For those with a particularly busy or big household, robot vacuums can be a godsend. Many now ‘learn’ the layout of rooms throughout the house, letting you set it down and let it go. At least until they sprout legs and can deal with awkward cables, rugs and the like, but – when that comes – we’re likely all doomed anyway. While stairs remain their nemesis, most robot vacuums do use their camera smarts to detect a ton of hazards so you’ll likely be surprised by how much they don’t crash into things, come your first use. British vacuum cleaner maker Dyson chose to launch their first-ever robotic model, the Dyson 360 Eye, first in Japan, ahead of other global markets. This is a luxury, high-end home appliance, strikingly different to the Roomba (the American model that dominates the local market in Japan).
This cordless stick vacuum cleaner just might fit the bill, and for much less cash. The vacuum’s “Laser Slim Fluffy” cleaner head is unique as well. It’s designed specifically for hard flooring, and shines a green laser out onto the floor ahead as you clean. Its purpose is to highlight dust and other small bits of debris otherwise hard to spot with the naked eye. The system does work, and we observed plenty of dirt on the hard floor we’d normally miss.
The only downside to this is that the extractor bar is not the easiest to remove. Cleaning and maintenance are much like a standard upright and can dyson robot vacuum take quite a bit of time and effort. The 980 also uses two side brushes that rotate to push dirt and debris to the center of the cleaning path.
More advanced Wi-Fi equipped robot vacuums tend to only require Wi-Fi for certain features linked to a companion app on your phone. These include scheduling via your phone and the vacuum letting you know it has become stuck. Lower-end models often come with a remote control similar to a classic TV remote instead. As mentioned, this vacuum cleans deep, and is especially good on carpets. By contrast, virtual boundaries are what makes the X8 Hybrid so great.
However, superior cleaning performance is still available in all our other vacuums. Intelligent Simultaneous Localisation and Mapping (SLAM) technology shark cordless allows the Dyson 360 Heurist™ robot vacuum to position itself in the room. As it travels, sensors take distance measurements every 20 milliseconds¹.
It uses the centrally located dual rubberized brushrolls and side spinning brush to agitate and clean up dirt, dust, and debris from open areas as well as corners and edges. Before the launch of the iRobot Roomba, robot vacuums seemed like some kind of far-off dream, something that is only used in space-age homes of the future or in the homes of millionaires. It seemed simply unrealistic for robot vacuums to be in the homes of the middle-class. The Dyson V8 is stick vacuum that offers a 40 minute run time, doubles as a 2-in-1 (stick and handheld vacuum), and offers cordless convenience as you clean. It has a 0.54 L dust bin (about 40% larger than the Roomba dust bin) and weighs under 6 lbs.
The Dyson 360 Eye has advanced visual technology that makes it the best robot vacuum in terms of navigation and mapping. It won’t collide with objects and furniture near as much as the competition. However, it is taller and will not get in as many places as some of the smaller vacuums.
As you shop for a robot vacuum in a diverse market, consider one with improved performance, better navigation, and the simplicity of setting routines remotely. Even on carpet, the 960 was able to capture 100% of the rice, kitty litter, and cereal for a perfect clean. The Roomba 960 also cleans in a way that is very similar to other Roomba models.
If you cannot abide vacuuming, and only want to do it every couple of weeks to grab any spots a robot might have missed, then perhaps this vacuum is for you. However, at £799.99, this is no small investment, shark cordless especially given the significant weaknesses with this vacuum. On occasion, the app would not allow our testers to start the vacuum; it stalled, waiting for a software update which did not come.