I have not seen many reviews for the Shark AI XL but I picked one up anyway so want to share some thoughts on it. Hope this helps someone else looking to make the same purchase.

Mapping

The floor that the vacuum is on is just under 1500 sqft with some weird angles and room layouts. The vacuum took about 45 minutes to map the floor plan and it did a fantastic job, no complaints at all with the accuracy of the map.

Performance While Cleaning

The vacuum did a great job cleaning, it covered every part of the floor (the rooms are all carpeted so it was easy to see where it went). It couldn't complete the whole floor on one battery but not a big deal. It only got stuck once, in an area where I expected it to get stuck and the "no go" zones in the app took care of that.

Self-Empty Bin

This is a really nice feature to have and is the main reason I purchased this over some of the other vacuum options. We have a dog and the larger bin is a necessity. The bin also doesn't require a bag which is a plus. I have not had any issue with it completely emptying the onboard bin in the vacuum after each clean.

Noise

The few reviews I have seen on this vacuum say it's noisy. I guess I don't have another vacuum to compare it to, but it's not loud enough to be distracting while it's running.

App and Features

The app layout and experience is weird, but it works. One of the biggest disappointments with this app/vacuum is that I cannot set up and schedule cleanings by room. I work from home and the ability to clean certain parts before I start work for the day would be really nice.

Overall

With the mapping features and self-empty bin it's a great vacuum for the price. I was able to pick it up for just under $400 so it's hard to justify the jump to a Roomba or other vacuum. The scheduling limitations are annoying but, at this price, I think I'll live with it. Overall, it cleans the floor and doesn't get stuck every run like my five year old random path Shark vacuum does. That alone was worth the upgrade.

I'm a long time robot vacuum owner starting off way, way back with an early model Neato around a decade ago. I always loved the way that vacuum scanned rooms and systematically cleaned, they were way ahead of their time. When it finally went kaput after around 6 years of use, we went though 2 iRobot models and 1 off brand copy with their ridiculous random vacuuming and none lasted very long. I wanted something like my early Neato but with some more modern features and ended up with the Shark RV2502AE AI. I've had it for 2.5 weeks and here's my experience:

1. Setup was super easy...but relatively slow. Not sure if that's an issue with the bot or the app (lot's of poor reviews of the earlier version of the app), but connecting to my Wi-fi took long enough that I thought it failed and was ready to start over before it gave the A-OK. The scanning run (roughly 1000 sq ft) took about 30 minutes and was remarkably accurate. It doesn't bump into anything (cough...iRobot)

2. Run time. Shark claims the unit has 120 of run time. While the app reports roughly 120 minutes to complete a run of my 1000 sq feet, the reality is it's closer to 180 minute due to 2 stops to charge. So I think it's really run time is likely less than 100 minutes, but hard to say exactly as the programming is clever here as it appears to estimate how long it needs to work and seems to take more frequent shorter charges than draining the battery very low and then charging for a long time, today it took it's first charging break at 60% when it was also taking a break to empty the bin (more below). When it finished it was still at 30%. And after it takes a charging break, it returns exactly to where it left off to finish a run.

3. Cleaning is great...and quiet! As mentioned above, it takes roughly 2 hours of runtime to clean my space and as I work from home noise was a concern. It's the quietest unit I've owned. It has 3 levels of power (eco, normal, and high), but I've only run it on normal. Inspection after the fact it sucked up all dust and pet hair I could see. The only places it misses are in my kitchen where my counters have a recess too small for it to fit under. The sweepers get about 1/3 underneath, but I have to hit these with a dust buster or broom if there's any visible debris. It is noisy when it auto empties the bin, but this takes maybe 5 seconds. I have mine programmed to empty every 30 minutes of runtime, but I think that maybe overkill. We have a dog and 2 kids, so maybe our house is a little messier than some, but the advertised 60 day capacity of the dust bin feels exaggerated as I've emptied it once a week so far and it's pretty full but maybe it can really pack dirt in tight. I'll try to leave it a bit longer and see how long before it notifies me to empty.

4. No-Go Zones. Within the app, you can set up block off spots you don't want the robot to clean. Why would one do that? Well...my robot got suck under my bed on a run. One side of the bed is just high enough for it to get under, but not the other. First 2 runs it did fine but the third it got stuck trying to get out the low side and then confused by pillars under the bed. The good new is it called for help and put itself into hibernation. Again, great programming here. I've now marked that area off and it ignores it.

So...is it worth the $450 I paid? Well...my Neato cost me around $250 in 2013 and current models run between $200 and $500. The last iRobot we bought was $450 back in 2020 and despite claiming to have "smart mapping" just ran around aimlessly, crashed into everything, and lasted less than 2 years. So far, the experience is far closer to my beloved Neato but with a super large bin due to the auto empty functionality. So while a bit of a splurge, certainly a much better experience than the iRobot I previous had. If it lasts, well worth it for me.