Discussion of robot vacuum cleaners that can be controlled with a companion iOS app

The older connected is always either running in eco or turbo; There is no middle ground.
Seeing Justin's posts, I'm really wishing I would have gone with the D5 rather than the older connected model, but at the same time I love my little robot so I don't think I'd send it back anyway. I'm hoping workarounds can be found for the issues that are present.
@bonerobot: Yeah, I was originally going to post on Applevis as well when I started searching, but I just assumed there hadn't been enough interest on the topic since I've never seen anyone post about any kind of smart appliance on here.

Hi. I thought I would post this as soon as possible as it sounds like a few people on here are about to make the decision as to which robot to buy. I'm pleased to say that today the roomba app has been updated and accessibility has been improved slightly although it was good in the first place and there are a couple of very small issues outstanding but do not impact the use of the app. Also, while I haven't read the article yet, apparently Irobot have announced today that Alexa support will be coming to roomba in the second quarter of this year. It also sounds like they have some quite big developments coming for their robots.

Oh wow, very cool. I like that. If you do get a BotFac neato d5 can you do a review maybe?

Yeah,
I can safely say so far the D5 is working well. Connecting it to your home wifi is extremely simple. I'd say however that if you cannot see the LEDs that are on the robot, then you'll have to guess how long to hold the multi-function button and the right bumper for. It's 10 seconds to reset the robot so you can connect to the network. Once you get it and turn it on for the first time it is in pairing mode for one hour. Then you follow the instructions in the app. I'm not sure how well it'll work on phone data, as I haven't tested that feature yet. From reading the user guide it says the app will work on phone data, so I'm looking forward to seeing what it does.

I can safely say the neato app works very well. The only downside is when the robot gets stuck and gives an error, there is no way of clearing the error. The only way is to find the robot, and hit the start button to resume cleaning. This is on the neato Botvac connected D5.
Other than that everything is very clearly labeled, and very concise. From what i've read online laser navigation is superior to camera navigation, because it doesn't need ambient lighting to see where it is going. The only two robot manufacturers that use lasers on their robots are neato and Xiaomi. The Xiaomi is good, except everything is in Chinese. However if you are fluent in it and can understand it and possibly read what the app is telling you on the Mi robot vac, then good to go.

I'm also really happy with my roomba 980 after having it for about four weeks. Even people who were cynical about how well the robot would clean have commented that it actually probably does a better job than they would. I've been amazed how well he gets into corners that I really wouldn't think something that size and shape would fit but the side Brushes really seem to do the job well. The other thing I've been impressed with his how easy the robot is to maintain. He will even without any sighted assistance I was able to easily find where to remove the filter bin and all other removable components and the price of getting any spares seems to have dropped dramatically since I got my first robot vacuum many years ago. The roomba Will be working with Amazon Alexa over the next couple of months so I'm looking forward to that.

Hello,

Is there already a podcast about the neato connect?
because I maybe want to buy the neato D5 connect. I think it is the most accessible cleaning robot on the market.
I read that there is someone on this forum who uses that type of cleaning robot. Can he or she give me the pro's an con's to choose this type of cleaning robot?

Thanks

Just wanted to let you know that like a month ago Xiaomi released an english translation for the Mi Robot Vacuum. You still have to choose Mainland CHina as your country, but the menus and voice prompts are fully translated

The Xiaomi robot is the cheapest one in the list of robots so far. Unfortunately, it is not as powerful as the neat/roombas are. if I'm right, the xiaomi is somewhere around $200 or so.
I've got the D5, and yeah, it's very usable with VO. The roomba seems very usable as well, but I didn't feel like spending $800+. The pros for the neat is that it has laser guided navigation over the cameras that other robots have. More suction than there competitors. The ability of getting out of tight spaces. Roomba have this too. The neats have always had the "D" shape that really seems to help them in getting into corners.
Honestly, the only con I can think of is the fact that sometimes it gets stuck going over large lips on the floor. However, most/all of the robots will probably get stuck on them some time or another.

The Xiaomi also has laser distance sensor, and 1800 pa of suction, no idea about the neato. Price is around 300 to 350

Hello,

I bought the neato D5. It works very good but there is one problem. When the robot is cleaning and I click "pause" in the app. The button to let the robot ride to the dock to charge is always grey. Does some one know this problem? Is there a way to push a button on the robot to let him go to the dock?

Thanks

Hi...i am a new user here. I have no experience with robot vacuums and their accompanied mobile apps, but the Neato app seems to be reasonably accessible. I was able to log into my account and explore some of the menus without having a robot linked to it.

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Hi,
Yes, the neato app is very usable with VO. Now if they'd just release software updates for the D3 and D5 connected robots. It's been 10 months since they've put anything out for them. I love the neato robots, but they've got there quirks. They're quite loud when they run, louder then I'd like them to be. The mapping functionality is great; love the laser navigation side. I bought an Ecovacs robotic vac last week, but it appears they've sent the wrong robot, because it doesn't map the rooms, it moves randomly, not methodically. Anyway, I'll stick with neato for a while, until probably late fall.

Question so how is the vacuume mention here are working? What about the samsung which has camera works well. It is that accessible?

I have had neato d7 for about 6 months. I can confirm the following: I was able to set it up entirely independently - I have no vision so did have to guess at whether the lights were blinking in readiness for initial pairing with my phone but you also do get some sound feedback from the neato. It works particularly well with Alexa - "ask neato to clean the house" for example is a typical kind of command. The only issues I've had are where the neato goes offline or where it's been knocked off its base station.

I've found the company to be responsive. for example, it will now make a sound to help you locate it if it gets stuck somewhere or has stopped for what-ever reason.

The app needs a bit of work but with regard to the major functions it's certainly usable; with alexa or google home it's just fine.

Once it's finished cleaning it returns to its base for charging; on its initial run it will map the floor area - you can visually create no-go areas which would need assistance for some of us, or you can position the magnetic strip provided to indicate an area that you don't want it to go in to. you can buy more strips if you need to.

Apart from it being usable it's actually an excellent vacuum. it handles a range of different flooring and will auto-adjust, including negotiating ledges and areas wehre the carpet begins and other materials stop for example.

I've had a couple neatos in the past; a neato D5 which i've had for like 2 years now, and the original XV11 which didn't last and wasn't good. THe D5 is in my basement, and gets used occasionally. I also have the Roborock S5 robot vac, which is probably one of my fav robot vacs. There are some issues with the app, like not being able to click on the robots name from the home screen, you have to go into profile, tap on messages and tap on a message to bring up the robot panel, not perfect but it'll do. The No go lines, or what it calls "zone cleaning" will never work for us blinkies, but if you have a sighted partner/friend/ect to help ya, I'm sure you can make it work if you choose to do so. There's a mopping feature, but again the barriers in the app will not be accessible because you actually have to draw on a map where the carpet is. so the robot if used without barriers in mop mode will not know that "hey there's carpet there, I shouldn't go there." It'll just continue on going and get your carpet damp if mopping. So best thing I'd say if you're looking for a vac that also does mopping, either watch it like a hawk, or go with the ecovacs Osmo 900 which supposedly will avoid carpet if in mop mode. Whereas this will just get carpets damp, so if this one gets on carpet you'll have to either move it off carpet or put a physical barriers up to keep off carpets.

Hi.

I have a Roomba 960 got this before I found out about the 800 series.

I must admit I love my roomba. It handles carpet and hard floor pritty good.

It can also return to the docking station when its low on charge and at the end of the cleaning cycle.

I have also heard if its low on charge in the middle of a cleaning cycle it can return to the dock, recharge and then return to where it was cleaning when it was low before.

Good luck with your Roomba.

Funnily enough I named mine Rosie too after my mum.

Cheers.

Anyone knows anything about the Samsung POWERbot R7065 Robot Vacuum, Wi-Fi Connectivity, Intelligent Mapping, Ideal for Carpets, Hard Floors, and Pet

Hi,

I have a Roomba I7+. The good news is that it recharges itself whenever it needs it, it empties itself (yes, I said it empties itself) whenever its needs it, and it does a great job cleaning all floors, carpeted and tile. My wife is very very happy with the I7+.

We don't bother with any apps. All we have to do is push a big button in the center of the top of the robot, and off it goes to clean the entire house, under the bed, under the table and chairs, everywhere it can reach. When it's finished, it goes back to its barn, empties itself, and recharges itself.

The only bad news is that the I7+ is expensive -- nearly $1,000, but iRobot built it to last, and they have great support. Once a month or so we do a few minutes of maintenance. The debris bag where it empties itself into hasn't filled up yet, and we've been using the aI7+ since last September!

Hope this helps.

Bruce

Question. I just got a shark s87 robot vacuum which works well with lady A and the app is OK. Found a nice deal on July 15 of this year. I just safe $200. My Question is about Magnetic Strip Adhesive to prevent the robot from going where I do not want. Are there Magnetic Strip that will hold and not be move by Bella the cat? Are there any Magnetic Strip with Strong Self Adhesive that works with the shark vacuum?

Does the shark robot vacuums work with magnetic strips in the first place? In reguards to the Eufy, from what I know they work well from reviews... I'd say get something a little more expensive than the 30C, maybe look at 360S6, I think it's about $100 more, you'd have to look on amazon for this, and see what you think. The 360 robots are pretty budget friendly, and do a good job with laser navigation. I've got something similar to it, the roborock S5 robot and the Mi Home app works quite well with VO. The only thing that doesn't work at all is the no go lines, or the zone cleaning... I'd just hit the spot button and have do that. Other then that, the app works. Other thing, you can't get a gauge on your battery level, but since the robot talks it'll let you know when it needs to charge. However the battery life on the roborock is 2.5 hours, so you can probably do your whole place on one charge and have juice to spare.

I have the shark and works well with the app. The app is good but due to iOS 13 has some bugs. Also works well with Alexa.