Handheld vacuum cleaners aren’t nearly as powerful as uprights or sticks, but when it comes to spot-cleaning, especially in cramped spaces like auto interiors, that’s where they truly shine. In today’s article, we’re going to take a look at the Shark WV201 WANDVAC – a one-of-a-kind handheld vacuum cleaner that looks as awesome as it works.
Narrow Design for Better Maneuverability
Most handheld vacuum cleaners you’ll come across follow a universal design with a bulbous end and a narrow front. Not the WV201 WANDVAC – this unique vacuum is narrow from front to end, allowing grip, reach, and maneuverability compared to traditional models.
The short and narrow design combined with the tapered nozzle ensures that the suction inlet makes complete contact with the surface, picking up every scrap of dust almost instantaneously.
Brushless Motor for Better Cleaning Performance
Brushless motors are much better than “brushed motors” for a reason – they don’t produce nearly as much heat, thereby allowing you to use the tool continuously without worry about burn-out. Additionally, brushless motors don’t drain batteries nearly as quickly as brushed, but this is almost insignificant, as you’ll find out later on in this article.
Ultra-Lightweight
On an empty dustbin, the WV201 WANDVAC weighs almost nothing. At 1.4 pounds, there is no question about the tool’s lightweight build and effortless control. The dustbin only holds up to 0.08 quarts of dust, so even on a full dustbin, the added weight won’t mean much.
9-1/2-minute Runtime per Charge
Now here’s where things may be unimpressive. The WV201 WANDVAC, on a full battery, can only operate up to 9-1/2 minutes at maximum. It is hardly anything, and you may find yourself needing to recharge the battery even before cleaning all seats in your car.
Of course, as a cordless, handheld model, you can’t expect a ton of runtime from its battery, but c’mon! Less than 10 minutes of use after 2-1/2 hours of charging from 0 to 100%? We know Shark can do better!
Fancy Charging Dock
The silver lining, if you want to call it that, is that the charging station is pretty awesome. To charge the WV201 WANDAV, simply place it handheld unit in the charging station nozzle-side down while it’s plugged into the nearest wall outlet. The charging dock also has specialized compartments where the cleaning attachments can be stored so they’ll never get lost.
Washable Filter and Dust Cup
The awesome thing about the WV201 WANDVAC is that the filter and dust cup are washable. As soon as you notice a reduction in suction pressure, all you need to do is remove the filter and give it a quick wash beneath running water from a faucet. Let it dry completely before reinstalling.
Cleaning the dust cup is the same – dump the contents by pressing the button into the garbage bin, remove the cup, and soak it in clean water while scrubbing gently with a cloth or sponge. Let it dry before placing it back in the WV201 WANDVAC.
Included Crevice and Multi-Surface Pet Cleaning Attachments
The WV201 WANDVAC comes with two awesome cleaning tools – a crevice tool and a multi-surface pet cleaning tool. Both tools attach to the end of the nozzle, giving you better cleaning performance on a wide range of different surfaces.
The crevice tool works well at reaching deep within upholstery cushioning to pick up every last bit of forgotten crumbs from years back. As for the multi-surface pet tool, if you have cats or dogs that love leaving fallen strands of fur all over the place, this attachment will pick it all up with hardly any problems.
However, we’ve seen many pet cleaning tools, and the WV201s are far from being the most impressive (hair tends to get tangled quite a bit in the brushes).
Longevity Problems
Sadly, the less-than-impressive charge isn’t the only thing that has us worried. Although the model we’ve tested out continues to work fabulously, not every customer was as fortunate as we were. Some customers’ WV201s failed within the first year while others were left sorely disappointed after the first month.
The good news is that Shark’s fantastic customer service is always online and ready to help. So if you’re one of the unlucky few who receives a defective product, Shark is always there to serve.
Verdict
From our review, you may have noticed a couple of downsides to the WV201 WANDVAC from Shark. We’ll admit that it’s far from being perfect, despite looking like what we hope future handheld vacuum cleaners will look like in the future, there are several things about this vac that need to be fixed, ESPECIALLY the battery.
If you can get past the 9-1/2-minute runtime (not that hard to do considering most cordless handheld vacuum cleaners reach a maximum of 15 minutes at most), then you would love using the Shark WV201 WANDVAC.
If you have any comments, please add them below. Similarly, please let us know if you spot any errors.