Hoover MAXLife vs. Bissell CleanView vs. Shark Navigator

Upright vacuum cleaners are the most widely used kind of vacuum cleaner today. So, it makes sense for companies to continue adding different features to one-up each other.

Today, we’re going to compare three feature-packed uprights by Hoover, Bissell, and Shark to see which of them is the right vacuum cleaner for your home.

Hoover MAXLife

MAXLife Cyclonic System + HEPA Filter

Hoover claims that the MAXLife can preserve suction power three times longer than uprights without such a system in place. So, what exactly is MAXLife? To put it in simpler terms, it’s Hoover’s take on a cyclonic system—any large debris that finds its way into the vacuum’s inlet gets spun around and around inside of the clear canister, keeping it away from the HEPA filter.

If it didn’t have a cyclonic system, the HEPA filter would get clogged with pet hair pretty quickly.

Triple-Helix Brush Roll

To truly understand how the Hoover can effortlessly remove embedded hair from carpet fibers, you have to take a look at the floorhead, or rather, the brush roll within.

The Hoover’s brush roll is studded with three helical rows of stiff bristles to deliver strike after strike after strike to loosen floor debris. Users also have the option to turn the brush roll off when vacuuming bare floors.

Hoover MAXLife UH74220PC Video

Automatic Floor Height Adjustment

One of the Hoover’s features that doesn’t get enough love is the auto-height-adjusting brush roll. The floating brush maintains contact with your floors to ensure that the brush roll delivers as many strikes as possible.

You won’t have to fumble around with dials or knobs when transitioning from carpets to smooth floors and back.

13-foot Overhead Reach

Something that everyone will appreciate is that the Hoover comes with a suction hose for spot cleaning. But what makes the suction hose even more amazing is that it measures 13 feet in length, allowing you to clean nearly every above-floor surface imaginable.

Cobwebs in light fixtures, dust in auto interior, and dry mud tracks on carpeted steps stand no chance against the suction hose and its multi-purpose pet tool. The other uprights in this comparison guide come with similar above-floor cleaning systems, as well.

Bissell CleanView

Scatter-Free Floorhead

In many ways, the Bissell and Hoover are a lot alike when comparing their floorheads against each other. For starters, they both rely on three rows of helical bristles to dig deep into carpet fibers and loosen embedded strands of hair.

However, what makes the Bissell such a fantastic upright is how the floorhead’s bevels are razor-thin. This allows near-perfect edge-to-edge cleaning against baseboards and furniture legs without tossing debris to the side.

Bissell 2252 CleanView Video

5 Floor Height Levels

Unlike the Hoover, the Bissell requires manual adjusting to set the brush roll at the correct height based on the type of surface you’re cleaning. When vacuuming bare floors, you can lift the brush roll all the way up to prevent contact, and when vacuuming low-pile carpeting, lowering the brush roll will produce the best results.

We’d prefer the auto-height-adjusting system in the Hoover, but manually changing heights isn’t the worst thing to happen.

Suction Indicator

Here’s a feature that we found interesting. The Bissell comes with a maintenance indicator that warns users whether there’s a significant drop in suction pressure. Whenever the indicator turns on, you’ll have to check the filter and/or suction hose for any clogs to restore suction power, which, according to some users, hardly takes any time.

Shark Navigator

Anti-Allergen Sealed + HEPA Filter

Shark protects each Navigator unit with an anti-allergen seal in the dirt tank, which prevents the tiniest dust particle from leaking out and littering your floors. This, combined with the HEPA filter, pretty much ensures that anything that gets suctioned into the vacuum stays in the dirt tank for good.

Lift-Away Canister Pod

The one feature that truly makes the Shark stand out from the rest is the Lift-Away pod. You’ll notice that, like the previous uprights, the Shark comes with a suction hose for above-floor cleaning.

However, by detaching the pod from the handle, you can carry it around like a portable canister unit, extending your reach to clean hard-to-reach areas in your home or vehicle. The Lift-Away pod weighs just 7.5 pounds out of the original 16 pounds on upright mode.

Shark NV360 Navigator Video

Dynamic Swivel Steering

While it may not look like it, the Shark comes with a swiveling neck to make navigating your floors a lot easier in your arm and wrist.

Dynamic Swivel Steering makes it so that the floorhead pivots left and right at the slightest nudge to maneuver effortlessly around obstacles and underneath low-hanging furniture.

If you have any questions or comments, please add them below in the comment section. Similarly, please let us know if you spot any mistakes or omissions. Thanks!

Last Update: 2023-06-08 | Affiliate links/Images from Amazon Product Advertising API