One is better. The other is better value. It depends on your floors.
By Marcus Okafor, Appliances & Cleaning Editor · Published August 9, 2026 · 2 min read
Photograph: Jens Mahnke / StockSnap
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These two dominate cordless vacuum buying, and the marketing on both sides is unhelpful. We tested them side by side on identical floors with the same debris loads.
On hard floors the Dyson lifted 98% of fine debris in a single pass against the Shark's 91%. On medium-pile carpet the gap narrowed to two percentage points — within our margin of error.
The Dyson's fully sealed HEPA system leaked no measurable particulate. The Shark's anti-allergen system was good but not sealed at the bin join.
The Shark is heavier but stands upright unaided. The Dyson's trigger tires the hand over large areas; its LCD runtime display is genuinely useful.
The cordless benchmark: laser dust illumination, real filtration and enough power for whole-home cleaning.
Best for: Allergy households and hard floors
Price band last checked 2026-08-09. Live pricing arrives with our retailer feed.
Shark's flagship cordless: less refined than Dyson, but strong carpet performance for meaningfully less money.
Best for: Carpeted family homes on a budget
Price band last checked 2026-08-09. Live pricing arrives with our retailer feed.
| Price | $650 – $800 | $400 – $500 |
| Score | 9 | 8.3 |
| Best for | Allergy households and hard floors | Carpeted family homes on a budget |
| Warranty | 2 years | 5 years |
The verdict
If your home is mostly hard floors, or anyone in it has allergies, the Dyson V15 Detect is worth the premium — the sealed filtration and hard-floor pickup are measurably better. If you have carpet throughout and a budget, the Shark Stratos does 90% of the job for 60% of the money, with a longer warranty.
Methodology
Every product here was tested in a working home against standardised tasks. Scores are the mean of five measured criteria and are never adjusted for commercial reasons. How we test · How we review.
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We measured pickup, filtration leakage and real runtime under load.
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