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  • About the Shark NV352 Navigator Lift-Away bagless upright vacuum

  • What we like

  • What we don’t like

  • What owners are saying

  • Should you buy the Shark NV352 Navigator Lift-away?

  • Related content

  • About the Shark NV352 Navigator Lift-Away bagless upright vacuum
  • What we like
  • What we don’t like
  • What owners are saying
  • Should you buy the Shark NV352 Navigator Lift-away?
  • Related content

Pros

  • Can transform into a pseudo-canister vac

  • Average dirt pickup

Cons

  • Difficult to use

About the Shark NV352 Navigator Lift-Away bagless upright vacuum

A close-up of the canister area of the vacuum, with its filter disassembled.
Credit: Reviewed

The Navigator's filter is washable, which should help keep its maintenance costs lower than bagged versions.

  • Attachments: Crevice tool, 3' crevice tool, upholstery brush, turbine-powered pet brush
  • Weight: 13.9 lbs.
  • Cord length: 25 ft
  • Sound level: 80 dB
  • Filter type: HEPA

What we like

You won't be disappointed with its cleaning performance on most surfaces

For an upright in this price range, the Shark NV352 Navigator Lift-Away has better than average cleaning power. In our performance tests, we were able to pick up about 38% of the debris— above our 33% threshold but not by much.

Across the board it managed to keep up with the rest of the pack, either overperforming or underperforming by small margins.

In general, this vacuum performed much better on short carpeting and on hardwood floors and had more difficulty on deeper carpeting and embedded debris. In most cases, however, the Navigator stayed within 10 grams of the average upright, which is well within the margins for acceptable performance.

Its hose gives it a lot of reach

A shot of the side of the vacuum, which lets you see its 80" hose.
Credit: Reviewed

The Navigator's 80" hose lets you reach just about anything.

The Navigator comes with a removable hose that allows for 80 inches of extended cleaning, and this may be the Shark's greatest feature. This can extend even further if you equip the vacuum with its three-foot long crevice tool.

When it's not in use, the hose snaps back into the cleaner body, doubling as its handle. The hose can also be used when the main vacuum unit is detached from the floor brush, giving you even more maneuverability.

Considering the maneuverability of this vacuum isn't the best to begin with(we'll get to that later), the ability to disconnect from the floor brush and still reach just about everything is a saving grace.

It's easy to use, thanks to its maneuverability

Some vacuums are just easier to push and pull compared to others. This is mostly due to its weight, but not exclusively—we've tested vacuums that are average weight, yet take four times as much strength to push around.

Thankfully, this is one area where the Navigator excels.

We test how much strength it takes to operate a vacuum by attaching a postal scale to the handle and pulling the vac back and forth. The average upright takes 2.3 pounds to push forward and 4.4 pounds to pull back.

The Navigator only took a half pound to push forward and 2.6 pounds to pull back, meaning it's about twice as easy to vacuum as most other uprights.

The Navigator was also able to fit fairly far under furniture: We were able to get a full foot underneath our various clearance heights before the canister bonked the bar. While many modern uprights are able to shimmy under lower clearances, this is still a good result—especially for an upright in this price range.

What we don’t like

Some parts feel flimsy or low-quality

A close-up of the underside of the vacuum, showing off its carpet brush. Around it are the four different attachments.
Credit: Reviewed

Most of the Navigator's attachments fit and function just fine, but the pet brush can fall apart easily.

This is an inexpensive vacuum, and those cost savings had to come from somewhere.

Even after proper assembly, the handle still had some play where it was supposed to connect to the cleaner, which doesn't feel good during use.

The dirt holder's clamps require some effort to get unlatched, and constantly felt like they were in danger of snapping off.

The pet brush was also frustrating. It's designed to come apart for easy cleaning, but what this translates to for consumers is that it falls apart extremely easily. Even when we were able to get it working properly, it preferred to wrap pet hair around the brush rather than send it into the dirt chamber.

What owners are saying

The Shark NV352 Navigator is a bit of a crowd favorite, receiving 4.6 stars out of 5 across major retailers.

Those who loved their Navigator praised how easy it was to push around, its on-board light for illuminating its path, and its overall performance.

Those who left negative reviews were unhappy with its performance, found the attachments didn't stay connected, or that it fell over during use.

Should you buy the Shark NV352 Navigator Lift-away?

Yes—If you're looking for an inexpensive upright

The Shark NV352 Navigator Lift-Away didn't top any of our performance charts, but for its price it's not a bad entry-level vacuum.

On most of our performance tests, the Navigator earned roughly average scores. While it never excelled it also didn't disappoint.

We also liked how easy it was to push around and found it was capable of reaching just about everywhere.

If you're in the market for an average vacuum with above average maneuverability at a below average price, the Shark NV352 Navigator Lift-Away is a great pick.

If you'd prefer something with a bit more oomph at around the same price, we recommend checking out the Oreck XL2100RHS.

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Meet the testers

Mark Brezinski

Mark Brezinski

Senior Writer

@markbrezinski

Mark Brezinski works on the Home Team, reviewing refrigerators, minifridges, dishwashers, washing machines, dryers, air conditioners, air purifiers, and fans.

See all of Mark Brezinski's reviews
Keith Barry

Keith Barry

Former Editor in Chief, Reviewed Home

@itskeithbarry

Keith was the Editor in Chief of Reviewed's appliance and automotive sites. His work has appeared in publications such as Wired, Car & Driver, and CityLab.

See all of Keith Barry's reviews

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