Shark Navigator Light Upright Vacuum

 

Consumer Ratings
This vacuum is widely available and has been on the market for a long time.  As such, we managed to find quite a few ratings – 1741 to be exact – from a number of large online retail outlets.  You can see our findings in the table below:

 

Source	Consumer Rating	# Ratings
Amazon.com	4.3 stars out of 5	691
Macy's	4.7 stars out of 5	579
Overstock	4.6 stars out of 5	150
Wayfair	4.5 stars out of 5	121
Best Buy	4.7 stars out of 5	85
Walmart.com	4.5 stars out of 5	59
Kohl's	4.8 stars out of 5	25
Walmart.ca	4.5 stars out of 5	22
Lowe's	4.9 stars out of 5	9

 

When we applied a weighted average to the above ratings we got a score of 90.2 out of 100 for the Shark Navigator Light NV105.  This is a pretty good score and you can compare it to that of other uprights in our Upright Vacuum Ratings table.  You can also see ALL the vacuum ratings on our site in our Vacuum Cleaner Finder application.

 

Top Rated Shark Vacuums
Should you be interested, our highest rated Shark vacuums can be found in the table below:

 

 

Pros & Cons
A very thorough review of owner comments has provided the following NV105 likes and dislikes:

 

PROS
- Very lightweight
- Compact machine and easy to store
- Most owners like the performance on pet hair
- Motorized brushroll with on/off controls
- Washable filters
- Not too loud
- Strong suction
- Reasonably priced
- Easy-to-empty dust canister

 

CONS
- Hose doesn’t stretch easily
- Small cleaner head
- Smallish dust canister
- Some owners report issues with longevity

 

What Are Owners Saying?
Most owners give this vacuum a very good rating – thus the high score.  However there are some that give it a very low rating.  It seems you either love this vacuum or you hate it.  Let’s start with the positives.

 

A lot of people buy this vacuum for the extreme light weight (for an upright) and they are very happy with how easy the vacuum is to lift, to carry, and to maneuver.  This is especially nice if you are elderly, have back problems, have strength issues – or frankly just don’t want to deal with the workout many of the larger, heavier uprights will give you.

 

Part of the reason the vacuum is light is because it is rather compact.  The machine has a small footprint and it is therefore easy to store – its takes up little space in a closet for example.  The NV105 is a good fit for a smaller home or apartment.

 

Another positive is the suction.  Almost every owner agrees that the vacuum generates powerful suction – especially for its size.  This results in good cleaning ability on bare floors (with the brushroll off you rely entirely on suction) and it also helps when cleaning carpet (brushroll on).  When using the brushroll most owners also report that this lightweight upright does a good job of pulling up pet hair, although you will have to clean the brushroll as there is a lot of tangling (fairly normal for most brushrolls – if you don’t want tangling you can check out the Shark Navigator with Zero-M or the Shark APEX with Zero-M).

 

Folks like that the filters can be washed and that the unit is bagless.  This results in essentially consumable-free operation which reduces your operating costs.   Also, most people state that the dust canister is easy to detach from the vacuum, empty, and reattach to the vacuum.

 

Those who like the vacuum often refer to it as a “great buy” or “good bang for your buck”.  But not everyone is pleased.  In terms of negative comments, first and foremost have to be the situations in which the vacuum stops working in less than 6 months.  Unfortunately this is not a one-off situation and we have seen repeated reference to this problem.  Owners often refer to the issue by stating that the motor burned out or simply ceased to run.  While this has occurred multiple times, it is important to point out that these comments are in no way in the majority.  The vacuum would not have garnered such a solid score if they were.

 

Also, the hose on the vacuum does not stretch out very much.  Vacuum statistics have the hose at 11 ft but many owners report that it is difficult to stretch the hose out without pulling the vacuum over.  This makes working with tools on the end of the hose or wand difficult.
 
A few other issues such as the smallish dust canister and the small cleaner head we highlighted in the pros and cons section.

 

You can see hundreds of NV105 owner comments on Amazon.

 

Technology
This vacuum comes in blue and is bagless.  It uses cyclonic technology which is the technology used by most bagless vacuums today.  It produces what the industry often refers to as “no loss of suction” vacuuming.   Suction does not diminish as the dust canister fills.  The NV105 has a single cyclone.

 

Lightweight & Compact
The NV105 weighs in at a very lightweight 10.6 lbs.  Most uprights that we’ve worked with average about 14 to 16 lbs and some even tip the scales at close to 20 lbs.  The NV105 is not really a full size vacuum however.  It is small and compact and this is one of the reasons for its light weight.  As a result it is probably not the best machine for tackling large homes but is better suited for a small home or apartment.

 

 

The vacuum is easy to carry from room to room or up and down a set of stairs.  In addition, the low weight also helps with maneuverability and owners do report that the vacuum moves easily.  In addition, swivel steering helps when turning the NV105.

 

Brushroll
The brushroll is motor driven (the brushrolls in most uprights are motor driven but some canister vacuums use suction to drive the brushroll).  It can also be turned on and off (via a button) which is a handy feature when transitioning from carpet to bare floors or vice-versa.  If you are vacuuming carpet you typically want the brushroll ON so it can agitate the carpet and help remove embedded dust and debris.  When vacuuming smooth flooring you usually want the brushroll OFF as it can cause scatter and even scratch the floor surface if you have very delicate flooring.  With the brushroll OFF you rely on the vacuum suction for pickup.  Fortunately this unit has powerful suction despite its size.

 

Should the brushroll be obstructed (could happen when running over a sock for example) there is an electronic switch that will turn the power off.  This is designed to save the motor and the belt.

 

 

Cleaner Head
The cleaner head on the vacuum is, like the rest of the vacuum, a bit on the small side.  This is both a positive and a negative.  It is positive because a small cleaner head is easy to maneuver and it fits into cramped areas better.  It is negative because it requires more passes of the vacuum to cover a given area.  The cleaning path width of the NV105 is narrow at only 9 and 1/4 inches.  Most full size uprights are 10 to 13 inches or so.  The NV105 has a cleaning path width closer to some stick vacs.

 

Also note that the cleaner head does not have any LED headlights.  These are a “nice to have” but not necessary.

 

 

Filters
There are 2 pre-motor filters and 1 post motor filter.  All of the filters are called “lifetime filters”.  This typically means they are designed to last the lifetime of the vacuum – which is often referred to as the length of the warranty.  There is no need to replace the filters when they are dirty as they can all be rinsed in water.  You can run water over the filter until the dirt is flushed out and the water starts to run clear.  Give the filter a squeeze to get the excess water out and let it dry (typically for 24 hours).  The filter can then be placed back in the vacuum and you are good to go.

 

There is a foam pre-motor filter and a felt pre-motor filter.  These generally need to be washed about every 3 months.  The foam post-motor filter usually needs to be washed about once per year.  Bear in mind that none of these are HEPA level filters and the vacuum does not have a sealed system.  If you or family members need high level air filtering (if you have asthma or allergies for example) this machine will not provide it.  You can read about HEPA filters and sealed systems in our HEPA filter article.

 

Tools
The vacuum includes a combination crevice tool / dusting brush and an upholstery tool.  There is also an accessory holder which attaches to the vacuum and will hold both tools.  In this way you can carry both tools with you while you vacuum.  The tools can be attached to the end of the vacuum handle or the wand. 

 

 

The combination tool is handy for dusting and for getting into hard to reach areas while the upholstery tool is useful for cleaning upholstery and for removing pet hair.  The upholstery tool does not have a brushroll so while it works on pet hair its capabilities are limited. 

 

The vacuum has what Shark refers to as an 11 foot hose, so with the tools and wand you should get a fairly decent cleaning reach.  However, almost every owner reports that the hose simply will not stretch out to 11 feet and that when using tools the vacuum is easily pulled over when you try to extend the hose.

 

Cleaning Reach
The NV105 has a 25 foot power cord.  Many owners refer to this as a long power cord – perhaps because most owners are using this in a small home.  25 feet is actually on the short side for an upright.  We always prefer to see 30 feet or more.  With the power cord, the hose, the wand and the tools the numbers indicate that we should have something like 38 feet of cleaning reach but given that the hose will not practically extend to 11 feet the cleaning reach is less.

 

Dust Canister
The dust canister has a capacity of 0.8 quarts to the maximum fill line (the total usable volume is actually 1.8 quarts but Shark prefers you empty it at or before the max fill line).  The canister has a bottom door that swings open at the press of a button allowing the debris to fall out.  This is the kind of system almost all bagless vacuums use today – it is simple and it works. 

 

Warranty
The Shark Navigator Light NV105 carries a 3-year limited parts and labor manufacturer's warranty.

 

Vacuum Cleaner Manual
The manual is provided in English and Spanish and is quite short.  It has plenty of graphics which are helpful and it covers such things as Assembly, Using the Vacuum, Emptying the Dust Canister, Care of Your Vacuum, Troubleshooting, Blockages, Maintenance, Warranty & Registration.  You can view the manual here: Shark Navigator Light NV105