Henry vs Shark: What’s Better Henry or Shark Vacuum Cleaners?

If you’re out there searching for a new vacuum cleaner then two names that have no doubt popped up frequently in your search are Henry and Shark. But which one out of Henry vs Shark would make a better choice for a vacuum cleaner? 

In this post, we compare these two huge vacuum cleaner brands by comparing the Henry hoover (HVR160-11) and the Shark NZ690UKT upright vacuum cleaner. In comparing these two we also look at the wider comparison between the two brands to understand which vacuum cleaner may be best for you out of the two.

Henry vs Shark: What’s Better Henry or Shark Vacuum Cleaners?

Feature	SHARK	HENRY
Appearance
Design
Power & Suction
Performance on Carpets
Performance on Hardfloors
Performance on Stairs
Cleaning Capacity
Weight and Manoeuvrability
Accessories
Warranty
Price and Value
Total Score	8	6

To help frame our comparison we took our own Henry hoover (HVR160-11) and our own Shark NZ690UKT upright vacuum to give an idea of which might suit you.

Henry HVR160-11

The Henry HVR160-11 is the latest version of the original Numatic Henry vacuum cleaner. With over 15 million units sold, the Henry hoover is said to be the UK’s most popular vacuum cleaner. 

Having used it extensively over the years, we can fully understand why. The Henry is a cylinder (canister) vacuum cleaner with a robust design and highly effective suction. It gets 

Trending

What Is The Difference Between Shark AZ910UKT and NZ801UKT?

Shark NZ690UKT

Shark makes a range of upright, corded and cordless stick vacuum cleaners. We chose an upright vacuum cleaner for this comparison as they tend to be the most popular amongst Shark products and also the most closely comparable to Henry hoover. Our own research also suggests that upright vacuum cleaners are the most popular amongst consumers with 41% of our last survey respondents stating they owned an upright.

Henry vs Shark: Design

When it comes to design, Henry and Shark vacuums are pretty far apart.

Henry’s design is pretty simple yet still iconic. Henry was originally designed to be a commercial vacuum cleaner suited to far harsher environments then your living room. Over the years the edges have been smoothed out but what’s still there is Henry’s distinctive smile greeting you every time you use it. 

To save it and your walls from getting scratches and dents, Henry’s round tub is lined with a rubber bumper which comes in surprisingly handy as you move the unit around the home and inevitably bump into corners and walls at speed.

Shark on the other hand focuses a lot on aesthetics in their design and manage to make their upright vacuum cleaners look sleek and contemporary. The Shark NZ690UKT is no exception as they take what could otherwise be a bulky looking design and manage to make it appear sleek. Lined with rose gold trim and wand, the NZ690UKT gives off the luxury feel and would look comfortable in most contemporary home decors.

Performance on Stairs – Winner: Shark

Henry vs Shark: Power and Suction

When it comes to power and suction Henry hoover is as impressive as you are likely to encounter. In our experience, Henry never struggles with suction power whether on carpets or hard floors. In fact sometimes the biggest issue with the Henry HVR160-11 is that it can be too powerful, especially on carpets. 

As Henry hoovers only have one suction level if you get to a carpet that is being pulled up as the Henry is too powerful it is a bit annoying. One thing you can do to lower the suction level is to let more air in through the hose which will reduce the suction via a small slider on the metal hose.

The Henry HVR160-11 comes with a 620w motor and this provides plenty of power to tackle every type of job around the house.

Shark vacuum cleaners are renowned for their suction power and the NZ690UKT for example does a fantastic job whether it’s on carpets or hard floors. 

This Shark vacuum cleaner has a ton of powerful suction and you’d be worried of it being overbearing but you have the opportunity to adjust the settings depending on the floor type with a switch to go from carpet to hard floors as you need.

Whether you are using the main brush head or attachments, Shark delivers excellent cleaning performance and suction.

Power and Suction – Winner: Tie

Henry vs Shark: Performance on Carpets

How your vacuum cleaner performs on carpet is more often than not a real deal breaker for most people.

Luckily with both Henry and Shark you’ll be in excellent territory. In fact on occasion what you’ll have to worry about is more so your vacuum cleaner being too overpowered on your carpets than anything else.

Both Shark and Henry vacuums perform brilliantly on carpet.

The classic Henry model has two brush head settings for carpet and hard floor. Henry performs excellently on our carpets leaving them looking renewed every single time. You can tell very easily that Henry has been through our carpets once they’re done as they generally look spotless and refreshed.

Shark also does an excellent job on carpets. Most Shark upright models have a specific setting for carpet and they leave them looking far better than they found them. We find our carpets look brilliant after we’re done cleaning them with our Shark NZ690UKT.

Winner: Tie

Henry vs Shark: Performance on Hard Floors

If you’re vacuum cleaner can’t handle hard floors there’s little point in getting it. This fortunately is never something you have to worry about with either Henry or Shark vacuums are they’re perfectly equipped for hard floors.

Henry comes with a hard floor setting which tailors the height of the brush on the floor head to suit hard floors. Henry does an excellent job of reaching dust and dirt on hard floors and you can always tell when it’s been through a round. 

Shark also does a great job on hard floors with a dedicated hard floor setting being common on upright models as we’ve seen with our Shark NZ690UKT. Once you’ve been through your hard floor with Shark vacuum it’s quite easy to tell as your floors will look far neater for it.

Winner: Tie

Henry vs Shark: Performance on Stairs

When it comes to cleaning on stairs, there is a clear and stark difference between Henry and Shark upright models.

Henry round belly and 6.6kg of weight mean that it best to remain either at the bottom or top of the stairs whilst you clean. With the upholstery brush or crevice tools (my tools of choice for the stairs), we can typically cover 7 – 8 steps before having to move the Henry either to the top or bottom of the stairs. 

This aside though, the Henry HVR160-11 does a great job of making the stairs look renewed every time. The upholstery tool/brush is particularly useful on the stairs and combs through the carpet to make it looked revatilised as you clean.

The ease of cleaning the stairs is one of the areas where Shark do excel with their upright vacuum cleaners. Though strictly speaking they produce uprights, their distinctive Lift-Away technology it means they provide a two-in-one combination; an upright and a portable canister-type vacuum cleaner. 

You could be forgiven for questioning how effective this is but once you have used it you quickly see how much of a game-changer it is. The Lift-Away portion of the Shark NZ690UKT makes a significant difference on the stairs as it means you can comfortably clean the whole stairs whilst holding the 3.8kg portable canister with you. This function really does make light work of the stairs in a way that Henry simply cannot compare.

Performance on Stairs – Winner: Shark

Henry vs Shark: Cleaning Capacity

When it comes to cleaning capacity there is no doubt which wins when comparing Henvy vs Shark.

The classic Henry model is equipped with 6L of cleaning capacity meaning you can go for months without ever having to think about changing out the dust bag. 

With Shark upright vacuum models on the other hand you get a small fraction of the cleaning capacity when compared to Henry, with the Shark NZ690UKT for example bringing you 1.1L in comparison. This is not only restricted to the NZ690UKT as most of the Shark upright models have similar capacities with 1.1L actually being on the high-end. What you do get with the Shark though is a bagless cleaning solution meaning you don’t have to buy replacement bags or fiddle around with changing them out.

Having said that however, we find with our own Henry hoovers, we rarely change the bag (perhaps once every 4/5 months or when they pick up too much grubby stuff and start to get smelly). 

Winner: Henry

Henry vs Shark: Weight and Manoeuvrability

The weight of a vacuum cleaner can have a significant bearing on how easy it is to use and how pleasant you find it.

At 7.5kg the Henry hoover is quite a chunky model. You won’t notice this too much as you move around on hard floors or low pile carpets for example as it will be easy enough to move it on its wheels. Even on higher pile carpets though it will take a bit more effort to pull it around as you vacuum. 

Where you will feel the weight is if you need to take up and down a set of stairs or two. A neat feature that does help with manoeuvring the Henry is the bumper guard all around its tub which means if you do accidentally clatter into a wall or something else, the vacuum cleaner won’t be damaged and neither will the surface of whatever you collided with.

With Shark on the other hand you’ll find most upright models weigh significantly less than Henry’s 7.5kg and indeed the Shark NZ690UKT  only weighs 6kg in comparison. You do notice a real difference between these two when using them. The Shark NZ690UKT is very easy to get around with and quite responsive to turning. When you need to tackle the stairs you can simply switch it to its portable Lift Away mode which only weighs 3.8kg so there is no question that its the better of the two when handling stairs and those harder to reach areas that might need to pick up the unit.

Winner: Shark

Henry vs Shark: Accessories

Accessories on vacuum cleaners can often be overlooked but in reality they can be some of the most effective parts to your cleaning arsenal. Both Henry and Shark models are very well equipped with the key types of tools you need to get most jobs done.

The accessories that come with the Henry really enhance your vacuum cleaning experience. You get 3 tools with the Henry model and they each serve a particular purposes quite effectively:

1. Crevice Tool: This is a tube with a thin end that helps to get into those tight spaces such as in between sofas and underneath the fridge where crumbs can fall and be forgotten. It is very handy as well in the car as well as the corners of stairs and near the skirting boards. 
2. Dust Brush: When we started using the dust brush for dusting around the house it was a game-changer. The soft bristle brush is great for getting rid of dust along skirting boards and other areas and does it without risking scratching most robust surfaces.
3. Upholstery Tool: This thing is simply amazing. Designed to get rid of dust and other debris on upholstery we actually find it most useful on the stairs where it gets the carpet looking refreshed every single time. You have the option of using a brush end or just the plastic fitting and both do an excellent job.

The Shark NZ690UKT also comes with three sets of tools that each have their own functions:

1. Crevice Tool: Similar to the Henry’s crevice tool, the Shark crevice tool is also designed to get into those hard to reach places and crack and does a great job of it too. The crevice tool really helps you get the most out of the Shark NZ690UKT especially in the portable mode.
2. Multi Surface Tool: This tool is quite similar to the Henry upholstery tool as you can also use this with a brush or with just the plastic fitting. Once again we find this tool to be excellent when tackling carpet on the stairs as well as other areas like the sofa and car seats.
3. Pet Power Brush: The excellent Pet Power Brush is designed to help you get rid of embedded hair and dander in upholstery and carpets. It has a mini air driven brush-roll which does the job of hair removal excellently.

Winner: Tie

Henry vs Shark: Warranty

The warranty available on a vacuum cleaner gives you an indication of just how confident a manufacturer is of their workmanship. It helps to assure you that when you buy their vacuum cleaner, you can rely on them to sort out any product faults without incurring silly levels of cost.

Henry comes with a two-year manufacturers warranty which is a year longer than the standard product warranty. The thing is though with Henry, you never really feel like there’s much chance of you needing it given how solid and reliable it feels.

Henry’s two year warranty though is nowhere close to the five-year guarantee offered by Shark. This gives you unrivalled piece of mind and is the length of warranty rarely seen with appliances.

Winner: Shark

Henry vs Shark: Price and Value

Despite performance and features, price will always be a significant factor in choosing an appliance and vacuum cleaners are no different.

When it comes to price and value Henry vacuums, especially the classic, are very very difficult to beat. Typically available for around £160, Henry delivers excellent value and longevity given the price point. The performance and durability are such that you’d expect and willingly pay far more than the price they go for. The fact that Henry models can last a decade a more is even more of a reason why £160 price tag looks so ridiculous.

Shark vacuums on the other hand tend to vary in price though can generally be considered as low priced premium models. Typically the cheapest upright Shark vacuums you’ll likely find tend to be around the £200 mark with some going up as high as £400 plus. With excellent performance, great design and a five year warranty they still represent great value though not as good as Henry in this regard.

Winner: Henry

Conclusion: Henry vs Shark – What’s Better Henry or Shark Vacuum Cleaners?

So, Henry vs Shark; which is better? This really depends on what your needs are. Based on our review of several factors Shark comes out on top but the reality is there’s little to choose between Henry models and Shark upright vacuums. 

Both vacuum brands offer excellent performance across carpets and hard floors. Shark’s Lift-Away feature make it the go to choice for tackling the stairs but Henry’s upholstery tool is brilliant at refreshing carpet on the stairs.

There are plenty of examples such as this where the two brands offer brilliant features in different areas.

Whichever brand you end up choosing, you are getting some of the best vacuum cleaners available on the market.