16.5.2020

I was in two minds about whether to buy this or not, as I wanted to but it seemed extravagant. I'd also read some reviews saying that it wasn't much use. I can honestly say it is transformative! I am a lazy lad who can't be bothered to hoover and live by myself, so it just never happens. This thing solves that problem instantly. It runs around merrily to itself whilst I get on with my work, occasionally having to lift my legs up whilst it wanders around the table. At the end of it, it chirps happily, sends an update to my phone, and parks itself back in its charger. It works upstairs and downstairs, and all you have to do is empty the dust bin at the end.The first few times you run it you'll be amazed at how much it picks up.I had to run it upstairs 3 times because the dust bin was full at the end of each run and I suspect there was more which there was. Now it's not picking anything like as much up (because the floor is clean, not because it's lost suction), but the beauty is that you can run it little and often rather than having to have a massive weekly/fortnightly/monthly epic hoovering mission. I just set it wandering around a few times a week and it keeps on top of everything and causes me no bother. I haven't trusted to have it running when I'm out of the house yet, primarily as I'm unsure if it will trip the alarm.And it's fast. Like, REALLY fast. It seems to be moving quite slowly, but it cleans the rooms whilst you don't really notice it. You think it's missed a bit, but when you get the map (yes, it draws maps of where it has just hoovered and sends them to your phone/tablet at the end!), you can see where it has and hasn't done, and it's also done the lot. It takes 12 minutes per room for me, which sounds a lot, but the rooms in my house are quite large and some of the other makes and models take hours and hours. My Neato D7 can do the whole lot in 40 minutes usually, and I can just get on with working from home.A word on the maps it draws. These are SERIOUSLY impressive. It sends me maps which are arguably more accurate than the ones I measured myself using a laser tapemeasure. It's LIDAR maps the entire house in insanely accurate detail. The software they've put together for this must be immense. I've started using the hoover's maps as the shape base for planning house renovations rather than my own attempts!It's noisy, or at least it is when you have it on turbo mode which I always do, but you get used to it. You certainly couldn't sleep through it, but I'm not sure any vacuum cleaner is intended to be slept though. It's also pretty crazy at getting itself in and out of tight spaces. It succeeds every time, but it bumps and bangs and crashes around. It's a pretty violent little thing. I was alarmed and worried it was going to break itself at first, but it's never had any issues. If you have super delicate skirting boards or things on the floor this might be an issue, but apparently there is a 'gentle' mode too. You also need to keep the floor clear and make sure that cables are out of the way. First time I ran it downstairs it got itself tangled up in the router mains cable, ran off, pulled the router off the side, thus switching it off, therefore lost Wifi, and gave up. A bit of strategic cable placement has solved that. You can do this thing called 'no go zones' to prevent that, but it's easier just to have tidy cables.Be aware that you do need Wifi and a smartphone or tablet for it to work properly. It needs an App installed on your phone/tablet. You also have to register online as part of that, so it's almost a sort of 'cloud hoover'. Very IoT. I was a bit unhappy about that at first, but I've stopped caring now, it's worth it just for the sheer convenience. Presumably that also means you can control it away from home, although I haven't tested that.After it's mapped out an entire floor, you can 'zone' it, so that you can tell it things like cleaning the kitchen only. The App software for this is ok-ish, but a little clumsy trying to draw rectangles with your finger and limited zoom capability on the maps. They can also only be rectangles too. I have polygon rooms in my house because it's at an angle, and the app can't accommodate this. I also can't get it to clean more than one zone at once. So you can clean the kitchen and the lounge, but not both. This isn't a problem, because you can just tell it to clean the whole ground floor in one go etc. But it would be nice if you could select multiple zones, and I can't see any reason why you shouldn't be able to. It might be I am doing something wrong.As I said, I am absolutely delighted with this D7, and as a stereotypical geeky male slob it's honestly transformed my house and my life. I would 100% buy one again if it ever stopped working, and although it seems expensive, it is worth every penny. Add in support for polygon rooms, the ability to select more than one room at a time, and an option to be able to use it over your local wifi without internet, and it would be perfect.One comment, I've noticed you can get it a lot cheaper through some Amazon sellers who appear to be shipping from China. It might be hard to do returns/repairs if you bought it from China as an import.

20.7.2018

Getting setup was REALLY simple. Remove from box, plug in base station, place robot in front of the station and push gently into the charging contacts and let it boot up with some glowing LEDs.Whilst it does so, get your phone out and download the app. Follow the instructions (complete with videos) there and voila, 5 minutes after opening the box you're sitting there like an over excited child with a new toy on Christmas day.To use the 'no-go' lines on the app you need to let the bot do a clean first. It comes with the 'old fashioned' magnetic tape to allow you to quickly mark a no-go area for one off cleans or if you need to re-map an area. Off the bot trundles, powering up and heading around the edge of the room first.When it reaches a doorway it'll head through it and back, finishing the first room and then the other rooms one by one.Now, for the important parts... can you leave it to its own devices?I have a rug with tassels in the middle of my lounge floor and I've got to say... I'm impressed with how it handled it. It would suck them up, immediately realise and you hear the blades stop spinning, the suction stops and the bot reverses back to free itself and tries again from a different angle. Once it's worked out the edge, it simply seems to avoid the problem area.Most of my furniture is either quite high (eg coffee table) that it can happily navigate around or low (sofa) that it cleans right up against. The exception is a treadmill which is the exact perfect height from the floor that the bot can get underneath right up to the laser range finder unit that sits about 1cm proud from the top. And this is where you find a flaw... the lasers work by detecting the reflection back, simple physics... but when they hit something reflective the laser doesn't scatter and get picked up, it will bounce like a mirror... the edge of the treadmill is black, shiny plastic and it doesn't seem to detect it properly.So the bot trundles under the treadmill and gets about half way in before it starts to jam. It sits there, realises it's not moving after about 4-5 seconds and backs up, again then trying from a slightly different angle. It still doesn't get itself fully jammed, nor need human help. It figures out that something isn't right and attempts to correct.So in the lounge, it's happily handled random boxes left on the floor, my slippers, trainers, the aforementioned tassels and a 1cm floor height difference between my lounge and kitchen. Sometimes it gets up that little step, other times it hits it and stops dead in its tracks. Again it realises, backs up and tries at an angle with each wheel then able to get a purchase on the lip and off it goes. In the kitchen it'll happily work itself around clothes airers etc I may have out on any given day.So navigation is sorted, it has yet to get itself stuck with no help requested from me.So cleaning.... summed up, pretty damn good. I have two cats who I swear shed their body weight in fur every month. My Dyson regular cleaner is pretty good at getting stuff up but of course that requires me to use it, which is a flaw in any design ;) I hadn't vacuumed for the week before getting the D7 (I knew it was coming so wanted a good test!) so wasn't too surprised when the bin was absolutely rammed full after it's first sweep of my lounge/kitchen. I emptied the bin and set it off again, this time getting about another 2/3 of a bin from the two rooms. With a daily schedule now setup it keeps on top of the fluff, perhaps getting 1/4 to 1/3 of a bin on each of the daily runs. I can therefore empty it every 2-3 days without worrying.Biggest downside - it doesn't climb upstairs ;) You can just pick the bot up, place it on another floor and hit the go button. It'll figure out the rooms and do a normal clean. It'll send you its usual cleaning map of where it's cleaned at the end of the cycle as normal but it won't be able to do its no-go lines. Those only work on the floor where the base-station is. You would need multiple units if you wanted otherwise but these are far too expensive for that!I love this bot. It does a great job, my carpets are clean, my kitchen tiled floor is clean. It's quiet enough you can watch TV in the room it's currently cleaning. Two cats watch it from a distance without going all ninja on it. It's navigation seems to do a good job.Downsides? The price, it's at least 2x the price it should be and that's coming from someone who absolutely loves it. I'd buy another for my upstairs but as it stands I could only just justify the cost for downstairs that has more foot traffic and for keeping it clean for visitors etc and even then, not at retail price (aka wait for a GOOD sale!). I'd have never have bought it at regular price... even now knowing how good it is. Older models are almost identical, same laser navigation, same decent cleaning power - yet the top of the range units are 2x the price now compared to just a few years ago. If it lasts anything less than 5 years I won't even consider replacing it with another Neato as that's the absolute minimum I'd expect something of this price to last.

13.2.2019

Neato Robovac D7 ConnectedI wanted to hold off writing this review for a time as the product had just been released and I was awaiting several upgrades that would allow it to do everything I wanted. Firstly let me say that this is a top end robot vacuum and that is heavily reflected in the price. I have a lot of floor space to cover and decided that for the amount of time it would save me I could justify the price over a couple of years. I am astounded by how well the physical item performs and how well the updates allow it to function. I should also add that I have purchased a second charging base for around £30 to allow it to clean on a second level. Without this it would not be possible and would severely affect my review.Let me do a full breakdown.Suction and cleaning - On a hardwood floor and tiles this vac is very good. it struggles to meet some edges and corners but does improve with time. If it weren't for this I would never have to get the traditional vacuum out again but I do still clean with traditional vac once a week. String and Cables are the enemy of this robot cleaner but that's an easily avoidable problem.On medium pile carpet this Vac also does a very solid job, and the edge and corner problem is much less noticeable.Navigation - The map system used allows this cleaner to navigate with ease around a home in no time and the more it is used the quicker it gets. It deals with unexpected obstacles very well but to get the most out of it I would say that the more you can prepare your house beforehand the better clean you will get. The software (which I will get to next) allows for No-go lines to be drawn which do away with the need for magnetic strips to cordon of areas or rooms, and this works exceptionally well. I do still use a magnetic strip at the top of the stairs but this is out of sheer paranoia rather than necessity. It finds it way back to the charging dock every time without fail.Software - Following numerous updates which solved all of the niggles I had initially the software is now excellent. It allows for multiple floor plans across different levels of the house, No-go lines to be drawn and also allows for Zones to be created so that problem areas can be cleaned more regularly. I also allows for multiple users across multiple devices as long as they are all logged in to the same account. This updates all devices and shares maps and settings very well. It also allows for the cleaner to be used when you or anyone else who is "connected" is out of the house and have a nice clean floor to come home to.Battery and Dirt Bin Capacity - I shall begin by saying that I am using this vac across a good 1000sqft of floor space on each level and the downstairs is open plan which is where it really shines BUT and its a very large but I have never had it need to return to its base for a recharge during a clean. There is no more that needs to be said unless you are using it for an office space. If used regularly the dirt bin is quite adequate but this maybe different if you have pets (which I do not) and will need emptying after every clean. If not used for a few days the extra dirt picked up really pushes the bins capacity but it is so simple to empty that it's not really that much of an issue.Pros - Its suction and mapping are so good that if have wooden or tiled floors and if you used a broom around the edges and you could easily have this as your only vacuum cleaner. I mean that genuinely.Even on carpet you aren't going to be vacuuming anywhere near as often.Exceptional battery life and good dirt bin capacityIts connectivity to devices not only allows for remote cleaning but will notify you if it gets stuck or if bin becomes full.Its wonderfully simple to empty and maintain and comes with a handy maintenance kit.No-Go lines and zone cleaning are great additions as is multiple floor cleaning (with purchase of additional charging dock.)Once you are used to it the Neato App is great to use.Cons - Its at the higher end of the price scale for a robot cleaner.Using the manual start button turns off all of its clever features and renders it effectively a "dumb" cleaner. So having a smart phone or tablet is imperative!The manual cleaning using app based remote control and also spot cleaning are total nonsense and shouldn't even be included as options.People who are less technically minded may struggle at first with initial setup and again if there are any connection or Wi-Fi issues. There is plenty of online and video support though. Sometimes software updates require complete remapping so one has to start from scratch. This can get annoying if a lot of updates are released close together.If you do not have Wi-Fi it simply will not work!All in all I am incredibly pleased with The Neato D7 Connected and would recommend it to those who can afford it.

30.4.2018

After several months of ‘coming soon’ assurances on the Neato web site the Botvac D7 Connected cleaner has arrived and is in stock at amazon.co.uk. As a user of other Neato cleaners I had no hesitation in placing an order as I have found them to be thorough and effective in keeping the house clean. I am convinced that a daily automated clean preserves not only the look but also the life of a carpet.On opening the box I was pleased to see a Customer Care sticker with contact details for UK customers if they require assistance. I have found in the past that owning a Neato cleaner is great until there is need for a repair and the process is then cumbersome to say the least.Long and repetitive phone calls do result in a replacement being provided but the system is far from customer friendly and lacks efficiency and speed. Hopefully this is a step in the right direction. It is also worth noting that the D7 comes with only a 12 month guarantee for UK customers which seems short to me for such an expensive and hi-tech machine. Fortunately Amazon customers can overcome this limitation by purchasing an Amazon Protect Insurance which, although an additional expense, avoids potential problems for 3 years.Those who like to admire the appearance of their Robot cleaners will not be disappointed. It looks neat and smart, though I have reservations about the various indicator lights which seem to me to be less useful than the on screen messages found on earlier Neato models. I do not want to have to refer to the handbook to find out the meaning of flashing lights though I acknowledge that they enhance the appearance. I guess its a matter of style over functionality.Setting up the D7 Connected is straightforward enough though it does seem to require a stronger WiFi signal than the Botvac Connected. I placed the D7 in our kitchen where there is a moderate signal (and where the Botvac Connected has operated from without problem) and could not connect at all. It was only when I placed it much closer to the router that I was able to make the connection.The big step forward with the D7 is the no-go lines. Having performed an initial clean I was able to add lines to the floor plan to prevent it from going to certain areas. We have armchairs that are just the wrong height for a robot cleaner and our Botvac Connected would regularly get stuck beneath them until I put down some of the provided magnetic strip to keep the cleaner away. Our TV cabinet has push-open glass doors at floor level and this also required a magnetic strip. Although this method is effective it is a bit unsightly and I am pleased that with the D7 I can limit its area of cleaning with no visible barrier whatsoever. It is a system which seems to work very well and is the real justification for selecting the D7 over other models.All the Neato cleaners that I have used have been excellent in their primary role of getting up the dirt and dust. The D7 is no exception and with it you have the additional options of an eco or a turbo clean (they both seem to work well though we have chosen the quieter eco option for scheduled night time cleaning) and a ‘Extra Care’ mode which is particularly gentle with navigation. This may be useful (I have turned it on) but Neato cleaners all seem to be much kinder to furniture than some of their competitors anyway.All in all I would thoroughly recommend the D7 connected. It is expensive but is, in my opinion, worth every penny.A Footnote: Browsing through the handbook I noticed that it is recommended to replace the new Lithium ion battery with a Neato Genuine replacement every 12-18 months. I wondered what this would cost and so, out of curiosity, found it under ‘Accessories’ on the Neato web site and clicked the ‘Get yours today’ button. I thought that his would probably take me to Amazon but instead it came back with this message: ‘Retailers for Neato Botvac™ Connected High Capacity Li-Ion Battery. It looks like there aren't any distributors in your country’. This is unimpressive to say the least and really is something that Neato need to sort out!

11.8.2019

Enter the brave new world of Shirley (the Neato Rototics vacuum cleaner) the floor cleaning robot.Shirley arrived beautifully packed, everything safe and sound with nothing broken and no problems. This is really an essential start on an expensive piece of kit.Easy to unpack, remove tapes and set up charging point and put Shirley in for a full charge, Time to load the Neato App onto my iPhone, straightforward and then set up an account. All straightforward if you are happy with Apps/iPhones/accounts ~ some of my friends would need help at this point, some would feel like giving up.To cut to the chase ~ this is not for the technophobe. I found it straightforward and logical,App and remote mapping of your home would have some people sending Shirley back from whence she came. To spend this sort of money on a robotic vacuum cleaner you need to be keen and willing to work with it. Shirley is G R E A T but she's not for the technologically challenged. Having said this buying a Neato is probably self selecting in degrees of technological competence.Once charged Shirley was set to task of mapping the sitting room. The App is easy to use and Shirley was off ~ close the doors, remove expensive objects balanced on coffee tables and be patient and nearby. She dealt well going from carpet onto a rug on the carpet. She can back out of difficult situations and is slim enough to go under table legs and stretchers.Once mapping was complete (seems like cleaning but the brushes aren't busy) I could give Shirley the job of cleaning the room, which had been recently "Hoovered" with a conventional machine. She busied about, backwards and forwards side to side of the room in a visible pattern of cleaning. When Shirley was finished she went home for a charge. I had to help[ once or twice as I got used to her and she got used to the room. I found the whole thing very novel and a bit Sci-Fi. Now for results !! The "dust box" was full and I was surprised at how much had been collected ~ RESULT !!After a couple of days room use Shirley went on the trail of dirt and just as before, she found it and the box was full. To be fair the dust box is not huge but Shirley is slim and carries no excess weight!Once I was happy with the sitting room I branched out and together we learnt hallways and other rooms, all named on the App so Shirley knows where she is. Success, not without the odd mishap. When mapping the hallway, she followed me through an open door to the garden, yes it was a very flat threshold to be fair. But Shirley had the good sense to stop at the top of the three concrete steps ~ so the lazers and such do their stuff.I can programme our Shirl to clean rooms from my iPhone but there are limits as she can't open doors to get into the rooms. I have to carry her and put her down in the same place she started mapping from the first time. If I had a large open plan apartment she might become much more autonomous ~ I can dream!After a few months I am delighted with Shirley the Neato Rototics vacuum cleaner but I love technology and at the moment loving the whole idea of Shirley is fairly important. I have been told that the time spend "playing" with Shirley would have been better spent just getting the "Hoover" out and cleaning the rooms. But that's not the point is it!! Progress has to start somewhere and at first a limited number will jump on board, the others will follow and will tell their friends how trendy and innovative they are with their new technology !!!One thing to watch for if you get a Shirley (the Neato Rototics vacuum cleaner), my toddling grandson came in, looked at Shirley charging and within seconds had turned her on ! I was only aware when i heard shouts and screams of joy, "It's a robot, it's a robot, it's a robot," as the toddler stumbled after the nifty Shirley. He thought the whole thing was magnificent and I need to find the "lock the on/off button!!"

21.5.2019

I though autonomous ‘robot’ vacuum cleaners were a gimmick. Bound to get stuck somewhere whilst cleaning and just not very good at their primary function – vacuuming. Turns out I was wrong. I’ve been working with Neato for a couple of weeks in my office which has probably provided the most complicated floor area you could hope to test a robot vacuum cleaner. Three desks, nine chairs, pillars, stairs – all getting in the way.Day 1It’s obvious on opening the box that Neato is a high end product and it looks like the future has arrived. Sleek black and metal effect design. I can’t wait to see it in action. Only problem is that I’ve left my phone in the car (it’s miles away)and so I can’t download the Neato app to program him. This turns out not to be a problem because there is a simple start button on top of the machine. It’s fascinating and I watch him on and off for about 50 minutes as the 45 square metre office is vacuumed. Neato is quite noisy, not overly so, but he is a vacuum cleaner and they all make noise. Try brushing and sucking carpets quietly! I was amazed to see how much stuff came out of the carpet on the first pass (see picture 1).Day 2Now I’ve downloaded the app and Neato is able to make his own floor plan of the office as he navigates around doing his morning clean (see picture 2). I can now choose areas where I don’t want him to go by swiping a line onto the floor plan. This is useful to keep him out of the metal guide wires that hold-up our window displays (Neato gets a bit rough when he’s cornered in an area only just bigger than him. When reversing he can ride up at the back and make a mark on a wall if you’re not careful). What is obvious from the start is that Neato has some seriously powerful software running him. He’s really, really clever and I’ve seen him get into – and out of – some very tight spaces. Every time it seems as though he’s trying a different approach. Maybe he’s learning? Probably.Day 3I discover zone cleaning after updating the app. It’s useful but I decide to stick with the whole office clean. Neato can be programmed to clean at one time (not multiple times) of the day, seven days a week. I still like watching him work and he’s really growing on me. Of course I talk to him sometimes (we humans are soft and like to anthropomorphize objects. Especially if they move around and pretend they are living). I decide to call him… Neato.Day 4After cleaning, Neato returns automatically to his base station to charge. I don’t think I will ever tire of watching him wiggle from left to right over the last few centimetres as he reverses onto the power plate. After a good charge, I decide that our basement room and kitchen could do with a vacuuming and so I pick-up Neato and carry him downstairs. Turn him on and off he goes in the dark for half an hour doing his thing. He’s using a laser to navigate and so the lights don’t need to be on.Day 5 and afterEvery morning at 7am Neato vacuums the office. I am sent a message via the app when he’s finished and shown a floor plan of where he has cleaned. Sometimes he does it in 45 minutes, other times 56 minutes. Depends how the obstacles are placed in the office. Neato’s base station is on the other side of the office but I pass him at various times of the day on my way to one of the many filing cabinets. He is now a useful member of the team and I refuse to return him to Amazon or Neato robotics. I don’t how long we’ll have together. Then again, who does…

26.5.2019

The Neato Botvac is, indeed, pretty neat. It comes pretty much ready to go - base unit, the robot itself and some useful bits and bobs to get you started (more on those shortly).Whilst use of the associated app is not required it does make the experience more fun and informative (i.e. feedback) and provide additional functionality (e.g. remote initiation). Setting up an account and linking the vacbot to that account via wifi is pretty straightforward and follows the same pattern as other similar devices. The instructions are pretty clear, providing the necessary guiding hand.If you have a cluttered house, or lots of different stepped levels, you probably will not benefit from a vacbot.We find ourselves "tidying" (moving dining room chairs, dogs bed on the sofa, lifting hanging curtains, removing shoes) quite a lot before initiating a clean - and it does make a difference. So it's not magic. That said it is pretty clever. It handles a rug with tassley ends, the door mat at our back door, some quite fiddly spaces - and two bemused animals (one dog and one cat). To date it has not got stuck anywhere to the point of requiring rescue.How good is it at cleaning...? Pretty good for the areas it can get to. Unless you live in an extremely minimalist environment with straight edges and no ticky cables or weird small gaps between furniture - there are going to be places it can't get to. For those - you will need to hoover yourself using a snozzle at whatever frequency you deem necessary. For the main areas it does well - as evidenced by the dust collector when you come to empty it. This is a simple operation - it lifts from the top, remove the dust filter and empty. Reverse the procedure to replace it.There is a strip of quite heavy material which can be used to block of areas which are to be avoided (physical barriers such as boxes will do the same thing in effect). Alternatively this can be done in the Neato app. The app allows a few additional things - e.g. a schedule which allows a daily cleaning timetable to be set up.Although the handbook says that the docking station needs a meter clear each side - ours is positioned in an alcove with perhaps 20cm on each side - and the vacbot finds it way back without a problem. A small wiggle of its behind and it reverses straight onto the dock - ready for next time.Supplied additionally are a cleaning scraper, a couple of spare filters, a replacement brush head and the aforementioned "no go" strip.Personally I think the Neato is a pretty clever little thingm - although hamstrung by some practical considerations. It will get on with the job whilst you are out, but may require some forethought in terms of what you leave lying around. Perhaps a good incentive to be tidier. If you use the app - you get a floor plan/map of the job just done once the Neato has completed its cleaning run. I've seen ours improve over time (quantifiable with the "square meters cleaned" summary figure for each run) - which is possibly both the Neato improving - and us. You will still need to empty it and sometimes get the manual vacuum cleaner out for those tricky and hard to get places. As with Daleks - it does not do stairs so you'll still be doing the upstairs too (or carrying it upstairs!)Linking with Alexa is easy (once you have a Neato account) - it is just a matter of enabling that skill. Then you can lie on the sofa, eating doughnuts and drinking hot chocolate and ask Alexa to get some cleaning done.

29.4.2019

This is my first robot vacuum and i have found it to be better than i expected.Set up.I am not technically minded in anyway and shy away from setting up anything like this normally, so imagine my surprise when I managed to set this up alone, with no assistance from the kids at all!It is not as impressive as I am making it sound, it was as simple as downloading an app and registering, after that it guides you through the few steps that need your input- (wifi connection for instance) and then it is ready to go.Mapping out the rooms it is going to clean is done by the machine itself, you just set it off from your phone and it maps out where it is going to go and then cleans it.Use.I have this downstairs where i have a combination of floor surfaces; smooth tile,textured natural slate tile and short pile carpet.On the short pile carpet i got a really good clean, so good that you can see the lines in the carpet where it has been, rather like a striped lawn.On the bumpy slate tiles it managed to collect all the debris from the floor and inbetween the tiles was clean - something which my quick handheld vacuum struggles with.On the smooth tiles it gave a perfect clean collecting all the dust and hair.Short comings.What i would recommend is using a little common sense and having a quick scout round and clearing things up from the floor before using this, it will snag and struggle on cables so it is important to get these out of its way.Because this is designed to keep away from objects it does leave a decent sized gap between itself and walls/ furniture so any fluff/ dust bunnies hiding close to the edges will be left for you to pick up yourself.It can not go up stairs- obvious i know, but worth mentioning.It takes longer than doing the vacuuming yourself with a stick vacuum, this is because it is so precise, it goes up and down and up and down again where as a quick flick around with your stick vacuum is less organised, more intuitive as you see where the bits are and head straight for them and it’s literally a quick flick around. This can’t see the dirt so cleans EVERYWHERE in a neat and organised manner to make sure it gets everything picked up and everywhere clean.It is louder than my vacuum- this shocked me. It is not like you’re listening to a passing jumbo jet but it does interfere with the T.V sound and is marginally louder than my shark stick cleaner.The machine.This is well designed, it looks very modern and sleek. Watching it scoot around is fascinating, especially when you first get it.The docking base is discreet and looks neat and tidy, when the machine is charging it is silent and you can easily ignore it.As for who this works best for, I’d say busy people who can set it up to go while they are doing something more interesting or even those who struggle with mobility through illness.It would be particularly good for anyone who was not particularly mobile ( like my mother in law) and if you lived in a bungalow, even better as everywhere would be accessible to it.

31.7.2018

After purchasing an Amazon Echo, I discovered that I could use Alexa to control 'smart devices'. I'd previously seem robot vacuums advertised and thought that they were just a gimmick, but I was particularly intrigued by the Neato Botvac D7. I researched the various models from Neato and other manufacturers and came to the conclusion that if I were to purchase a robot vacuum, the D7 would probably be the best option. Considering the price is much higher than traditional vacuum cleaners, I wondered whether I would quickly regret my decision to purchase what might be considered a novelty item.I'm delighted to say that I'm very impressed with it so far.I've had 2 little glitches so far - the first one was when it didn't dock itself after cleaning. The second fault was a little more worrying, as the vacuum appeared to be completely lifeless and wouldn't operate at all. The customer service support was fantastic, and they guided me through all possible scenarios until I was able to establish that the vacuum hadn't docked itself correctly. To be fair, it had been knocked slightly and therefore unseated from its docking position which caused the vacuum to lose its charge overnight. After re-seating it properly against the docking station and leaving it a couple of hours to charge up again, it's been fine ever since.The vacuum cleans thoroughly, picks up (almost) all cat hair, and the carpet and floors look really clean after it has finished. The dust compartment isn't enormous, but it's big enough to capture dust in our reasonably sized apartment. I still haven't got past the novelty value of watching it work, but when I leave it to get on with it's job, it cleans very well and in theory at least, it gives me time to do other things. Controlling it via Alexa provides the additional versatility to allow my disabled wife to ask Neato to clean the house, which she would have found impossible to do from her wheelchair using a conventional vacuum. I would highly recommend this product for anyone considering a robot vacuum who can justify the expense. For me, it's been a very worthwhile purchase.Software has just been updated in December 2018 to allow specific rooms (or zones as they call them) to be cleaned. I received an email yesterday about the update, and today I was able to update the app and the robot vacuum easily. Creating the zones is a piece of cake, and I'm delighted to say it works perfectly. I can now clean single rooms of my apartment, rather than it cleaning the whole area. This is a vast improvement for when you just want to do a quick clean of a particular area of your home. Neato are obviously listening to their customers, and I'm really pleased I purchased the D7. Neato treat their customers well with great backup support when required, and I'm convinced that this as been the best purchase I've made this year. Thank you Neato.

27.4.2019

I am not new to robot vacuum cleaners. We’ve been running RogerTheRoomba for maybe 8 years.If you are thinking of one for the first time1. You will need a separate handheld vac to clean out the tight fitting spaces in the robot vac itself.2. They don’t do stairs.3. You need to prepare the area, removing trailing wires, piles of papers, rug fringes, any liquids in glasses that might be toppled.4. You do need to maintain them, cleaning out long human hairs and bits of wire etc, plus empty the bin, clean the filter.I still hate vacuuming and couldn’t live without one. I have long blond hair and pets that spill dry food and paper bedding. Plus blimey, dust.With a bit of faffing around,

29.12.2019

I bought 2 of these (one for upstairs and one downstairs) to replace my EUFY Robovac 30C’s (which were about 6 months old). My decision was partly because the EUFY’s had an issue with leaving clumps of hair when they ran out of battery and also because they had no smart navigation (they would simply stop cleaning even if they hadn’t done the whole floor).I bought the Neato D750 when it was on sale on Boxing Day at £399 (twice the £189 I paid for the EUFY’s), upon setting them up I realised there were some minor tweaks to how the Neato’s operate (e.g. the base doesn’t give off an IR signal to help navigate the RoboVac back,

10.5.2019

There are literally not enough words to say about this wonderful device. I’ve had it in my home for less than two weeks and it’s never ever leaving.Came well packed and with comprehensive instructions which were easy to read and follow.You literally plug in the charger and connect the vacuum robot to it and you’re good to go. The instructions suggest fully charging the unit first but in fact it came with enough charge to have a good play about immediately.So there appear to be two modes, spot clean and a more comprehensive one. We started with the spot clean as we wanted charge the unit properly before doing a more thorough clean. This lasted around three minutes and the unit cleaned a small area before returning to the charger and docking itself.

5.5.2019

This is an impressive product - very nicely packaged in an attractive looking box, with spare parts included, a quick start guide, a more detailed manual and it was easy to get our first Neato aka “HAL” up and running... We named ours Huey...Downloaded the Neato app to mobile phone and then the fun started - the app is a bit clunky and it didn’t set up smoothly first time - just hung up in the middle of the process which meant I had to start again - it wasn’t as easy to get connected as it ought to have been - you have to connect to the Robot’s WiFi- then bridge it through the app to yours... took me an hour to get this done and there were a couple of times when I wondered whether the effort

18.5.2020

Bought Neato D750 pet edition as have a husky who constantly sheds and this little robot hoover is honestly amazing! Picked up so much dog hair it was incredible! Easy to install and easy to use. App works a treat to create room maps and set 'no go' zones and can even get Alexa to set hoover off, pause and return to base.Also able to program zones so hoover can go over difficult areas e.g. rug in centre of room. Has eco mode and turbo which again helps with areas that get heavily dirty, bit noisy on turbo mode but if you're in another room not that noticeable, and you soon get used to it.Easily navigates around room edges and objects and travels across carpet, rugs and flat floors with ease.

16.5.2019

Firstly, I have to say tis vacuum cleaner is amazing! It is easy to setup just follow the instructions for dock placement etc. in the instruction book, to connect install the Neato and register for an account and then follow the instructions in the app, the whole process takes no longer than 10 minutes.Once setup on the app its ready to make its first run and map out the area that it’s going to hoover so doors to all rooms that you want hovered need to be open. Once the first map has been created you can then add no go lines onto it such as around pet bowls etc. and these lines will not be crossed. You can also setup different zones so you can just ask for one area to be cleaned instead of the whole area on the original map.

Neato Robotics Botvac D7 Connected - Reviews

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