If you have a complex floor plan or have a lot of furniture, the grids will get interrupted, and the robot will have to find a new route. Like an all-terrain vehicle, continuous tank tracks enable the Dyson 360 Eye robot vacuum to maintain bissell crosswave cordless speed and direction across all floor types, and over small obstacles [like socks]. The Dyson 360 Eye is the best performing robot vacuum available. It’s simply better at cleaning than all the others, but it also has its downsides.
It also has that classic Dyson aesthetic going on, even though this is the brand’s first robot vacuum. Since I tend to like Dyson products from a pure design-appreciation standpoint, I like the 360 Eye’s looks, too. Specifically, it’s swathed in a glossy gray finish with bright blue accents. It even has a mini cyclone packed inside, a (revamped) irobot vacuum cleaner legacy from its line of upright and stick vacs. Dyson’s first robot vacuum, the 360 Eye, was a tallish robot vac that brought several new tricks to automated floor cleaning, for a price. Now, the UK company is trying again with the 360 Vis Nav robovac, which just launched in Australia and should come to the US later this year.
It also shows you a map of where the robot has been so you can interrogate how throughly it has covered the available floor space, which is reassuring. In the last year, there has been a significant reduction in the number of people maintaining regular cleaning schedules, yet we still spend 25 minutes a week, the equivalent of 65 hours per year, vacuuming our homes. Sensing, software and automation sit at the heart of these new machines. By understanding surroundings and the task at hand, a product, whether a vacuum or purifier, can automatically respond to tackle the challenge most effectively. In a reassuring return to the norm following Dyson’s unconventional Zone headset, the company has also outlined its Dyson V15 Detect Submarine with vacuuming and floor-mopping skills.
Today, Dyson unveiled six new products that bring together automation, advanced software and intelligence with best-ever cleaning performance. But when it comes down to comparing this bot with other smart models, it ultimately falls short. Like some other Dyson products, the 360 Eye’s value is also questionable. Sure, I like 360 Eye’s app and the way it navigates around a room, but the Neato Botvac Connected has similar features, performs better in every category and costs $300 less. That doesn’t mean you won’t like Dyson’s Wi-Fi model, just be sure to weigh it against the competition before you buy. The company has also added an arm that pops out and redirects suction, picking up dirt at the edges.
The vision system prevents the 360 Eye from crashing into large things and walls, but it still strikes chair legs and other thin or small objects. There’s a solid product guide built into the app that runs through the features, which bit does what, maintenance and troubleshooting. There is also an option to have Dyson come round to your house and install it for you. 20 Compared to the original Dyson Laser Slim Fluffy™ cleaner head. Effectiveness influenced by ambient light conditions, debris type and surface. ¹Suction tested to ASTM F558 at the inlet loaded to bin full, in Boost mode.
The main difference is that unlike the forward facing camera of the 980, the 360 Eye looks around 360 degrees (hence the name) at all times, constantly updating the map and navigation modules in the robot’s computer. The Roomba 980 has a top mount video camera that allows it to map the cleaning area with a visual map. The iAdapt 2.0 technology stores this map rendering in the robot’s memory to allow it to clean more efficiently. It will note furniture location, obstacles and drops, ledges and stairs and remember their location for the next cleaning cycle. It’s also easy to transfer between floors to cover different areas on different days. The 360 Eye isn’t the quietest of vacuums and is loud enough to prevent you hearing the television if it starts cleaning near you, but it is also at a more pleasant pitch than most others.
Specifically, it has issues with sloped pedestal stands for chairs, including ones found on my living room lounger, and those which support my kitchen bar height stools. The Dyson bot regularly tries to climb these, seems to hesitate about it halfway over the lip, and then essentially gives up, freezing until I come and reposition it. Each time this has happened, the vacuum has finished the job nicely after I relocated it, but it’s still something that would prevent setting it while I was out of the house and guaranteeing a thorough clean. Connected technology and and customized cleaning comes to life with the Dyson Link app, available for both iOS and Android devices. From across the room, or across the world, the Link app allows the cleaning times to be scheduled and adjusted whenever connected to wifi.