Shark ultracyclone pet pro plus cordless handheld vacuum

TechRadar Verdict

The Shark CH950UKT / Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus is a compact handheld vacuum that’s perfect for using as a car vac. It’s lightweight and easy to move around, plus it’s plenty powerful enough for picking up both large and small debris – only struggling with the most worked-in dirt. It comes with three different tools, so it’s versatile in use, and offers enough battery life to get around your whole car on a single charge.

Pros

• +

  Great pick-up

• +

  Good battery life

• +

  Versatile tools

Cons

• -

  No swappable battery

• -

  Slightly fiddly bin mechanism

• -

  Not the quietest

One-minute review

Shark has become a popular choice in the home cleaning market in recent years, offering a range of vacuum form factors from uprights to cordless models, and the CH950UKT (also known as the Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus in the US and Australia) is the cheapest in its four-strong handheld range at $99.99 / £59.99 / AU$149.99.

The CH950UKT / Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus was the best-selling handheld vac in the UK in 2021 and it’s easy to see why. It offers a compact, lightweight form factor that makes it perfect for cleaning cars, as well as being on hand for quick clean-ups around the home, such as on worktops, tables and soft furnishings.

It comes with three accessories: a motorized brush aimed at collecting pet hair, a crevice tool and a dusting brush, which cover most use cases. It promises 10 minutes of battery (although actually performed better than that in our tests) and has a 15fl oz / 450ml bin, which is fairly generous in this market.

Considering its low price, the CH950UKT / Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus offers tremendous value. Despite only having one power setting, it proves plenty powerful enough for the majority of tasks asked of it, and it has sufficient battery life to do a good clean of your whole car on a single charge. Its versatility with the included tools makes it flexible in use too, making it perfect for busy families, particularly those with pets.

Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus price and availability

• List price: $99.99 / £59.99 / AU$149.99

The CH950UKT costs $99.99 / £59.99 / AU$149.99, and is available directly from Shark in the UK and US, as well as from Amazon and other online retailers, while Australian buyers will need to go to home retailers like Domayne or Harvey Norman.

Just be careful to search for the Pet Pro Plus model to ensure that you’re getting all the tools we talk about here if that’s important. There are a couple of cheaper models (CH900/CH901 – both without the “Plus” in the name) that are available from some retailers but come with fewer tools and in different colors.

That might be a great option if you’re on a really tight budget, but this is already a great-value handheld vacuum, made even better by the fact it’s also one of the best all-rounders we’ve tested.

Design

• Cordless design
• Comes with three attachments
• 15fl oz / 450ml bin

Measuring  20.5 x 3.7 x 4.3 inches / 52 x 9.5 x 11cm, the CH950UKT / Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus is on the larger side of compact, and is probably better suited to being stored in a cupboard rather than on a countertop. It’s still an ergonomic design though, and feels good to hold, with the handle built into its main body. 

The power button sits at perfect thumb height on the top of the vacuum and offers a single level of suction, while the yellow bin-release button (pictured above) sits towards the nozzle end and releases the bin downwards with a single firm press. The 12.8fl oz / 450ml bin feels plenty big enough for general car cleans, as well as cleanups around the house. 

Considering that I have two dogs, two children under four, and very little time to keep my car in an acceptable state, I managed to get through testing without needing to empty the bin, which is pretty good going. The bin mechanism isn’t the smoothest when you do need to empty it though, and we often needed to use both hands to help the bin to open. 

This style of handheld vacuum cleaner gives good control over your cleaning, while the three different attachments (motorized pet hair tool, crevice tool and dusting brush) provide versatility too, giving you all the tools you need to tackle tougher dirt and pet hair, as well as harder-to-reach areas. It’s a pretty comprehensive package considering the low price.

At 3lb / 1.39kg it’s lightweight enough for you to be able to perform a full car clean without tiring your arm, and as handheld vacs go it looks pretty sleek too. The model we’ve reviewed is available in black only, though in the US you’ll find some similar models from Shark in a wider range of colors, with fewer tools and for a little cheaper too.                                         

Performance

• Good pick up
• Easy to use
• Averagely noisy

The Shark CH950UKT / Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus is one of the better handheld vacuums we’ve tested, so it’s easy to understand why it’s so popular. Its size, shape and weight make it perfect for cleaning your car, with its range of tools helping to ensure it’s always best suited for the task at hand.

We found the motorized pet hair tool and the crevice tool the most useful for car cleaning. The crevice tool was particularly helpful, as even though the CH950UKT is relatively compact, its all-in-one design still means getting into the harder-to-reach areas behind foot pedals or inside door bins would be tricky without it. It’s not the longest crevice tool we’ve used, but it’s helpful at getting into tight spots all the same.

The motorized tool is a great size for more widespread clear-ups on carpets and upholstery, and made quick work of both smaller and larger debris in our standard tests. It’s the perfect size for the job at hand too, collecting a wider surface area than the crevice tool without becoming unwieldy or imprecise. Its one power setting means that sometimes we needed to go over an area again to get the finer crumb or remnants of the debris, but overall the single power setting copes well with most tasks.

Outside of our standardized tests, a more generic clean around my car found the Shark CH950UKT / Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus did best when clearing up more surface-level debris, and couldn’t entirely shift older dirt that had been more worked in, particularly in carpet. It also struggled with picking up the wiry hair from my Jack Russell in the boot carpet, but that’s a hard job even for more professional tools.

For what you can realistically expect from a vacuum of this size and power, the Shark CH950UKT performs admirably, and considering its handy form factor, it’s easy to have on hand to clear up any mess before it gets worked in. 

In terms of noise, the CH950UKT / Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus measured at 88dB, which is about average for this kind of vacuum, and suction power stayed pretty consistent until right at the end, when you could hear it start to waver as the battery depleted. 

Do take the time to wash out the filter after any particularly heavy-duty clear ups though, and regularly otherwise, as this will help to ensure the vacuum’s suction stays as strong as possible. Simply remove the filter and run it under warm water, then allow it to dry completely before using it again.

Battery life

• Better than the quoted 10 minutes
• Around three hours to recharge
• Battery is non-swappable

The Shark CH950UKT / Shark UltraCyclone Pet Pro Plus promises a 10-minute battery life, but we found the battery performed better than that, and we squeezed out almost 15 minutes from it on a single charge. You can expect that to drop a little with the motorized tool attached, but we had plenty of time to make our way around our car on a single charge, with even a little power to spare at the end. 

Shark also seems to have been liberal with its quote of four hours for a full recharge, as in our tests we found it charged from flat to full in around three hours. You can’t swap out the battery though, so you will need to make sure you keep it charged so it’s ready when you need it.

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First reviewed: April 2022

•  Check out our picks for the best cordless vacuums

Verity has been writing about technology for over a decade, and covers everything from smartphones to hair straighteners for Trusted Reviews. She has particular experience in audio and TV reviews, which basically means she manages to pass off listening to music and watching movies as work. You’ll always find her in the living room, recalibrating terrible TV settings at parties.