Shark Navigator Lift Away Deluxe NV360 – Pros & Cons

 

The Shark Navigator Lift-Away Deluxe (model NV360) is a very popular and affordable Shark upright vacuum cleaner.  We’ve had our NV360 for about 6 months (at the time of this writing) and we’ve discovered both the good and the bad.

 

This is a fairly basic vacuum cleaner.  So what do you get when you buy your NV360? 

 

- Vacuum (all filters installed)
- Crevice tool
- Upholstery tool
- Tool clip
- Quick start guide
- Owner's manual

 

 

- For the price range (as low as about 150-160 bucks), the NV360 has a fairly solid feeling about it.  Most other vacuums we’ve reviewed at this price point don’t feel quite so robust.  This is very objective but we base this on our experience.

 

- There are brushroll ON/OFF controls.  A switch just above the dust canister allows you to turn the brushroll ON and OFF.  Typically you want the brushroll ON when cleaning carpets and you want the brushroll OFF when cleaning a smooth surface.  This stops scatter and if you have very delicate flooring you may also not want the brushroll spinning (could potentially scratch the flooring).

 

- This vacuum has Shark’s Lift-Away feature.  This allows you to carry the dust-canister/motor assembly in one hand while using the hose/wand/tools with the other hand.  It is kind of like having a corded handheld unit and it will allow you to access places and do jobs that you cannot do with an upright – for example a set of stairs or a vehicle interior.  We see this feature on lots of Shark uprights but not all.

 

- The vacuum has 3 filters which are easy to access and ALL (2 pre-motor, 1 post-motor) can be rinsed in water and reused.  The post-motor filter is also a HEPA filter.
 
- The NV360 is not too loud.  It is not particularly quiet, but at least it is not too loud.  We tested the peak decibel output against a host of other uprights and found it to be about average in terms of noise.
 
- The 2 tools provided with the vacuum can both be stored on-board the vacuum using the handy tool clip.  This is very useful as you don’t have to go fetch a tool when you need it.

 

 - The vacuum has a suction release slider.  This is a very simple device that allows you to bleed off vacuum suction.  It is useful to bleed off suction if, for example, the vacuum is difficult to move on a particular surface due to too much suction under the cleaner head.  Opening this valve can make the vacuum easier to mover.  Also, if you are using a tool on the end of the handle or wand and you are vacuuming something delicate (maybe a lamp shade or some curtains for example), you may find you want to drop the suction to ensure you do not do any damage.

 

- We tested the NV360 on low pile carpet with small-to-medium sized debris (flax seeds, chili flakes, split green peas, lentils) and found that pickup was quite good.  Every bit as good as a few of Shark’s slightly more expensive units – the Navigator ZU561 and the Pet Pro ZU62.

 

In the following video you can watch us walk through the many things we really like about our Shark Navigator Lift-Away Deluxe NV360:

 

 

 

- The vacuum isn’t very well balanced (not too stable in the upright position).  It doesn’t take much for it to topple and if you bump into it or just pull it a little, it will often fall over.  It can be a little annoying.

 

- The hose is very short.  A short hose is OK if you are using the Lift-Away feature but if you simply want to put a tool on the end of the handle and do some work then you will find the hose far too short.  It is a stretch hose but it is also rather stiff and doesn’t like to stretch out easily.  Pulling on the hose will also cause the vacuum to fall over easily.
 
- The vacuum does a good job of picking up hair – but the brushroll gets very tangled with the hair and it is a pain to remove.  We’ve tested it against an upright with Shark Zero-M Technology (special cleaner head designed to limit hair/string/thread tangling in the brushroll) and it falls far short.  If you have lots of hair to deal with and especially if you have pets you may want to consider something with Zero-M Technology.

 

- The power cord is about 25 feet long.  This, in our opinion, is a bit short.  We generally advocate a minimum 30 foot power cord on any upright.  We’ve been at this for over 12 years and we’ve found the sweet spot for power cords before people start to complain significantly is about 30 feet.  In our home the 25 foot cord on the NV360 is indeed too short and we find that we have to search for the next power outlet just to do our living room.

 

- The unit turns easily but it does not turn sharply.  It can be a bit frustrating using it around furniture and tight corners.
 
- The tools are not particularly awe inspiring.  They are very basic and the crevice tool is too short.  The tools are also compression fit – meaning that need to be pushed on and pulled off.  This is not a secure system and tools that “click” together securely would have been nice. We should probably highlight that this is not a very expensive vacuum so one may need to temper their expectations some.

 

- We like the Lift-Away feature but it is important to know that there are 2 kinds of Lift-Away: Powered and Non-powered.  Powered Lift-Away allows you to use powered tools and Non-powered Lift-Away does not.  The NV360 has Non-powered Lift-Away.

 

- Edge cleaning tests against two other popular Shark uprights (ZU561 & ZU62) showed that the NV360 didn’t clean up tight to an edge very well.

 

- We performed a large debris (fruit loops) test on low pile carpet.  The front of the cleaner head on the NV360 is very low and larger debris has a difficult time getting under it.  Sometimes pickup is OK but other times the large debris just gets snowplowed around.

 

- Bare floor pickup of small, medium and even large debris was average and not as good as several other Shark uprights we tested such as the Navigator ZU561, the Pet Pro ZU62 and the Navigator NV752.  

 

In the following video you can watch us walk through some of the things we dislike about our Shark Navigator Deluxe NV360:

 

Despite some of the negatives we’ve highlighted above, consumer ratings for this machine are very good and we believe this is because of what you get for your money.  This is a very respectable upright and if you look around you can probably find it for about $150.  In our opinion many of the vacuums we’ve looked at in this price range are not quite as good.