The Shark Cordless Pet Perfect II is made specifically for pet hair on upholstery and carpet. It offers a decent level of suction, a rechargeable battery and several attachments. The charging stand doesn't take up a lot of space and has slots for all the tools. This is a good all-purpose handheld vacuum; however, it has a short run time and the battery takes a very long time to charge.
This handheld vacuum cleaner performed well in our tests, mainly with grabbing pet hair. We ran a series of trials, which included cleaning a car seat and spreading sawdust on carpet and hardwood. Despite its high level of suction, the design of the head for pickup was adequate but not the best among handheld vacuums we tested. It took five passes to clean the area on carpet and nine to clean hardwood. Both are about average for the hand vacs we tested.
For pet hair, it lived up to its name, proving competitive with the best performers in the category. In our tests, we spread out a larger amount of pet hair than you likely have in your carpet, and although a few stray hairs needed to be loosened by hand, it did a good job of cleaning the area. This is likely due to its high level of suction.
For one suction test, we put screws in a flat-topped container and had each vacuum create a seal on the container’s lid and lift the container off the countertop. We kept adding screws to the container to test each vacuum’s suction threshold. The Shark Cordless Pet Perfect II was able to pick up a full pound of screws off the table. That's the second highest in our comparison.
The Shark Cordless Pet Perfect II’s best attribute is the charging stand. It's designed for compact utility. When this mini vacuum cleaner is not in use, you place it in the stand and allow it to charge. The extra attachments have their own slot in the stand for easy access.
Not all handheld vacs we tested are cordless like this one. The Shark does have a rechargeable battery, but it takes about 16 hours to reach a full charge. That's not terrible, but the runtime comes to only 10 minutes, which is low compared to other hand vacs. That means a lot of waiting if you end up using the vacuum for more than just one quick mess. If you have a large vehicle, it could easily take more than 10 minutes to clean it thoroughly with this vacuum.
The filter and bin system is well designed. The case is clear plastic so you'll know when it's full. A button on top clicks it open for emptying. The bin is wide and takes up the entire length of the vacuum, so debris falls right out without getting too packed in. The reusable filter is right inside the main area of the bin, and you can remove it and clean it under cold water.
We gave extra points to the small vacuum cleaners that came with separate attachments, and the Shark is one of the better choices for precise tasks. We like the wide-mouth tool, which extends the vacuum's mouth considerably, reducing the number of passes required to clean larger areas. It's an important attachment for a vacuum that runs for just 10 minutes.
The noise level for this vacuum is good. Only two vacuums in our comparison are quieter. We measured it at 90.8 dB, which is about as loud as a noisy office.
The Shark website is well maintained and easy to navigate. For customer service, there is a phone number, email forms and live chat. We docked the Shark's score in this area a little because it only has a one-year warranty. Many of the other vacuums have warranties for two or three years.
The Shark Cordless Pet Perfect II is designed with utility in mind and is a good companion in a car or dorm room. The suction is powerful, and the wide-mouth tool helps the vacuum with large messes that you might not consider using a handheld vacuum for otherwise. The runtime leaves a lot to be desired, though, and its warranty is shorter than others. Despite that, this handheld vacuum cleans well, doesn't require a lot of passes over the area and is one of the best vacuums for picking up pet hair.
