Shark AZ910UKT Powered Lift-Away Upright Vacuum Cleaner Review

Thinking of buying the Shark AZ910UKT upright vacuum? Read our review to find out whether it’s worth the price.

The Shark AZ910UKT is a powerful upright vacuum cleaner that’s packed with interesting features. These include an anti-hair wrap floorhead, pet hair tool, and Shark’s “Powered Lift-Away” mode.

Is the AZ910UKT a better vacuum than Shark’s other uprights though? And is it worth the price? Keep reading our in-depth Shark AZ910UKT review to find out.

Overview of the Shark AZ910UKT’s Features

• Powerful bagless upright vacuum cleaner
• Shark’s DuoClean floorhead with two brush rolls for multi-surface cleaning
• Powered Lift-Away design makes the vacuum more versatile
• Anti-hair wrap floorhead to prevent tangles
• 8 metre power cord and 1.6 metre hose
• Includes an air-powered pet tool and a range of non-motorised accessories
• Variable power settings to clean everything from hard floors to thick carpets

Appearance and Design

With its grey and rose gold colour scheme, the AZ910UKT is an attractive vacuum with a sturdy construction. It’s also streamlined for an upright model, with the hose, power cord, and tools neatly stored.

The weight reflects this solid construction, though, as it’s on the heavy side at 6.77kg. This isn’t much more than the 6.5kg of the Shark NZ801UKT, but it’s worth taking into consideration, particularly for elderly people or anyone looking for a lightweight vacuum.

We like the three-position slider on the handle for different floors, with modes for thick carpet, low pile carpet, and hard floors. The positioning makes it easy to access in all configurations, which is important when switching from hard floors to carpet.

As you’d expect from Shark, everything feels intuitive and easy to use. Tools click together easily and feel secure, which isn’t always the case with lower quality vacuums.

In terms of dust capacity, the AZ910UKT has a meagre 0.84 litre maximum. For context, the Hoover Breeze Evo has a whopping 3 litre dirt canister. There are even cordless vacuums with similar capacities to the AZ910UKT, so be prepared to empty it often.

The hose is also quite short, with a maximum of 1.6 metres. But it still extends the reach when using tools for above-floor cleaning, which is useful for ceilings or stairs.

Shark’s Extra Design Features

The Shark AZ910UKT comes with pretty much all of Shark’s popular features. These include the DuoClean floorhead, Powered Lift-Away mode, Anti-Hair Wrap floorhead and TruePet tool.

Let’s start with the Anti Hair Wrap brush bar. This feature uses a special bristle guard to remove hair, which is useful for homes with pets. It’s not perfect – some hair may still get caught – but it makes brush roll maintenance much easier.

There’s also a Powered Lift-Away mode. Detaching the canister from the wand makes the AZ910UKT similar to a stick vac, so it’s streamlined for getting under furniture. As this model uses Powered Lift-Away, you still benefit from a powered brush bar in the main floorhead and any motorised tools after removing the canister.

You can also remove the wand altogether and use the dirt canister section on its own. It’s portable and much lighter like this, and you can attach the tools straight onto the handle or hose for ultra-compact cleaning. While it’s a great feature, the canister tends to topple over if you don’t hold it, which is somewhat inconvenient.

We’ll talk more about the DuoClean floorhead and TruePet tool in a later section.

Manoeuvrability and Ease of Use

Even with all the different setups available, the Shark AZ910UKT is intuitive to use. The buttons to release components are obvious and user-friendly, and it’s straightforward to use the Powered Lift-Away design.

Unfortunately, the cleaning radius is limited by the 8 metre power cord. It’s not the shortest we’ve seen, but it does require a fair amount of plug swapping when cleaning a large home.

The weight also makes the Shark AZ910UKT feel heavy to use, especially when cleaning floors. While the swivel steering increases manoeuvrability, it makes it harder to balance the weight, and you really feel it after a while.

The trade-off to the heavy design is that the AZ910UKT’s motor provides excellent suction power. But it’s not the best vacuum if you want one that’s easy to manoeuvre.

Still, the handles make it convenient to carry the vacuum when required. We’re also fans of the hose clips, which secure the hose to prevent it flapping around.

Filtration

The Shark comes with a HEPA filter, which is good news for allergy sufferers. This type of filter traps 99.97% of microparticles, like pollen and mould, rather than releasing them back into the air. There’s also an anti-allergy seal for added protection, making this one of the better bagless vacuums for allergies.

With that said, a bagless emptying system is never going to be as good for allergy sufferers as a vacuum with a self-sealing bag. If you have an allergy, you’ll need to ask someone else to empty the Shark into an outdoor bin, which can be frustrating as it fills up fast.

The filters also get dirty quickly and need regular cleaning. If you vacuum a lot, it may be worth buying a second set so you don’t have to wait for them to dry.

Emptying and Cleaning

As with all aspects of the Shark AZ910UKT, emptying dirt is straightforward and intuitive. There’s a “MAX” line to show when it’s full, then you detach the dust cup and open the trap door over a bin.

This simplicity is important, as the powerful suction, combined with the small capacity, means you have to empty it often.

The shape of the canister means clumps don’t tend to get caught, but, when they do, you need to pull them out by hand. It’s a shame there isn’t a hygienic collar system to eject the dirt, as there is with some Dyson models.

Shark AZ910UKT Tools and Accessories

Floorhead

The DuoClean floorhead on the Shark AZ910UKT has a unique design that makes cleaning much easier – especially if you have different types of floor in your home.

There are two brush rolls in the floorhead: a soft roller and a bristle bar. The former maintains contact with the surface and pulls in fine dirt, while the latter agitates carpet fibres for deeper cleaning. This combination provides thorough cleaning on a mixture of surfaces.

When needed, it’s easy to remove the soft roller for cleaning. But getting to the bristle brush isn’t quite as simple, as you need to remove some screws and then take the base plate off. This is a minor issue, however, especially as the anti hair wrap system reduces the chance of tangles.

Shark has also included their customary LED headlights, to make it easier for you to see fine dust, and an indicator light to warn of any problems with the floorhead.

Other Tools and Accessories

One of the great things about the Shark AZ910UKT is that it comes with a pet tool. This tool’s rubber fins are rotated by the vacuum’s suction, to agitate carpet fibres and pick up more hair and dirt.

It’s a shame the tool is suction-powered rather than motorised, as this reduces the power and makes it quite noisy. Still, it’s great to have a rotating brush bar in a smaller tool for cleaning tight spaces, even if you don’t have pets.

Along with the pet tool, the AZ910UKT also comes with an upholstery tool and a 2-in-1 duster crevice tool. The bristles on this tool aren’t too stiff, so it’s more useful for dusting than removing muddy paw prints or stubborn dirt.

All the tools attach onto the wand or directly onto the handle, making them ideal for a range of cleaning tasks around the home. There’s also onboard storage, so they are always close to hand.

Shark AZ910UKT Suction Power and Cleaning Performance

The Shark AZ910UKT is a powerful and versatile cleaner. The combination of strong suction and a clever floorhead make for an effective vacuum on nearly all surfaces.

As previously mentioned, you can choose between three different settings for various surfaces. The brush roll spins faster for thicker carpets, and decreases as you set it to lower pile carpets or hard floors.

For above floor cleaning, you can either use the hose or detach the wand. The latter configuration provides a decent reach and makes the vacuum much lighter for tackling cobwebs. The canister also doesn’t fall over when it’s like this, so you don’t need to keep hold of it.

Let’s take a closer look at how the Shark performs at various household cleaning tasks.

Carpets

We think the Shark AZ910UKT is an excellent vacuum for cleaning carpets. The powerful suction picks up plenty of dust and rejuvenates flattened carpets, while still being painless to push around.

Again, it’s easy to change settings if needed, and the vacuum still offers effective cleaning in the slower modes. There’s also an outlet valve on the handle when using the thick carpet setting, to stop it from suctioning itself to the floor.

The Shark manages to pull up long hairs and pet hair without any trouble. And it’s a whizz at edge cleaning, so you can get right up to the skirting board without swapping to the crevice tool.

Hard Floors

Hard floors are another strong area for the Shark AZ910UKT. It picks up everything from fine dust to larger bits of cereal, rather than pushing them along in front of the floorhead. It even pulls dirt out from the crevices between floorboards.

As with carpets, it cleans right up to the edges, so you don’t need to swap tools so often. The headlights also come in handy on hard floors, as they are great at illuminating dirt you might have missed.

Stairs

The Lift-Away mode is ideal for stair cleaning, as it makes the vacuum much smaller and lighter. The canister fits on a step and the 8 metre power cord is long enough to do a whole flight in one go.

The pet tool also comes in handy, especially for carpeted stairs. It’s compact enough to squeeze into tight corners and the air-powered fins deliver a deep clean.

The only downside is the weight. The Shark is on the heavy side and it’s cumbersome to lug the whole thing up the stairs when you want to freshen up the bedrooms.

Pet Hair

The Shark AZ910UKT picks up a lot of pet hair without any problems. The main floorhead leaves carpets looking fresh and fluffed, while the pet tool tackles above floor areas.

The smaller tool is effective at removing pet hair, but you do need to be careful not to pick up sharp objects, like gravel. Otherwise, you risk damaging the rubber fins and turbine.

Our only gripe is the lack of tilt in the pet tool. It has a fixed position and you need to get the angle right for it to make good contact with the surface. Once you’ve nailed this, cleaning pet hair is a breeze, and it’s a great choice if your furry friends shed fur everywhere they go.

Price and Value for Money

The Shark AZ910UKT is on the pricey side for an upright. Is it worth the investment?

Yes, we think so.

It’s versatile, powerful, and a joy to use. The AZ910UKT is also packed with features to make cleaning your whole home easier.

And, if you carry out some basic maintenance, there aren’t any ongoing costs. The guarantee covers you for five years, so it should last you long enough to balance out the initial outlay.

With all these things considered, it’s a great vacuum cleaner that offers value for money. Especially if you can find it on offer somewhere.

Comparison With Other Vacuums

What’s the Difference Between the Shark AZ910UKT and NZ801UKT?

The NZ801UKT is another brilliant Shark vacuum, so what’s the difference?

They’re both pet models with the same attachments and features, so the main difference comes down to styling. The AZ910UKT is grey and rose gold, whereas the NZ801UKT is orange and navy. There’s also some minor changes to the casing on the floorhead and dirt canister.

The AZ910UKT is also slightly wider and 0.27kg heavier. You’ll pay about the same for both models.

Shark AZ950UKT vs AZ910UKT

At first glance, these look like the same cleaner but there are some key differences.

The Shark AZ950UKT is an XL version. It weighs nearly a kilogram more and the dirt capacity is twice the size at 1.65 litres. This makes it better for bigger homes, as you won’t need to stop and empty it as often.

As you would expect from an XL model, the AZ950UKT does have a higher price tag, but not by a huge amount.

Shark AZ910UKT Specification

Shark AZ910UKT Review Verdict

The Shark AZ910UKT is an excellent vacuum cleaner that’s packed with useful features. It looks good, performs well on both carpets and hard floors, and is simple to use. The Shark is also great for edge cleaning, plus the pet tool is a welcome addition.

In fact, we don’t think there are any major flaws to this upright. Our only gripes are that it’s quite bulky and it could do with a longer power cord. It also fills up quickly, due to the strong suction and small capacity.

It’s worth noting that you can find the DuoClean, Powered Lift-Away, Anti Hair Wrap, and anti-allergen seals on other Shark models. So, if you already have a vacuum with these features, there’s no reason to upgrade to the AZ910UKT.

But if you’re in the market for a new upright vacuum, then the Shark AZ910UKT is definitely a worthwhile purchase. It might be pricey, but it can tackle all cleaning tasks around the home and is worth the investment.