Lab – Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 RV2600WSEU: CleanEdge, the good idea that (almost) blew us away

Robot vacuums have seen many improvements over the past few years, and they continue to this day. Proof of this is with the CleanEdge technology that equips the latest Shark robots and promises to improve vacuuming performance where many robots still find themselves in difficulty today: along walls and furniture, and especially in corners.

To do this, the robot sends air towards these hard-to-reach areas through a cleverly placed orifice on its side. It must thus be able to dislodge the dirt that is there to send it on its way. A fairly simple innovation that we were eager to see in action. We recently received the Shark AI Ultra RV2600WSEU, so we were eager to take it out of the box to try it out. It is one of the first two models equipped, the second being none other than the RV2600SEU; understand an identical robot but delivered with a simple charging station instead of the station with automatic emptying that accompanies our test model.

An interesting idea…

Once the robot is installed and connected, we start by asking it to map our laboratory so that it can cover its surface as well as possible. The edges of the walls and the corners are then sprinkled with sawdust or rice; our usual test materials, which allow us to simulate both light waste such as dust and heavy waste such as breadcrumbs. All that remains is to start a cleaning cycle.

The Shark robot leaves its station and quickly recognizes our laboratory. He then begins by going around it in order to pass well along the walls and in the corners. Most models equipped with a laser rangefinder do this, but he obviously does it with his CleanEdge function. No need to activate it manually. By placing your hand next to the air outlet, you directly feel a slight breath. The CleanEdge inscription, just above, lights up to confirm the current cleaning of the edges, and we even notice that the robot does not hesitate to make a second pass in the corners. Shark didn’t just add a jet of air to his robot. Obviously, the manufacturer has also sought to optimize its movements. But unfortunately this is not enough.

…which remains to be refined

The Clean Edge system itself sounds like a good idea to us. Looking over the robot’s bumper as it passes, we can see our sawdust flying off and releasing a 2-3cm strip along the walls. It’s even quite satisfying to watch. On the other hand, the air jet is not powerful enough to move our grains of rice and the RV2600WSEU does not manage to suck up the sawdust, even with its side brush. Like those of the RV2001WSEU, this one has only one strand and does not rotate fast enough to fold it effectively towards the central brush. The robot has time to advance one to two centimeters before it has made a complete turn. It therefore misses a large part of the waste and the robot has not passed close enough to the walls to suck up a little more of it in the rest of its journey.

In the end, we found 24% of the sawdust and almost 50% of the rice. It is therefore a mixed assessment for Clean Edge. With a more powerful jet of air and/or a thicker side brush, the results would undoubtedly have been better. So let’s bet that Shark will read us. In the meantime, we are of course continuing our measurements on the RV2500WSEU in order to offer you a complete test in the coming days.