Sharks PowerDetect UV Reveal has a lot of potential, but right now its the equivalent of a power washer in the hands of a caveman

Date:
Tue, 23 Jun 2026 15:21:47 +0000

Description:
Narwals 2026 flagship robot vacuum is outfitted with video cameras and super smart AI cleaning technology to work out the best way to tackle your home.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal review: Price & release date List price: $1,299.99 / 999.99 Released March 2026 The Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal comes in at $1,299.99 / 999.99 while its far from cheap, its pretty good value for what it offers. That being said, there are other robot vacuum cleaners with
equally impressive features and better software at a similar price point.

Plus, youll need to maintain some parts of the vacuum; in particular, refills for the multi-floor cleaner ($13.99 / 14.99) and the odor-neutralizing puck ($9.99 $14.99 / 7.99 15.99), as well as the usual replacement for things like side brushes and mop pads. Over time, these can add up, but youll scarcely find a robovac that doesnt come with added costs at similar prices these days. Value : 4/5 Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal review: Design (Image credit: Future) Out of the box, youll find the vacuum, base, power chord, an anti-odor puck, one refill bottle of Sharks multi-floor cleaner, two side brushes, plus the usual array of instructions and warranty documents. Latest Videos From Watch full video here:

The base stands at 17 x 18 x 14 inches / 43.2 x 45.7 x 35.6 cm, and comes in either black or white mine was the latter, and I think it looks a lot more premium than the tackier black colorway. Enclosed in the lid of the base are the 2.74-litre / 96.65oz clean and 1.18-litre / 41.62oz waste water tanks, which lift out easily thanks to the retractable handles, as well as the bagless dirt compartment I really appreciate that Shark opted for this so theres one less thing to routinely replace. (Image credit: Future) Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal Robot Vacuum (White) at Amazon for 489.99 You can
remove the container with the press of a button situated on the side of the dock, and its also HEPA-filtered. Theres also a set of two filters youll need to clean every 1-2 months, depending on how often you use your robot vacuum, and a slot for one of Sharks anti-odor pucks should dusty smells be an issue for you. (Image credit: Future) The vacuum itself is a fairly standard, rounded 2-in-1 robot vacuum, but a little tall and hefty at 5.35 inches / 13.6cm tall. The top houses its raised puck for LiDAR sensing, which works in tandem with the front of the device, where the cameras and other sensors, including a camera as well as LED and UV lights, to navigate your home and spot messes ripe for cleaning.

If youd rather not use the app, you can use the four touch-sensitive buttons to activate mop and vacuum modes, send the vacuum home and connect to the Wi-Fi. A soft bumper surrounds the edges of the vacuum to prevent damage from any collisions, which are remarkably rare thanks to its top-tier obstacle avoidance, and you can remove its dust bin and mop plate from the rear of the device. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. (Image credit: Future) On the underside, youll find the wheels, brush bar, side brush, and a singular, flat mop pad. These arent my favorite type a rondel will typically offer a deeper clean, better post-clean drying and less water waste. However, Shark has designed the robot vacuum to wiggle this mop pad to agitate dirt, which goes some of the ways to make up the difference. Of note is that the vacuum seems to be a total dust magnet. I have mine placed
beneath a desk, where I wouldnt expect excessive levels of dust however its constantly lined with a thick layer of the stuff. Design : 4/5 Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal review: Performance Setup for the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal is pretty simple; using the app, youll connect the vacuum to your Wi-Fi, give it a name (I loved some of the suggestions like Clean Latifah), and after that, the robot vacuum will run its first mapping pass. Broadly, mine was accurate; my apartment has a slightly tricky layout for robot vacuums, including a half-tiled, half-carpeted kitchen-living room, and lots of doors to dodge.

After this first pass, the app will offer you a second mapping run, this time to detect flooring types. If you plan to regularly mop hard floors and have carpets or rugs to avoid, make sure to get this out of the way during setup;
I couldnt find any way to update this map after the fact. Image 1 of 3 (Image credit: Future) (Image credit: Future) (Image credit: Future) Cleaning tests
I performed my standard pickup tests using oats, cornflour and brown rice to compare performance to other robot vacuums Ive tested, and the results were a mixed bag. When setting the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal off for a standard, vacuum-only clean, I was immediately impressed as it zig-zagged across my floors, leaving them visibly refreshed plus, its pretty quiet in action.

On hard floors, it excels thanks to a combination of its side brush, solid suction and the jet of air it blasts at hard-to-reach debris, ensuring floors are spick and span post-clean. On carpet, its slightly less impressive, especially in the edge cleaning department, but it still does a decent enough job. Its pickup of larger debris was very impressive on carpet, leaving
little to nothing behind, but there was a small amount of powdery debris left behind on my medium-pile rugs hair, however, is no problem, be it human or pet. (Image credit: Future) Next up, I tried a regular combination clean with vacuum and mopping, and thats where my experience with the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal became a bit more mixed. The robot vacuum first fills its water
tank at the base, proceeding to concurrently vacuum and mop your floors
rather than splitting out the tasks. This helps to save time and battery; however, it does increase the risk of soggy carpets.

To avoid this, the robovac will lift its hind to keep the mop pad from drenching carpets this reduces its effectiveness on carpets, though, as it crushes the side brush, and sometimes, while navigating, it will spin round and spit water across the floor, too. However, once it reaches hard floors, the results are pretty impressive; the mop pad agitates spills and stains
with a back-and-forth scrubbing motion, and will reach into corners to make sure every spot is well-cleaned. Image 1 of 2 Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal lifting its mop pad (Image credit: Future) Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal
lifting its mop pad (Image credit: Future) It does use a lot of water,
though, and especially if youre cleaning up larger spills, that means the PowerDetect UV Reveal can leave a streaky mess in its wake. I noticed this even more so when there was lots of debris to vacuum up during the clean; the PowerDetect UV Reveal left a clump of soggy oats behind like an owl pellet as well as white streaky marks across the floor, but I wouldnt typically recommend regularly using your robot vacuum to collect large volume spills anyway. I have especially reflective kitchen tiles, so I noticed this a lot; on my less shiny bathroom tiles, it wasnt as much of a problem.

Powering up to a higher suction or mopping setting does result in a more thorough cleaning job, especially on carpets, but its worth noting that this seems to make the excess water usage more noticeable. Some smeared oats, milady? I wouldn't advise using the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal, or indeed most robot vacuums that mop and vacuum concurrently, to clear up high volumes of debris. (Image credit: Future) Object detection and navigation When the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal works, it really works, but I encountered a fair few bugs and limitations that do impact its overall effectiveness for example, when doing a combination clean, it sometimes skips cleaning certain areas and rooms, or neglects to clean areas Ive specifically asked it to.

Its LiDAR scanner makes accurate room maps, though theyll be a bit
odd-looking if you have lots of furniture at floor level. Thats unavoidable, to a degree, but I wish it had investigated those areas more closely to find the real edges of the walls; that way if furniture moves around your home,
you wouldnt need to remap.

Its object detection is incredible perhaps too good, as the robot vacuum avoided my low-hanging (but not floor-length) curtains like the plague,
giving wide berth to even the most inconsequential of obstacles. Generally, its not too much of a problem, but improved smarts would mean theres slightly less preparation required pre-clean to ensure your entire floor gets cleaned properly. I was also massively impressed by the ease with which it lifted itself over and cleared thresholds, chair legs, and the like, leading to quicker cleans. Image 1 of 2 UV detection in action, as well as some rugs the vacuum fought (and defeated) (Image credit: Future) UV detection in action. (Image credit: Future) UV detection After its standard cleaning cycles, the robovac will return to its base, but the cleaning isnt over quite yet. Itll issue an ominous warning once its refreshed itself: "I detected stains. I'm heading back out to aggressively attack them."

Heres where the magic of the PowerDetect UV Reveal is really on show; as it cleans, it flares a blue UV light, with which you can see for yourself the stubborn and sometimes invisible stains on your floor, which it will then return to after a standard cleaning run. It was pretty cringe-inducing to watch it navigate areas I hadnt cleaned recently and see just how much grime was there. (Image credit: Future) Dock After the jobs complete, itll return for a final time to the base and begin the mop pad maintenance process
quietly in the background with just a low humming noise, washing it with hot water before drying it to reduce contamination. In my testing, the robovac lived up to its estimated 3-hour battery life; a 45-minute clean on standard settings dropped the battery by 25%. A full recharge takes roughly 4 hours, and the vacuum wont perform new tasks when at less than 20%. Performance: 4/5 The first of these three screenshots shows my completed floor map; as you can see from the very odd shapes, the LiDAR scanner can be quite assumptive with obstacles and won't investigate around the sides to find where the wall truly starts and ends. The second and third screenshots show two seperate occasions where I asked the robot vacuum to clean specific rooms and it elected to
clean a completely different one. (Image credit: Future) Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal review: Software and app The app is quite restrictive when it comes to home and schedule customization; you can only have one map, so multi-floor cleaning isnt possible, no-go zones are always rectangular and you can only create two schedules per day.

I also noticed that the robot vacuum would often get confused when it initiated a clean, forging straight to the corner of my living room and spinning there for a good few minutes before figuring out its path to the hallway. On closer inspection, this happened most frequently when I sent it
to clean somewhere other than its home room; for some reason, it wanted to head straight through my wall instead of around and through the doorway.

I couldnt find a quiet mode, either, meaning if you ever wanted to use the vacuum at night or when little ones are sleeping, they might awaken to an ominous threat from your robovac.

These issues, among other software quirks, make for the primary complaint I have surrounding the Shark PowerDetect UV reveal; its app and on-board smarts hold back an otherwise high-performance robot vacuum. Software : 2.5/5 Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal review: Specs Swipe to scroll horizontally Specs

Wattage (robot):

65W

Robot diameter:

13.2 inches / 34cm

Robot height:

4 inches / 10.2cm

Cleaning path width:

Not specified

Dock dimensions (H x W x D):

17 x 18 x 14 inches / 43.2 x 45.7 x 35.6 cm

Dock cord:

3.9ft / 1.2m

Weight (robot + dock):

26.9 lbs / 12.21 kg Should I buy Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal? Swipe to
scroll horizontally

Section

Notes

Score

Software and app

There are lots of features Id expect as standard in a robot vacuum,
especially at this list price, that Shark just hasnt added. That and the litany of odd bugs drop the overall score significantly.

2.5/5

Performance

Great for vacuuming carpets, and while the mop pad is a bit of a hazard, with UV sensing in tow it offers a truly deep clean.

4/5

Design

Neutral, bag-less and easy to maintain, the only thing I could ask for would be a slightly more premium feel in its black colorway. Plus, its a dust-magnet.

4.5/5

Value

Given its innovative features and thorough cleaning, its sitting pretty at
its list price compared to the competition, but loses points for the in-app experience.

4/5 Buy it if You value well sanitized floors With its UV detection, the
Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal offers peace of mind and broadly great results, especially in the mopping department if you can handle slow-drying floors.

You have pets Again, the UV detection comes in clutch here for invisible pet messes, but its also a deft hand at hair collection.

You have a large home With its great battery life and efficiency, the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal is unlikely to run out of juice before finishing the
job even in larger homes. Dont buy it if You have lots of wooden floors or shiny tiles

While itll clean these floor types within an inch of their life, the residual water and cleaning solution could warp or damage wooden floors and leave streaky marks on particularly reflective ones.

You have lots of carpet Dont get me wrong, this is an accomplished vacuum
for carpets, but if you want to do combination cleans, you might end up with
a few soggy spots left in its wake.

You want to vacuum multiple floors or other smart features

I liken the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal to a power washer in the hands of a caveman; its only as good as the software allows it to be, and with frustrations like single-floor mapping, ignored instructions and Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal review: Also consider Eufy X10 Pro Omni

Another two-in-one robovac with excellent cleaning on all floor types, plus strong mapping and navigation.

Read our full Eufy X10 Pro Omni review Roborock Qrevo Curv

A robot vacuum and mop that delivers superb suction and great wet floor cleaning. It's the best robovac we've tested to date.

See our full Roborock Qrevo Curv review How I tested the Shark PowerDetect
UV Reveal I tested the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal for two weeks in my home, completing my standardised pickup, edge cleaning and mopping tests in
addition to simulating tests for features like UV detection. I used the app, making a map of my home and testing various features like scheduling and room-by-room cleaning tasks, closely observing the vacuum when in use to note any navigation or performance issues during testing. Read TechRadars reviews guarantee First reviewed June 2026 Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal Robot Vacuum: Price Comparison 579.99 489.99 View Prime Day 549.99 View 999.99 View 999.99 View 1,099.99 View Show more We check over 250 million products every day for the best prices powered by



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