One minute review
Shark has become a popular choice in the home cleaning market in recent years, offering a range of vacuum form factors from uprights to cordless models, and the CH950UKT (aka the Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus in the US and Australia) is the cheapest of its kind. four-strong handheld range for $99.99 / £59.99 / AU$149.99.
The CH950UKT / Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus was the UK’s best-selling handheld vacuum in 2021 and it’s easy to see why. It offers a compact, lightweight form factor that makes it perfect for car cleaning as well as quick home cleanings such as on countertops, tables and upholstery.
It comes with three accessories: a motorized brush for collecting pet hair, a crevice tool and a dusting brush, which cover most usage situations. It promises 10 minutes of battery life (although it outperformed that in our tests) and has a 15fl oz / 450 ml bin, which is fairly generous in this market.
Considering its low price, the CH950UKT / Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus offers tremendous value. Despite only having one power setting, it proves to be powerful enough for most tasks put to it, and has enough battery life to clean your entire car on a single charge. The versatility with the included tools also makes it flexible to use, making it perfect for busy families, especially those with pets.
Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus price and availability
- MSRP: $99.99 / £59.99 / AU$149.99
The CH950UKT costs $99.99 / £59.99 / AU$149.99 and is available direct from Shark in the UK and US, as well as Amazon and other online retailers, while Australian buyers should head to home retailers such as Domayne or Harvey Norman. to go.
Be careful when looking for the Pet Pro Plus model to make sure you get all the tools we’re talking about here if that’s important. There are a few cheaper models (CH900/CH901 – both without the “Plus” in the name) that are available at some retailers, but with fewer tools and in different colors.
That might be a great option if you’re on a really tight budget, but this is already a great value handheld vacuum, made even better by the fact that it’s also one of the best all-rounders we’ve tested.
Design
- Wireless design
- Comes with three attachments
- 15fl oz / 450ml tub
Measuring 52 x 9.5 x 11cm, the CH950UKT / Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus is on the larger side of being compact and is probably better suited to being kept in a cupboard rather than on a counter. However, it’s still an ergonomic design and feels good to hold, with the handle built into the main body.
The power button is located at perfect thumb height on the top of the vacuum and provides a single level of suction, while the yellow bin release button (pictured above) sits towards the end of the nozzle and releases the bin downwards with a single firm pressure. The 12.8 fl oz / 450 ml bin feels big enough for general car cleanings, as well as for house cleanups.
Since I have two dogs, two kids under four and very little time to keep my car in acceptable condition, I managed to pass the tests without having to empty the bin, which goes pretty well. However, the hopper mechanism isn’t the smoothest when you need to empty it, and we often had to use both hands to help open the hopper.
This type of handheld vacuum gives you great control over your cleaning, while the three different attachments (motorized pet hair tool, crevice tool and dusting brush) also offer versatility, giving you all the tools you need to tackle more stubborn dirt and pet hair. such as but also in hard-to-reach places. It is quite a comprehensive package considering the low price.
At 3lb/1.39kg it’s light enough to do a full car cleaning without tiring your arm, and as handheld vacuums it looks pretty sleek too. The model we tested is only available in black, but in the US you can find comparable models from Shark in a wider range of colors, with fewer tools and for a bit cheaper too.
Performance
- Good pick up
- Easy to use
- Average noisy
The Shark CH950UKT / Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus is one of the better handheld vacuums we’ve tested, so it’s easy to see why it’s so popular. Its size, shape and weight make it perfect for cleaning your car, and its range of tools means it is always best suited to the task at hand.
We found the motorized pet hair tool and crevice tool to be the most useful for car cleaning. The crevice tool was particularly useful, as although the CH950UKT is relatively compact, its all-in-one design still means it would be a pain to get into the harder-to-reach areas behind foot pedals or in the door bins without it. It’s not the longest crevice tool we’ve used, but it’s handy for getting into tight spots.
The motorized tool has a large size for more widespread cleanups on carpets and upholstery, and made quick work of both smaller and larger soils in our standard tests. It’s also the perfect size for the job at hand, with a larger surface area than the crevice tool without becoming clumsy or imprecise. The one power setting means we sometimes had to re-cross an area to get to the finer crumbs or remnants of the debris, but overall the single power setting can handle most tasks well.
Outside of our standardized testing, a more generic cleaning around my car found that the Shark CH950UKT / Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus did the best at cleaning up more surface debris, and couldn’t completely remove older grime that had more of it worked into it. on carpet. It also struggled picking up my Jack Russell’s wiry hair in the trunk, but that’s a tough job even for more professional tools.
For what you can realistically expect from a vacuum of this size and power, the Shark CH950UKT performs admirably, and given its handy form factor, it’s easy to have on hand to clear up any mess before working in it.
In terms of noise, the CH950UKT / Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus measured at 88dB, which is about average for this kind of vacuum, and the suction power stayed pretty constant right up to the end, when you could hear it start to waver as the battery ran out. .
However, take the time to rinse out the filter after particularly heavy cleaning, and regularly otherwise, as this will ensure that the suction power of the vacuum remains as strong as possible. Simply remove the filter and run it under warm water, then let it dry completely before using it again.
battery life
- Better than the quoted 10 minutes
- About three hours to charge
- Battery is not removable
The Shark CH950UKT / Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus promises 10 minutes of battery life, but we found the battery outperformed that, and we squeezed almost 15 minutes from it on a single charge. You can expect that to drop a bit with the motorized tools attached, but we had plenty of time to get through our car on one charge, with even a bit of power left at the end.
Shark also seems to have been liberal with its quote of four hours for a full charge, as in our testing we found it went from empty to full in about three hours. You can’t change the battery, though, so you’ll want to make sure you keep it charged so it’s ready when you need it.
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First assessment: April 2022
