In my opinion, Shark and Dyson are two of the most innovative brands right now when it comes to product design.
Dyson pioneered the bagless system that basically disrupted how other manufacturers created their products.
And Shark is one of the by-products of that disruption.
There is no doubt in my mind that Shark got their inspiration from Dyson when designing the Rocket series.
Shark is an innovator in their own right. One of their more innovative products would be the “Lift Away” series that morphs an upright into a canister type vacuum with a push of a lever.
But that’s another topic for another day. Today we’ll be looking the Shark Rocket with Duo Clean and the Dyson V8.
Both these products have the same design principle.
That is having interchangeable tools with a removable wand for it to work on floors and above it.
Both have powered tools for upholstery and floors.
The V8 is slightly longer than the Shark by around 3 inches so it is slightly better reach.
One of them is cordless and another has a cord. But which one is better.
Let’s go through their features one by one and break everything down.
Product design
The Shark Rocket Duo Clean and V8 Absolute work on the same blueprint that has made each of these products successful.
That is to use a compact motor stuffed in a small case that includes the bin. Without the long tube attached, you’d think these products are handhelds.
With the tube attached, it becomes a stick vacuum that you can use on floors.
But unlike other stick vacs these machines have real power.
Here’s the great part, you can attach other tools to the wand can clean areas high above your head.
All these tools can be used with or without the wand.
So versatility is the name of the game for these two. Using a smaller motor negatively affects power but you get a lot of maneuverability with these two products.
Dyson was the pioneer of this design and Shark was one of the first to copy and integrate into their Rocket product line.
Other brands like Hoover and Bissell have their own versions but Shark has added a little bit of flavor to it (you’ll find out in a bit).
You can say that the Rocket is the corded version of a Dyson cordless.
Yes, they copied the design but so far Dyson hasn’t sued them for it and I don’t think they will use up resources for R&D just to bring rivals to court though they’ve done it in the past.
To me this is a good thing because we consumers are winners. Innovation starts when two competing brands try to outdo each other and that’s what we’re seeing here.
Main cleaning head
Out of the box, the Dyson V8 provides a couple of tools for the task – the direct drive cleaning and soft roller cleaner brush.
The Dyson V6 was the first to use this tool set.
Dyson says that these tools have 150% more agitation compared to the V6 Cord-Free.
If you’re not familiar the direct drive head is works best on carpet and the soft roller head on bare floor.
Here’s a short demo of the soft roller cleaner head…
And here’s the direct driver cleaner head…
Shark has taken that idea and combined it into one. Instead of just copying Dyson, it innovated and created something unique – they call it the DUO CLEAN technology.
It combines a soft brush roll and bristle brush that work together to pick up small to large debris.
With the soft brush roll placed up front, it all but eliminates the plowing effect that plague traditionally designed stick and even upright vacuums.
That’s because this part “pulls” dirt and shoves toward the inlet where suction takes over.
You’ll notice the floor tool isn’t low profile like those in other stick vacuums. Shark exposed a lot of the roller. This is by design for maximum pick up and agitation.
See the Duo Clean in action…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAYAXt5h3js
The second video is an advert from Shark. But you’ve got to admit, it’s pretty impressive with the range of dirt can clean.
One feature that the Shark has over Dyson is the presence of LED lights. This helps in terms of visibility on low light areas and tracking dust.
Winner: Even
Related:
- You can also find the best Dyson deals here to get the best price possible on various Dyson products.
- Please check out my in-depth guide on the best Shark vacuums and find out which Shark cleaner would be best suited for your needs.
Filtration
The V8 Absolute has two filters inside – one main filter and a post motor HEPA filter. Both of these are washable.
Dyson says that their two tier radial cyclone combine with the two filters capture particles as small as 0.3 microns.
Shark on the other hand does not have HEPA filtration. It uses two washable foam filters, one stacked over another.
Filtration isn’t as good so if you have an allergic condition you may want to go with the Dyson.
Winner: Dyson
Dirt bin capacity
Shark can hold almost twice as much dirt as a Dyson. It can hold around 0.25 gallons of dry dirt, that’s around 1 quart. The V8 can only hold around 0.14 gallons.
Both brands utilize a similar principle in terms of design. Each use a single trap door design at the bottom and rely primarily on gravity for the dirt to come out. But Dyson has improved upon its original design.
The new design actually has a mechanism that helps push dirt down. This lessens the need to use your fingers to dislodge statically charged dirt like dust trapped inside.
Winner: Shark Duo Clean
Tools included
Dyson comes with a total of 6 attachments. These include the soft roller cleaner head, direct drive cleaner head, mini motorized tool, combination tool, crevice tool and soft dusting brush.
Shark comes with a tiny bit more in terms of tools. Out of the box you’ll get the dusting brush, duster crevice, upholstery tool, under appliance wand, True Pet mini motorized brush and the Duo Clean tool.
In terms of agitation, it’s hard to beat what the Dyson brings to the table with the direct-drive and soft roller head. The devil is in the details as they say.
When you look closely at Dyson’s bristled tool, you’ll notice that it has two types of brushes – stiff nylon bristles and softer carbon fiber filaments for ground-in dirt and dust.
The soft roller bar is the biggest innovation in the last 5 years by Dyson.
This tool is washable and easy to maintain.
For the Shark, I like how they include the under appliance wand. Cleaning areas under low profile furniture is a pain and having a tool like this will save you time from having to pick up that furniture and putting it back into place just to clean it.
Despite having this, I still like the cleaning tools Dyson has to offer but the Duo Clean tool from Shark is a huge step forward for them. If they can improve upon the bristled part of this tool they’d have a legitimate shot at surpassing Dyson.
Winner: Dyson but not by much
Power
Shark says this vacuum has a 600-watt motor.
Dyson uses a different form of measurement called air watts. The V8 has 100 air watts of power when you engage the max mode.
If you’re not familiar with air watts – it is power at the suction port where the dirt goes in. To put it in perspective, it’s similar to wheel horsepower or power at the wheels where it matters most.
Even if Shark has a cord, the power difference is negligible. That is when Dyson has the max turned on.
But in normal mode, Shark will have a slight edge.
Remember that suction alone does not make a vacuum cleaner perform well. You’ll have to look at how much agitation it has and that’s where the motorized brush comes in.
And in my opinion, Dyson still has an edge over Shark because it will better agitation on bare floor and carpet.
Winner: Dyson
Weight and ergonomics
At first glance you’d think that both of these vacuums have the same balance when working above the floor.
With the motorized tool and extension wand attached, Shark is heavier than the Dyson.
But without it that number drops down to just 4.6 pounds.
One thing I about the Shark is that it uses a slide switch instead of a trigger as the power button. This lessens the strain on the arms and wrist especially when cleaning above floors.
Shark does not need to use a trigger because it has a constant power source. You can just leave the vacuum on and not worry about it running out of juice.
The Dyson V8 weighs just 5.75 pounds and since it does not have any cord, you don’t have to worry about finding an outlet when cleaning areas like the attic or even inside the garage.
Winner: Even
Warranty
Shark backs up the Rocket with a VIP Lifetime warranty. Make sure to read the fine print, and I’ll paraphrase what it says. Unfortunately, only non-wear components are covered by the warranty.
All Dyson cordless vacuums come with a 2 year warranty on the whole machine.
Winner: Shark
Product specifications
Shark Rocket with Duo Clean | Dyson V8 Absolute | |
Power | 600 watts | 100 Aw (max) |
Power source | Corded 30 foot power cord | Lithium Ion battery 25 - 40 min run time |
Weight | 9.9 pounds (with floor tool and wand) 4.6 pounds (hand vac weight) | 5.75 pounds |
Tools included | Dusting brush Duster crevice Upholstery tool Under appliance wand True Pet mini motorized brush Duo clean tool | Soft roller cleaner head Direct drive cleaner head Mini motorized tool Combination tool Crevice tool Soft dusting brush |
Warranty | VIP Lifetime | 2 years |
Where to buy?
You can buy both of this products from their respective websites at SharkClean.com and Dyson.com. Another option would be buying this from Amazon.
The Shark Rocket will be a few hundred dollars cheaper compared to Dyson, but with all the tools you’ll get from the V8 Absolute, I think you’ll be getting a lot for your dollar.
To wrap up
I love the innovation brought to the table by Shark and Dyson.
Obviously the Dyson is the king when it comes to cordless vacuums and the V8 is arguably the best with two motorized tools at your disposable for bare floor and carpet.
It does not have any cord so Dyson wins in terms of maneuverability and portability because you don’t have to worry about it getting in the way.
But the Dyson V8 is very expensive and if you can’t afford it the Shark Rocket with Duo Clean offers something cheaper albeit a corded one.
You’ll get around 90% of the performance at more than half less the cost. Shark came up with a nifty solution for cleaning bare floor and carpet by combining the soft roller and bristled brush into very decent cleaning tool for multiple surfaces.
But I don’t think it can beat Dyson in terms of agitation especially on carpet or bare floor because the latter has a larger diameter beater bar that spins faster.
Now remember that the Rocket Duo Clean has a 30 foot cord that you’ll have to tidy up after every cleaning session but if you don’t mind this then I won’t blame you for picking a Shark.
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My Dyson V8 was great until the battery started draining faster and faster after the first 3 months of everyday use. Shark complete wins my vote in the same way the Dyson lost it. Better product not to mention the rollerhead had to be replaced twice due to motor issues took a month to get from Dyson.