Shark AZ2002 Vertex DuoClean PowerFins upright vacuum with powered lift-away

Shark AZ2002 Vertex DuoClean PowerFins upright vacuum with powered lift-away

A PowerFin roller and a soft roller combine on all floors. Continuous cleaning contact to dig deep into carpets, directly engage floors, and pick up more in every pass. (vs. original DuoClean). It has smooth maneuverability on hard floors and carpets while maintaining powerful suction. Get more on Shark AZ2002 Vertex DuoClean PowerFins upright vacuum with powered lift-away.

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In the box – Shark AZ2002 Vertex DuoClean PowerFins upright vacuum with powered lift-away

  • Vacuum body
  • MultiFLEX wand
  • Vacuum head/floor nozzle
  • Dirt compartment
  • Soft roller
  • Anti-Allergen Dust Brush attachment
  • Pet Multi-Tool attachment
  • Crevice tool
  • Pre-motor foam filter
  • Pre-motor felt filter (with pink tab)
  • HEPA post-motor filter (in vacuum body)
  • Battery
  • Charging cable
  • User guide

Pros & Cons

Pros

  • Multiple configurations for a variety of messes
  • Improved build quality over the more budget-friendly Shark models. The Vertex cleans incredibly solid.
  • New PowerFins on the improved DuoClean brush replace more traditional bristles and improve performance
  • Fantastic cleaning performance removing 99% of all debris we tested it against

Cons

  • Definitely on the heavier side at 16.38 pounds
  • One of the most expensive vacuum models Shark offers

Specifications – Shark AZ2002 Vertex DuoClean PowerFins upright vacuum with powered lift-away

Key specs

Cleaning Path Width: 12 inches
Vacuum Type: Upright vacuums
Bin Capacity: 1 gallons
Product Weight: 16.38 pounds
Brush Roll Shut-Off: No
Bagless: Yes
Compatible Floor Type: Carpet, Hardwoods
Corded/Cordless: Corded
Cord Length: 30 feet
Filter Type: HEPA
Multi Surface: Yes
Washable Filter: Yes
Attachments Included: Dusting brush, Crevice tool, Self-cleaning pet power brush

General
Product Name : Shark® Vertex DuoClean® PowerFins Upright Vacuum with Powered Lift-away® and Self-Cleaning Brushroll
Brand: Shark
Additional Accessories Included: Dusting Brush, Crevice Tool, Self-cleaning Pet Power Brush
Model Number: AZ2002
Color: Rose Gold
Color Category: Gold

Dimension
Product Height: 46.25 inches
Product Length: 12 inches
Product Width: 15.09 inches

Feature
Cord Storage Type: Cord wrap
Headlight(s): Yes
Amperage: 11.8 amperes
Voltage: 120 volts
Wattage: 1344 watts

What is good in Shark AZ2002 Vertex DuoClean PowerFins upright vacuum with powered lift-away


DuoClean PowerFins

A PowerFin roller and a soft roller combine on all floors. Continuous cleaning contact to dig deep into carpets, directly engage floors, and pick up more in every pass.

Self-Cleaning Brushroll

Powerful pet hair pickup with no hair wrap.

Pet Hair Pickup

Engineered to pick up more hair with no hair wrap (vs. shark bristle nozzles)

Powered Lift-Away

Lift Away the pod for motorized cleaning under furniture, or detach the nozzle and clean above the floor.

Anti-Allergen Complete Seal Technology

Anti-Allergen Complete Seal Technology and a HEPA filter trap 99.9% of dust and allergens inside the vacuum cleaner. (Based on ASTM F1977 of particles .3 microns or larger.)

LED Headlights

Reveal hidden debris around your home.

Active Glide Technology

Smooth maneuverability on hard floors and carpets while maintaining powerful suction.

Extra Tools

Includes additional tools to tackle stubborn pet hair and hard-to-reach areas.

Compare Shark Upright Vacuums

AZ2002LA322LA502NV752AZ1002
DuoClean PowerFins
DuoClean
Self-Cleaning Brushroll
Powered Lift-Away
Lift-Away
Anti-Allergen Complete Seal
Product weight (lbs.)16.3812.314.516.716
Wattage134496091011501350
Amps11.810109.511.3
Cord length (ft.)3025302530

Shark AZ2002 Vertex DuoClean PowerFins upright vacuum with powered lift-away review

Design

The Shark Vertex upright combines a mix of new features for a powerful (and convertible) upright vacuum cleaner.

This vacuum has the following perks:

  • DuoClean: utilizes the DuoClean brushroll system, which is a 2-roller technique—soft roller at the front and a spiral rubberized roller in the middle (aka “PowerFins”…Shark’s name); counterrotating for maximum suction and pull
  • Lift-Away: upright vacuum has a canister that separates from the floor brushroll and allows you to take the unit apart from the base for cleaning on-the-go
  • Self-Cleaning brushroll: updated design prevents hair from wrapping around the axel for a more effective cleaning performance

Size & Dimensions

The Shark Vertex is 46.5″ tall, 12″ wide, and 10″ deep.

It has a 12″ wide cleaning path, which is a bit wider than other upright vacuums on the market.

Overall, this vacuum weighs 16.38 pounds, which puts it right in the middle for full-size uprights.

The Vertex is powdered with a 30′ long cord and has a flexible hose length of 5.5′ for extended reach.

When used as a handheld, the Vertex is about 8 pounds, give or take, but pretty manageable for many users.

Tools

Three tools are provided with the Vertex:
1) Crevice tool
2) Dusting brush
3) Pet power brush

The crevice tool and dusting brush are rather generic but they don’t feel flimsy and they work. The crevice tool is about 8 inches long and the dusting brush head rotates and has a good set of bristles that are not too stiff. The pet power brush however is a little different.

This pet power brush has a finned brushroll and it is actually a “turbo tool”. Despite being called a “power” brush, a turbo tool does not have a motor. You can see in the image below that the tool has a turbo wheel set directly across the airflow path.

Air Filtration

The Vertex has excellent air filtration capabilities. It combines a HEPA filter with sealed body construction. This means that all of the air entering the vacuum gets passed through the machine’s filters before being exhausted back into the room. This is an effective approach to quality air filtration and it ensures no unfiltered air is leaking out of the vacuum.  

The unit has 2 pre-motor filters and 1 post-motor filter. The 2 pre-motor filters consist of a felt filter and a foam filter. Both are very easy to access and can be rinsed in water and re-used. The post-motor filter is the HEPA filter and it too can be rinsed in water and re-used.

Shark AZ2002 Vertex DuoClean PowerFins upright vacuum with powered lift-away

A bagless vacuum and rinsable filters helps keep vacuuming operating costs down as well.

Powered-Lift-Away

Shark first revealed the lift-away feature on some of their vacuums years ago and it is a feature that stuck – simply due to its popularity. This feature allows you to carry the dust canister / motor assembly in one hand (it “lifts away” from the vacuum) while you use the hose/handle with the other hand. On the end of the handle you can use the wand with tools, you can use the wand with the cleaner head, or you can simply attach tools directly to the end of the handle.

Dust Canister

The dust canister has a capacity of 1 quart which is a decent size. You will not find yourself having to empty it too often. It is also very easy to detach from the vacuum, empty, and reattach.

The dust canister has a latch on the bottom that you press to open the bottom door. The door swings open and the debris falls out. If there is anything we don’t like about this canister it may be that it is a little on the narrow side (see image to right and notice size of door on bottom – it is rather narrow) and as a result sometimes debris (especially hair and dust bunnies) can get stuck up in the canister and be a bit of a pain to get out. But this kind of thing is fairly common bagless vacuums.

Controls

We really like the easy access to floor settings available on the vacuum handle. A slider allows you to choose between “Hard Floor”, “Carpet / Low Pile”, and “Thick Carpet / Area Rug”. The slider can be accessed with your thumb while you vacuum, making changes quick and easy. The main vacuum power button is also just above the slider.  See image to right.

Noise Level Test

We used a digital noise level meter to measure the peak decibel output from a host of upright vacuums. The test involved placing the meter 3 ft in front of the cleaner head of each vacuum with the brushroll on. The tests were done on low pile carpet and run for about 10 seconds. The peak decibel reading during that time was captured. See table below

Vacuum ModelNoise Level
Shark NV75275.2 dB
Shark APEX76.1 dB
Shark ZU63277.4 dB
Shark Vertex77.5 dB

As you can see the Vertex was the loudest of the bunch although it was almost the same as the Shark Rotator ZU632. The Vertex is perhaps a little on the loud side but it really isn’t too bad. When running the vacuum we did not feel that the noise was at an uncomfortable level.

Shark AZ2002 Vertex DuoClean PowerFins upright vacuum with powered lift-away Performance review

For all of our vacuum cleaning performance tests, we test on 3 different floor types, including hardwood floors, low pile carpet, and high pile carpet. 

For each floor type, we test the vacuum cleaner against different debris types.

The exact breakdown looks like:

  • Rice – 3 ounces
  • Dry Cereal – 1 ounce
  • Kitty Litter – 3 ounces
  • Sugar – 3 ounces
Shark AZ2002 Vertex DuoClean PowerFins upright vacuum with powered lift-away
Testing Debris – From left to right: Rice (3 oz.), Kitty Litter (3 oz), Cereal (1 oz), Sugar (3 oz)

Each of the debris types is then spread across our approximately 11 square foot testing lane. The base surface of our testing lane is an engineered hardwood floor. For our carpet tests, we slide in a low pile and high pile carpet insert on top of the hardwood floor.

Our vacuum cleaning process strives to be as consistent, fair, and true to real world use as possible.

Our tests utilize the following procedure:

  1. Measure the weight of the testing debris and weight of empty vacuum debris container.
  2. Spread the respective debris type evenly across the central portion of the testing lane.
  3. Run the vacuum cleaner over the testing lane.
  4. Measure the weight of the now filled container and take notes on the cleaning performance.

Low Pile Carpet

On low pile carpet, the results were nearly flawless as well, with 99-100% capture rate between all debris types. Overall, it’s just a powerful machine with strong suction.

However, the DuoClean brushroll really does make a big difference. This counterrotating brush grabs on to both large and fine debris, regardless of floor type.

Cereal 100%

Kitty Litter 99%

Rice 100%

Sugar 96%

Shark AZ2002 Vertex DuoClean PowerFins upright vacuum with powered lift-away
Shark Vertex upright – low carpet performance

Hardwood Floor

On the hardwood floors, the Vertex was flawless, capturing 100% of all debris tested. The soft roller brush really makes a tremendous difference on hardwood floors.

Many upright vacuum cleaners simply push cereal and other large debris forward on hard surface flooring.

Cereal 100%

Kitty Litter 100%

Rice 100%

Sugar 100%

Shark Vertex upright - hardwood floor performance
Shark Vertex upright – hardwood floor performance

High Pile Carpet

The high pile carpet test was consistent and as impressive as the low pile carpet, results between 99-100% collected across all debris types.

Cereal 100%

Kitty Litter 100%

Rice 100%

Sugar 98%

Shark Vertex upright - high carpet performance
Shark Vertex upright – high carpet performance

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