Shark Navigator Deluxe Upright Vacuum, Champagne (NV42)

First off, I want to say that even though some of you people may think I’m kidding, I am most certainly not. This is as honest a review as I could think of, hand to god, scouts honor.

Let me just start by saying that if there was an option for 12 stars, I would select it.

Setting, 6 months ago: Very recent college graduates apartment, housing four hairy 23-24 year old young men and dogs (we dog-sit a lot). 4 bedroom/2 bath duplex, with finished basement/man cave on the edge of Boston. Hardwood floors, hallway runner rugs, area rugs, bath mats (eww), door mats, etc. etc. etc. To put this apartment into perspective, imagine a 2000 sq. foot freshly-licked lollipop that has been dragged across every door mat, barber/salon floor, sports arena bathroom, and toilet seat on the east coast. That WAS our apartment. No shame.

When we moved in, we grabbed a free Dirt Devil vacuum off the curb somewhere near Northeastern University. We soon found out that this acclaimed “devil” of dirt, was actually a glorified giant red leaf blower. This thing peppered our new apartment with the previous owner’s dust and hair. Naturally, we saw this and did nothing for 6 months, we are lazy college grads adjusting to the real world.

6 months later (present): We have decided that being adults was fun! The four of us, grab some refreshing beverages on a Sunday late afternoon, while we sit on the couch surfing Amazon for a vacuum. Do a little research on the best “bang for your buck” vacuums and find this swell looking piece of engineering, the Shark Navigator Deluxe (NV42). Obviously we sign up for Amazon Prime so we can get this bad boy in 2 days, because at this point, our apartment alert level for cleaning is at defcon 5. Fast forward 48 hours, our vacuum has arrived. Rip apart the packaging like little kids on Christmas so we can put this thing to the ultimate test.

We waited some time before writing this review to makes sure this thing lasted more than the opening phases of the cleaning gauntlet inside our apartment.

THIS THING IS A BEAST. It has cleaned every rug, bath mat, couch, toilet, and floor our apartment has to offer….without a single flinch or hiccup along the way. It has pulled the dog hair and other hairs (?) out of every nook and cranny of this place. Every ounce of dust and grime that has built up over the past 6 months, has vanished. It is lightweight, relatively quiet, and easy to use. Literally takes 2 seconds to assemble and then BOOM ready to go. It is an amazing vacuum. Another note, my parents own a Dyson vacuum and live about 20 minutes from me. The apartment was in bad enough shape where my parents wouldn’t even let me borrow their Dyson for an afternoon, out of fear of “damaging their vacuum.” In all honestly, this Shark vacuum works just as well, if not better, than my parents vacuum (and I have vacuumed many carpets in my day). AND FOR A QUARTER THE PRICE!

This vacuum is a godsend.

Another note: when we were reading through the reviews of this vacuum before purchasing, we read through the negative reviews. We believe in the “if you can’t handle me at my worst, you can’t handle me at my best” (or whatever). The top negative review was written by someone who was clearly incapable of cleaning. The way they described their use of the vacuum was as if they repeatedly smashed this thing into the base boards of their house. Yes, if you apply repeated head trauma to something, it probably wont work as well. Other “negatives” noted were that this vacuum hit them in the head when they were using the hose attachment, not surprised based on their complete review, but apparently it warranted an “Update” to their review. This resulted in a 1 star review (which is just wrong).

If you want a good and reliable vacuum that can handle the worst of the worst, buy this thing. If you are like the negative reviewer noted above, and it stops working, at least you wont be out $500+.

I give this item 12 stars. This is the Tom Brady (G.O.A.T.) of vacuums.

Firstly, I was going to wait a while to do a review because we all have that Christmas Morning moment when using a new product for the first time, excited when first unwrapping it, play with it for a few hours and over time realizing it is not exactly what you wanted.
This is not the case with the Shark Navigator Deluxe NV42!!!
GUYS! This vacuum is awesome!
We purchased our first home 3 months ago, 2 adult humans (I have long hair) and a 50lb dog who sheds constantly! The dog hair is impossible to remove from the rugs and I really needed something with strong suction. The Shark Navigator is up to that task! The picture in this review is from a single pass over my kitchen rug in the background. Look at how much it lifted out!! My old vacuum always always struggled to keep up. Poor thing. Also, my long hair got caught in the brush roll and was a pain (and disgusting) to have to cut lose. In the areas like our bedroom where my fallen hair is more likely to be, I turn off the brush roll feature and the suction works great on the carpet even with out the brush roll on. The majority of our living area is flagstone flooring (Helloooo 70s!). They came original with the home and are in great shape but I HATE sweeping them, plus the dog hair just blends in. I can’t see it, but I know it’s there! The suction only feature is awesome for these types of surfaces and the vacuum moves very easily because it’s so light and maneuverable. Took me no time to vacuum the area rugs and hard surfaces in the living areas.
Super easy to assemble as well so you can get to playing with your new toy…I mean vacuum (#adulting)…in no time! All you need is a screw driver for one bolt to attach the handle. That’s it! I also investigated the filters and love how everything is easy to remove for washing and reuse. Over time that feature is going to save us lots of money. The canister is easy to empty and pop back into place and does hold a lot.
This vacuum WILL come with a special pet hair upholstery tool along with the standard dusting brush and crevice tool so don’t bother buying the extra package of nozzles and hose tools. The upholstery tool I haven’t used yet but I have great plans for it since the dog does get on the couch when we aren’t looking. I’ll update a comment on the upholstery tool when I do use it.
The only con is the front end isn’t super sleek for going under large pieces of furniture or the couch because of the main body of the vacuum, but to be honest it doesn’t matter because the hose has a good reach and again AWESOME suction, so it was a breeze to get to those hard to reach places.
In conclusion the main pro for the Shark Navigator is the PRICE! This isn’t even one of Shark’s most expensive models but it functions awesomely! Definitely makes keeping up with our new home easier and quicker so we can get back to enjoying life, because in reality life is too short to spend it all vacuuming and dusting!

This vacuum has easily saved my apartment and asthma, and since I wrecked nearly four whole vacuums in two years I was a little hesitant to spend another chunk of change on a fifth vacuum but boy I am glad I did. This vacuum easily maneuvers over kitchen tiles, laminate, deep carpet, shaggy carpet, you name it. We also currently have four animals so believe me this vacuum has been put to the test with dandruff, debris, and dirt! The large collection chamber and light weight size makes doing an ENTIRE room swift and easy regardless of dirt granule size, especially moving it up and down stairs. I also haven’t lost suction on a single use which is incredible to say the least when you are cleaning up after several animals and humans. The vacuum has two settings, a medium and high setting, which make deep cleaning hard to reach areas and deep carpets a breeze. It’s also pretty quite which makes it a great vacuum for apartments especially the several features it has such as an under-appliance attachment, turbo pet hair nozzle, and swiveling brush attachments.

Physical characteristics:
Stands up right
Baglesss
16 lbs
1200 W use
it’s also ranked #4 currently on Sharks personal website