Artificial intelligence is in everything these days. AI in a vacuum isn't entirely new, but both Shark and Dyson have launched new AI-powered robot vacuums in the last month, bringing a fresh take to the field. The Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal ($1,300) and the Dyson Spot+Stain Ai ($1,200) both promise to use AI to find stains and spots on your hard floors that need to be scrubbed away instead of just passed over a single time. With such similar promises, I had to know: Is one better than the other, both at spotting stains and at overall robot vacuum cleaning?

I unleashed both on two floors of my home to see which one did better job of cleaning. I set up a few intentional obstacles, from placing cereal in tricky corners to intentionally creating stains. It's similar to how I comparison-test stick vacuums, but stain spotting and corner reaches are my biggest focus for these two similar vacuums. While both robot vacuums did well, time and time again, the Shark was able to pull itself a little ahead. Here's how each vacuum did in each test.

Corner Test Winner: Shark

For my robot vacuum tests, I place three Cheerios in tricky corners and spots around my home: one placed between a wall and a barstool leg, one in the furthermost base corner of my Ikea Billy bookshelf, and one under the kitchen cabinet next to my fridge. Given their round shape, robot vacuums can have mixed edge- and corner-cleaning results, so this is my favorite way to test how well they do.

I'm surprised to report neither vacuum got all three, but each got opposite Cheerios. The Shark somehow missed the Cheerio next to the barstool leg—it seemed to always stay just far enough away from these barstool legs to not bump them or move the chair—but managed to get both of the tricker corners thanks to its extendable brush. Meanwhile, the Dyson only got the barstool Cheerio and missed the corner ones. It doesn't help that the Dyson was a little too tall to get under the toe kicks of my cabinet and bookshelf, nor does it have an extendable arm.

Spill Cleanup Winner: Shark (Barely)

Both of these vacuums promise built-in AI to find spots on your floor and know to scrub them away. To test this feature, I created sticky stains on my floor using maraschino cherry juice; I'd spill some juice, then use a paper towel to smear it into a thin layer and give it an hour or so to dry. For both vacuums, I did two spots: one in the dining room, where the vacuum would originally clean, and one in the kitchen, where it would go later in the cycle.

Both vacuums wiped away the first stain they found without really needing to scrub. For the second spot, however, neither vacuum seemed to have spent enough time with it, as the spot was still sticky and slightly visible after the cleaning was complete. I'm putting Shark ahead, though, because on its second cleaning of the room, it wiped the rest of the sticky stain away. The Dyson, however, still left some sticky residue, even after the second cleaning. For both vacuums, you'll probably need to send the robot back out to clean a specific spot.

Navigational Winner: Shark

The whole point of a robot vacuum is to be able to walk away while it cleans rather than worry about where it'll get stuck and constantly need to rescue it. What good is a robot if you have to babysit it? Shark's vacuum never needed help navigating my home, aside from a mishap measuring the distance between a toilet and the bathtub wall in a bathroom. It helps that the Shark has “NeverStuck Technology,” which allows the vacuum to lift itself off obstacles when it's on them. The Shark was usually smart enough not to need it, but I do have a C-shaped table with long, flat feet that the Shark got itself on top of, and it used that technology to get itself unstuck.

The Dyson, however, stumbled a little more. Not literally, as its camera was excellent at avoiding low obstacles in front of it like furniture legs and my son's toys. But the camera was slightly below its roof, so it didn't see when it was too tall to get underneath my cabinets and bumped into them over and over. It did the same with my Ikea Tolstad storage bed frame (and almost every Ikea item in my home, now that I think about it), under which it eventually wedged itself and couldn't make its way back out. At one point, it also needed help freeing itself from under the toe kick of my bathroom counter.

AI Experience Winner: Shark

The signature feature for both of these vacuums isn't the cleaning, but the built-in AI. Both vacuums use AI algorithms to spot stains and scrub them away rather than just completing a single pass.

It was much easier to tell when Shark was using its AI feature and when it found spots. The UV Reveal uses the LEDs on the vacuum's sides to show you when it's scanning the floor with its ultraviolet light to find spots and stains, then it waits until it finishes its initial clean to analyze the footage and identify where it wants to return. The vacuum then heads back out, literally announcing from the base station: “I've detected stains. I'm going back out to viciously attack them.” It's both amusing and informative, and then you can watch the Shark go and scrub at various spots on your floor. It didn't do this for either cherry spill I made, but it did find a spot on the floor where I spilled orange juice weeks ago, leading me to worry about how well I know how to clean my floors on my own. The Shark app will also give you a cleaning report at the end, telling you where it found stains.

Dyson's AI is a little more mysterious. Its Spot+Stain uses the vacuum's HD camera to find spots, and then its AI analyzes how many times it needs to pass over a spot in order to clean it. However, it doesn't alert or inform you at any point. I had to notice it going back and forth on a spot while it cleaned, knowing that the AI had found a spot it wanted to scrub. I felt like the scrubbing results were similar to the Shark's, but I really liked how the Shark kept me informed and showed me how the feature was helping clean my floors.

Cleanliness Winner: Tie

These vacuums were both good robot vacuums and mops overall. They left my carpets feeling almost as fluffy as a Dyson stick vacuum, left my hard floors feeling spotless (besides the tricky second cherry juice spot, of course), and didn't leave behind streaks or dump out debris. The biggest cleaning difference was in the Cheerio-powered corner test, but if your cabinet and furniture toe kicks are higher than 4 inches (you'll want at least 4.25 inches of clearance for the vacuum to comfortably traverse), you likely won't have any issues. The Shark does have an extendable arm for better corner cleaning, but overall, the experience of vacuuming my carpet and rug and mopping my floors was largely similar.

Base Station Winner: Tie

Both of these robot vacuums have large base stations that require a foot or two of clearance on either side and include two water tanks and a bagless debris system. The bagless debris is great because you won't need to replace the bag as you do for other robot vacuums, though it does require a bit more work to clean that debris out of the receptacle. The Dyson base actually lets you see the debris, similar to the design on stick vacuums; for this reason, you might prefer the Shark if your vacuum is somewhere you'll see it often. Although perhaps you'd like the visual reminder to empty it regularly. Both keep the water tanks hidden, but each carries and refills with attached handles, and both bases will use water and air to clean and dry the vacuum's mop pads.

Final Results

Shark's PowerDetect UV Reveal robot vacuum wins the throw-down with its better corner cleaning, more informative AI, and better navigation, plus a lower profile that lets it get into more spots in my home without any problems. It can do everything the Dyson can and is often on sale for under four figures. I really like how easy it is to see what the vacuum is doing and where it finds dirty spots in your home, and the NeverStuck Technology helps it get around obstacles. The extendable arm makes it better at cleaning tricky corners, too.

While Shark pulled ahead, it's not to say the Dyson Spot+Scrub Ai isn't a good robot vacuum and mop. My apprehensions are that it was usually easier to understand what the Shark was doing than with Dyson, and Dyson's height and camera placement work against it for many of my furniture pieces (mainly my Ikea furniture and builder-grade cabinetry, though many other people are likely to have it in their homes too). I'd measure your toe kick height before buying this vacuum to make sure it can actually get underneath it, and make sure you don't mind being able to see the dry debris at all times (or don't mind frequent emptying).

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