Many people find it difficult to decide between Dyson Ball Animal 3 vs Shark Stratos vacuum cleaners because they are both powerful vacuums to thoroughly clean your home and your pet. Based on my experience with both vacuums, I would recommend the Shark Stratos.
The Shark Stratos is at the cutting edge of upright vacuum technology with its tremendous power, and it’s approaching perfection in terms of its ability to pick up debris on both hard floors and carpets. Especially its performance on hard floors is even better than the Dyson Ball Animal 3, thanks to the DuoClean floor head. It also has the Powered Lift-Away feature that adds all sorts of cleaning versatility.
As a runner-up, Dyson Ball Animal 3 is also a great choice. It also has excellent cleaning performance on all types of floors. Its floorhead is equipped with anti-tangle vanes, preventing hair from tangling. As a result, it is a better option for people who are looking for an upright vacuum for their pets.
Dyson Ball Animal 3 vs Shark Stratos: Comparison Chart
Dyson Ball Animal 3 vs Shark Stratos: Differences
After examining the differences between the two machines, I concluded that Shark Stratos won 1 – 0 and 2 tie against Dyson Ball Animal 3. Both these two machines have excellent cleaning performance on all types of floors. But with more attractive features, the Shark Stratos comes out as the winner.
Cleaning Performance
The Winner: Tie
Hard Floor Performance
Both Dyson Ball Animal 3 and Shark Stratos are excellent choices if your home has a lot of bare floors. However, to say which is better, Shark Stratos is still slightly better. On this type of floor, they easily clean up pet hair and small and large debris.
I spread flour and white rice on the hard floor concrete to test their cleaning ability. The results are like what I said above; both performed very well. And if I just look, I can see that these two vacuum cleaners clean my floor just as well as each other. Only when I wiped the floor with my bare hand did I see that Dyson still left a very fine layer of dust on the floor. There isn’t much of it, but there is a little bit. With the Shark Stratos, the floor is completely clean. I’ll call that Shark Stratos win on the hard floor.
Carpet Performance
On the carpets, it is tied. They both are good at cleaning both low-pile and high-pile carpets. Thanks to their powerful suction motor, they can quickly and easily remove both fine and large debris from carpets.
When cleaning carpets, you have to choose the carpet setting on the Shark Stratos. With the adjustable floorhead surface settings, the Dyson Ball Animal 3 is a breeze maneuvering on the carpets. However, tasseled rugs can still become entangled in the floorhead, even when the brushroll is turned off. Thus, extra caution is required when vacuuming them.
Pet Hair Performance
Here I want to emphasize that both did an excellent job of cleaning up the hair, I just want to check their brushrolls after doing the job.
It amazes me that Animal 3 has hardly any hair on the brushroll. Even though only a few strands of hair got tangled around the brushroll and got stuck, they were easy to get out because this roller can be removed from the Dyson and cleaned. For the Shark Stratos, some hair is stuck in both rollers. The soft roller can be detached, and then I can remove that hair by hand. But, unlike the Dyson, its brushroll cannot be removed from the floor nozzle, making it more difficult to clean properly.
Suction Settings
You can manage the suction pretty well on the Shark Stratos with its 3 level adjustments on the handle: hard surface, low carpet, and thick carpet. Because these settings are located on the handle rather than on the vacuum cleaner’s body, it is much simpler to access and switch between them. This is something that I truly appreciate about the design of this vacuum cleaner.
The Dyson has an adjustable floorhead. By sliding a slider located on the front of the Motorbar, you can adjust the “gates” on the front of the cleaning head.
There are 3 settings to choose from:
- Left: best used for medium-pile carpets or rugs and delicate flooring.
- Middle: best used for low-pile carpets or picking up larger debris.
- Right: best for hard floors and dealing with ground-in dirt.
DuoClean Head vs Motorbar Cleaner Head
The DuoClean head is a patented brushroll system from Shark that incorporates a soft roller and a more regular roller into the same floor nozzle. If you have a lot of hard floors in your home, soft rollers are what you need. They are great for picking up everything from small dust particles to big piles of debris. The Stratos passed all of our tests with flying colors and can perform tasks that other vacuums can’t. I do recommend periodically ejecting the front soft roller and cleaning the stuff that gets stuck there as a part of regular maintenance.
Also, the Motorbar cleaner head on the Dyson Ball Animal 3 is quite effective at preventing hair from being tangled up in the mechanism. In contrast to the Shark Stratos, the brushroll on this model can be detached and disassembled for a more thorough cleaning.
Lift-away Feature
Powered lift-away which means there is Power to the end of the handle and the wand. With a few clicks, you can remove the wand for picking up large debris on the floor or for above-floor cleaning. You can do the same with just the handle to use with attachments.
The Powered lift-away in its name means you can remove the canister while the vacuum head is still powered so that you can use it like a stick vacuum. It is very useful if you want to get under furniture or other hard-to-reach places.
This capability can only be found on the Shark Stratos; the Dyson Animal 3 does not have it. However, this does not imply that Dyson’s cleaning reach is restricted in any way, as it comes with a longer hose.
Design & Convenience
The Winner: Tie
Cleaning Reach
The Shark Stratos has a somewhat short hose. However, this is common among products that have the Lift-Away design. I measured its power cord at 30 feet. To be fair, this is a respectable length. If the length is less than 30 feet, you might not be able to clean an entire room without looking for another electrical outlet.
A power cable that is at least 30 feet long is acceptable in my book, although it is always wonderful to see a power cord that is 35 feet long, like on the Dyson Ball Animal 3.
In addition, the hose of the Dyson Animal 3 is 15 feet long, making it much longer than the hose on the Shark model. The hose on the Shark Stratos only measures 2.95 feet in length. This is something that is easy to understand. A shorter hose doesn’t matter as much with the Shark Stratos because it can be converted into a hand-held mode.
Weight
I weighed the Shark Stratos vacuum at 16.44 pounds, although most of the available information places it closer to 16.7 pounds. In any case, it is somewhat on the heavy side, but it is not an intolerable amount. It’s reasonable when to put it next to the over-17-pound Dyson Animal 3. When you move the vacuum around, its weight of it is immediately noticeable. I don’t mind it, but other people who own the machine have mentioned that they find it to be a little bit cumbersome.
Utilities
The Winner: Shark Stratos
Odor Neutralizer Technology
According to Shark, the Odor Neutralizer Technology “guards against bad odors inside your vacuum”. One odor cartridge was included with the purchase of this vacuum. It is simple to put in place in the cleaner head. It also comes with an intensity setting, allowing you to turn it up for a more odor-neutralizing. You have the option to turn it down if you want a smaller amount.
I didn’t notice it smelling very strong, but then again, it’s an odor-neutralizer, so that makes sense. The vacuum can work just fine even without the odor cartridge; the absence of the cartridge is not a big issue. But, the cover for the odor dial must be in place.
If you don’t have pets or any other significant requirement for odor neutralization, then the feature likely isn’t necessary for you, but some busier homes might find it useful anyway. Moreover, repeated use of the same vacuum can cause an odor to develop over time; therefore, the cartridge might be helpful in this regard as well.
LED Headlight
The Shark Stratos comes equipped with LED headlights, whereas the Dyson Animal 3 does not have this feature. When it comes to cleaning the house, LED headlights are an incredibly helpful addition, particularly for cleaning in dimly lit areas such as basements or under furniture. These lights illuminate the floors and reveal any embedded dirt that I may have missed while cleaning, contributing to the increased cleaning effectiveness.
For me, led lights are a must-have on premium vacuums these days. The absence of LED headlights on the Dyson Ball Animal 3 was all the more surprising, considering how expensive the vacuum cleaner is. If Dyson Animal 3 came standard with LED headlights, its price tag would be significantly more reasonable.
Quick Rundown Of Shark Stratos
- ULTRA-POWERFUL SUCTION: Ultra-powerful suction and best hair pickup of any Shark vacuum.
- DUOCLEAN POWERFINS HAIRPRO: A two brushroll system digs deep into carpets, directly engages hard floors, and picks up dirt, debris, and hair in every pass.
- GUARDS AGAINST BAD ODORS: Odor Neutralizer Technology guards against bad odors inside your vacuum to help freshen your home.
- NO HAIR WRAP: Self-cleaning brushroll delivers powerful pet hair pickup without wrapping hair.
- POWERED LIFT-AWAY Lift away the pod for motorized cleaning under furniture, or detach the nozzle and clean above the floor.
Quick Rundown Of Dyson Ball Animal 3
- The best cleaning performance of any upright de-tangling vacuum¹
- De-tangling technology. Automatically clears wrapped hair from the brush bar as you clean.
- Ball technology. Navigate around obstacles with a simple turn of the wrist. For easy, precise maneuvering around your home.
- 3 cleaning modes. Select the right cleaning mode for the right task. Optimized for a variety of tasks, for complete control over your clean.
- Engineered for larger homes with pets. Removes dirt and pet hair around your home. Easily tackles big messes.
Product Video
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References:
- Shark Stratos: https://direct.sharkclean.com/16/products/shark-stratos-powered-lift-away-az3000/30/microsite/ogi/?opt=2
- Dyson Ball Animal 3: https://www.dyson.com/vacuum-cleaners/uprights/ball-animal-3
Victor K. Giles is a leading consultant and expert in vacuum cleaner technology with over a decade of experience. As a mechanical engineering graduate in the University of Michigan, he specializes in product development, design optimization, and performance analysis. Victor collaborates with manufacturers and educates consumers, making her a sought-after guest speaker at industry events. His work has been featured in renowned publications, and he shares his expertise on his blog, “The Vacuum Teria”. Victor’s passion for cleaner, healthier living spaces drives his to help clients choose the best vacuum solutions for their needs.