Shark IZ251UKT

After enjoying much success with the introduction of its Anti Hair Wrap technology, which prevents rollers becoming clogged with hair, Shark is now rolling out the tech to other products in its range. The latest model to benefit is the Shark Anti Hair Wrap Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner with Flexology and TruePet IZ251UKT. That’s quite a long name, so we’ll stick with Shark IZ251UKT for the rest of the review.

Shark Anti Hair Wrap Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner with Flexology and TruePet IZ251UKT – What you need to know

• General vacuuming – Super flexible to use and with some of the best controls we’ve ever used
• Carpet test – Edge pick-up could be slightly better, but standard power picked up most of the mess with the occasional turbo boost required to clean up the rest
• Hard floor test – Spilt rice was picked up with ease, creating a clean path through the mess
• Pet hair pick-up – This proved no challenge at all, with all pet hair in our test removed and no sign of of it wrapped around the rollers either

Related: Best cordless vacuum cleaner

Design and features – Brilliant controls and flexible movement

Shark is well known for making hugely flexible vacuum cleaners, and this continues through to its cordless models. As with previous Shark cordless vacuum cleaners, the IZ251UKT has Shark’s Flexology technology. This enables the wand to fold over in half, letting the vacuum stand up by itself so that you can easily wheel it into a cupboard for storage. It’s a shame the IZ251UKT isn’t able to stand up unaided when fully extended; the weight of the battery and bin tilt it over.

Measuring 1180 x 260 x 245mm when fully extended, Flexology roughly cuts the height of the vacuum cleaner in two. Unlike rival, Hoover H-Free 500, you don’t have to unclip anything to get the Shark vacuum down to its compact form: simply press the button and fold.

Aside from the advantages presented for storage, the Flexology tech also makes it easy to get under furniture – you can bend the wand away from you, sliding the floor head along without having to bend down yourself. It’s a neat trick and one that makes it easy to get the Shark IZ251UKT exactly where you need it.

Flexology lets you get right under furniture without having to bend down

In standard stick mode, the vacuum cleaner uses the DuoClean floor head. This has two rollers (one soft, one brush) to tackle all floor types. This model also benfits from Shark’s Anti Hair Wrap technology, which uses a series of combs to prevent strands of hair becoming entwined around the rollers. It works brilliantly; in our tests the floor head came up clean every time.

Two types of roller means the Shark vacuum can cope with all floor types

Since this is a cordless vacuum cleaner, it can also be used in handheld mode, with or without the extension wand. Weighing in at 4.1kg the Shark IZ251UKT isn’t too heavy, and I didn’t have a problem lifting it up high to clean.

In handheld mode, you can put the accessories to work. There’s a crevice tool, dusting brush, upholstery tool and the anti-allergen dusting brush, which has velvet-like strips for picking up dust.

The range of accessories let you tackle any job

Finally, there’s a motorised pet brush – a mini tool with a brush that’s designed for sucking up pet hair from furniture and the like; it’s also handy for tackling stairs. My one minor complaint is that the bin protrudes slightly, which can make it hard to get the right amount of contact with the motorised pet brush.

You need to get the mini brush at the right angle to use it effectively

There’s a 0.4-litre bin included, which is likely to require emptying a couple of times when cleaning a typical house. It can be emptied when attached in handheld mode directly into the bin, but you can remove both the bin and filter for cleaning. Emptying it out was easy – I managed to aim and point all of the debris directly into the bin.

The bin can be removed for emptying and to clean the filters

Control of the vacuum is through the switch on top, which lets you select carpet or hard floor modes. This only affects the speed of the DuoClean head’s motorised brushes. There’s also a trigger to operate Boost mode, which ups the suction power for more difficult sections.

The boost trigger makes it easy to get that extra bit of power when you need it

Performance – Sucks up mess and pet hair with ease

Impressively, the Shark IZ251UKT managed to clean really well on its standard power mode. Testing on carpet with a teaspoon of flour spread right up to the skirting board, a single pass through the mess picked up most of the flour, bar some mess by the skirting board.

Carpet test: Dirty carpet (left) vs Clean carpet (right) – move slider to compare

It was nothing that a few quick swipes on Turbo mode couldn’t handle, though.

Moving onto the hard floor test, the Shark IZ251UKT managed a clean sweep through my spilt rice, leaving not a single grain behind. Given that I used the standard power hard floor mode, that’s impressive performance.

Carpet test: Dirty carpet (left) vs Clean carpet (right) – move slider to compare

Turning to pet hair, I combed hair from my four cats into the fibres of my carpet. I gave the Shark IZ251UKT a sweep through, turning it to carpet mode and using the Turbo trigger. All of the hair was gone with this sweep.

Pet hair test: Dirty carpet (left) vs Clean carpet (right) – move slider to compare

Shark claims battery life of 40 minutes per battery, running on the standard power mode. Use Boost mode and this time will reduce – but given that the high-speed mode is on a trigger, you’ll probably find that you use it only when you need to.

Shark provides two batteries in the box, both of which can be charged at the same time to give a total run-time of up to 80 minutes. This should be sufficient to tackle most houses. Once both batteries are flat, the charge time is 3.5 hours.

You can charge both batteries at the same time

I measured the vacuum cleaner at a reasonable 79.2dB on hard floor mode and 78.9dB on carpet mode. Strangely, using the Boost mode on a hard floor reduced noise output to 78.2dB; it seemed to have an effect on airflow, with the sound becoming higher-pitched but not as loud overall.

Should you buy the Shark Anti Hair Wrap Cordless Stick Vacuum Cleaner with Flexology and TruePet IZ251UKT?

Considering the range of accessories, flexibility and dual batteries on offer, the Shark IZ251UKT is well priced. Performance is excellent across all surfaces, and I love the way that the Boost mode can be engaged quickly for tougher spills. The Anti Hair Wrap tech is as impressive here as it is on Shark’s other vacuum cleaners.

If I’m being picky, edge pick-up could be better and the ability to stand up the IZ251UKT when extended would be welcome. However, these are minor niggles in an otherwise superb-quality vacuum cleaner.

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