I was especially impressed with the Roomba’s ability to squeeze into areas where I normally wouldn’t vacuum, like inside the coat closet and underneath my bed. On a recent Friday night, I unpacked the newest Dyson vacuum to try it out (as people do with their free time in a pandemic). As someone who tests lots of cutting-edge gizmos, I wasn’t expecting to be blown away. The robot in the FCC filings looks like it’s built to stay much closer to the ground than the 360 Eye, which should allow the device to fit under low spaces, like under a couch. As noted by The Verge, this device differs from the 360 Eye and the more recently launched 360 Heurist, which are both taller and slimmer in order to navigate around tight corners and furniture. Pictures submitted also show a light ring, which could help the robot clean up at night.
It also has one flat side, so it has more in common with the
Neato Botvac than previous Dyson vacs – superficially, at least. Once the S7 gets oriented and does some drunk edge cleaning, it begins to clean in rows, leaving behind satisfying zig-zags that prove it covered the whole floor. Even from dyson robot vacuum another room, I could hear when HyperForce suction was activated to take a carpet to task. In my opinion this robot will perform its best on bare floor surfaces. The carbon fiber filaments in the brush roll work best picking up static filled dust and medium sized debris like rice or crush oats.
However, other recruits will also be based in a London laboratory as well as in Singapore. David Ludlow is a Freelance Journalist and Home Technology Editor. Starting life on the consumer PC press back in 1998, David has been writing about the forefront of technology for the past 20 years.
The Roomba’s run time is 75 minutes, but charge time is only 90 minutes, so you can schedule it to clean up twice a day or more. Alternatively, command it ad hoc to pick up crumbs after mealtimes. Selecting a zone gives you a rough cleaning time and the estimated number of charges that it will take, with the 360 Heurist able to return to its dock and top up its battery if needed. In my house (a Victorian terrace), there’s enough battery to clean every floor on Max if needed. However, the rumor is that the company is set to launch a third one soon. Your choice of Dyson vacuum depends on your budget, preference, needs, and other factors.
If the robot can’t move over your floor, then it wouldn’t be a very good option. Luckily the 360 Eye and the Roomba 980 make use of wheels and shark cordless tank tracks for mobility. It takes 30 images per second to get the current layout of the space and then creates a panoramic view to follow.
The 360 Heurist has plenty of performance improvements over the original 360 to make it a better cleaner – we’ll get to those – but the most intriguing feature is night vision. However, unlike the basic mapping of the 360 Eye, the Heurist really ups the game with personalized zones and room settings. If, like me, you have got side units and appliances that you do want the gap underneath cleaning then the Dyson isn’t for you. You do end up sacrificing large parts of your flooring as no-go zones due to its taller stature.
I’m not one to typically advocate for a robot future without any skepticism. But at the same time, I want a vacuum that can climb the stairs. My biggest annoyance with the current robot vacuums is that you still have to watch them to ensure they don’t get stuck under furniture or on the yarn hair of a beloved doll left behind on the floor. Putting cordless vacuums through their paces isn’t as complicated as testing a robot vacuum cleaner, but it still takes lots of time and careful effort to find the best cordless vacuum. We run each vacuum in a straight line across three different surfaces (hardwood, low-pile carpet, midpile carpet).
And since Dyson is willing to cover things such as battery repairs within the warranty that Roomba doesn’t with their standard warranty, they easily win in this department. Dyson’s warranty for the 360 series is two years, to iRobot’s one year. Their extended warranty plan known as Protect Plus increases the time to two years total. While some of it is placed around the filter during clean-up, it also stays within the rest of the debris. That’s pollen, airborne pathogens, and mold-causing fungal remnants.