Shark PowerDetect RV2820ZE Robot Vacuum Review

This vacuum feels decently well-built. Overall, it feels similarly built to the Shark Matrix Plus, with a body made mostly from matte-finish plastic, though there are a few glossy and textured gold plastic accents. Overall, the plastic used in its construction feels cheap, with touchpoints such as the control buttons being an especially egregious example. That said, there aren't too many obvious weak points either, aside from its bumper.

On the upside, the vacuum is easy to assemble and set up, with all parts snapping easily into place. Doing things like pulling out the side brush or removing the brushroll is very simple.

This vacuum is rather demanding in terms of maintenance. In truth, the problem has more to do with the sheer number of parts that need to be washed as opposed to how difficult it is to access and clean them. Everything from the vacuum's brushroll to its dirt compartment and pre-motor filter pop out pretty easily, though there are a few quirks to be mindful of. In testing, we found that once the brushroll had been jammed with pet hair, the vacuum was able to dock with its multifunction recharge station but unable to start the auto-empty process; this was resolved once the brushroll was cleaned. The front wheel also takes a bit of effort to remove.

The same can be said for the NeverTouch Pro base station, which features four different filters, separate water tanks for clean and waste water, a base plate for the mop washing function, and an isolated dirt compartment. All of these parts are easy to remove and clean, with no stubborn latches or hard-to-reach crevices, but they also need to be cleaned periodically. With so many parts, this can be a pretty tedious process.

If you're interested in seeing a full breakdown of the user maintenance requirements associated with this vacuum, you can check out the user manual or watch a set of instructional videos.

This vacuum incurs very high recurring costs, partly due to the added costs associated with its base station.

• Brushroll: The brushroll needs replacing every six to 12 months. Replacements are available online.
• Side brush: The side brush needs to be replaced when it starts to exhibit visible wear and tear. replacements are available in packs of two.
• Vacuum pre-motor filter: This filter should be replaced every six to 12 months. Replacements are available on Shark's website.
• Mop pad: The mop pad should be replaced every three months. A two-pack of replacements can be purchased on Shark's website.

The NeverTouch Pro base station incurs its own set of costs as well.

• Base station pre-filters: You should swap out the base station's pre-motor filters every six to 12 months. You can buy a set of replacements online.
• Base station post-motor HEPA filter: You should swap out the base station's post-motor HEPA filter every six to 12 months. You can buy a replacement from Shark's website.
• Base station post-motor foam filter: You should swap out the base station's post-motor foam filter every six to 12 months. Replacements are available online. 

This vacuum has a tiny internal dustbin, with a debris capacity of only a little more than half that of the Roborock Qrevo, which was already slighted for having a small dustbin. If, for whatever reason, you don't make use of the Shark's auto-empty capability, you should expect to have to empty its dustbin at the end of even small cleaning jobs.

This robot vacuum's NeverTouch Pro dock not only offers a bagless self-empty system but also refills the appliance's internal water tank, washes (or rinses if you don't use the provided cleaning solution) its mop pad, and dries it with cold air. With a 1.80L capacity, the dustbin is advertised as being large enough to hold debris from 60 days worth of cleaning sessions. As for the water tanks, you'll need to refill the clean tank and empty the waste water tank every 30 days. Of course, all of these figures are just advertised estimates and will vary depending on how often you make use of the RV2820ZE's different capabilities. 

The base does have an onboard HEPA filter to lock in allergens, though, like any bagless system, emptying out the dustbin can still release a cloud of dust and debris.

The NeverTouch Pro station also has a replaceable cartridge to mask foul odors from its docking station, similar in concept to the one included with manually operated Shark vacuums like the Shark Detect Pro. 

• Robot Vacuum
• Robot Dirt Compartment and Water Tank
• Mop Cloth (x2)
• Single Winged Side Brush (x2)
• Pre-Motor Foam Filter
• Removable Mop Pad
• Robot Pre-Motor Filter
• Brush Roll
• Brush Roll Cover
• Quick Start Guide and Manual

NeverTouch Pro Base Station

• Base station
• Pre-Motor Felt Filter
• Post-Motor HEPA filter
• Post-Motor Foam Filter
• Clean Water Tank
• Dirty Water Tank
• Clean Water Tank Cover
• Dirty Water Tank Cover
• Filter Holder
• Base Dirt Compartment
• Base Post-Motor Filter Cover
• Odor Neutralizer Cartridge
• 1x 12oz VacMop cleaning solution bottle
• Base Ramp 

Since this vacuum lacks any sort of manual power adjustment functionality and instead automatically adjusts to differences in debris concentration and surface type, real-world battery performance can vary drastically depending on the mix of floor types in your home.

This robot vacuum's defining feature is its eponymous PowerDetect system, which automatically adjusts suction power depending on the surface it's on, how close it is to an edge, and the quantity of debris on the ground. If you've enabled the mopping mode, it'll also automatically adjust its mopping intensity to clear away stubborn stains.

This vacuum comes with an extra mop pad and an extra side brush.

This vacuum delivers impressive performance on hard floors. It's ultimately quite effective in handling a wide variety of debris types. That said, a small amount of some larger debris can be left behind. Its edge-cleaning system, which uses bursts of air to dislodge debris in corners, is fairly effective, but a small amount of material might still be left behind.

It's worth noting that this vacuum exhibited inconsistent, haphazard navigational behavior within the confines of our testing box. This erratic movement was echoed in the 'Maneuverability' test within our review. Give us a heads up in the comments below if you also happen to be the owner of a Shark RV2820 model and have experienced a similar issue.

Performance on high-pile carpet is acceptable. The vacuum does a pretty good job of dealing with bulky and medium-sized debris, similar in size to cereal and rice, but it doesn't provide nearly enough surface agitation to clear away finer debris embedded within carpet fibers. Its edge-cleaning system is also far less effective on carpeting than it is on bare floors, and you'll likely have to manually clean any heavily soiled corners.

The vacuum's Dirt Detect system also seems to be partially to blame for some of its inconsistent pathing behavior. Ordinarily, the vacuum would begin a cleaning session in a figure-eight pattern, concentrating most of its attention on heavily soiled areas, but the instant it collides with a wall, it pauses and seemingly never re-targets areas in need of more cleaning.

This vacuum's performance on low-pile carpets is mediocre. It's quite effective in dealing with large debris like cereal, but it has a pretty hard time dealing with anything smaller, especially along walls and in corners. Its Edge Detect system ultimately seems to have little bearing on its performance in this regard.

This vacuum's pet hair pickup is disappointing on low-pile carpets. It really only clears away strands that are sitting just on top of the carpet fibers.

Like most robot vacuums, the Shark RV2820ZE has poor suction performance at its floorhead. The suction inlet is too high above the ground to generate a tight seal on bare surfaces.

Since we were unable to manually adjust the vacuum's suction power to measure the 'Maximum Head Suction' result, we added rice to the surface to engage the Debris Detect function and have the vacuum automatically increase suction.

Since there's no way of selecting the Shark RV2820ZE's suction power setting manually, we were unable to obtain a wholly representative figure for this test. Based on its design and overall performance, we expect its peak airflow to be similar or slightly higher than the older Shark Matrix Plus.

This vacuum is a little on the noisier end for a robovac. Even then, you won't have too much trouble hearing what people nearby are saying, even with the vacuum running nearby. 

Since we were unable to manually adjust the vacuum's suction power to measure the 'Low-Pile Carpet' result, we added rice to the surface to engage the Debris Detect function and have the vacuum automatically increase suction.

The multifunction dock is noisier than the vacuum when using the self-empty function, with a peak volume of 70.7 dBA.

This vacuum provides good overall maneuverability. Its hazard recognition system is at least partially effective, being able to recognize obstacles like power cords and keeping the vacuum away from them, though it won't necessarily always spot and recognize thicker rugs, which could pose a problem. In testing, while its brushroll did get caught on a tasseled rug, it was actually able to free itself by using its lift system and then navigating away. It isn't all upsides, however. Overall pathing is inconsistent and erratic, and the Shark's relatively tall dimensions make it liable to get stuck under some tables, chairs, and couches.  

Air filtration performance is poor. The Shark PowerDetect RV2820ZE's post-motor filter isn't HEPA-rated, and fine allergens can easily escape from not only its exhaust but also from the LIDAR sensor and other gaps around its body. That said, its dock does have a HEPA-rated filter.

As with many robot vacuums, crevice-cleaning performance is poor. The Shark PowerDetect RV2820ZE simply doesn't have enough power to draw out fine debris wedged deep within crevices.

Stain clearing performance is mediocre. It'll take a second pass to have any sort of significant impact on dried-on stains. It's also worth noting that there's little difference in actual stain-clearing performance when using the VacMop cleaning solution compared to having the vacuum clean with just water. Its swing-out mop pad also doesn't reach that far into corners. 

The NeverTouch dock station doesn't actually wash the mop pad before a cleaning job. Rather, the RV2820ZE will wiggle in place on the floor to saturate the mop pad. This, in turn, gets your floors pretty wet, which is obviously undesirable if you have a poorly sealed hardwood floor at home.  

This vacuum isn't rated to suck up liquids, though its mop pads can soak up very small spills.

This vacuum has a few physical automation features. There's the NeverTouch Pro base, which not only empties its dustbin but also refills its water tank and washes and dries its mopping pads, but little else beyond that. 

The three buttons atop the vacuum allow you to make some basic commands. Pressing the Dry Clean button allows the vacuum to start a whole-home cleaning run without mopping. Holding it down for a few seconds starts a spot-cleaning cycle for the surrounding area. Pressing the Wet Clean button has it start a whole home cleaning session with the mopping function engaged, while holding it down has it spot-mop an area. There's also a Dock button to send it back to its station, which can also be used to power the device off or toggle the Recharge and Resume functionality.

The SharkClean provides only a satisfactory user experience, offering only basic overall features. It's simply lacking in overall functionality compared to a lot of other apps; there's no multi-floor mapping capability, no remote control, no manual suction adjustment, and no ability to pause or adjust a manual cleaning job once it's been started. You also can't manually begin the mop cleaning or auto-emptying process for the NeverTouch Pro dock. Generated maps are also inaccurate, and the live position of the vacuum within that map tends to be heavily delayed.