I Tested the Affordable Shark PowerPro Pet in a Busy Animal Shelter and Was Surprised by its Strong Performance on Fur and Real-World Debris

Cleaning up after your pets is a constant battle. More often than not, as soon as a room is clear of fur, you turn around and it's covered again.

So, it's no surprise that leading vacuum brands such as Shark continue to try to save us from this ongoing hassle, and the new Shark PowerPro Pet is no exception. It promises to solve pet hair issues at home, with strong suction and an anti-tangle roller to clear fur without hassle.

I tested it in a local pet shelter, in our dedicated test center, and in my own home for an extended period to find out if the Shark PowerPro Pet could be one of the best vacuums for pet hair.

The One-Minute Verdict

The Shark PowerPro Pet offers a strong clean for its mid-range price, seamlessly passing from carpets to hard floors with its automatic power modes. It's clearly designed to be as intuitive as possible, with smooth gliding, floor sensors to adjust suction level for you, and a flexible wand that can help you reach under furniture where pets love to snooze and leave hair behind, without straining your back.

After testing in a pet shelter, I was surprised by how much fur it pulled out of low-pile and thick carpets, and it never once wrapped with hair. It struggles a bit when it comes to bumpy surfaces or large debris, but the ease-of-use redeems it, as you can easily adjust the attachments to vacuum anything that's left behind.

It's a great vacuum for the price, but if you're happy spending a little more, I'd recommend the Shark PowerDetect Cordless or the Dyson V11 as both have higher suction and performed better all-around during our real-world tests.

Shark PowerPro Pet: Specifications

Shark PowerPro Pet: Setup

I was happy to see that the Shark PowerPro Pet had been packaged using just cardboard and paper, without any non-recyclable plastic, and in a box that's smaller than what you'd expect for a vacuum cleaner.

It took a few minutes to unbox it all and connect the vacuum's sections. It's always recommended to fully charge the battery before the first use to get the most from your vacuum, preserving the battery's health and lifespan, and this took just under two hours.

I tested the UK's version of the Shark PowerPro Pet, which is the same vacuum but with a different power cord, and one different attachment: The pet multi-tool. They're similar in design, consisting of a brush that detaches to reveal a high-friction upholstery tool. But the UK edition has rubber fins for the brush, whereas the US version has bristles.

My model also came with a handy Shark tote bag that neatly stores all the vacuum's attachments in one place, but as the US version doesn't include this, I'd recommend this Kememo Corduroy Tote Bag at Amazon – I didn't realise how handy it was until now, especially as the Shark PowerPro Pet doesn't have slots to store attachments on the vacuum itself.

Shark PowerPro Pet: Design and Features

The PowerPro Pet is part of Shark's latest cordless vacuum range (which also includes the Shark PowerPro Flex), which builds on the brand's cleaning technology that they've steadily been developing over the past few years.

It has smart floor sensors that tell whether you're vacuuming bare floors or carpets so that it automatically adjusts the suction mode. This 'Auto' feature is a common staple of modern cordless vacuums, particularly Dyson vacuums, and it's helpful to not have to make these adjustments yourself while cleaning.

The 'PowerFins' floorhead is self-cleaning to avoid hair wrap, and its roller is made of a rubbery plastic. It doesn't have bristles, which can be particularly helpful for carpet vacuums, nor does it have two brushrolls like the Shark PowerDetect Cordless, one of our on-test favorites.

Bristles and dual brushrolls can be highly effective when cleaning different surfaces, but instead, Shark designed a floorhead focused on vacuuming hair, while still being able to pass from carpet to bare floor.

Also on the floorhead are LED headlights, a feature popularized by the Dyson V15 Detect – our best cordless vacuum. But while Dyson's lights can reveal dust that your naked eyes can't see, the Shark headlights simply illuminate the floor.

The Shark's attachments – crevice tool, upholstery tool, and pet multi-tool – cover every cleaning task you'll need around the house. When you remove the pet multi-tool's brush, it reveals an upholstery tool, which I found a little odd, as Shark could've omitted the separate upholstery tool altogether, rather than having two.

Shark doesn't list the suction power for their vacuums, but from my testing, it appears as if the PowerPro is one step down from the Shark PowerDetect Cordless, which has Shark's most powerful suction in a cordless vacuum.

I tested the airflow using an anemometer, and it ranges from 9.3 to 14.7mph. For comparison, the high-powered Dyson V11 ranges from 9.8 to 19.6mph, and the affordable Levoit LVAC-300 ranges from 7.1 to 12.3mph. The Shark sits comfortably above average.

What Is the Shark PowerPro Pet Like to Use?

The Shark PowerPro Pet has clearly been designed to be effortless to use. Automatic power adjustments, no floorheads to swap out, and smooth gliding across floor types make it a seamless cleaning experience.

It takes less than a second for the vacuum to automatically change suction mode when you pass between bare floor and carpet, and there are lights on the vacuum and floorhead showing which mode it's on. It's intuitive, taking away the guesswork and making it a more natural experience.

It automatically goes into carpet mode when you lift the vacuum up from the floor. At first, I thought this demonstrated how the floor sensors work – that they only recognise bare floors, and assume anything else is carpet – but after testing, I realised this was a clever design move. It avoids crumbs spilling out of the floorhead when lifted into the air, as that slight boost in suction makes sure the debris goes up into the dustbin.

Max mode (the highest suction level) isn't automatic; instead, it's activated by an easy-to-reach toggle right on the handle, as seen above. This simple, non-strenuous design is one of the best ways I've seen to control a cordless vacuum's strongest setting – and I'm surprised it isn't more common.

The Shark PowerPro Pet only has one floorhead. Others like the Dyson V12 Detect Slim and the Levoit LVAC-300 have separate floorheads for carpets and hard floors, which can offer a more specialized clean, but it can be inconvenient to swap them out while you're vacuuming. Instead, the Shark prioritizes convenience, using a versatile floorhead that can tackle both floor types.

I go into this in more detail below, but Shark's claim of anti-hair wrap is absolutely true. After testing the vacuum in a pet shelter, there were no hairs around the brushroll.

At 7 lbs, it's a lightweight vacuum, and one that can easily be carried upstairs or held with one hand. As a general guide, cordless vacs range from 6-8lbs typically, but upright vacuums are typically 13-18 lbs. The Shark PowerPro Pet also glides along floors smoothly with soft wheels that won't scratch delicate surfaces, like when cleaning hardwood floors.

I tested the noise levels using the Decibel X app, and they range from 68.5 to 73 decibels. This is typical for a cordless vacuum (and a little quieter than upright vacuums), but I found that the Shark PowerPro Pet's sound is softer and less jarring than others I've tested, likely because of the lack of bristles hitting the floor.

One gripe I have is that it's difficult to store the vacuum. It doesn't stand up by itself, which isn't uncommon, but if you lean it against a wall, it rolls forward and falls down. This is quite inconvenient, as cordless vacuums are most easily stored by leaning against a corner, but it also means that while you're cleaning, you have to bend down to place it on the ground if you ever need to free up your hands.

I found that when opening heavy doors or moving furniture that it became frustrating having to do this every time. I couldn't quickly prop it against something, as it would instantly roll down and hit the floor. It shows how smooth the wheels are, at least, but it may be a barrier if you deal with chronic pain or have difficulty bending down.

But there isn't a wall mount included, or even available on the SharkNinja website for this model. To store it, you'll have to lie it flat somewhere, which can take up a considerable amount of floorspace – unless you're happy stashing it under some furniture.

Test 1: Flour and Sugar

I tested the Shark PowerPro Pet using a half cup of flour and sugar, to assess its ability to handle fine material like dust and dander. I ran the test three times on carpet, linoleum and wooden floors.

It took two passes on linoleum, and 2-3 passes on wood, as afterwards a small amount was left in the cracks between the wood panels, but these got picked up instantly when I used max mode. This is strong performance, but not as fast as the one-pass Dyson V15 Detect or Shark POWERDETECT Upright.

When only using max mode, everything was vacuumed in one pass.

On carpet, results were similar, taking three passes on average to clear, thanks to max mode picking up the tiny number of debris left behind after the first two passes.

Carpet mode was great, automatically adjusting the grip so that it doesn’t suction itself to carpet. It felt intuitive, and I'd certainly recommend it as one of the best vacuums for carpet if you're looking for a cordless model.

Test 2: Pantry

I tested the Shark PowerPro Pet using a cup of green lentils and cereal, as seen below, to check how well it can handle medium and large debris. The cereal is a particularly enlightening test, as it shows a vacuum's capabilities when dealing with large pieces that can either be crushed down or flung around, and as it's a high volume of mess, there's a possibility of clogging up the internal parts.

On hard floors, most of it was vacuumed in one forward pass. Some big cereal pieces were pushed forward, but there wasn’t any flinging around, blockages, or mess. It was painless, even if I had to go and vacuum the final bits that were left behind afterwards. As far as cordless cleaning goes, this is one of the best vacuums for hard floors, as many cordless sticks struggle with the larger cereal pieces and become clogged.

Unfortunately, when testing against cereal and larger debris on carpet, almost everything was pushed forward instead of being sucked up. It seems like the gap between the floor and carpet is quite slim, so when there’s this much debris, it struggles to enter.

But while this would usually be a major criticism, it was so fuss-free to remove the floorhead and vacuum the rest using the max toggle, that I’m confident in its universal use around the house.

Test 3: Pet Hair

I tested the Shark PowerPro Pet in a local cat and dog shelter, Bristol ARC, to assess its cleaning ability on real pet hair on a mix of floor types. It's also a great test for seeing how the vacuum can handle lots of mess from a big, busy building with high foot traffic. It's how we test real-world results for the best vacuums for pet hair.

On the ridged entrance mat pictured above – one of the trickiest surfaces to vacuum pet hair from – it took seven passes to achieve a decent clean. I tested it alongside the Dyson Big Ball Turbinehead, which did a similar clean in two passes. Boost mode improved performance on the Shark vacuum significantly, and honestly, this was the only way to pull a healthy amount of fur from the entrance mat.

Performance was stronger on low-pile carpet. Almost every strand of hair or speck of dirt was vacuumed in one, sometimes two or three passes if it was particularly stubborn. The light really helped illuminate what was there, and the vacuum cleaned right to the edges.

When cleaning carpet with cordless vacuums, you’re not always sure if they’re digging deep enough to get everything, but the dustbin became surprisingly full of fur. After cleaning the same amount of floorspace, it had collected more hair than the corded Dyson Big Ball Turbinehead.

When cleaning a thick rug, I could feel it getting into the fibers and agitating the rug as I moved it around. I tried the flexible wand and it was useful, sure, but it became quite hard to steer at that angle, especially on a soft surface, and I feel this feature is better suited to hard floors. Everything was vacuumed in around four passes – slower than our favorite Dysons like the Dyson V11, but faster than more affordable picks such as the Ultenic U20.

There was solid performance on hard floors, although I occasionally had to go over the same spot for big things like leaves that don’t easily fit under the floorhead opening. Unlike on carpet, it struggled when cleaning edges, and I had to try different angles to get a few strands of hair.

Overall, this is a good performance for a cordless stick, but I've tested better. Models with higher suction perform better, whether it's one of the best Miele vacuums or the Dyson V15 Detect. But considering the Shark's relatively low price, this is impressive.

And importantly, after vacuuming for two hours at a pet shelter, there wasn't a single strand of hair in the brushroll.

Test 4: Attachments

The upholstery tool works well, but only if you use repeated forward strokes, as there’s less grip on the pull-back. The hairs on the pet shelter's padded chair are stubborn, and most vacuums struggle to clean them, but with a few repeated strokes, the Shark PowerPro Pet got them all.

As I mentioned above, the pet multi-tool is different in the UK and US. It’s still a multi-tool which clips off to reveal the upholstery tool underneath (which is almost identical to the other upholstery tool, just with thinner pads). It works amazingly, though. The fins yank fur right out, faster than the upholstery tool, and I hope that the US attachment is an effective vacuum attachment for pet hair.

Shark PowerPro Pet: Care and Maintenance

The Shark PowerPro Flex should be maintained just like any cordless vacuum: Empty it after each session, check the filters, and clear the brushroll to make sure suction isn't restricted.

Emptying it is as simple as removing the wand, then pushing the latch; however, the small lip on the dustbin lid means that hair can get stuck there – it's a minor inconvenience, but it means you’ll have to get your hands dirty occasionally.

Cleaning the vacuum filter is essential maintenance to preserve the appliance's lifespan and protect the motor from overworking. The foam pre-filter is washable; however, the main HEPA filter isn't, meaning you'll have to buy replacements when it starts to wear. This is a shame, as other vacuums have washable HEPA filters, omitting recurring filter costs.

How Does the Shark PowerPro Pet Compare?

Available for $329.99 at SharkNinja (and often discounted with up to $100 off), this is a strong mid-range vacuum cleaner, and it's cheaper than similar offerings from Shark.

The Shark PowerDetect Cordless is the closest comparison. They both have floor sensors, automatic power adjustments, seamless cleaning across floor types, and a flexible wand. However, the PowerDetect has stronger suction and dual brushrolls, making it a more effective and versatile cleaner, but it costs more. At full price, it's $449.99 from SharkNinja, but it is often discounted to $299.99.

But honestly, if you're considering spending up to $300 on a vacuum, I'd recommend spending a little extra on a Dyson deal. The Dyson V11 is often on offer for $399.99 at Dyson (as it is at the time of writing), and it boasts much higher suction and a floorhead that digs deep into carpets and plucks every visible strand of hair in one or two passes.

Next, see which vacuums top our tried-and-tested guide to the best Dyson alternatives.