‘The thing I love most about this vacuum is its ability to clean up every mess thrown at it.’ Photograph: Andy Shaw/The Guardian View image in fullscreen ‘The thing I love most about this vacuum is its ability to clean up every mess thrown at it.’ Photograph: Andy Shaw/The Guardian The Filter Homes Review Corded vacuums are supposed to be outdated – so why is the Shark Detect Lift-Away XL so good? Surprisingly easy to manoeuvre and skilled at cleaning carpet and hard floor, Shark’s upright bagless model is one of the best corded vacuums I’ve tested
Andy Shaw Sun 19 Jul 2026 14.00 CEST Share Prefer the Guardian on Google The Guardian’s journalism is independent. We will earn a commission if you buy something through an affiliate link. Learn more .
C orded vacuum cleaners aren’t as glamorous as their cordless cousins, but swapping battery power for a plug socket has its advantages. The device will never be short of power, so it can keep cleaning for as long as you need it to. Prices also tend to be lower because there’s no expensive battery to factor into the cost.
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On the downside, there’s a cable to manage while you clean, and even the longest cords usually need to be switched from one plug socket to another if your home is any larger than a small flat.
The Shark Detect XL LA791UKT is a versatile corded upright that carries many of the best elements you’ll find on Shark’s cordless vacuums . Chief among these is the Duo Clean dual-roller floor head, which combines a fluffy roller and a regular brush bar into an all-in-one unit. That makes it an expert on carpets and hard floors, without needing to switch heads.
What’s relatively new to this model is its Detect function. This is a sensor on the underside of the floor head that works out what surface it’s on and adjusts the speed of its rollers accordingly. That means you don’t have to flip a switch when transferring from the hard floor of your kitchen or utility room to carpets and rugs in your living areas.
View at Amazon How I tested View image in fullscreen For suck’s sake: writer Andy testing the Shark Detect XL on a rug and hard floor. Photograph: Andy Shaw/The Guardian Corded vacuum cleaners aren’t as difficult to test as cordless models, as there’s no battery life to take into consideration. I tested the suction by attaching a gauge to the end of the extension hose and recording the measurements on minimum and maximum modes.
I also put the vacuum through a series of cleaning tests, challenging it to collect pre-weighed amounts of cat litter, flour and pet hair using the Duo Clean floor head. I ran these tests on short-pile carpet and hard floor, weighing the collection bin before and after each test to find out how much mess is transferred from the floor to the bin.
View image in fullscreen ‘The classic two rollers and anti-tangle system are unchanged from previous models, and rightly so.’ Photograph: Andy Shaw/The Guardian View at SharkNinja View at Amazon There’s little here that’s particularly new or exciting, but frankly, that’s the way I like Shark’s vacuum cleaners. They’ve been blitzing my cleaning tests for several generations now, and change isn’t always for the better, as we saw with the Dyson V16 Piston Animal .
The Duo Clean floor head is a refined and effective piece of engineering that Shark is sensibly tweaking without revolutionis…