One full battery will give you 15-20 minutes of use and it’s not hard on the wrists either weighing just 1.5kg There is only one power level on this vacuum cleaner and that is high. It has very strong suction power that more than capable of digging down to the bottom of your carpet fibres and easily scoops all dust and debris from any hard floor surface. There’s a large 0.7-litre bin on this model, which has an eject button to push open the flap at the front. As long as the Shark IZ420UKT was pushed into a bin, I could easily empty it without spilling dust everywhere.

It performed excellently in our at-home tests, and the new detection features go a long way to improve day-to-day vacuuming sessions. I'm a huge fan of the stand system too, even though it comes at an additional price, and would be keen to try out the self-emptying bin system next, which seems like a lifesaver. In terms of battery life, the vacuum performed reasonably well. At full power it lasted 10mins 47secs, which is slightly short of the competition. In Economy mode, however, it was only a few seconds short of the more expensive Dyson Gen5detect, while in Clean Sense mode it lasted almost 41 minutes. We don’t move the vacuum during this test, so we’d expect that time to drop in real-world use as the vacuum encounters more dirt and increases the suction.

The Shark Stratos IZ400UKT is a brilliant performer at a very attractive price

It delivered pretty consistent results on the flooring, leaving carpet – including on the stairs – tiles, and parquet clean. The DuoClean floorhead had a big part to play in this as it can easily transition across the various floor types, on which its twin bristle brushes work their magic. Anti Hair Wrap – a feature designed to stop hair accumulating around the brush roll – had some impressive results, too. This meant that neither human hair nor the hair of small furry housemates lodged itself around the brushes of the floorhead or the motorised pet tool. The Stratos did leave a line of flour behind the motor head, where the fins on the roller seemed to funnel the flour without offering enough agitation or suction to lift it all up. This amounted to 4% of the flour on that first pass, although that’s still way above average. It was happily collected by subsequent passes made at a different angle. You can also choose more than one battery if the 30 minutes you get from one full charge isn’t enough for you and it also comes with an optional pet tool if you have stubborn hair that needs dealing with on a regular basis. If you want an all in one vacuum that effectively cleans all above-floor surfaces as easily as the floor then Shark has a huge array of different options to suit any home large or small.

If you really like the simplicity of the Gtech then you can pair it with their very nifty handheld vacuum cleaner that they tend to offer at a discount if you buy them both together but more on that later. We will break down each of Gtech’s vacuum cleaners so that you can understand what each one is capable of and also the difference between them so that you can make a judgement on which one may be most appropriate for your needs and whether it is worth paying extra for the more expensive model or not. If you have a large budget then you can get the benefit of no cord and excellent suction but if you want to save money without compromising on performance then a Shark corded vacuum is well worth considering. Shark claims that it has all the power of a corded vacuum cleaner but in cordless form, and after testing we couldn't agree more. It's got DuoClean which makes switching modes immensely straightforward, and the controls make it easy to see how much battery you have left. To charge, simply lift out the battery on the side of the dust tank and pop it into its charging port.You’ll get about 22 minutes out of the battery on full power or at least 30 mins if you switch between medium and high power. Shark do a combination of both corded and cordless vacuums. They give you more options to choose from to fit your budget and your home and they offer a higher specification compared to Gtech.

This corded model provides suction power the same as the top-end premium models from both Shark and Dyson but its an awful lot cheaper. Once its all said and done Gtech is best if you want a hoover that is ultra-easy to use and resembles the way that vacuum cleaners were in the past except massively upgraded with excellent suction and they are very light making them really easy to move across the surface you are cleaning. I measured the ​​Shark NZ860UKT’s raw power at 268AW, which is a lot for an upright and slightly more powerful than the older NZ850UKT. Cylinder cleaners, such as the Numatic Henry tend to be more powerful, but Shark doesn’t need as much suction power as its floor head does a lot of the work.In their bid for constant improvement they have also introduced “powerfins” which are plastic fins that scoop up dirt form deep within carpets and across hard floors for Sharks best ever cleaning performance. There's a suite of onboard tools which can be used with this vac too, Molly's favourite being the Anti Hair Wrap Power Tool which is great for upholstery and smaller jobs. How we test Shark vacuums As this is a sealed bag 100% of what goes in stays in so it’s great for anyone with dust allergies and it also removes the need to clean out the waste container when it’s full because the bag just pops out and goes straight in the bin. So if you have pets or it’s going to be used very frequently then it might be worth considering the upgrade. Controls are placed on top of the handle, with an on/off button and a slider to select the mode: hard floor, carpet, and deep pile. The slider adjusts the speed of the floor head but also opens a vent to help the vacuum cleaner move around more easily. It works, and this is one of the most nimble upright vacuum cleaners I have tested.