UPDATED: I fooled myself – “Dyson 360 Vis Nav”

Dyson has the fan base every company wants and a marketing department that can compete with Apple.

First published on October 2, 2023.

Updated November 28, 2023:

First: In this test, I made a major mistake that resulted in the robot being unable to return to the charging station on its own. The reason is that during the testing period I did not mount the accompanying plate on the wall and in the charging station. As you can see, it has two icons on each side that are captured by the robot’s cameras. After I installed the panel, the robot had no problem finding its way home.

For this reason, of course, I have to adjust my score, but there is a second problem: my original score was not saved in the reviewer system due to a technical error, so I cannot confirm my original score. What I do is:

• Giving her another point to find her way home on her own based on what I would have given her if she couldn’t
• I give him another 0.5 points, because:

A few weeks ago, Dyson supplied the 360 ​​Vis Nav with new firmware and I’ve been testing it regularly after the update, which offers two advantages I’ve noticed: The battery lasts about 10 to 15 minutes longer thanks to a better balance in power efficiency. , which means that the engine handles it more quietly, more often, and that after the update, it also takes the trouble of driving close to walls to get all the noise. In other words, it seems to be cleaning more regularly.

There are improvements to tracking, but also the same issues where it takes too long to map the room and doesn’t do it at the same time as cleaning, and it doesn’t take care of the power cords from the table to the floor, which has repeatedly resulted in cell phones falling to the floor. I’m glad Dyson is making improvements, and I hope they also give it the ability to identify obstacles in the app with names like Dreame, and that, like the same competing robot, it runs around power cables. I also hope that one day cameras will become so smart that when I put them near the dirt, they will take care of it immediately, and not run away to another part of the room as soon as the opportunity arises.

introduction

Because I’d already been using the company’s vacuums for several years, even before I tested the V15 Detect cordless device, there was no doubt that I was very interested in testing out the company’s new generation of robot vacuums. Not least because this market has entered a new era – the undersigned announced after testing the ‘Dreame L20 Ultra’ that does it all, and which does it well for less than NOK 15,000.

The Dyson vacuum cleaner is… a vacuum cleaner. It’s not a mop. The only thing it promises is effective vacuuming with plenty of suction power and intelligence.

From the press release: “The next generation of smart robot vacuums from Dyson – this is the most powerful robot vacuum on the market, with six times the suction power of any other robot vacuum.”

Specifications (Price: 18,390 NOK)

• The Dyson Hyperdymium motor spins at up to 110,000 rpm
• Tornadoes create forces of 100,000 g
• 26 sensors – 360 degree field of view
• Effective processor
• MyDyson app – Deep cleaning reports – Customize cleaning – Define rules and procedures
• Voice control for Alexa and Google Home
• Triple action brush roll
• Detects and removes microscopic particles using a piezo sensor
• The HEPA filtration system captures dust and traps 99.99 percent of particles
• Metal mesh filter

design

It is very easy to see that it is a Dyson robot vacuum cleaner. In fact, the brush roll is taken from the company’s manual vacuum cleaners. Ditto for the candidate. I like the way they think. The entire product is attractive until you unpack it and get started, which is very easy. The base is basic: only two connection points are needed to charge it, and you have the option of wrapping the power cable on the back of it. I’ll come back to the fact that it’s a good idea.

There are three things to deal with with the machine: the small screen that acts as a power and function button, the filter and the dirt container. All of these parts work satisfactorily and have the great design that Dyson is known for, but there’s also extensive use of plastic, you know.

The application is very simple. It’s the splash screen where you connect to the activity that shows the time, map, and cleaning area for each date. Then you have the start button, which is divided into two parts: room analysis and sweeping. I don’t know why he can’t vacuum and analyze the room at the same time.

Finally, cleaning is scheduled, which is self-explanatory. You can also set up zones and specify places where the robot is not allowed to drive. Oddly enough, this is ‘hidden’ away from the general settings which also include voice control, rather than being placed with the rest of the basic functions.

Functions and use

Dyson’s solution has a big advantage: the entire front of the robot is a brush, unlike traditional robot vacuums that have a little “whisper” and a roller on the underside that work together to collect dirt. There’s no doubt that the Dyson robot vacuum has the best ‘dry dirt’ suction power I’ve tested. It absorbs molecules that you can’t see.

A look into the dirt bin a few days later reveals this, and although the floor is by no means muddy, it has managed to pick up dirt that I can’t see:

The 360 ​​Vis Nav is also surprisingly quick to get around, faster than the Dreame, there’s no doubt about that. The robot also has a sensor that detects if it’s too dirty – I can assure you if you hear it when you activate this mode. What is with you no What you want to hear is whether it’s dead, charging, working, or on its way to the charging station: you’ll have to check the app if there’s no speaker.

I’ve now actually looked at the functions available, and although there’s no need for a mop, I wish Dyson, at over NOK 15,000, had at least delivered with a larger waste bin at the charging station. With this, you just have to forget about staying away for a couple of weeks and expect things to be clean.

Now this is something, and I don’t know if I should call it shocking, but I’m at least pretty surprised at how stupid it is. Over and over he gets stuck in the same chair legs Who stands in the same place. Why doesn’t he learn? Can’t see?

I don’t know what was/wasn’t happening, but when it hit its power cable twice in a row, thus disconnecting its charging option, I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. I chose to laugh because I didn’t pay for it.

It has to be said that I moved the charging station once after testing it in the same room several times, but that’s no excuse: not only should it be able to avoid wires like the Dreame, but shouldn’t it also learn? After all, it took a few hours to scan a room of about 30 square meters. And it’s tidy too.

Conclusion

It’s one thing to admit that Dyson products are more expensive than average because they are smartly designed and easy to use. I can even forgive them for offering fewer features than competitors if the ones present are there better whole group. What saves this robot is that it picks up even very small particles and has strong suction.

But the problem with 360 Vis Nav is that it lacks the functionality it’s worth for the price (automatic garbage emptying), it’s not smarter than competitors but it’s actually unable to avoid things and it Synchronized It is more expensive. Remember when I wrote that Dreame saved my MacBook Pro from freezing to the floor because he saw the charging cable fall out of the ground? I don’t trust Dyson to have done the same thing.

Battery life is also not very good (about 1 hour) in ‘auto’ mode, so perhaps here Dyson should instead consider moderating the suction power for a more balanced experience – the whole point is that it should cover larger areas when you’re not like that. at home. The fact that I never felt confident that it would be able to drive itself to the charging station exacerbates the problem. I have sat down a few times and noticed that it is unable to connect to the charger even though it is sm. From the target.

The combination of all this is hard to take in and I have to admit I’m disappointed. Maybe firmware updates could help the product in port with price cuts?