The one vacuum cleaner manufacturer that appears busier than the rest is Shark. It seems that every month or so, the market is introduced to a new model, and I could not be happier.
Straight from their labs is the Shark DuoClean Lift Away NV803, another upright that uses the ever-so handy Lift Away feature that makes spot-cleaning a breeze. Let’s take a closer look at what the cinnamon-brown colored upright vacuum cleaner is all about.
Vacuum Performance
One area where Shark excels is suction power. Their tremendous line vacuum cleaners have been known to suck… hair, dust, and debris from carpets, bare floors, and upholstery without the slightest hitch.
It’s not surprising that the NV803 continues this tradition by removing almost anything from its path in a single sweep.
The NV803 comes with a 12-foot wide vacuum head for quicker cleaning in fewer passes. When tested on everything (dust, hair, cereal, pet food, among others) on both bare and carpeted floors, it only took one forward pass to pick every visible particle off the floor.
Some users might be put off by its wide side bezels that can make edge-cleaning a pain. There are side brushes they mainly push dirt back into the edge instead of pulling it inward toward the vacuum inlet.
However, by switching over to the hose and one of the cleaning attachments, tricky spots like edges, stairs, and corners are no longer an issue.
DuoClean Helix-Style Brushroll
The magic behind the NV803’s superior cleaning performance is in the brushroll. It uses the Shark DuoClean brushroll where delicate bristles are placed in a double-helix pattern for more contact and extracting power.
Best of all, the DuoClean bristles are completely safe to use on floorboards and tiles. The will continue to “dig” into your floors, but their soft material prevents marring and scratching. This is a handy feature to have, especially when cleaning tile grout, cracks, and in between floorboards.
The DuoClean brushroll is not self-cleaning, and hair will get tangled in the bristles. A quick snip with a pair of scissors should remove the clump of fur and hair in a jiffy.
Convertible to Powered Lift Away Handheld Unit
Any Shark model with Lift Away technology can convert from an upright to a portable handheld model simply by removing the canister from the base. You can do your cleaning by attaching either the vacuum head onto the end of the suction hose or one of the four included cleaning tools.
On Lift Away mode, spot-cleaning above-ground surfaces becomes a lot easier to do compared to lifting the 14-1/2-pound upright. You get the same suction power and speed but also with improved maneuverability (like any handheld unit, really).
In all honesty, on Lift Away mode, the NV803 is a portable canister, not a handheld unit, but the same principles apply.
Plus, you get a lot more cleaning power than any handheld unit can deliver while also cleaning the same types of off-ground surfaces (auto interior, shelves, upholstery, and so on).
Anti-Allergen Seal
Pet owners and allergy sufferers will appreciate the NV803’s total anti-allergen seal. The secret behind the seal is the True HEPA Filter it’s equipped with. Rated with an effectiveness of over 99.9% on particles as small as 0.3 microns, the NV803 virtually traps every type of dust and common floor pollutant you can imagine and prevents them from shooting out of the exhaust.
On average, the True HEPA Filter needs to be replaced every four to six months, but it depends on how frequently you use the NV803 and what sort of debris you’re dealing with. Overall, you couldn’t ask for or find a better filter than this.
Four Cleaning Attachments
Inside the box, you’ll find four cleaning tools: a 2-in-1 dust crevice tool, a pet power brush, a pet multi-tool, and an oddly shaped stick known as an under appliance tool. All four of these tools will provide you with the ability to clean your home from top to bottom and everywhere in between.
The pet power brush does an excellent job at picking up fallen pet fur (for the pet owners out there) from upholstery and other soft surfaces. However, it’s air-driven, not motor-driven, so you’ll need to press down quite a bit to get the bristles to turn and dig deep.
Related Shark Upright Vacuum ArticlesSingle Reviews
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Shark AZ1002 APEX Upright Vacuum
Comparison Articles
Shark NV356E vs NV360 vs NV370
Shark NV500 vs. NV501 vs. NV752 vs. NV803
Verdict: Is the Shark Lift Away NV803 Worth It?
Absolutely. First of all, it carries the Shark name which in itself means a lot in terms of quality and after-sales service. As for the Shark NV803 itself, it’s a pet-owner-friendly vacuum cleaner that does everything you’d expect from an upright and portable canister model.
Dust, cereal, pet food, pet hair—nothing stands a chance of escaping from its amazing suction or its super-fine HEPA filter.
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Last update on 2023-03-22 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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