Featuring a design that’s half the size of traditional robot vacuums, it’s capable of maneuvering though tight spaces with ease. If all you need is a robot that can vacuum your floors (and vacuum them incredibly well), then it might be worth considering the Dyson 360 Vis Nav. But while Dyson’s robot vacuum might outperform the T20 Omni in some situations, it’s hard to say that it’s worth the additional cost. Beyond its impressive vacuuming skills, the doesn’t do much else.
Founder Sir James Dyson first created a robot vac prototype way back in 2001, only returning to the concept in 2014 with the much smaller and (mostly) smarter Dyson 360 Eye. Finally, with the Dyson 360 Vis Nav, it seems as dyson robot vacuum though this is a robot vacuum you can actually rely on. Robotics, sensing, intelligence – these are all areas that are typically considered ‘future technology’ but at Dyson, they have long been part of product development.
Despite the fact that my home isn’t anything like as spacious and open as the image above, it had no issues with obstacles or changes in surface, moving from tiles, to thick rugs, to wooden floors easily. It trundled over the base of a clothes horse like it wasn’t even there, and as it’s surprisingly low-profile, irobot vacuum cleaner it actually fitted its way under a lot of furniture. As I turned it on, it was incredible to watch as it carefully made its way around. Not only could I hear its suction change depending on how much dust it was finding in different areas, I was surprised how little trouble it had navigating the room.
It gets right to the edge and redirects suction, picking up dirt that eludes most robovacs and ensuring you don’t need to finish the job with a hand vacuum. To test every feature possible on the Vis Nav, I ran it on the other three modes – Boost, Quick and Quiet – a couple of times each. To see how accurate the dust map was, I also did a clean with the Dyson V15 Detect once, before running the Vis Nav over the same space immediately after. It doesn’t mop, it’s not self-emptying and its not without its flaws. There are cheaper models out there that will do more (vacuum and mop), while a similar amount of money as this Dyson will get you a robovac that will self-empty and self-clean its mopping pads too. While Dyson doesn’t specify what battery capacity is housed inside the Vis Nav, the company does claim you’ll get up to 50 minutes out of it on a full charge.
You would be better off getting yourself the Dyson Gen5Detect – which gets you a maximum of 70 minutes of runtime – if you really want a Dyson, and you’ll save money too. While 50 minutes might be enough to clean a small one-bedroom apartment, anything larger will require multiple runs. In comparison, far cheaper models from Roborock and Ecovacs offer much better battery life for about the same kind of performance (bar the edge cleaning, of course). It features the distinctive radial cyclones we’re used to seeing on the cordless handsticks, just smaller, and a red semicircular button releases it from its spot.
I wanted to vacuum the living room when we aren’t using it during the day and vacuum the office when we weren’t using it during the evening. This leads me to believe they aren’t concerned with improving the app which means I will never get to use the vacuum in the way that works for me. The other function I was hoping for was connecting the vacuum to my google home.
The handle is usually folded down when fixed to the bot and houses the release button to open the bottom – similar to how the larger bins on the V series vacuums operate. The grill within is fully exposed, which is a good thing as long strands of hair get tangled around it and need to be cleaned out manually – it’s not all that hygienic as Dyson makes it out to be. 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.
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It is hard to avoid the vacuum for that long on a consistent schedule. I thought I could break up zones so it avoids me but this is not possible. Overall, great vacuum in terms of performance, bad vacuum in terms of ease of use. By using tank tracks instead of standard wheels the Dyson 360 Heurist can easily climb over thresholds and transition between floor types or onto area rugs. Eight navigational sensors allows the Dyson 360 Heurist to see a four-metre diameter around it at all time.
There is also work on contextual understanding; if the machine knows whether it’s in a kitchen or a bedroom it can change its behaviour accordingly. In addition, the team want the robot eventually to interact with its environment, to pick up or move objects as the robot vacuums around the room. Adding a robot vacuum to your home is an easy way to automate your floor-cleaning chores.