Samsung NaviBot Vacuum Review

I recently had the Samsung NaviBot vacuum cleaner to use for two weeks. My initial thoughts was that these robotic vacuum would not be able to clean a home or area as well as manual vacuuming or any other manual ways of cleaning.
From experience, sweeping does not clean the floor; sweeping merely MOVES the dirt and dust from point A to point B. What could be scooped up by the dirt-pan is good, what couldn't ends up on the floor...out of sight, out of mind perhaps?
The unit i received was in dark blue. I had to charge it and within an hour plus, it was fully charged and ready. The manual that came with it did not have English and i presumed it might be detached from the previous person that tested it. Missing was also the remote controller, which meant i can't use this as a remote control (RC) vacuum to chase my kids around.
The Outlook
This machine is build tough. It weigh at least 3kg and solid feel. With rubber bumpers at the edges which also has proximity sensors to prevent it from rolling off edges or bumping into expensive vase or items at home. In fact, it is known to be pet friendly. Meaning, it will not suck your pet's tail when the vacuum is working to clean up those hairs!

Black parts above are the IR sensors to detect any obstruction. The rubber bumper is built tough. There are little brushes protruding out that actually reaches out beyond the vacuum to sweep in dirt for the vacuum to suck up. Think of it like hands that pulls in food to the vacuum.

Turning it over you will see the driving wheels which are knob to move even over carpeted surface. Then the yellow portion is the mouth of the vacuum that eats up anything that comes it way. Visible is the three-pronged brushes that will push dirt towards the yellow portion.
The unit comes with two additional sensors that Samsung calls the "virtual guards". They are dual function which could act either as "fence" or "guide". By mean of "fence", it will provide a invisible barrier to prevent the vacuum from even touching precious items in the home. This meant the unit WILL not bump into anything that has the sensor "guard" as "fence".
An example available on the net shows mostly the unit working to prevent the vacuum from disturbing or going near a pet that is sleeping.

Image from Cnet Aussie

My honest opinion is that this will not work. The unit is loud enough to awaken any pets. I still see the sensors as useful to protect or demarcate "precious items" area.

The units are powered by two C-sized batteries. Tested them and it did work. Intelligent enough to prevent any unwanted breakages at home.

The unit holds the dirt it sucked up in a detachable see through canister. The canister has a HEPA (or High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter. There is an extra unit in the packaging.

The whole package is well thought off. It provides the owner/user enough of items to make  this robot smart enough to clean the house by it's own.

But how does it perform in real life?

The Cleaning

Here is a video review that i did on the NaviBot.

Pretty self explanatory and you can hear how it actually in operation as well. Pardon the narration as it was done impromptu. :)

The vacuum can be set to operate on timer. Meaning, you can actually set them to clean the house while you are away and you can come home to a clean home (surface). It has a "circular" motion movement that is good if you have a large open space and the vacuum will start cleaning up from the middle and move outwards in a circular movement, else, the default is per the video above.

Do the unit return to base after completion of the task?

You bet. I was doubly impressed how it actually locate the base unit and "park" itself to be charged!

See the video below and you know what i meant. Sorry about the orientation and pardon my son trying to confuse the unit. I hid the base under a stool as a "discreet" way. It will come out from hiding when on duty!

Pretty cool eh?

So, DID it really clean as well as claimed in the videos above???

Oh yes. I had to clean the dust canister every 2 days. It suck up all the dust that sweeping can't!

The amount of dust may varies. If you stay in an apartment or condo, you might not get as much dust as you are on elevated ground. But if on landed property with constant dust flying at ground level, it makes a lot of differences!

And the above doesn't meant our home is dirty. It just meant NaviBot cleaned it up really well!

Verdict

At RM2399, it is certainly an expensive gadget to own. More so if you read so little or actually seen it in action.I would be skeptical too if someone tells me that parting with RM2399 would make "my life cleaner and easier". 

After 2 weeks of having the unit runs around the home and cleaning up perhaps a few bagful of dirt/dust/hair, it was certainly a painful parting when i had to return the unit. That also meant back to manual sweeping using a broom and/or a microfiber clothes that traps dirt.

If you can afford it, i say go for it. It helps a lot. Possibly can save you more time so you can have more time with your family!

For more details of this awesome robotic vacuum, head on to Samsung.com

We are awaiting for the price to drop a tad more to consider buying it for the home. Period.

Missing NaviBot!