I was using a broom to clean my home and I must say that this is not the best method to have the task done. It usually took me many hours and I always felt extremely tired even before completing the task. Admittedly, I was feeling like leaving the task half-way and take a rest first.
I suffered for a long time because I didn’t have a vacuum cleaner. I thought vacuum cleaners were incredibly expensive for me but I was wrong. I later learned about Shark Navigator Freestyle cleaner and how cheap it was.
After I bought the tool, my cleaning tasks became both easier and hassle-free. That’s why I created this post because I don’t want anyone to suffer like I did.
Table of Contents
An Overview of Shark SV1106 Navigator Freestyle
The Shark Navigator Freestyle SV1106 is one of the nicest stick vacuum cleaners for its price tag.
It’s a great option for those who are on a tight budget and need it to maneuver around their furniture filled home.
This cordless vacuum is nimble to move around and when fully charged, can give you up to a quarter of an hour of uninterrupted cleaning.
The Freestyle SV1106 is lightweight; it weighs just 6.5 pounds.
Features & Benefits
1. Battery Specs, Charging Time and Run Life
The Shark Navigator features a rechargeable 10.8V nickel metal hydride battery that provides cordless convenience for cleaning your home.
It takes about 4 hours to charge the battery completely, and the best thing about it is that you can leave it on its charging port for hours or days after the battery is fully recharged.
The battery is designed with internal capacitors that cut off incoming power once the battery is fully charged to avoid degrading the battery.
This feature ensures that your battery is always fully charged and ready to provide cleaning power at all times.
The manual indicates that a new battery on the Shark Freestyle takes about 3 to 5 charge and use cycles to reach its peak performance. At its peak performance, the Shark Freestyle’s battery should give you 17 minutes and 12 minutes of the uninterrupted hard floor and carpet cleaning respectively.
Some users have claimed to have enjoyed over 20 minutes of cleaning action from their fully recharged batteries. To avoid disappointment, you should expect a combined 15 minutes of battery life as per the manual.
Depending on your usage patterns, the nickel metal hydride battery on your vacuum can serve you for many years, but if you misplace your battery or it malfunctions for whatever reason, a replacement battery costs about $50.
2. Maneuverability and Ease of Use
Despite its slightly large body, the Shark Freestyle is lightweight and is equipped with a swiveling steering head for enhanced mobility across a sea of furniture in your home.
When it comes to operation, all of its electronic buttons are placed intuitively at your fingertips for easy control.
It also comes with a large empty dirt cup that allows you to empty and dispose of the dirt easily.
3. Hard Floor Cleaning Performance
The hard floor setting of the Shark freestyle can be used on wooden floors and ceramic floors in your home.
It has a motorized brush that is efficient at dislodging small debris while being gentle of hardwood surfaces.
4. Carpet Cleaning Performance
The Shark Freestyle’s performance couldn’t be better on carpeted floors.
This vacuum performs excellently when it comes to picking up the floating debris on the carpet and deep cleaning.
It has enough power to deep clean, and its motorized brush is specifically designed for cleaning carpets and bare floors.
5.Picking Pet Hair
If your pet loves the furry feel of your carpet or the coziness of your couch, you can let him or her enjoy their sleep.
The Shark Freestyle is fully capable of removing the pet hair from your upholstery. You can use its motorized brush to rove the deep-rooted pet hair in your furry carpet.
6. Attachments
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The Shark Freestyle costs just $91.99, and for that price, it does not come with any additional accessories or attachments for specialized cleaning jobs.
This vacuum is mostly a floor cleaner, but you can purchase aftermarket accessories and attachments to broaden your cleaning capabilities with this tool.
7.Filtration System
Unfortunately, the Shark Freestyle does not come with the class-leading HEPA filtration system but comes with extra-large dirt cups so you can empty it less frequently when cleaning large areas.
What’s more, the top and bottom-empty design of the dirt cups makes it easier to empty dirt and debris from the vac.
Top 3 Alternatives of Shark Navigator Freestyle (SV1106)
Up to this point, if you feel that the Shark Navigator Freestyle doesn’t meet your required standard, here are three alternatives that are at least worth your consideration:
Hoover LiNX Vacuum Cleaner, BH50010
With just $99.99, you can get yourself a Hoover LiNX BH50010 vacuum cleaner. What I love more about this vacuum is its advanced electrical and technological features.
The LiNX vacuum has a battery gauge that shows you how much battery life is left. This feature is not present in the shark freestyle. What’s more, all of its control buttons are intuitively placed on your fingertips.
When it comes to cleaning, the LiNX has a wider cleaning path and allows you to clean both high carpeted floors and hard floors with the help of its powered brush roll and WindTunnel technology.
Shark Navigator on the other hands features swivel steering technology. Unlike the Shark Freestyle, the powered brush roll of this LiNX allows you to do deep cleaning in carpets.
It also comes equipped with edge bristles that allow you to clean edges of walls and staircases.
At a quick glance, here are the differences between the Shark Navigator Freestyle and Hoover LiNX Vacuum Cleaner BH50010
- Features a battery gauge.
- Boasts powered brush roll and WindTunnel technology.
- Powered brush roll enables deep cleaning in carpets.
- Edge bristles enable cleaning of edges of walls and staircases.
- Weights 12 pounds which is heavier than the shark navigator’s 7.5 pounds.
If you are looking for an ultra-powerful vacuum cleaner that can enable you to deep clean your carpeted floor and hard floors, this cleaner is a good choice.
Its edge bristles also allow you to clean edges of walls and staircases without any hassle or fuss. Does this vacuum cleaner match your needs? Click here to check it out for more detail.
Hoover BH50020PC LiNX Signature Vacuum Cleaner cordless
The LiNX Signature costs $109.99 making it the most expensive vacuum in this lineup. It, therefore, costs $20 more than the Shark Navigator. But what does the extra $20 guarantee you with this model?
Well, some of its functionalities are similar to the shark navigator, but it features a unique smart charge battery charger system.
To charge it, you take out the battery out of the vacuum and plug it into its specially designed charger. The battery comes with an indicator that displays the amount of charge left in the battery.
The Hoover vacuum cleaner features Wind Tunnel technology while shark navigator features swivel steering technology.
Weighing 7.3 pounds, this cleaner weighs 0.2 pounds less compared to the shark navigator. It also features a fuel gauge to inform you when the charge is almost depleted.
In a nutshell, here is a summary of the major differences between the shark navigator and the Hoover BH50020PC:
- Features a battery gauge
- Costs $20 more
- Boasts WindTunnel technology
- Edge bristles enable cleaning of edges of walls and staircases
- Weighs 7.3 pounds which is lighter than the shark navigator’s 7.5 pounds
If you want a portable and lightweight vacuum cleaner that will assist you clean edges of walls and staircases, this can be an excellent choice. Keep in mind that you’ll have to pay $20 more than you’d have paid for the shark navigator but it’s worth. Click here to check out the product.
Hoover Vacuum Cleaner BH52120PC
The Hoover BH2120PC is a 2-in-1 Deluxe Stick and Handheld vacuum cleaner. It is another exciting option at just $99.99. Notably, it comes at a slightly higher price tag compared to the shark navigator, which retails at $89.9.
This vacuum cleaner proves to be more versatile than the shark navigator thanks to its advanced features. You can switch the cleaner to a motorized turbo vacuum if you want to pick up pet hair from your upholstery.
You can also use it as a removable hand vacuum to clean vehicles, sofa sets, stairs, and other hard to reach surfaces. What’s more is that you can turn it into a crevice tool to clean cracks and crevices with the utmost precision without hassle.
When using the BH2120PC as a stick vacuum, you can go from cleaning carpeted surfaces to hard floors thanks to its multi-floor electronic brush.
Unlike shark navigator, this cleaner has super-bright LED headlights mounted on its cleaning unit to illuminate the path and help you avoid crashing into toys and other objects lying around your floors.
At a quick glance, here are the differences between the Shark Navigator Freestyle and the Hoover Vacuum Cleaner BH52120PC:
- Features Exclusive Wind Tunnel 2 Technology
- Weighing 12.1 pounds, it is heavier than the shark navigator
- Boasts super-bright LED headlights mounted on its cleaning unit
- The cleaner can be switched to a motorized turbo vacuum
- Costs $10 more than the shark navigator
This vacuum cleaner is best suited to those who are looking for a hand-held cleaning aid thanks to its removable hand vac.
If you want a cleaner that can be switched to a motorized turbo charge, Hoover Vacuum Cleaner BH52120PC is also your best bet.
PRODUCT NAME | Shark Navigator Freestyle | Hoover LiNX BH50010 | Hoover LiNX Signature BH50020PC | Hoover BH52120PC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
DESCRIPTION | Rechargeable cordless convenience, Swivel steering technology, premium pet hair pick up, charges in 4 hours, 7.5 pounds, optimized for carpet and bare floor cleaning, upright performance, 2 in 1 performance. | Rechargeable, Interchangeable Cordless convenience, Wind Tunnel Technology, Extreme recline handle, 12 pounds, Edge cleaning bristles, Fuel gauge, Multi-color cleaning, upright performance, 2 in 1 performance. | Rechargeable, Interchangeable Cordless convenience, Wind Tunnel technology, Extreme recline handle, 7.3 pounds, Edge cleaning bristles, Fuel gauge, Multi-color cleaning, upright performance 2 in 1 performance. | Rechargeable cordless convenience, Exclusive Wind Tunnel 2 Technology, Removable hand vac, 12.1 pounds Multi- floor electronic brush roll, Steerable technology, Handheld performance, 2 in 1 performance. |
Price | ||||
Cleaner type | Stick vacuum | Upright vacuum | Upright vacuum | Handheld vacuum |
True pet cleaning | Yes | No | No | No |
Price Range | Low | Low | Medium | Low |
Swivel steering or Wind Tunnel technology? | Swivel steering technology | Wind Tunnel technology | Wind Tunnel technology | Wind Tunnel technology |
Operating mode | 2 in 1 | 2 in 1 | 2 in 1 | 2 in 1 |
LED Lights | None | None | None | Yes |
Charging time | 4 hours | 4 hours | 4 hours | 4 hours |
Weight | 7.5 pounds | 12 pounds | 7.3 pounds | 12.1 pounds |
Things to consider before buying a vacuum cleaner
1. Type of Floors I Have
Most homes have a good combination of hard floors and carpeted floors. Nowadays, most vacuum cleaners are designed to deal with both types of surfaces with ease.
An upright vacuum cleaner is an ideal choice if you are mainly planning to use it on soft carpeted floors. On the other hand, canister-style vacuums are most suited to clean ceramic, wooden and other types of hard floors.
Keep in mind that a lightweight vacuum will be easier to ferry around when it comes to cleaning flights of stairs.
2. What Vacuum Accessories Do I Need?
A vacuum cleaner is a great power tool to have in your home, but some cleaning jobs require specialized equipment. For instance, a standard vacuum cleaner might struggle to clean your blinds or ceiling fan.
You, therefore, need specialized tools for these jobs. A ceiling fan attachment is designed to reach high ceiling fans to help remove dirt while a mini-blind attachment will help you get the dust off your blinds.
3. What is the Noise Level?
Ideally, you want a silent vacuum because you neither want to wake up your sleeping baby when cleaning your home nor affect the productivity of your workers when cleaning your office.
Keep in mind that the more powerful a cleaner is, the louder it becomes. However, some of the best vacuums are designed with noise-insulating motor housing to minimize noise pollution.
The quietest vacuums can produce as low as 47 dB while delivering maximum cleaning power.
4. How Do I Contain Dust and Pollutants?
Keep in mind that you are exposed to a lot of dirt and allergens when operating a vacuum. For this reason, vacuums are fitted with safety measures to protect you from these harmful elements.
Those that are prone to allergy and asthma attacks are advised to go for vacuums that have a HEPA filtration system. A HEPA filter contains all forms of pollutants down to 0.3 microns leaving your air purer.
Conclusion
The Shark Navigator Freestyle is an attractive choice of vacuum cleaner for homes that have a combination of ceramic, hardwood and carpeted floors. It is the ideal power tool if you want a budget stick vacuum that’s both light and produces a lot of cleaning power. Its 15-minute battery is not something to get excited about but is enough for normal cleaning chores in apartments where there’s need to get rid of pet hair.
