Today we are diving into the Shark Stratos HZ3002 Ultralight Corded Stick Vacuum, a midrange model that has become a best-seller for Shark. We bought one and thoroughly tested this vacuum to evaluate its performance and unique features. In this review, we’ll discuss the pros and cons, providing you with all the information you need to decide if this vacuum is the right choice for you.
The Shark Stratos HZ3002 Ultralight Corded Stick Vacuum is a best-selling midrange vacuum from Shark that excels in several areas. It features a DuoClean roller that performed exceptionally well in our pickup test, particularly on hard floors, achieving a rare perfect score. Its self-cleaning brush roll, known as HairPro, effectively handles pet and human hair. With higher-than-average airflow and an ultralight handle, it's easy to maneuver and offers efficient pickup. The vacuum also boasts an anti-allergy complete seal filtration system with a HEPA filter and odor neutralizing technology. However, it does not stand on its own and is slightly harder to push on carpet. Despite having below-average suction power, it delivers robust overall performance, making it a great choice, especially for homes with pets and hard floors.
The Basics
First, the basics: This Stratos is a corded stick vacuum. It features a single power setting but offers two different roller speeds: one optimized for hard floors and another for carpets.
The Shark Stratos Ultralight can be used on hard floors or carpets, but it’s especially good for hard floors in our opinion, as we will see later in this review.
Pros of the Shark Stratos Corded Stick Vacuum
Top Debris Pickup
Starting off with the pros: The Shark Stratos Corded Stick Vacuum excelled in our pickup test, handling a variety of debris sizes on both hard floors and carpets. The DuoClean roller is outstanding for hard floors. In fact, it achieved a rare perfect score in our pickup test, significantly outperforming other stick vacuums in this category.
Hair Tangles
It was also highly effective at handling pet and human hair, thanks to its self-cleaning brush roll, now known as HairPro, which actively removes hair from the roller during operation. It did great with this in our hair test.
Power and Efficiency
As far as raw power, we tested its airflow at the vacuum head, and it was higher than the average stick vacuum, which also probably contributed to its efficient pickup. Its crevice pickup test results were above average as well, showing that it indeed had a good seal on hard floors. It also excelled in the carpet deep clean test, effectively removing deeply embedded debris like sand from carpet, where it had a better than average score.
Design and Maneuverability
Another big pro is its newly designed ultralight handle, which is considerably lighter than average, making it easier to maneuver. A common issue with stick vacuums is that they’re a bit too heavy for longer vacuuming jobs, but that’s not the case with the Stratos.
Another huge pro is its anti-allergy complete seal filtration system with a HEPA filter, ensuring that the debris from your floors does not escape into the air. It traps 99.9% of dust allergens, and it did great with our fog test, which is rare for vacuums in this price range.
Additional Features
This vacuum is equipped with some additional features that are worth mentioning:
- It has LED lights on the floor head, which help spot pet hair and debris that might otherwise go unnoticed.
- The Stratos comes with a variety of attachments that make above-floor cleaning jobs easy, including an upholstery tool, a HairPro pet power brush, and a crevice tool. They seem to be constructed well and were easy to use with its ultralight handle.
- It has a unique feature called odor neutralizing technology that works against bad odors escaping into your home.
- The cord length is about 30 feet, which is typical for corded vacuums.
In the box
Cons of the Shark Stratos Corded Stick Vacuum
Moving on to the cons: Unfortunately, this vacuum does not stand up on its own. You’re supposed to hang the handle on the wand for storage, but we found this to be a little awkward, though we suppose we would get used to it.
Another thing is that we found it to be a little harder to push on carpet. Nothing major—it just took a little bit more effort when using it for carpeted floors. This wouldn’t be a problem for occasional rugs, but it might not be the best choice if your home has predominantly carpeted floors.
Another thing is that, despite having above-average airflow, it had below-average suction power in our tests. While this doesn’t seem to impact its overall performance, it is an aspect worth mentioning since this measurement effects vacuums’ overall Vacuum Wars score.
And lastly, while this may not be a true Con, it’s important to note that this is a corded model, not cordless, which might be overlooked since many stick vacuums are cordless.
Our Conclusion
In conclusion, the Shark Stratos Corded Stick Vacuum offers impressive performance with its innovative DuoClean head, exceptional debris pickup on hard floors, and effective hair handling thanks to the self-cleaning HairPro brush roll. It would be an effective vacuum for almost anyone, but if you have a lot of pets and mostly hard floors, this would be a great buy.
