I upped the power to Turbo, approaching the leftover mess at different angles, but there was still a tiny amount left remaining at the end. It was nothing that the crevice tool couldn’t deal with, mind.

I started by measuring the raw power of the vacuum cleaner in AirWatts (AW). On Eco mode, the cleaner had a reasonable amount of power at 39AW. On the CleanSense setting, the vacuum cleaner started at 118AW by default, but it does ramp power up and down. On Boost, the Shark IZ420UKT managed a massive 219AW. Flexology wand: Clean under furniture with ease thanks to this clever design - you can bend the wand up to 90 degrees and vacuum as normal.For this model, Shark has redesigned the controls. There’s now an LCD screen that shows battery life as a percentage. This is far better than the old display, where you’d get a set of lights to indicate the rough level of charge remaining; but it isn’t as good as the Dyson V15 Detect, which shows you battery life in minutes. DuoClean and PowerFin technology: The main suction head has two motorised rollers (DuoClean), with one featuring a tougher “blade” (PowerFins), which work together for a deeper clean. I finished off the test using Eco mode at the bottom of the mess and Turbo at the top. As you can see, the vacuum performed well in Eco mode, although it left a trace of dust behind; for smaller spills, this lower power mode will do the job.

I ran my carpet test to start with, placing a teaspoon of flour on the ground. Running the Shark IZ320UKT through the middle I got a clean collection of the dust on Standard power. Next, I ran the vacuum through the top on Eco mode and the bottom on Boost. There’s little to tell between the two, and it’s impressive that the Shark IZ320UKT can clean so well on its lowest setting. There are also selectable Eco and Boost modes available if you want to take control. Eco can be useful for delicate items, such as vacuuming a keyboard, while the Boost mode is a good choice for when there’s a lot of mess to deal with. While raw power tells us a bit about a vacuum cleaner, real-world performance will largely come down to the quality of the accessories. Fortunately, Shark didn’t let me down. There’s a large 0.7-litre bin on this model, which has an eject button to push open the flap at the front. As long as the Shark IZ420UKT was pushed into a bin, I could easily empty it without spilling dust everywhere.I then combed cat hair into the carpet and ran over it using the standard power setting. Again, everything was collected with ease. Keeping the Shark emptied and clean is simple, too, with one button that releases the collection bin and filter unit from the device and a second button to open the trap door on the bottom to empty it. The filters can all be rinsed in running water and, since the vacuum also comes with Shark’s Anti Hair Wrap tech, you don’t need to worry about detangling regularly, either. This hasn’t transferred across to the pet tool, unfortunately, which gathered quite a bit of tangled hair during our testing. Anti-allergen brush: This extra accessory features felt and soft bristles to thoroughly clean spots that need a gentle touch, like your blinds or your laptop keyboard.