Despite robotic vacuum cleaners increasing popularity, uprights still dominate the vacuum cleaner world as being the number one most sought after type. Their power, maneuverability, and versatility make them great for all cleaning tasks—from the piles of dirt to embedded pet fur.

Today, we’re going to take a look at one of Shark’s greatest uprights available today—the Lift Away Anti Allergy NV501. This model is a part of the Rotator Lift-Away family so you know it’s a high-quality product.
Let’s see what sort of features this baby is packing in its bulky yet elegant housing
Perfect Cleaning with Every Pass
With every back and forward motion, you can expect the NV501 to lift all dust particles and every piece of debris off your floors instantly. This is due to the heavy-duty 1200W that delivers more than 20 kPa of airflow to ensure spotless floors and carpets with every pass.
Digging deep into low- to high-pile carpeting is easy thanks to the motor-driven brushroll. The bristles are stiff enough to reach your carpets roots without pulling fibers out while also being delicate enough to not leave scratches on floorboards and tiles.
Even without a brushroll height adjustment feature, nothing can stop you from cleaning all floor surface types with the NV501.

Lift-Away Handheld Canister Caddy
Any Shark-made product with the Lift-Away label is a 2-in-1 model that transforms from an upright to a lightweight handheld canister. By detaching the canister, you’ll be able to use any of the included tools to spot-clean any above-ground surface like ceilings and curtains.
Best of all, the caddy itself is pretty lightweight so doing overhead cleaning shouldn’t cause any problems. However, this is a Lift-Away Canister Caddy, not a Powered Lift-Away, so the cleaning tools’ brushes are air-driven.
4-piece Cleaning Tool Set
But that’s not bad at all considering the effectiveness of each cleaning tool. The NV501 comes with a four-piece set of tools, including a 12-inch crevice tool, a multi-angle brush tool, a dusting brush, and a straight suction nozzle. With these tools in your arsenal, all surfaces from floors to ceilings and even auto interior can be cleaned easily when switched to Lift-Away mode.
LED Lights
The main vacuum head comes with a series of super-bright LEDs that illuminate dark spaces beneath furniture and in other tight-fitting areas. The vacuum head shines a bright light to expose any near-invisible piles of dirt lurking about so you never miss a part of your floors or rugs.

This also means there’s less pre-vacuum prep needed (e.g. temporarily relocating furniture) for quicker, stress-free vacuuming efficiency.
1.3-liter XL Dust Cup
Everything the bagless NV501 suctions up gets stored into the XL dust cup. The cup holds onto as much as 1.3 liters of dirt, debris, and fur to reduce the frequency of interruptions between vacuuming sessions. Also, removing the cup’s contents is as easy as pushing a button and letting all of the dirt fall out through the bottom of the cup.
Anti-Allergen Seal + HEPA
For those whose noses are tickled by pet dander or pollen, you’ll be happy to learn that the NV501 is designed specifically to prevent such allergens from leaking out and falling back onto your floors. This upright is made with Anti-Allergen Seal so everything that gets trapped in the dust cup is stuck there until the end of time, or at least until you need to empty it out.
Plus, the NV501 passes everything through a super-fine HEPA filter that traps up to 99.97% of particles at 0.3 microns in size or larger.
Swivel Steering for Enhanced Maneuverability
The neck on the NV501 is made to swivel as you turn the upright to allow for better maneuverability below and around furniture. This ultimately means spending less time preparing a room for vacuuming (e.g. moving furniture around) and more time spent actually vacuuming.
It also reduces the strain of having to angle your arm and shoulder at awkward angles to poke the vacuum head into small spaces.
25-foot Power Cord
And finally, we have the 25-foot power cord that offers a ton of free movement from every outlet. It’s not the longest out there, but it is plenty long enough to provide a wide radius of coverage between unplugging and plugging the vacuum.
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Verdict: Should I Get the Shark Professional Lift Away Anti Allergy NV501 Upright Vacuum?
In the end, as a Shark product, it’s difficult to argue that this the NV501 Upright Vacuum doesn’t belong in your home, especially if your floors are covered in carpeting and prioritize ease of use over everything else.
It’s not particularly compact, but the detachable Life-Away canister pod should make things easier for you.
Our Recommended Upright vacuums
Last update on 2023-06-07 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API
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