Shark ION P50 review

The Shark ION P50 Cordless Vacuum is a cordless upright vacuum with a lift-away feature that adds incredible versatility. The P50 has the capabilities of providing you with many beneficial features all in one vacuum cleaner. The vacuum tackles all your cleaning activities on a variety of debris types either on carpet or bare floors ensuring your space is left neat and sparkling clean.

When it comes to performance as outlined below, you’ll see that the P50 is a piece of impressive and convenient equipment to have. After being put through different sets of performance tests, you will see how effective this product really is. You’ll get more insight in this Shark Ion P50 review on this unique stick vacuum which we’ve tested.

My Thoughts: Shark ION P50

 

Design

This vacuum is more of an upright vacuum and quite lightweight but heavy for a stick vacuum. Even some consumer comments attest to this though it solely depends on your personal experience and perspective.

Because of the design, the vacuum has an extra-large dirt capacity (more than 2 liters) compared to other typical stick vacuums out there. This is up to 0.54 gallons of dry dirt making it a great option and ideal for cleaning larger spaces. It’s also a lot more capacity compared to that of the Dyson V11 and the Hoover Linx Signature Series.

The P50 design makes it easy to empty the contents and you don’t have to worry about dirt staying at the bottom and sticking on the filter. The trap door opens and the dirt, pet hair and dust both come out with just a little shaking. Afterward, you can even wash the dust cup.

You can also open it from the top and thoroughly clean it when needed. The vacuum controls which are located on the vacuum handle make it easier to find and press buttons.

Shark manufactures unique cordless and corded vacuums. Though a cord does provide strong suction and endless run time, most consumers like the cordless aspect of the vacuum. This is because many people don’t like being tethered by a power cord, so the wider range of mobility you will have have is a huge benefit.

The ability of any cordless vacuum to offset its run time while at the same time offer convenience isn’t always easy to do and many consumers have disagreed on the run time with some saying that it is too short and others too long. But one advantage of using the cord-free vacuums is that you can use them for extended periods and it won’t be as tiring since you can just make use of swivel steering.

The ION P50 has the motor and dust cup on top while other stick vacuums have it near the base. This reduces the weight on the top shifting it to the bottom and making the vacuum more comfortable to use when cleaning floors.

There are two filters, pre-motor foam and a HEPA filter to ensure that the air doesn’t get polluted with the stuff you clean. The foam filter is washable, but the HEPA is not. But, you can clean the HEPA filter regularly to extend the service life. The fact that the filters can be cleaned or washed in water is an added bonus. Your budget will be safe since you will no longer have to buy new filters when they get dirty.  The sealed system locks in unfiltered air reducing air pollution, making it safer for your home. The anti-allergen system ensures that fine allergens and dust stay inside the bin.

Many Shark vacuums use two very popular technologies, the Lift-Away Technology and Duo Clean Technology and the Shark P50 is no exception.  According to many owners, these two technologies work very effectively providing versatility and better cleaning performance.

Versatility

Many consumers of the Shark P50 praise how versatile this product is and how high its cleaning performance is. The P50 can be broken down into different parts to allow you to choose your own combination of attachments to use for your personal needs. You also do not need to hold down a trigger to keep it functional like you would have to do with a Dyson stick vacuum. Simply press a button to turn it on or off and you will be set to go.

All of the controls are right within your reach so you will not have to fumble around with the different functions on the vacuum. The easy-to-hold handle on will also allow you to have a much more simple time of cleaning in tighter areas. The cordless canister will allow you to start working on cleaning without having to adjust with extension cords or having to worry about not having enough range to clean. The level of versatility that the P50 provides will help you have an easier and more pleasant vacuuming experience.

Power and Performance

The Shark P50 is great in terms of performance and ease-of-use both on the carpet and hard flooring.  It has passed all the performance tests, but there’s a problem vacuuming fine debris which is a common problematic task for any vacuum.  Other than that, its performance levels were off the charts when it has been tested through many different variables.

It has amazing hard floor and carpet cleaning abilities that outweigh most other vacuums when their results are shown through comparison.

Performance tests are usually carried out by placing debris on certain surfaces, such as Cheerios, sugar, peanuts, or oats. The results of each test will depend on how well the Shark P50 picks you the debris on each surface. For carpet cleaning tests, it would usually be a little hard to reach areas since the fibers in the carpet will make the debris cling to it, especially with the pats. However, many of these performance tests produced amazing results that may turn out to be interesting to you as as interested consumer.

The Shark P50 actually did a really good job of absorbing the rolled oats from the carpet, picking 99% of them up by weight. As for the 10 grams of sugar that was used in the fine debris test, the Shark ION P50, most of the sugar had seeped really far down into and could not really be absorbed too well by any of the vacuums that were used. However, that is usually to be expected from sugar or sand since they have an easier time of getting stuck deep in carpet fibers.

The Shark ION P50 also did an excellent job in the large debris test. Large debris is usually much easier to clean as opposed to fine debris. The front brush of the vacuum pulled the debris from the larger mess into the vacuum as it was meant to do and helped the vacuum pass the test with flying colors. In this aspect, the Shark ION P50 can be totally reliable when it comes to cleaning large debris out of carpet.

As for its performance on hard floors, the amazing results from this test stem from the soft brush roll that is located at the front of the vacuum. It is even more effective when you use Hard Floor Mode to take care of even the toughest messes.

The Shark ION P50 was more than capable enough to remove the debris from the hard floors. For the fine debris test on hard floors, absorbing the sugar from the between the tile of the floor and off of the floor itself was a piece of cake.

There was also a mid-sized debris and large debris test done on the hard floors, just to get a better understanding of how well the Shark ION P50 worked on them.

The vacuum stayed on Hard Floor mode while the mid-sized debris test was carried out, and the oats were cleaned from the floor and carpet quickly and easily. The large debris test also produced amazing results. The peanuts were absorbed easily enough to give this particular test an excellent passing grade.

Duo Clean System

Shark was quite innovative when it incorporated the Duo Clean brush roll. Most brands use the soft roller and a bristle brush separately but the duo clean by Shark combines these two. This works great on various surfaces and you don’t need to change floor nozzles regularly on every transition. You can use it for cleaning hard surfaces, rugs, or carpets.

DuoClean Technology has a soft roller brush at the front of the cleaner head and and a bristled brush roll around the center. Both brushes have been tested for their functionality and it has been determined that will definitely offer you some new cleaning functions that you can make use of.

The soft roller brush will be able to lift hard-to-remove dust from smooth surfaces and carpets while the bristled brush is capable of dealing with larger forms of dust and debris. The DuoClean Technology allows you to use both cleaner heads on different surfaces without having to swap the cleaner heads. You will still have to exercise a bit of caution with this function though, because the brush rolls cannot be turned off while you are cleaning, even when you are cleaning bare floors and carpet.

Dustbin Capacity

The Shark ION P50 has a dustbin capacity of 0.16 gallons, which is the largest dustbin out of the rest of Shark’s cordless vacuum products. This can help reduce the amount of time you will spend emptying the dustbin since there is more space to fill. Both ends of the dustbin open up to allow you to empty it and it can be easily detached from the vacuum. There will be instances where you will have to clean out the mess at the bottom of the dustbin manually because they will usually be stuck there until you take it out yourself.

Filtration

The Shark ION P50 has anti-allergen HEPA filtration integrated into it, and is the only one of Shark’s cordless vacuums to have it. The 2-filter system with two pre-motor and one post-motor filter is exceptionally easy to clean, and it should be cleaned on a monthly basis at the very least. The HEPA filter itself, however, should be cleaned once a year. All of the filters should be left to dry outside of the vacuum for a whole day to avoid getting moisture trapped within the vacuum.

The P50 is designed with the HEPA filter as well as a sealed system, which will guarantee its effectiveness when you put it to the test. Shark calls the HEPA filter and sealed system of the P50 as Anti Allergen Complete Seal Technology, which means that the air will go through the filters of the vacuum cleaner thoroughly before it leaves the machine. This will keep your air clean and healthy to breathe in, free of dust allergens and other debris that would otherwise hinder you.

Weight & Movement

The Shark ION P50 weighs around 12 pounds when it is not weighed down with extra accessories. The lightweight design of the shark P50 makes it easy to carry and move around on both carpet and bare floors, and you will be able to change direction easily when you swivel steer with it. The movement abilities of the Shark P50 upright has been tested on deep pile carpet and was determined to be average.

It does, however, work really well with moving around bare floors and carpet aside from being a bit more difficult to pull backwards than forwards. It is able to stand upright on its own, although you may have to work in order to keep it stable.

The Shark P50 upright may weigh a bit more than traditional stick vacuum cleaners do. However, it still navigates around your house pretty well and lets you have the movement abilities you need to clean properly.

Powered Lift Away Mode

The powered lift away feature enables you to use this vacuum in different modes. With this Lift Away feature, you can use the main nozzle and remove the dust canister from the body. The Lift Away technology will allow you to operate the product as an upright vacuum cleaner as the default, and its versatility will also allow you to use it in handheld mode, stick mode, and boost mode.

LED Headlights

P50 has six bright LED bulbs in front. Most consumers are happy with this feature. They find it very helpful since the bulbs illuminate the space in front and make invisible stuff like dust underneath furniture more visible.

Removable Battery

Compared to the Dyson stick vacuum, the P50 has a 28.8-volt ION power cord removable battery. A fixed battery is a complaint for many vacuum users, but you will not have that issue when you are able to change the battery between charges. You can either charge the battery separately using a portable charger or directly on the vacuum.

With a second battery, you can take turns using the batteries while vacuuming. This will make your run time longer, around twice the amount of run time you would have on one battery. You can easily replace the battery once it goes dead in order to continue cleaning. This way, you don’t have to stop to charge the battery.

Battery Life

The ion power battery life of cordless vacuums are usually a highly important factor to consider when you are searching for a product to buy. It used to be a hassle to find a vacuum with a battery life that could withstand the consumer’s expectations, but their batteries have had plenty of room for improvement over many years. Now cordless vacuums may be the only type of vacuum you will ever need to use. You can even buy two batteries in order to switch one out to let the other charge while you continue cleaning.

You can get around 30 minutes of cleaning power on one ion power battery with the P50, and it can be charged in and out of the vacuum. The HandVac version of the Shark Ion P50 Lift Away Cordless Vacuum can last for up to 50 minutes. The battery is removable, which will allow you to replace it with a fully charged battery while the drained battery has time to charge again.

Upon doing some testing on the battery life, the full charging time of these batteries is only 3.5 hours long which is actually quite feasible for cordless vacuums. The boost mode may wear down the battery faster, so you may want to keep an eye on your battery life in case that happens.

Self-Standing

Storage is often a problem, especially for small spaces. But the ION P50’s self-standing upright feature makes it simpler to store vertically.

Run Time

The Shark P50 can run for an average of 50 minutes in ION power mode when you are using the Lift Away feature, according to its official figure from testing. It can run for an average of 30 minutes on carpet of bare floor when it is set in Upright & Powered Lift Away. In any setting, such as carpet it can last for up to 18 minutes when its ION boost is activated.

Noise output

In terms of noise production, the Shark P50 is neither quiet nor overly loud, making it a more pleasant option for many users. When tested alongside other full-size upright vacuums, however, it was quieter than all of them. It is a little louder on the 66.4-decibel noise level on the hard floors setting compared to the Dyson V8. But, in its highest setting slightly over 70 decibels in the boost mode, it’s less noisy when compared to the Dyson V8 and V10 which goes over 73-decibels.

Dyson v8 vs V11

You do not really want to cause too much of a commotion while you are just trying to clean your house. The noise output level of the Shark ION 950 should be suitable enough to allow you to clean all around the house without having to worry about the hassle of dealing with high decibel noises. The P50 has been tested on bare floor and carpet to determine its noise level for each surface along with other Shark vacuums and one Dyson vacuum. The P50 got the lowest peak decibel score amongst the other products.

Cleaning capacity

The P50 is primarily used for cleaning large floor areas and carpet. It’s great for dry dirt or even pet hair on indoor surfaces like hardwood, tile, carpet, rugs, etc. Features like the powered lift away system, duo clean head, and LED lights provide an excellent user experience when cleaning. The Duo Clean head is quite versatile and works best on most surfaces and different sized debris. It also does a good job edge cleaning. Its cleaning capacity is not as good as a Dyson V11 when it comes to deep cleaning, but it does quite a good job.

The Shark ION P50 has been put to standard cleaning performance tests on different surfaces to see how it would fare with different kinds of messes and it did not seem to disappoint. It performed really well on hard floors and carpet with a performance score of 99.82%, and it did not encounter any issues with clogging. You do not even have to switch cleaning tools to be able to clean on different surfaces. This will allow you to have the cleaning capacity and versatility you need out of your vacuum.

Shark ION P50 Modes

Upright mode: The default upright setting of Shark P50 which is the same as using an upright vacuum.

Handheld mode:  Remove the extension tube and attach the tools directly on the handle to change the setting to handheld mode. Works well when a vehicle or upholstery inside your home.

Stick mode: Most upright vacuums cannot go deep under the furniture. But by separating the canister from the vacuum in stick mode, you allow the main nozzle to reach far dusty parts under furniture.

Boost Mode: Activate the Boost Mode with or without the cleaner head attached. With the cleaner head attached, hold down a button on the handle while you vacuum to change to Boost Mode. Holding the button down, lets you only use it when you need to save battery power. This is a much different feature than what Dyson cordless stick vacuums offer you since you have to keep a hold on the trigger to keep the power activated.

You can also detach the handle to automatically switch to Boost Mode. Afterward, deactivate it by pushing the button. With no cleaner head attached, it gives you more suction power and can be used to vacuum your vehicle or furniture. However, using boost mode may deplete your ion battery life a bit faster than normal.

Best Shark Vacuums for Pet Hair Reviews

Tools and Attachments

There are many items that come inside of the box that are necessary for the assembly of the Shark ION P50. You will find the following products in the box:

-Manual & Quick Start Guide

-Shark ION P50 Powered Lift-Away

-Lithium ION P50 Battery

-Charging Cradle

-Charger

-Upholstery tool

-Dusting brush

-Duster crevice tool

The ION P50 has several tools and attachments that make it capable of cleaning other surfaces other than floors. It can also clean upholstery and vents using the below tools. Great for carpet too.

Upholstery tool: The upholstery tool provides a good agitation due to the presence of two felt linings on the front and back making it a great tool for cleaning upholstery.

Duster crevice tool: Includes a crevice and dusting brush which are great for cleaning deep and hard to reach areas.

Dusting brush: Good at cleaning fabric upholstery due to the semi-stiff brushes.

ION power core charger: Allows you to charge the Shark Ion P50 battery separately increasing run uptime.

Please note that the tools and extra attachments have no storage, so you will need to find some storage space for these tools and avoid misplacing them. Each one of these tools are compression fit; not as secure as click-fit, but they will still be reliable enough to get the job done.

Availability of Separate Parts

If you are worried about the availability of certain parts for the Shark ION P50, then you can put your worries to rest. The ion battery, hose assembly, HEPA filter, and more can be easily found on Shark’s website as well as Amazon. You can even find parts that do not come included with the vacuum on both websites so that you can purchase them at your earliest convenience.

Pros & Cons

 

Pros

Cons

Consumer Ratings 

Below is our score for the ION P50 when compared to the other vacuums.

Competitors and Alternatives Comparison Review

The major competitor for Shark P50 is the Dyson V10. But, though the Dyson V10 has some positive compliments and impressive stats it lacks the convenience Shark P50 offers. This includes features like Shark’s Lift-Away and Duo Clean modes and removable battery technologies. According to many Shark ION P50 reviews, there are many important features that draw consumers into buying it over other vacuum products.

Dyson V10 cordless vacuum might have great potential but the non-removable battery is a setback. With the removable Shark P50 battery, which is included in the box (only one), you can still buy an additional one separately.

Consumers of the Shark Ion P50 usually review about how quiet it is in comparison to other vacuum cleaners. In fact, Shark has determined that the Ion P50 is their quietest upright vacuum after testing it against other upright vacuums. The volume level from vacuums are an important factor to many consumers since many people do not want a vacuum that is too loud, since they tend to cause a disturbance. With the Ion P50, you can vacuum around your house peacefully.

Another feature I loved from the P50 is the fact that it is cordless. Many people would rather not have a limited space to move around while they are cleaning their house. The cordless feature will prevent you from staying tethered to certain areas, although you may have to worry about the suction power and run time you will have.

Where to Buy

The Shark ION P50 is available in online stores like Shark ION P50 on Amazon where you will also get the latest prices. The Shark Ion P50 comes with a 5-year manufacturer’s parts and labor warranty and a 2-year limited battery warranty.

Apart from the two warranties, the package includes Shark ION P50 Powered Lift Away, lithium-ion battery, charger, charging cradle, duster crevice tool, dusting brush, upholstery tool, and a vacuum manual & quick start guide. The manual has information on the Assembly, Operating the Vacuum, Charging the Battery, Charge Indicator Lights, Additional Accessories, Maintenance, Troubleshooting, and the Warranty.

Is the Shark ION P50 a Good Value to Purchase?

As far as affordability, versatility, performance goes, the Shark ION P50 is a very valuable product to have in your home. It performs really well with cleaning debris from hard floors and carpet. Plus, it is so much more affordable than many other cordless vacuums that performed almost as well.

It may even surprise some consumers that it also cleans really well on carpets compared to other vacuum cleaners. It can even clean underneath furniture because of the powered lift away system, even though it has a really big canister that you think would be in the way. The Lift Away mode is a big highlight of this vacuum.

The Shark ION P50 is excellent for people who are looking for a cordless upright stick vacuum that will give you the cleaning power and versatility that you need. The LED lights will allow you to see dust and debris more visibly while you maneuver your way around furniture. It might not be as dexterous as other vacuum cleaners such as Dyson, but it will still work very effectively for everyday cleaning.

Three other tools that come included with the Shark vacuum will allow you to easily use it as a handheld vacuum, which is another bonus feature to prove its overall versatility. Even when it is on the lowest setting, the Duo Clean head will be capable of cleaning even the most annoying types of debris.

If you are looking to gain a versatile vacuum cleaner that will likely not go over your budget, then the Shark ION P50 may be the best product for you to have. You should definitely consider it if no other options work right for you. Its 50 minutes run time is great too.

Final Verdict

With all the features outlined in this review and the convenience it provides, the Shark ION P50 cordless is an excellent option if you’re looking for a versatile upright stick vacuum for cleaning floors and carpet. Its ability to go underneath furniture and deep spaces is an additional advantage. While it does have a bulky canister, the powered lift away system makes the vacuum capable of cleaning underneath furniture with ease.

The Shark ION P50 is an excellent option if you are searching for a vacuum that can provide value without breaking the bank. It’s less expensive compared to other cordless vacuums with a similar performance like the Dyson V8, Tineco A11, and Dyson V10. Its ability to clean various surfaces, whether it’s hard floors or carpet, gives it a higher ranking. Its Lift Away mode is a highlight and its ion power is impressive.