expired Posted by Numus19 • Feb 16, 2021
Feb 16, 2021 2:22 PM
Item 1 of 2
Item 1 of 2
expired Posted by Numus19 • Feb 16, 2021
Feb 16, 2021 2:22 PM
Shark IQ Robot Vacuum with Self-Empty Base and Smart Mapping - Costco - $319.99 + 9.99 shipping and handling
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Only thing I believe I can distinctly tell is different is that I can hear the motors for the side brushes - also has transparent plastic for the side sensors - otherwise it seems to be the same hardware-wise (other than the new sensor of course). It also announces audibly when it's returning to dock (original model/Jan 10th firmware just lowers vacuum power/brush roller when returning to dock - new model does the same but with the "docking" sound).
Mine came with the September 7th firmware - saw some posts on redflagdeals that there's firmware up to Dec. 19th but seems the only way to kick off firmware updates is to call support... and a changelog would also be nice. Regardless, I just started running it for full floor cleaning so it'll be a few days before I can find out if it performs better/doesn't get "lost" as often/has more tolerance for light changes compared to the original model.
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Overall however it is still a decent value. I run it most weekdays and I have to empty the bin every week. I have a long haired border collie who is quite the shedder and his hair does require me to clean out the brushes every week or so. This requires disassembling the brush assembly and teasing out strands of dog hair that are wrapped around the spindle. It only takes a minute, but if you dont do it occasionally the robot will cease vacuuming and declare that there is an obstruction under it. I was quite confused the first time that happened.
The app is middling to poor. Despite running it for about 2 months now, it has yet to tell me it has finished building the floor map. Strangely however when reviewing the daily run history it generates a map of where it has traveled and it indeed has comprehensively mapped the floor of my house. However I am unable to subdivide my floor space into rooms (which admittedly has limited functionality due to the poor app). My parents also have one, and theirs finished mapping within a week.
It does track well and I like seeing nice, cleanly vacuumed paths on my carpet every day. It does better on the short-pile carpet than hardwood. My first foray into robot vacuums was an Ecovacs deebot n79, which is an inexpensive dumb vacuum that bounces all over. The ecovacs honestly had superior suction and a much larger bin size, so on a day to day basis under perfect conditions the $200 ecovacs actually did a better job cleaning. But, the ecovacs was dumb, relied on luck or me strategically opening and shutting doors, and would often trigger its falling sensor and halt cleaning on air vents or some area rugs. It also had to be emptied every day- which is a dusty chore that is quite easy to forget. The smart pathing, greater reliability, and automatic empty of this make it worth putting up with other shortcomings simply because I can just ignore this thing and it does a good enough job tidying up with minimal input from me.
(The deebot got retired to my basement, where it has no vents to get stuck on and it does a great job there still and I highly recommend it for a house with a simple floor plan and which does not have air vents in the floor for it to be disabled by)
I have yet to have it become lost and run out of power, with the exception of when it will push a door shut and trap itself in a room. It is neither the loudest nor quietest robot vacuum I have heard. It is not unpleasant to be in a room with it, although you will know that it is on.
Overall I am generally pleased with the product, bearing in mind that it costs about half of what its main competing model for self-emptying vacuums costs. The application for smart phones seriously needs work however and I suspect software can fix many of the shortcomings more featured and expensive vacuums have... if I can set up "rooms" on the map, why can I not schedule different days for different rooms? My first floor is too large for it to clean on one battery charge entirely, and it charges very slowly. The app also teased me with a "charge and resume" function, which I enabled, but I have yet to actually see the machine use it.