment wand, then ran the floor head over the same spot, it became extremely soapy and hard to rinse. One of the attachments which comes with this Shark vacuum is the pet tool. As with many of the best vacuum cleaners for pet hair, it's was excellent at drawing out embedded hair from rugs, blankets and anywhere else your four-legged-friend likes to reside. Overall, this is a strong contender for those looking for a large capacity Shark vacuum that they can rely on.

The relatively new innovation to Shark's portfolio is Flexology which allows the wand to go from straight to angled, is a feature which we highly rate. It means that you can get your vac under the beds and various items of furniture that are raised up on legs. What we found, however, is that the floorhead wasn’t as easy to direct accurately as is the case when it’s used with the rigid wand. This could be a good compromise if you’re after a more compact vacuum but your budget won’t stretch to cordless tech.

Shark produces some of the best vacuum cleaners around, but which one is best for you?

Power trigger Most older Dyson models require you to hold down a power trigger while cleaning. This is to save battery, but if you have a lot of floor space to cover, it can get tiring.

Shark claims that it has all the power of a corded vacuum cleaner but in cordless form, and after testing we couldn't agree more. It's got DuoClean which makes switching modes immensely straightforward, and the controls make it easy to see how much battery you have left. To charge, simply lift out the battery on the side of the dust tank and pop it into its charging port. We’ve also tested models from brands such as AEG and Beko that are better known for their big kitchen appliances.

Lift Away: Some of Shark’s upright vacuums can be lifted off the motorised floor head and carried around, which is good for cleaning stairs and high places. The handle is removed from the extension pole and attachments can be added, adding greater flexibility to what are otherwise large and heavy vacuums. LiftAwayoffers a removable central canister that can be lifted around to clean stairs and upholstery. This makes is easier to access tough spots, even cars. Shark models tend to be heavier than Dyson, but some of this weight is in the bulky floorhead, so you won’t necessarily feel the effects. Pre-treatment wand, SpinScrub hand tool, carpet and upholstery attachment and hard floor cleaning attachment

Storage Do you have a space to install a wall mount, or would you rather a vacuum that self-stands or folds down? A good filter is absolutely key. The ‘pet smell’ in houses comes from dander: microscopic particles of skin, saliva, sweat and other proteins which can be as small as two microns (two thousandths of a millimetre) and can hang in the air for long periods of time, before settling into every fibre of your carpet and upholstery. You want to make sure that when you vacuum the dander up, it stays vacuumed. As the current owner of two dogs and four cats and several predecessors, the carpets in my house aren’t necessarily as dazzling white as they could be. I didn’t expect the carpet cleaner to make too much of a difference. How wrong I was.Like the Henry it uses activated charcoal to neutralise pet smells. The filter is rated as S-class (S for schwebstoff - airborne particles), a European rating that’s even more demanding than HEPA since it traps 99.9 percent of particles down to 0.03 microns. They also have a dust-ejection system designed to minimise dust-clouds, and a larger capacity, which means fewer trips to the bin. The V15 Detect Absolute, one of Dyson's newer models, comes with a number of innovative features. Read our Dyson V15 Detect Absolute review to see how it fared in our tests. Most impressively, this model boasts Shark’s most advanced anti hair wrap technology to date, removing strands from the rollers as it goes along. Unlike previous Shark models it’s almost 100 per cent effective, and that’s coming from someone with four long-haired cats (and two Labradors). There's a suite of onboard tools which can be used with this vac too, Molly's favourite being the Anti Hair Wrap Power Tool which is great for upholstery and smaller jobs. How we test Shark vacuums