Shark ION F80 MultiFLEX Cordless Stick Vacuum - Review and Comparison

The Shark F80 comes with a whopping 80 minutes of runtime.

Upgraded from their previous ION stick vacuum that had a runtime of 2 x 22 minutes, this new F80 vacuum has exactly what its name refers to – it gives you 80 minutes of runtime with two batteries used consecutively.

The vacuum comes with two lithium-ion batteries called ION Power Packs. Each battery can provide 40 minutes of suction, which is exceptionally good when compared to other cordless vacuums.

When you attach tools and use the ION Boost Mode, the runtime is, of course, lower, because more power is being used.

What Shark claims is that you get ” Up to 60 minutes of runtime for hard floor cleaning and 50 minutes of runtime for carpet cleaning when using both batteries consecutively in ION Power Mode”. If you use motorized tools on tough surfaces and the ION Boost setting, unofficial user testing verifies the runtime will go down to 20 minutes which is still more than enough for some high-power spot cleaning.

To lengthen the runtime Shark didn’t actually design a new battery. The battery is the same as in the Shark IONFlex DuoClean x2. What they did was they adjusted the suction to provide a better runtime. Although the suction power is lower than in the previous model, the vacuum mostly relies its cleaning power on the mechanics of the DuoClean head, and the decrease in suction does not have an impact on the performance.

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Because you have two batteries, you can always have the other one in the charger while the other one is being used. In theory, you could have infinite runtime by adding more batteries.

This is good news for owners of large houses who struggle to find a stick vacuum with adequate battery life. Because you can detach and switch the batteries, you can have as many as you want - and continue vacuuming for as long as you want.

It does take the battery 3.5 hours to charge, but even the two batteries that are included in the package already offer a fantastic 80 minutes of vacuuming time. Generally, that is more than you need and you will rarely face a situation where both batteries would need to be charged at the same time. And if you have a huge house and a lot of vacuuming - no problem! Just get a third battery!

RUNTIMES PER FULLY-CHARGED BATTERY:

What we love about Shark stick vacuums is their easy-to-use DuoClean vacuuming head that combines two brush rolls in one tool. 

With this cleaning head, you can move for one type of surface to another without changing the attachment and always get a perfect result.

The cleaning head has a soft and dense brush roll in the front. This brush is designed to carefully engage hard floor materials to give them a polished look. Its ability to pick up dust and small particles is fantastic, and because the opening in front of the brush roll is big enough, it can also pull in piles of debris.

And, because the brush is soft, it can be used on delicate materials like parquette.

The second brush roll has stiff bristles that can dig into carpets. With this feature, the vacuum has an excellent pick-up ability also on carpets, and it can give even thick area rugs a thorough clean.

With the DuoClean feature, you can move from one surface to another and always get a perfectly clean floor - without having to stop to switch settings or to change attachments!

One of the notable innovations in Shark stick vacuums is the MultiFLEX function that allows the wand to be folded in half.

What this does is it enables a free-standing a storage mode and bending the vacuum to glide it under furniture easily.

When you bend the vacuum, you can push the cleaning head under low-build furniture without having to crouch down yourself. The vacuum can be a bit tricky to maneuver in this mode, but it does come in handy when you need to get to that pet hair lurking under your couch.

Although this feature can feel like a gimmick at first, many users have found it to be quite practical when vacuuming under furniture..

If you bend the vacuum even more and fold it in two, the weight distribution of the vacuum cleaner changes and it can stand freely. The function can be used during vacuuming if you need to let go of the handle to move some furniture out of the way. Also, this feature is pretty convenient for storing the vacuum in a small space.

The LED headlights enable you to see under the couch and bed.

This feature is something many pet owners love to have because wads of pet hair tend to accumulate to those dark corners under the furniture.

Also, fingertip controls make it easy to change the suction and surface modes with your thumb without letting go of the vacuum. You can quickly turn up the suction from the ION Power Mode to ION Boost Mode, or just adjust the speed of the brush rolls by switching settings between carpet and floor mode.

These are small details, but features that make vacuuming a lot easier.

The dust cup is smallish at 0.3 dry quarts, but it is still sufficient for most households that have a pet or two. The container is easy to detach and empty, and you can quickly dump the dirt and give the cup a rinse when needed.

In the long run, a washable dirt cup will save you quite a few bucks because you don't need to buy disposable dust bags. And it's good for the environment as well!

If you have several long-haired pets, the container might fill up quickly, and you should empty it after every vacuuming session to keep the suction power at its highest.

The cleaning power of the Shark F80 is superb! The vacuum performs well on all types of surfaces and always offers a thorough and spotless cleaning result.

Many users say the vacuum can even lift up some lighter rugs, and it does perform well at picking up larger and heavier debris like food pellets or small pieces of gravel.

As the DuoClean system mainly uses the mechanics of the brush rolls to lift up the dirt, the F80 has excellent performance even on the low suction mode.

Shark has not disclosed the results from their ASTM F558 test (Standard Test Method for Measuring Air Performance Characteristics of Vacuum Cleaners), but according to unofficial testing, the suction power at the lower suction setting is about 24 CFM, which is pretty good. The ION Boost Mode increases the suction to 38cfm.

Shark actually lowered the suction power of this model to extend the battery life. The cordless vacuum manufacturers are in competition for designing the stick vacuum that has the longest runtime, and because Dyson has been upgrading their batteries year after year, and Shark wanted to do something to beat them. They decided to decrease the suction power which affects how quickly the power is used up.

Although the suction power could be higher, the cleaning power is fantastic!

The vacuum does an excellent job on bare floors as well as carpets and rugs. This is because on floors and carpets suction power in combined with the excellent DuoClean head. The suction only pulls up the dust and dirt after the powerful brush roll has lifted it up to the surface.