In all my gadget reviewing years, I have yet to try or even test a robotic vacuum cleaner. It hasn’t been from lack of desire, I just haven’t found one worth trying – till now. Today in Tokyo, Dyson unveiled the Dyson 360 Eye cyclonic robot vacuum cleaner and it looks very impressive. From its 360 degree panoramic camera that lets it see the whole room to map and navigate its cleaning course for maximum cleaning coverage, to the tank style tracks that are used instead of wheels. The tracks allow the vacuum to easily go from hard floor to carpet without getting hung up and stuck. The Dyson 360 Eye also features a 78,000 rpm motor which has the highest suction power of any robot vacuum currently available. It’s so powerful that it can pick up dirt and dust particles that are 0.5 microns – 600 times smaller than the period at the end of this sentence. Wow, this robot vac looks like the one to beat. And what would a robot vacuum be without the ability to control it with your smartphone. The Dyson Link app allows you to schedule how and when your Dyson 360 Eye robot vacuum cleans and enables you to even see a map of its cleaning progress when you’re not at home.
The bad news is that the Dyson 360 Eye cyclonic robot vacuum cleaner won’t be available for sale in the US till later in 2015… And there’s no info on pricing yet either although Dyson says it will be competitive within the robot vacuum market. More info can be found at http://www.dyson360eye.com/. Check out the demo video after the jump.
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Interesting that Dyson is entering this market. I got a Roomba robot vacuum cleaner in July for my birthday. My experience so far:
I was really disappointed with the gift. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would want or or need or like a robot vacuum cleaner. I felt it was a silly concept that wouldn’t work very well and was totally unnecessary.
The first day I charged it up and sent it off to work. The thing is incredibly noisy; so much so that I have to put noise-cancelling earbuds on to work in the living room while it roams around.
I didn’t have to do much to prepare the floor for cleaning. I did have to pick up all the electric cords and cables on the floor. Those would be a problem and might have gotten stuck in the rollers.
The first time I sent it off to work, I wasn’t impressed with its cleaning. Many little bits of paper and crumbs were left. However, I had to admit that my hardwood floors glowed with a clean I never saw before.
I was impressed with how thorough a job it did. It didn’t get caught in a corner or crevice. It was able to navigate the wood saddles I have between each room. While I have no rugs or carpets, I think that would be as good as the Dyson’s movement between wood and carpet.
It ran around my apartment over and over and then found its way back to its charging station. There is a model that can be scheduled to start and stop on its own. Supposedly to work at night or while you’re away at work. But since I sleep and work at home, I really don’t need that.
I do have a remote to start and stop it, but I haven’t found any need for it. It’s not a big deal to walk over to it and push the Clean button. I suppose it would be good to be able to send it back to its home, but I usually just leave it running.
The other day I turned it on and went out to shop and do errands. When I got back it was out in the hall with two iPhone cables caught in the rollers. It had obviously picked them up and then spent all its energy whirring and whirring trying to get them out. It was completely out of juice. I took the rollers out, removed the wires, charged it back up, and it was like new.
I do have to put barriers up to keep it from going under my desk where the printer, cords, cables, and surge protectors are. I really don’t want it ripping out those cables. So I have to be careful about that area. It does want to come under the desk if I’m working while it goes around. It nudges my chair and feet, trying to get there. It’s like a puppy trying to get to a favorite toy.
It’s also very easy to take apart to empty its basket and clean the rollers. I’ve also noticed that somehow it’s gotten better at cleaning and there are almost no bits of paper or crumbs left on the floor. And the collection bucket is filled with all sorts of dust. I never thought I had that much crud on the floor.
The cat hasn’t been here for the summer, but I have a feeling the Roomba will scare the hell out of her. It’s not just noisy, but it’s really fast. She’d have to run to get away from it. She comes back next week, so we’ll see how that goes.
There are several types of rollers. There’s a horizontal brush roller like an old-fashioned carpet sweeper. There’s a horizontal rubber roller that hugs the floor to sweep up objects and dust. There’s a revolving thing, like a nylon cord grass trimmer, that sweeps around into the corners that the horizontal rollers can’t reach. And it also has a slight vacuum effect although certainly not as strong as a vacuum.
I don’t know what it cost. My spouse did get some sort of bargain on a website or TV show, so she didn’t pay list. But given how super-expensive Dyson products are, I think this could be as much as half the eventual price of the Dyson.
I also don’t like Dyson products. I know two people who had to ditch their Dyson vacuums because the plastic just fell apart.
I like it. At times I think of it as a female. So now I just have to name her.
I bought a refurb Neato robot vac a couple of years ago on a lark. My wife was mad about the purchase thinking I wasted $400 on a “toy”. It took her about a week to change her mind. “Alfred” is now her best friend. We went out and bought two more Neato’s (Fifi and Bertram) shortly thereafter (we have a 3 story house).
The Neato’s work great. They’ve never gotten caught on any threshold or hardwood to carpet transition. They tackle our massive amounts of dog hair better than I would have ever thought. They will occasionally get caught on a cord here or there, but it’s rare. The biggest downside I’ve seen is with the batteries. We schedule them to run 3 times a week. After about a year, the batteries slowly stop holding enough charge to make them effective. Replacement batteries are about $40 each. It’s an added expense, but worth it since we now only have to use the regular vacuum once in a while instead of every couple of days.
I miss my Roomba, our broke after many many years of use. I think I got it from Woot.com for $199 or $99 or some ridiculous low price. Replaced the battery pack once. But after buying two houses, and having kids, our wallet took a serious near fatal hit. It’s only just recently been taken off the critical watch list and began the road to recovery. New Roomba is fairly high on our “Want to have but don’t need it so we can’t have it” Splurge list.
I have been using a Roomba for years. I am on my 3rd one now. They pick up maybe 80% of the dirt and hair on our floors, and I only have to expend manpower to empty out the bin.
Here is a cat on a Roomba: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLt5rBfNucc
Have anyone ever used dyson 360eye? is that vacuum really better than other company’s robot? i wanna know about dyson robot before i buy. i just saw in offical video. but i really wanna make sure how much it can suck, and noise level(dB). plz answer for me thanks
@Jiun This product is not on the market yet. It won’t be available until sometime next year…