Our Verdict: The Shark HZ500UK isn’t the most powerful vacuum we’ve reviewed, but it’s useful for quick cleaning jobs – particularly on hard floors. It’s also lighter and more mobile than corded upright vacuums, which is great if you want a convenient vacuum. However, it’s less effective than the best vacuums for cleaning carpets and has a tiny dust capacity.
Shark HZ500UK
Pros:
- A high-quality and lightweight stick vacuum
- Loads of advanced features and a long power cord
- Particularly effective on hard floors and laminate
- Detachable handheld mode
- Shark’s excellent DuoClean floorhead
Cons:
- Very small dust capacity
- Only average performance on carpets
- Just two tools included (and no motorised pet tool)
Thinking of buying the Shark HZ500UK vacuum cleaner? Here’s our in-depth review of this vacuum, along with our thoughts on who should buy it.
The Shark HZ500UK is the company’s latest stick vacuum and features many of Shark’s most popular innovations. These include Anti Hair Wrap technology, “Flexology” folding joint, and the DuoClean floorhead. It’s also a lightweight vacuum, due to the stick design.
We think the HZ500UK is a solid choice if you need a lightweight and easy-to-use vacuum cleaner, but don’t want the limitations of a cordless vac. It’s effective at cleaning hard floors, comes with Shark’s excellent DuoClean floorhead, and is more convenient than a full-size upright. We think it’s let down a bit by average carpet cleaning performance and the tiny dust capacity though.
How does it compare to other corded uprights? And is it worth buying over a traditional upright (such as those on our buyer’s guide?) Keep reading our Shark HZ500UK review to find out.
Overview of the Shark HZ500UK’s Features
- A corded stick vacuum that’s designed to be lightweight and easy to use.
- Only weighs 3.9kg, making it much lighter than traditional uprights.
- Converts into a handheld vacuum for stairs and cars.
- A small 0.3-litre capacity to reduce weight (although this means it needs to be emptied regularly.)
- Anti Hair Wrap technology to prevent tangled hairs in the floorhead.
- DuoClean floorhead for cleaning both hard floors and carpets.
- “Flexology” technology for easier storage and cleaning under furniture.
Appearance, Features & Design
The Shark HZ500UK is a corded stick vacuum that’s designed to be both lightweight and versatile. It’s packed with a number of Shark’s advanced features, making it an attractive choice if you want something less bulky than a traditional upright.
But before we go any further, it’s worth repeating that this is a corded vacuum cleaner – despite having a design that’s similar to most modern cordless vacs. The 10-metre cord means you can vacuum for as long as necessary without recharging, although it also reduces the convenience of the vac. In general, we think corded vacs make more sense for larger homes or extended cleaning sessions, although cordless vacuums are more convenient.
Aside from having a cord, the HZ500UK shares many features with modern cordless vacuums. The stick can be detached, converting the vacuum into a handheld vac. It’s also lighter than regular uprights, convenient for cleaning above floors, and takes up less space in storage.
Note: The Shark HZ500UK replaces the HZ400UK. While many of the features are the same, the HZ500UK has several upgrades and a more attractive appearance compared to the previous design.
Manoeuvrability and Ease of Use
We think the Shark is one of the best upright corded vacs when it comes to ease-of-use. It’s lightweight (3.9kg,) easy to push around the floor, has swivel steering, and the handheld mode is great for stairs or cars. You can also still attach the wand when in handheld mode, making cleaning cobwebs and other high locations easier.
Like many of Shark’s latest vacuums, the HZ500UK is built with “Flexology.” This is effectively a joint in the stick, allowing the vacuum to fold down for storage or bend to clean under furniture. While we don’t think Flexology is an essential feature, there are certainly times when it’s a useful option. We also think the “Swivel Steering” system also makes it easier to manoeuvre around furniture and other obstacles.
One of the great features of the HZ500UK is that it has a long 10 metre power cord. Many modern uprights have relatively short and restrictive power cords, but fortunately this isn’t the case with the HZ500UK. If we were being picky, a swivel cord attachment would have been beneficial, but this is a minor complaint.
Another useful feature is the LED headlights in the floorhead. Most Shark vacuums include headlights, which make it much easier to spot dirt and dust that might otherwise be missed. The lights are particularly useful for cleaning under furniture, which is a much easier task with the Flexology design.
Other Design Features
An interesting feature of the HZ500UK is that it comes with Shark’s Anti Hair-Wrap technology. Shark claims this actively removes hair and deposits it into the dust canister, meaning you shouldn’t need to remove tangled hair from the brush bar.
In practice, we’ve found this isn’t 100% effective, as some hair still gets caught. The technology certainly reduces tangled hair by a lot, however, making it a useful bonus if you have pets or family members with long hair.
A drawback of this vacuum cleaner is that it has a small 0.3 litre dust capacity. This is considerably smaller than even the latest cordless vacs, so be prepared to empty it regularly.
Filtration
The Shark HZ500UK comes with a HEPA filter. This is brilliant news for people with allergies, as HEPA filters are effective at preventing dust, pet dander, and other allergens from escaping into the air. It’s also designed with Shark’s Anti-Allergen Complete Seal.
Despite having a HEPA filter, we still don’t think this Shark is the best choice for people with allergies. As it’s a bagless vacuum, dust and dirt can still escape when you empty the bin. Even so, the HEPA filter makes it a decent choice if you want to keep your air clean when using a bagless vac.
Emptying & Cleaning
Emptying the Shark is straightforward, which is important as you’ll need to do it regularly! Unfortunately, there’s no internal collar to push out dirt and dust, which means clumps will sometimes get stuck and need to be removed by hand. This is a common issue with bagless vacs that rely on gravity alone for emptying.
When you’re finished vacuuming, the Flexology design allows the vacuum to fold to approximately half the height. This feature is handy if you lack storage space and would like to keep the vacuum in a cupboard.
Tools & Accessories
Floorhead
The HZ500UK comes with Shark’s excellent DuoClean floorhead that allows you to move between carpets and hard floors without changing heads.
Unlike other floorheads, the DuoClean has two brush bars that work together. The larger front brush-roll is a softer bar that’s perfect for removing dust and dirt from hard floors, while the rear is a more standard bristle brush roll to stir up debris from carpets.
We’re big fans of the DuoClean floorhead. It makes vacuuming more convenient in homes with multiple types of floor, plus the two motorised brush rolls do a great job at picking up both small dust particles and larger debris.
Other Tools and Accessories
A drawback to the HZ500UK is that it only comes with a dusting brush and crevice tool. There’s no upholstery tool, and, more importantly, no motorised pet tool. While the included tools are fine for edge cleaning and basic upholstery maintenance, the lack of a motorised tool will be a big drawback to some people.
There’s also no onboard tool storage, so you’ll need to store them separately. On the upside, we think the tools are decent quality and are easy to take both on and off.
Suction Power & Cleaning Performance
With a handheld mode and the high-quality DuoClean floorhead, the HZ500UK is a versatile vacuum that’s great for cleaning almost any area of the home.
It’s not the most powerful vac on the market, although raw suction strength isn’t everything when it comes to cleaning performance. The Shark still manages to provide decent all-round cleaning performance – particularly on hard floors. Let’s take a closer look at common cleaning tasks.
Carpets
The Shark HZ500UK is an average carpet cleaner. While it isn’t terrible on carpets, we don’t think it can match the cleaning performance of more powerful upright vacuums.
So, if you’re looking for the best carpet vacuum cleaner, the HZ500UK isn’t the one to choose. But if you’re happy to accept average cleaning performance in return for great hard floor cleaning (see next section) and advanced features, then it’s an option to consider.
Hard Floors
The Shark HZ500UK excels on hard floors. It provides enough suction power to remove dirt from between floorboards, while the DuoClean floorhead is excellent for picking up larger debris rather than scattering it.
It’s also a great option for laminate flooring.
Stairs
As the Shark has a handheld mode, it’s much more convenient for cleaning stairs than the average upright. There’s no need to balance the vac on stairs, plus the long power cord makes it easy to clean entire staircases without changing sockets.
The lack of a motorised tool means it’s not as effective as we would like on carpeted stairs though.
Pet Hair
The combination of DuoClean floorhead and relatively strong suction means the Shark HZ500UK does a decent job of removing pet hair from carpets and hard floors.
As we mentioned, there’s no motorised pet tool included with the Shark though. This makes it difficult to get rid of hair from furniture, stairs, or car interiors. For this reason, we don’t recommend it for pet owners, particularly if your dog or cat sheds a lot.
Note: Shark sells a pet version of this vacuum cleaner called the HZ500UKT. It’s a bit more expensive, but includes a turbo pet tool.
Price & Value for Money
The Shark HZ500UK has an RRP of £250, so it’s cheaper than high-end uprights and a lot less costly than cordless vacs like the Dyson V11. It’s also often available on offer, so we think it provides decent value for money – especially as it’s such a versatile vac.
With that said, its average carpet performance means you can probably get greater value from other vacuums if your home is mainly carpeted.
Tip: Shark also offers a 5-year guarantee for this vacuum, but you must register with Shark for this.
Specification Table
| Ninja Column 1 | Ninja Column 2 |
|---|---|
| Price Range | £££ |
| Power | 450W |
| Cord Length | 10 metres |
| Weight | 3.9kg |
| Capacity | 0.3 litres |
| Noise | 80dB |
| Motorised Pet Tool | No |
| Hose | No |
| Filter | HEPA |
Comparison With Other Vacuums
HZ500UK Vs HZ500UKT – What’s the Difference?
The only real difference between these two vacuums is that the HZ500UKT (otherwise known as the TruePet version) comes with Shark’s Pet Power Brush. This is a motorised tool that’s great for removing pet hair from sofas, stairs, and car interiors. The vacuums also have a different colour scheme, although this is purely cosmetic.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can You Buy Accessories and Replacement Parts for the HZ500UK?
Yes, there are a number of parts and accessories available for the HZ500UK via the Shark website. These include the Anti Hair Wrap Pet Power Brush, which is great for pet owners, and replacement filters.
Does The HZ500UK Come With A Pet Tool?
No, the HZ500UK is the basic version of this vacuum cleaner and doesn’t come with a pet tool. You’ll need to spend more to get the HZ500UKT (known as the True Pet version) to get this extra accessory.
Verdict
In summary, we think the Shark HZ500UK is a versatile stick vacuum that provides decent cleaning performance and a lightweight design. We also like how it’s packed with Shark’s innovative technologies, such as LED headlights, Flexology design, DuoClean floorhead, and Anti Hair Wrap.
So, who should buy the Shark HZ500UK? If you’re looking for a lightweight upright that’s easy to manoeuvre, then it’s a great choice – particularly if your home has hard flooring or laminate. It’s also an excellent option if you struggle with heavy uprights, but don’t want to switch to a cordless vacuum.
It’s less effective than the top carpet vacuums when cleaning carpets, however, which is something to keep in mind if your home is mainly carpeted. The small capacity may also be an annoyance if you want to use it for cleaning multiple rooms, as you’ll need to empty it frequently.
Despite these drawbacks, it’s an excellent vacuum cleaner that’s certainly worth considering if you want a lightweight vac.