Shark ION Robot Vacuum, Wi Fi Connected, Works with Google Assistant, Multi Surface Cleaning, Carpets, Hard Floors (Renewed)

You Get What You Pay For!
I give the Shark Ion 5 stars because it does what the seller says it does. It vacuums the floor. This a longer review than I normally post but I want to make sure I respect the reader by giving the full down and dirty.
What this product is – It’s a no frills robot vacuum. robot meaning it vacuums the floor for you. Not robot in the sense of AI. I named my vacuum bumper, because that’s what it does. Think bumper cars with suction. It meanders around the house, doing its own thing making my hardwood non dusty while bouncing off EVERYTHING in the room quietly. Yes, you read right, QUIETLY. Many a times I have had the cracker jacks scared outta me by little bumper knocking my heels because I didn’t even know it was running. The Shark Clean phone app is impressive to me because it VERY simple, clean, AND effective. You can program run times, doc the little booger, and change the suction power from the app.
Now, what this product is NOT – This thing is NOT smart, I mean there is nothing going on inside this thing other than “MUST CLEAN!”. Watching this vacuum is like watching a bowling ball roll around the room. I believe its because of this it doesn’t get corners or against the wall too good. So I do like to take my broom and pull everything out so it get suck the nastiness up with ease.
All in all, it is a work horse that gets my floors clean; and if you’re like my family, able to find amusement in anything, just sitting around and taking bets on the next victim of the “bump” will give you at least an hour of quality laughs and family time!!!

Cleans well, headbutts walls, sings songs
I have a cat that likes to build sand castles near her litter box. It’s too much work to break out my vacuum everyday so I snagged this to combat her arts and crafts.
Overall, I enjoy it a lot. For some reason, it’s cute. It sings little songs when it starts cleaning and when it docks. Adorable. It’s surprisingly quiet. The carpet is noticeably cleaner (it lifts the fibers), and the dust bin definitely gets full.
The vacuum has a pseudo-random cleaning pattern. It will roam around at random but when it detects a wall, it will start a wall-hugging mode where it runs down the length of the wall, curving around obstacles. However, it does not have room mapping or optical guidance, relying on the bump sensor on the front. I have not had it get stuck yet, but I also prepare the room by cleaning things up off the floor like clothes and cables. I also block off each room I am having it clean: I have not tested to see if it can make it from the dock to each room in the house and back, but I don’t expect it to at this price point. I do not like the magnetic strips included: I prefer to place a short length of wood I cut to size in the doorway, or simply close the door. Besides, I would rather it clean one room really well than clean the whole house halfway. It also has a spot cleaning mode where it cleans in a concentric spiral.
If you’re buying a robot vacuum because you want your cat to ride on it, stop. Yes, it’s funny to watch videos of cats doing drive-by-swattings on a robot, but this is not a cat transportation unit. It’s a vacuum. My cat despises this robotic rover. She stands in the doorway of whatever room it’s in and makes sounds like a demon. She hisses and spits at it. It destroys her sand castles, so I understand her feelings. I should note that she hides from the big vacuum, so I suppose I’d rather her be brave in the face of a little vacuum than fearful of a big one.
Now my biggest complaint: I wish so much that the robot had a proximity sensor so it wouldn’t crash into things. While the bump sensor on the front allows it to get right up in the corners and clean well, it also tends to get a running start and bump into table legs, doors, walls, anything. It’s not loud enough for my apartment neighbors to complain, but it’s also loud enough to wake me up from a nap. After the first thunk, it tends to delicately navigate around the object, which is nice. I have noticed no damage to my baseboards or furniture, but I also don’t have expensive home furnishings. If you do, buy a better robot that will avoid table legs. For the price point, I wouldn’t complain at all, except that other robots in this price range do have collision avoidance sensors.
Minor complaint, I was not able to set this robot up with my Google Home environment. I don’t really feel a need to voice-control the bot though. I can open the app and press the “Clean” button just as easily, although the animated splash page takes longer than it should. You can also schedule cleanings via the app.
I purchased this robot refurbished. This robot arrived pristine in a plain cardboard box with no logos other than a battery sticker. There was cling plastic on the top of the bot. I feared it might be gross from previous use but it appeared as new. The dust box and filter were brand new. The dock showed light use.
I understand that you get what you pay for. This is not a $500 Roomba with GPS tracking and missile launchers. This is a $150 robot that cleans your carpet well. This is why I still rate this robot highly despite my minor complaints. I have been tempted to return this robot and purchase another sub $200 bot with better collision detection, but I have not because I do not have faith they will clean as well as this one: the Shark name carries a certain confidence that the other bots in this price range do not have. For those who don’t know, Shark and Ninja (of blender fame) are sister companies.
Pros:
*Cleans well. Professional sand castle removal.
*Quiet. Enough to sleep until it runs into something.
*Cute. As a foot-wide button.
Neutral:
*Not a cat transport unit. Also not meant to be.
*Not particularly smart but not dumb either.
*App works well enough, but I don’t care much for apps.
*The dust bin is of ample size for a single room but not for a whole house. Dust bin should be emptied between cleanings.
Cons:
*Headbutts things to find it’s way around.