Shark Pet Pet Plus Cordless Stick Vacuum (IZ361H) Review

What They Kept — Start Here

The HEPA filter. Any time I look at a cordless vacuum, that's the first thing I check, because on the really cheap end you'll sometimes find a little piece of paper in there that doesn't do much of anything. This one has real HEPA filtration, plus washable foam filters behind it that you rinse and reuse. For a budget machine, that's the feature I'd have hated to lose and they didn't cut it.

The battery is also removable, which isn't a given at this price. It's a 1,900 mAh pack — small, and you'll feel that in the run time — but you can take it out.

What They Removed

No sensors. None. There's nothing under the head reading the floor type, nothing detecting how dirty the air going in is, nothing watching for edges. What you get instead is a switch with two positions that sets the brush-roll speed: slower for hard floors so it isn't flinging debris around, faster for carpet. Suction stays the same on both, and when you want max you hold the trigger. It's spring-loaded, so you can't leave it on — which honestly helps your battery, because you're only pulling full power when you see a dirty spot.

No hinge in the middle of the wand either, so it won't fold down flat to get under furniture. The wand is fixed.

And the run time is short. About 35 minutes on low is what I got, and much less any time I'm holding that trigger. This is a vacuum for a small home or a small space, and the battery is the main reason why.

How It Actually Cleans

Better than you'd expect from that list. I put down a big mess — long hair, Cheerios, spilled coffee, kitty litter — set it to hard surface, pulled the trigger, and it did a pretty good job on the first pass. Kitty litter came up fine. It's easy to maneuver and easy to turn while you're working. I'd call it an excellent job for a first pass, and there was no hair wrap on the roller afterward.

On carpet I flipped the switch so the brush roller speeds up, and it did a pretty good job there too. It stays light and easy to push back and forth, which matters more than people expect when you're doing a whole room.

Where They Saved Money — the Dust Bin

This is the part to understand before you buy. There's a cone-shaped filter inside the dust bin, and when hair comes up into the bin it wraps around that cone instead of dropping down into the chamber below. When I opened it up after the big mess, the dirt and debris had all gone down into the chamber — and the hair was wound completely around the filter.

That's a real consequence, not a cosmetic one: as hair builds on that cone it blocks airflow, and when airflow drops you lose suction. You can reach in and pull it off by hand, which takes a few seconds, but there's nothing on this vacuum to do it for you. For a smaller place it's fine — you empty it a little sooner and move on. For a big house in one pass, it'll catch up with you.

The Head, the Tools and Storage

The head is a general-purpose multi-surface roller that does an okay job on carpet and hard floors combined, and there's a comb underneath to help pull hairs off it. There are LED lights on the front, and a status light that turns red if the roller jams — a small thing that saves you guessing. Pull the hand vac off and it's a good setup for stairs.

You get three tools: a duster, a long skinny duster and a crevice tool, and they go either on the end of the wand for reach or straight onto the hand vac for close work. Everything attaches easily and comes apart without much force.

Storage is a hook — there's one on the vacuum and one on the wand, you hang it, and it charges right there. You'll need about 33¼ inches of closet height. Overall it stands about 45 to 46 inches to the handle. One small gripe that isn't about performance at all: the stickers on these things do not want to come off, and one of them is right where the dust bin releases.

What I'd Change About the Shark IZ361H

• Fix the bin so hair drops into the chamber instead of wrapping the cone — the change that matters most day to day
• Add a bigger battery
• Skip the hold-down trigger for max suction, even though the reasoning behind it makes sense

Is It Worth It?

For a small home on a budget, yes. It's a very basic no-frills vacuum: smaller battery, one suction setting, no auto detect. But it has HEPA filtration, the roller did okay with hair and large debris, and it cleans really well on both floor types. Your filter is going to clog — you just empty it sooner. Buy it at a budget price for a small space and it'll do the job. Check the live price on the button before you decide.