Shark Upright Vacuum

Very well. Suction on carpet is this vacuum's strong point, and the Shark NV360 often pulls a lot of ground-in dirt and sand out of carpet that looked clean. The brush roll does that work, and you can switch it off for bare floors. The one catch is thick or shag rugs, where the same pull can make the head grab.

Mostly no. At 16 lb the Shark NV360 is light for an upright, and the swivel steering turns it easily around furniture. It isn't unanimous, though: a few find it heavy or tiring to push through a whole house. On stairs, lifting off the pod saves carrying the full machine from step to step.

Yes. In homes with shedding dogs and cats, the NV360 lifts a lot of hair, and the dust cup often fills on the first pass over a rug. Expect to empty it more than once on a heavy-shedding day. The included upholstery tool handles the furniture and car seats where hair piles up.

Often not. The cord on the Shark NV360 is 25 feet, and a common complaint is that it runs short before the room does, so some keep an extension cord with it. In a small apartment it's workable. In a larger home with few outlets, plan on moving the plug more than you'd want to.

Not well. On thick or shag rugs the strong suction can grip the pile so the head sticks and gets hard to push. Turning the suction dial down helps, but the NV360 has no brush height setting to raise the head. Low-pile carpet and hard floors don't have this problem.

Useful, with some fuss. Lifting the canister off the Shark NV360 makes stairs, upholstery and car interiors much easier to reach without hauling the full upright. Some find the hose short once the pod is off, and the steps to detach and reattach it a bit fiddly. It's still the easiest way to do the stairs with it.