Keeping the floors of the home free of dust and debris is sometimes a tough and thankless job. When you have children, the job is compounded by errant crumbs from breakfast or the random goldfish cracker from their after-school snack. I never thought a robot vacuum would help, but then the Shark Matrix entered my life, and things have never been easier.
Lately, I’ve had mixed emotions about robot vacuums, as some have been brilliant, and some have been brilliant at times. The Shark Matrix definitely falls into the former category with its ease of use and reliability.
Unboxing is typically what I look forward to most with new electronics, and the Shark Matrix was as straightforward as they come. Inside the box, you’ll find the vacuum itself, the base, and the instruction manual—pretty standard fare, especially for a robot vacuum as straightforward (for lack of a better term) as the Shark Matrix. The setup was just as simple, involving plugging in the charging base, placing the vacuum on the charging prongs, and letting it power up.
“I never thought a robot vacuum would be helpful, but then the Shark Matrix entered my life, and things have never been easier.”
From there, we move on to the app (yes, it has an app), which was equally easy to set up. I created my account, and once the vacuum was fully charged, I let it embark on its first programming run, mapping out the main areas of my home. All told, the mapping process took about half an hour (my apartment is modest in size). Afterwards, it returned to the base and displayed the map on the app.
Once I received the map, I was able to designate rooms and their sizes, as well as areas I wanted the Shark Matrix to avoid, like my partner’s desk area. We’ve had issues with previous robot vacuums getting stuck on items under the desk.
The absolute best thing about the Shark Matrix is the ability to schedule cleanings in the app. We have the vacuum set to clean the entire home every other day. It’s as simple as selecting the days and the time you want it to start and then leaving it alone. So, every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at 9:30 AM, the vacuum begins its job and generally returns to the base around 10:05 AM. It’s a very quick process and does an excellent job of keeping the floors of the home free from dust and debris.
The best thing about the Shark Matrix is also one of the aspects I had the biggest issue with. While the ability to schedule cleanings is wonderful, the app does not allow you to schedule cleanings for specific areas or to conduct more than one cleaning on a given day. I would have loved the option to schedule a cleaning for the high-traffic areas in the middle of the night or on the days it doesn’t perform a whole-house cleaning. Unfortunately, we are limited by the very feature that makes the Shark Matrix fantastic.
Often, the biggest issue with robot vacuums is obstacles. Getting stuck on an errant shoe or an abandoned stuffed animal means someone has to physically get up, remove the obstacle, and put the vacuum back to work. The Shark Matrix has an amazing built-in system to counteract this: 360-degree LiDAR vision. This allows the vacuum to accurately map the home and avoid obstacles that change from day to day, ensuring the home gets as clean as possible.
The Shark Matrix gets its name from a fantastic feature called Matrix Clean. Matrix Clean is activated through the app; you select an area on your home map for the vacuum to clean, and it performs a deeper cleaning on that area using a grid pattern to ensure maximum dirt and debris pickup. The issue with this feature is that it cannot be scheduled or programmed ahead of time, so you must manually initiate it in the app each time you want the process to begin.
“The Shark Matrix features incredibly powerful suction that allows it to suck up animal fur, dirt, and other debris all around the home. It transitions from tile to hardwood to carpets and rugs with ease.”
The Shark Matrix features a bagless disposal base that can hold up to 30 days of dirt and debris. Unlike most other robot vacuums, the Shark Matrix does not require the use of disposable bags, making emptying it a much easier process. In the several weeks that we have had the vacuum, I have yet to empty it once, indicating that the base indeed holds a substantial amount of dirt.
We have two cats in the home, so not a day goes by without cat fur on the floors, the rugs, etc. The Shark Matrix features incredibly powerful suction that allows it to effortlessly pick up animal fur, dirt, and other debris throughout the home. It transitions seamlessly from tile to hardwood to carpets and rugs.
All told, the Shark Matrix self-emptying robot vacuum is a great addition to our home, I just wish it had a few quality-of-life features added to the app. Coming in at $479.99 CAD, the Shark Matrix isn’t all that expensive, especially when compared to other options from iRobot and more. I can definitely recommend the vacuum for the average home as it performs its job brilliantly and quickly.
