After 16 long years and an investment of over $46 million in research and development, Dyson has finally launched its much-anticipated robotic vacuum. Dyson 360 i.
It’s not their first robotic vacuum cleaner, but it’s the first to be available to consumers but quite expensive.
How does this stack up against the current market leaders Roomba and Neato?
That’s what we’ll find out in this review.
James Dyson said that current robotic brooms are just gimmicks, saying that “They have bristles sticking out of them – bristles don’t clean anything, they just annoy the birds.”.
He has long resisted selling these types of brooms to the public saying that “I’m in no rush to bring out a gimmick robot to pretend to people that we’re cleaning the floor”.
During its launch, the Dyson 360 Eye was only available in the Japanese market. But after a few months Americans can buy one through Amazon.
From appearance alone, it doesn’t look like any of the current robotic vacuums on the market that use a round disc shape typically between 2.9 and 3.5 inches in height.
The 360 Eye looks nothing quite like the current crop of robot vacuums.
It almost doubles the height of any current Roomba or Neato broom to the detriment of its ability to clean under furniture.
But that consists in its superior suction (here’s a hint, it uses a V2 – the same motor you’ll find inside the DC44 and DC35).
Quick look at the features
- Features the latest high-tech navigation system – Dyson calls it 360° vision
- It uses the V2 digital motor inside the DC35 and DC44
- It uses the same radial root cyclone technology found in all of its spaces
- Has a WiFi connection (you can connect to it using the Dyson link app – available for both iOs and Android devices)
- Full width brush bar means no side brushes needed
- Instead of using wheels, 360 Eye uses tank tracks that provide better traction and climbing on an area rug or carpet
Positives
- Compact Horizontal Size – It’s 9 inches wider or about 4 inches narrower than the Roomba 980
- Uses probably the most reliable and high-tech navigation system
- Best performing robot vacuum cleaner on the market
- The docking station does not take up much space
Negatives
- It’s not cheap
- Too tall (more than 5 inches) which means it doesn’t fit in most beds.
- Relatively short operating time when compared to other robot vacuums
Table of Contents
What can be expected from this futuristic robot cleaner?
As with all other Dyson vacuums, expect a well-designed product. From the sleek chrome-like finish to the tablet-like charging port, 360 Eye screams top technology.
In terms of aesthetics alone, there’s very little to not like about this.
You will also notice that this is a fairly tall robot cleaner.
It’s nearly 2 inches taller than the Roomba and Dyson representatives say this feature is the least they can come up with to fit the cyclonic filtration system and dust box. This is one of the best bagless vacuums in terms of picking up fine, fine dirt.
Uses the motor of a cordless vacuum cleaner
The engineers used the V2 motor found on older Dysons, specifically the DC35 and DC44 which provided decent suction.
Of course when you compare it to a full-size vertical it won’t match the massive suction but when you compare it to other robovacs, nothing comes close to it.
If you look down, the vacuum cleaner’s slot is full width and uses the same motorized brush found on older DC series vacuums, so you’d expect more or less the same performance.
The charging base is also a thing of beauty.
At first glance, I was wrong about this for the MacBook Pro. In fact, this A4 size device is a charging base for the 360 Eye. Charging will take less than 3 hours.
Another feature that sets this apart from other robots is the thing that moves around, instead of using standard rubber wheels, the 360 Eye uses tank tracks for a variety of reasons.
First and foremost is traction, these tank tracks will provide more traction and nicely help this robot climb thicker pile carpet better any robotic vacuum out there.
Mobility
If there’s anything that Dyson has a huge advantage over a connected Roomba 980 or Neato BotVac, it’s the navigation system.
It uses a camera installed in the center of the vacuum that sees 360 degrees. Hence the term 360 vision.
This system uses complex math, geometry, trigonometry, and probability theory to navigate your home, Dyson says.
At the core, it uses SLAM that helps assemble a consistent 360-degree view of the area being cleaned. The top-mounted camera helps to “remember” which areas have been cleaned and which areas have not.
Here’s a Dyson 360 video to show you the methodical navigation pattern she uses to mop and clean her living room.
In theory, this means it will clean faster and more efficiently with fewer nicks and scratches on your furniture when compared to the Roomba 880.
If you look at how it moves, it first goes into the middle of the room and then works itself out toward the periphery in “square” patterns.
Cleaning the edges is somewhat of a question mark because it won’t hug the panels as tightly as Roomba does, often to within a centimeter or so according to Trusted Reviews.
Since the navigation system relies heavily on the camera, you cannot operate this robot in dark conditions or it will not navigate well.
Unlike older Roomba and Neato robots that rely on infrared lasers, so make sure you turn them on during the day or turn on the lights.
The great thing about the camera-based system is that even if you have black furniture or chrome-plated furniture, this robot will still see it unlike systems that use infrared or laser guidance systems.
WiFi ready plus a smartphone app!
Dyson has ditched the traditional controls and instead developed an app that you can use to control this robot. To connect the app and the bot, you will need to log into the bot’s WiFi with a password printed on the manual (and the bot).
According to Trusted Reviews, there are connectivity issues the first time you try to connect the app and the bot. Restarting the application should solve this problem.
With the app, you can schedule cleaning times, view the area the robot covers in each cleaning session, and finally start and stop the robot remotely even when you’re at work as long as you have an internet connection.
Floor cleaning
In my opinion, this robot will offer the best performance on bare floor surfaces. The carbon fiber filaments in the brush roller work best at picking up hard-packed dust and medium-sized debris such as rice or ground oats.
To show you how this works (and navigates) on hardwood watch this…
If you take a closer look at the video, you will find that it has captured almost every part of the grain on the hardwood. In terms of picking things up at the edges, it struggles to constantly embrace the edges. The absence of a side brush did not hinder its performance due to the wide cleaning path.
Here’s another demonstration this time on a tiled floor where they sprinkled 50 grams of sugar over different areas of the room…
And it’s no wonder that it manages to capture 48 grams of scattered sugar, even in restless areas.
Carpet cleaning
On carpets, expect roughly the same performance as the Dyson DC44 which means it works even better as a maintenance tool for a deep cleaning session. Carpets won’t get deep cleaned but it makes up for it hands free.
You will notice that you will need to empty the container a lot when you first run this but after a while (providing you run this every day) you will need to empty it less as it will help keep the floors clean.
But don’t expect this to be deeply cleaned as it doesn’t have the suction power to do so. You will still need a vertical space for this task.
Here’s a cleaning test on the carpet, again with 50 grams of sugar…
It wasn’t because he only managed to capture 37 grams out of the 50.
carpets
Good news, even if you have thick carpets, the 360 Eye will still be able to climb over it thanks to the tank tracks but again, don’t expect it to be deep-cleaned but it’s a good daily cleaning tool that will keep dirt from accumulating on top of your carpets.
Pet hair removal
Combining the power of suction with a motorized brush, this robotic vacuum cleaner is capable of cleaning pet hair on floors and carpets. Consumers say this may be the best pet hair catcher if you read the reviews. A big reason why consumers save for this.
But the downside to brush roll design is maintenance.
You will need to remove the whisk strip and remove pet or human hair that is rolled there at least twice a week. If you have a lot of pets, you may need to clean them more often.
Are you going to clean the stairs?
Unfortunately, even the $1,500++ robot broom can’t clean stairs just yet.
scheduled cleaning
You can schedule this bot using the Dyson link app once a day, seven days a week and you can schedule it at different times.
The beauty of the app is that once it is connected to the WiFi of the robot, you can control it anywhere that has an internet connection.
the show length
When fully charged, the machine will work for only 45 minutes. This pales in comparison to the Roomba 980, Xiaomi, and Neato which run for up to two hours.
Product specification
| Battery Type | lithium ion |
| charger type | charging base |
| Shipping time | 2.45 hours |
the show length  |
45 minutes |
| Door Crossing | up to 1.5 cm |
| net weight (with battery) | 5.38 EGP |
| Purchase weight | 9.3 EGP |
| Diameter | 9.05 inches |
| Height | 4.72 inches |
| multi room |
 |
| self docking |
|
| remote control | Uses a smartphone app |
| HEPA filtration |
|
| Detecting cliff |
|
| self-control |
|
| Edge brushes |
 |
| bin full indicator |
|
| drawer cleaning |
|
| Cleaning sessions per week |
7 |
| Extra filter | Unavailable |
| containment |
|
| brush cleaning tools |
|
| Accessories included | Unavailable |
| Voltage | 110 volts |
| Made in | United kingdom |
| Price | Check Price |
Customer Reviews
If you read reviews from tech blogs like Engadget, Mirror.co.uk and Pocket-Lint, the result is pretty much unanimous, the Dyson 360 Eye is the best robot vacuum cleaner despite the high price.
The combination of a powerful motor and a high-tech 360-degree camera is a very good option for independent home cleaning.
Looking at the specs, it has the same V2 motor as the Dyson DC44. That’s about 22 watts of air in cleaning power. In terms of power, it has one of the most powerful engines but the downside is the space it occupies vertically. Will not clean under furniture over 4″ high.
Possible problems
Although cleaning power is not a question mark, there are some issues with height, particularly cleaning under furniture.
Consumers are advised to measure the height of your furniture (the clearance under it) to see if it has a clearance of at least 12cm to see if the robot is able to pass through it.
One consumer reported that they may experience difficulty if the surface being cleaned is not flat.
Another potential problem is the lighting under the furniture (or lack thereof). If there is too little light, the robot can wander and possibly run out of battery before it can return to the dock and recharge.
Even with camera-based navigation, this bot will have trouble cleaning shiny or black furniture. He’ll have trouble “seeing it” and might run into something like this.
The same problem would be glass floors, and they will not be bypassed. It is believed to be a slope.
Emptying a container has some minor quirks. Since the container is facing the curb, you will need to remove the robot from it to access the basket.
I’m sure Dyson will correct all of these issues in its future releases because it’s the kind of company that listens to consumers.
Still a very good product
General cleaning performance is not a problem. The majority of consumers say that cleaning performance is not an issue.
The biggest issue will be height and navigation – although the 360 view system still has the same difficulties as other robot vacuums – it struggles with glossy black furniture and won’t go over glass floors because it thinks it’s a ramp.
$1000 is a pretty big investment but fortunately it comes with a 14-day money-back guarantee – enough time for you to test it out in the comfort of your own home.
This robot vacuum is a huge step in the right direction and if you know how the Dyson works, you will get better over time.
Where can I buy this?
If you live in the US, you can buy this on Amazon as it will cost around $1000 more or less. This qualifies for free 2-day shipping if you join Prime. Amazon also sells extended warranties of up to 3 years if you want that extra peace of mind.
For people who live in the UK, you can buy this from Dyson for £799.99.
To wrap it up
If you take a look at the specifications, you will think that the Dyson 360 Eye will be the best vacuum cleaner available right now.
But there are cheaper brands out there right now like the Roborock S5, Roomba 980, and Neato BotVac that will give you almost the same performance for less.
The thing that keeps it from being a bestseller is the price. At nearly $900 this is an expensive piece of machinery. Not everyone can spend that much money on a vacuum. But for those who can afford it, it’s a truly wonderful luxury piece to have in the house.
There is no doubt that 360 Vision Navigation is high tech. It allows it to see 360 degrees. And marking areas that have already been cleaned. It makes him one of the most efficient bots unlike the 880 who can miss some points here and there.