iHome AutoVac Nova Self Empty Robot Vacuum & Mop w/ Mapping Expired

I bought this vacuum and the Wyze vacuum to compare to each other. I ended up returning the Wyze vacuum and keeping this one.

Tl;dr: I would recommend this vacuum.

This is my first robot vacuum, and I have been very impressed and happy so far. It does a great job on my hardwood floors with vacuuming, each time it manages to find plenty of dirt and dust that make me realize I was not cleaning nearly enough before. Like another comment mentions, mopping is a joke. They should just call it wet dusting, because it's just a pad that sits in the back of the bot, and it goes forward 3', backwards 1' at a slight swivel, and then repeats that process around the room. Stains are still left on the floor after it goes over it.

The auto-empty feature is really what sold me on it though after using both it and the Wyze. My floor is about 500sq ft and I have one cat, one wife, and a one year old. Even with a daily cleaning, I think I would be emptying the Wyze every third time whereas this just dumps it's junk into the container in the charge station.

I have a large rug that's about 1/2" tall, and it's able to get up on it no problem. I also like that when it senses it's on my rugs, it ramps up to higher suction power compared to the hardwood.

The mapping is amazing, and super accurate. Within the app you can designate rooms and no go zones. The no go zones can be for either no mopping (rugs/carpet) or just total no go (no vacuum or mop). You can designate the rooms as a 1x or 2x clean as well, where it will redo the room again after finishing. Along with the mapping, the logic for cleaning I find is better that Wyze. When it encounters a chair leg, it's much smarter and more intentional about how it will clean a circle around it and the path it takes after.

The areas where I have concerns and I think why you end up getting what you pay for is with the support, app, and availability of parts. I have been unable to find replacement bags for the container anywhere but from iHome directly ($20 for 3 plus shipping). The iOS app has a pretty major flaw where I cannot set a custom schedule, the only ones that work are their premade ones (all days, weekdays, weekends). I messaged support and they said they are aware of the issue but there hasn't been an update to the app in the 3-4 weeks I've owned it. I also asked about support for multi-floor maps and they have no intention to support it. The app itself is responsive though, I can go from a dead close to running a new cleaning in 5ish seconds.

When I first got it I explored running it on my carpeted floors and it did a good job there as well. It actually was able to go over the shag rugs in my bathroom without getting stuck. The roller also didn't get completely full of hair like the Wyze did; this could be good or bad if it wasn't actually able to pick up the hair?

I can confirm that these generic dust bags from Amazon do fit and are the same shape and size as the originals that came with the vacuum. The only difference I noticed, is that the cardboard insert is slightly larger than the original, so it's a bit tighter when sliding it into the slot within the dust bin.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product...UTF8&psc=1

The one on the left in the pictures is the generic one, while the right is the original one that was already installed in the dust bin when I opened it. The dust bin pictured has the generic one installed.

I just want to thank all of you who've commented in this thread so far - every single one of you has added relevant info, and honestly, I don't know the last time I saw that, so I felt compelled to comment. I know that in commenting this, I broke the chain, but I just thought you guys deserved some praise - thank you!