Shark Stratos XL 2.6 Litre Corded Upright Vacuum Cleaner review: "a powerful beast of a vacuum"

Price on writing: £230 | Buy now from Amazon

How we tested

Mumsnet editor Poppy tested the Shark Stratos XL Pet Pro Upright Vacuum Cleaner over the course of two weeks in her three-bedroom home, pitting it against pet hair, sand, crumbs, dust and everyday hoovering jobs. She took detailed notes on ease of use and effectiveness, cross-comparing it with other highly-rated vacuum cleaners and testing each mode and accessory thoroughly.

Read next: Best vacuum cleaners

Our verdict

• Performance: 15/15

• Quality and durability: 15/15

• Ease of use: 13/15

• Value for money: 12/15

• Suction power: 10/10

• Cleaning reach: 10/10

• Versatility: 7/10

• Ease of emptying: 7/10

• Overall score: 89/100

With two dogs, two cats and two long-haired children in the house, my standards for a vacuum cleaner are pretty high. The Shark Stratos XL more than lived up to its reputation as a powerful beast of a vacuum cleaner, and breezed through even the toughest pet hair problems.

While at first glance this upright vacuum cleaner seemed difficult to manoeuvre around my home, the attachments and removable hose mean it's more versatile than first meets the eye - I'm happy to report you don't have to lug it up the stairs one by one.

However, its power and versatility do bring some drawbacks. The Shark Stratos XL has lots of removable parts, which makes it slightly complex to work out which release button you need to use. It's also too powerful to use on thinner rugs or tassels, which get sucked up into it.

All in all, this vacuum cleaner makes light work of all and any pet hair, dust and mess. It certainly holds its own when compared to my Dyson V15 Detect, and I'm very impressed with it.

What's in the box?

Arriving in fully recyclable packaging, the Shark Stratos XL came with the main vacuum cleaner in separate pieces, as well as the following accessories:

• Crevice tool

• Multi-surface tool

• Anti-hair wrap pet power brush tool

• 1x anti-odour cartridge

How easy is the Shark Stratos Vacuum Cleaner to set up?

Setting up the Shark Stratos XL was straightforward and intuitive. It came with a booklet of clear instructions, and took under 10 minutes to set up. Included with this model is an anti-odour cartridge, which fits onto the head of the vacuum cleaner with an adjustable dial, so you can turn it up if you're tackling stale-smelling or particularly dirty jobs.

How easy is the Shark Stratos Vacuum Cleaner to use day-to-day?

For everyday messes, it's quite large and heavy to get out of the cupboard, and I'm more likely to each for a cordless vacuum cleaner for smaller jobs. However, the hose and dust bin are removeable from the main wand and head of the vacuum cleaner, as you can see from the below photos, so it's equipped to tackle smaller jobs and more awkward spaces - I found the anti hair wrap pet power brush tool excellent for vacuuming the stairs, and the crevice tool comes in handy for corners and under furniture.

I did find all the removeable parts a little confusing. There are multiple release buttons all over the vacuum cleaner, so it takes a bit of getting used to which button releases which part, as they could be labelled in a clearer way. Similarly, putting them back together can take a couple of tries as they all slide and click into place in a particular way.

For the 'big hoover' of the entire house, it really gets the job done quickly. Built like a tank and with a huge dust bin, it sucks up dust, hair and crumbs easily, and its 8m long power cord lets you move from room to room without unplugging every time.

How does the Shark Stratos Vacuum Cleaner perform on pet hair?

In a word, excellent. I tested it on our 'dust-grabbing' door mat by the back door, which gets a lot of traffic from the cats, dogs and humans going in and out of the garden all day. Compared with my Dyson V15 Detect, the Shark Stratos XL was just as powerful, and only took one pass to lift all the ground-in pet hair and dirt from the mat.

Testing the vacuum cleaner in late spring/early summer while the pets were molting meant it really got put through its paces. I have carpets, rugs and hard wooden floors in my house, and appreciated the light in the Shark Stratos' head, which illuminated every bit of hair and dust before it sucked them up.

After two weeks of intensive testing, I was amazed to see no trace of pet hair inside the head of the vacuum cleaner. It really lives up to its anti hair wrap claims, and deals with all lengths of hair and fur quickly and cleanly.

How well does the Shark Stratos Vacuum Cleaner perform on carpets?

After testing the vacuum cleaner on a variety of carpet and rug thicknesses, it performed really well. There was no need to go back over a spot I'd already hoovered, as the Shark's powerful suction sucks up everything in its path.

I really liked the three settings for thick rugs, carpet and hard floors, and while it was a little hard work vacuuming a thick pile rug, you can feel how deeply the vacuum cleaner is cleaning.

However, it's too powerful for use on thinner rugs, which get sucked up into the vacuum cleaner - as do tassels. This was slightly annoying as I needed to vacuum these separately.

How well does the Shark Stratos Vacuum Cleaner perform on hard floors?

I have both parquet and floorboards in my house, and in its hard floor mode the Shark Stratos XL was very effective. These types of floor inevitably get dust trapped between the boards and blocks, so vacuuming them with the powerful Shark Stratos meant they got a deeper clean than usual.

How easy is it to empty the Shark Stratos Vacuum Cleaner?

The Shark Stratos XL's dust bin comes away from the main body of the vacuum cleaner easily with the touch of a button. Both the top and the bottom of the dust bin open using separate buttons, which I found confusing at first.

The best way to empty the vacuum cleaner is by opening the bottom of the dust bin directly over a rubbish bin. The opening is quite big so you do need to make sure you're aiming right inside the rubbish bin or there is a risk of dust going everywhere (ask me how I know...).

Does the Shark Stratos Vacuum Cleaner offer good value for money?

The Shark Stratos XL performs just as well as my cordless Dyson, which retails for more than double the price. At £230 at the time of writing, you're getting the performance of a premium vacuum cleaner at an affordable price.

About the author

Poppy O'Neill is a Content Editor at Mumsnet and a mother of two. She researches and reviews the products Mumsnetters swear by, with a particular focus on home essentials, laundry and fans. From a highly-recommended retractable washing line to the best quiet fans money can buy, and Mumsnet's favourite dehumidifier to the steam generator iron that'll cut your ironing time in half, she loves to deep-dive into research and find the very best products on the market.

With an MA in Creative Writing and a PGCert in Lifestyle Journalism, Poppy's written about parenting topics for The Sunday Times, The Guardian, The Mirror and The Sun. She's a best-selling, award-winning author, and her books for children and parents have been translated into 12 languages.