Shark UV Reveal Review (2026): UV Light Mode

Source: Wired

Review

There’s no carpet on my main floor, but I have some upstairs. To move the Shark upstairs, I had to move the base and vacuum and prompt the vacuum to delete its map and remap my home, since Shark’s vacuums can only store one map at a time. It would be one thing if I didn’t need to move the base, but having to move both makes it a pain; if you were hoping for a vacuum that can clean multiple floors of your home, this isn’t it.

If carpet is on the main floor, the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal still does a solid job. At about 3 inches tall, it was able to vacuum under my large storage bed, and the matted‑down carpet seemed refreshed after a pass. I did spot some tufts of cat hair still on the carpet; the Shark pulled many up but didn’t capture all of them.

The UV Reveal also has handy tools for tricky spots. Its NeverStuck technology lets the robot lift itself to get over obstacles—it freed itself from a side‑table leg after a minute. I never had to rescue the unit on either floor, though I did move floor mats out of the way to allow full mopping. The vacuum can shoot a jet of air to dislodge dust, and it has a single side brush that reaches into tiny corners (it even picked up a Cheerio I placed as a test).

Base Game

The Shark’s base station features a convenient water‑tank system. An extendable handle clicks into place for both the clean and dirty water canisters, making them easier to carry. The clean‑water tank holds 2.74 L (≈11.6 cups), while the dirty‑water tank holds 1.18 L (just under 5 cups). After two full cleans of my downstairs hard floors, the dirty‑water tank was only a third full. The robot itself carries 0.21 L (≈0.8 cups) of clean water at a time and uses some of that water to clean the mop pad while docked.