Home » Vacuums » Shark Navigator vs. Rotator: Which One to Pick?

Shark Navigator vs. Rotator: Which One to Pick?

Shark is known for making premium vacuum cleaners that don’t cost more than your monthly mortgage. If you’re tired of buying a dirt-cheap upright vacuum only that fails in a year or two, a Shark is the logical next step up the appliance ladder.

Shark Navigator vs. Rotator

Shark Navigator

The Shark Navigator Lift-Away Professional and the Shark Rotator Professional Lift-Away are powerful and well-designed. Both feature a brushroll toggle switch and a canister that you can remove for above-floor vacuuming. You get plenty of accessories with each model, and their filters last the life of the vacuums themselves.

Features such as swivel steering and a looped handle make it easy to navigate these Shark vacs. Although there are differences in terms of size and dirt capacity, the Navigator and the Rotator offer a wide cleaning path and a bottom-emptying dust cup. Once you learn about all these full-size uprights can do, you’ll be sold.


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Brushroll and Suction

The Shark Navigator
Behind this upright vacuum’s amazing suction, there is a 1,200-watt motor with a low electricity draw of 10 amps. A twistable collar allows you to adjust the suction, making it easier to push the vacuum on plush carpeting. To vacuum your hard floors, you can also turn off the brushroll by pressing the rocker switch. A window and an indicator light let you monitor the brushroll’s status.

Shark Rotator vs. Navigator

Shark Rotator

Related post: Best Shark Upright Vacuums

The Shark Rotator
Like the Navigator, the Shark Rotator is equipped with a 10-amp, 1,200-watt motor that equates to excellent suction strength. You can increase or decrease the airflow via the suction collar and toggle the power to the brushroll from the power switch. On the floor head, you can view the brushroll through a window and look at the jam-indicator light.

Conclusion: With the Navigator and the Rotator, you’ll know there’s an obstruction in the brushroll right away – no more guesswork. Shark offers customizable performance with a brushroll switch and a suction collar, so you can vacuum any floor imaginable.

Accessories and Lift-Away Canister

The Shark Navigator
Staircase and above-floor vacuuming happen in a whole new way thanks to the lift-away canister. With the push of a button, the 8-pound canister detaches from the upright’s frame, giving mobility that’s unheard of from other upright brands. Shark includes five accessories for all your vacuuming needs, including a dust brush, an 8-inch crevice tool and a motorized brush along with a spot to store two attachments at a time.

The Shark Rotator
This Rotator vacuum is one of Shark’s Lift-Away model, which means you can remove the 8.4-pound canister and hold it while you vacuum blinds, ceiling fans, shelves and more. On the wand, there is a two-accessory clip for storing the 12-inch crevice tool and the dust brush. You also get a hard-floor nozzle, an upholstery tool, and a motorized brush.

Conclusion: Despite a negligible difference of 0.4 pounds, the canister on both vacuums is the same. You can remove each canister by pressing a button with or without the wand. While the Navigator and the Shark come with the same kinds of accessories, the crevice tool on the Rotator is 4 inches longer than the one on the Navigator.

Shark Navigator

Shark Navigator

Maneuverability and Size

The Shark Navigator
The white-and-silver Navigator moves like a dream. The 14.9-inch-wide floor nozzle swivels, letting you turn around furniture edges without making tricky back-and-forth motions. Weighing just 13.7 pounds, the Shark Navigator is also lightweight as far as upright vacuums go; its looped handle makes it easy to control vacuum, and a 30-foot cord offers a huge working radius.

The Shark Rotator
White with a splash of red, the Rotator steers smoothly with its swiveling floor head. The wide-looped handle helps you keep a firm grip on the 15.5-pound upright vacuum. You can cover a lot of area in a short amount of time thanks to the vacuum’s 13.4-inch-wide floor nozzle and 30-foot-long power cord. The Shark Rotator even has a pair of LED headlights that uncover those dust bunnies that lurk in dark corners.

Conclusion: Even though the Shark Rotator is about 2 pounds heavier than the Navigator, both of these models swivel, making them easy to maneuver. Each one boasts a wide cleaning path with the Navigator taking the lead in that area. However, the Rotator is the only one of these uprights that’s equipped with headlights.

Dirt Cup and Filtration

The Shark Navigator
The Navigator has two pre-motor filters and a HEPA filter. These filters last forever with proper care, eliminating replacement costs. The bagless upright can hold 4.4 quarts of debris in its latched dirt cup, which opens from the bottom to minimize the amount of dirt that will go airborne.

Shark Rotator

Shark Rotator

The Shark Rotator
Shark’s Rotator vacuum contains three filters – one foam pre-motor filter, one felt pre-motor filter and one HEPA post-motor filter. As long as they are regularly cleaned, all three filters will never need to be replaced. You also get the benefit of a decent-sized dust cup that has a 3.1-quart capacity.

Conclusion: Shark went all out with the filtration system in the Navigator and the Rotator. Both vacuums have a total of three filters, one of which is a HEPA media and all of which are designed to last a lifetime. While these uprights have a sizable dust cup, the Navigator can hold over a quart more of dirt than the Rotator.

Which One Should You Pick?

Since they share so many of the same great features, such as powerful suction, a jam indicator, and brushroll toggling, choosing one over the other isn’t easy. Both have the lift-away canister and come with five attachments, so you can vacuum from corner to corner of your house.

Shark Navigator Lift-Away Professional NV356E

Shark Navigator

An ergonomic handle and swivel steering make for impressive maneuverability, and you can’t do any better than the lifelong pre-motor and HEPA filters in these uprights. The long power cord on the Navigator and the Shark keep you from needing to switch electrical outlets halfway through vacuuming.

There are several reasons someone may choose the Navigator over the Rotator. The Shark Navigator weighs less, making it easier for children and arthritis sufferers to push. It also has a larger dirt capacity, which means fewer trips to the garbage can. If color matters, the silver/white color scheme is modern and sophisticated.

On the other hand, some features make the Shark Rotator a better choice for other people. The Rotator has a wider cleaning path, which is great for those who live in large houses. The Rotator’s crevice tool is longer; therefore, it’s well-suited for short people and homes with vaulted ceilings. The headlights come in handy for vacuuming underneath furniture, and the red accents speak to those who like a pop of color in their life.

Shark Rotator Professional Upright Corded Bagless Vacuum

Shark Rotator

Related Shark Vacuum Articles

Buying Guides
 • Best Shark Upright Vacuums

Comparison Articles
 • Shark Navigator vs. Rotator
 • Shark Navigator vs Hoover MAXLife vs. Bissell CleanView
 • Shark vs Eureka

Info Articles
 • What is a Shark “Lift-Away” Vacuum?



Our Recommended Upright Vacuums

Our Pick The Bissell 2252 CleanView gives you the outstanding performance you’d expect from an expert floor care company at a great price. It has specialized pet tools and features, so you know it’s designed for homes with pets.

Budget Pick The Eureka Airspeed NEU100 is an affordable, lightweight, and good upright vacuum for cleaning small apartments. With a 10.5-inch wide cleaning path, it gets the job done quickly.

Best of the Best The Bissell 2998 is a well-balanced, convertible, bagless upright vacuum intended as a cleaning solution for larger homes and apartments.

Check Latest Price >



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About the author

Hi I’m Alex, founder of HouseholdMe.com and I’d like to say thank you for dropping by. Like most of you, the first thing I look at before buying something online is reviews or buying guides. By reading what other people say will help me gauge whether or not a product is good or not.  I am trying to help people find answers, solve problems, and get inspired.

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