After lots of questions about my Instagram story showing our robot vacuum, the Neato Botvac Connected, I decided to create a blog post about the model we purchased back in February. It really is life changing so I knew I had to share for anyone else considering one. We decided to purchase a robot vacuum since we have two dogs who shed non-stop and also because we have a baby on the way. Anything I can take off of my house cleaning list to free up more of my time is a game changer. Plus our floors will be much cleaner when we have a baby crawling around on them.
After a ton of research and review-reading (because I always do way too much research on any large purchase before I buy), I decided on the Neato Botvac Connected. I ordered it from Amazon since they had the best price and of course free 2-day shipping since we are prime members.
The day it arrived I was so excited and couldn’t wait for it to charge up so I could see it in action. The first time we ran “Wall-E” (you can name it whatever you want) Justin and I watched it for a while (in amazement) just to see how it maneuvered around the furniture and navigated the house.
We were very impressed with how it didn’t ram into furniture and how well it got against walls, into corners and underneath and around furniture. It really does a better job than we do using the big vacuum. It also has a little brush on the side that spins to brush against walls.
The final test came when “Wall-E” was finished cleaning and we emptied the dirt bin (which is super easy and convenient to do). Holy cow!! It was full of dirt and dog hair! Now that I have it run every day the bin isn’t completely full, but it is still full enough for me to be embarrassed that sometimes I would only vacuum once a week with the big vacuum before getting this. Insert all of the embarrassed-face emojis!
The cool thing is you can set a schedule for it to run every day or only certain days and at a certain time so you don’t even have to think about it! You do all of this through the phone app which is super easy to use. I decided to try having it run downstairs at night while we sleep, so I have it set to start at 12:30 am every day. (I wouldn’t recommend running it at night if you sleep on the same floor it will be cleaning because it is a little loud).
At first, I thought I would only have it run every other day but after I saw how much dirt it was picking up I decided we needed it every day! It also sends you a map of where it cleaned once it is done. It is pretty awesome waking up to dog hair-free floors every morning!
Since we have two levels, I just carry it upstairs when I want it to clean up there and take it back downstairs to its docking station when it’s done. The app will send you notifications if it gets stuck or needs its bin cleaned etc…most of the time. Sometimes it doesn’t send notifications to my phone, not sure why.
Below I’ve listed an overview of why I chose the Neato Botvac Connected instead of the Roomba 980, plus some pros and cons.
Why I chose the Neato Botvac Connected over the iRobot Roomba 980
- Works in the dark
- Cheaper
- Larger dirt bin
- Wider brush – faster cleaning
- Better reviews for pet hair
Pros
Everything listed above plus:
- Wifi connected – you can control it from the phone app
- Gets under things the big vacuum can’t fit under
- Works on hardwood, carpet and area rugs
- Sends you maps of the area cleaned (see photos below)
- Comes with a barrier strip to mark off areas you don’t want it to go
- It doesn’t have issues going from hardwood to area rugs
- You can set up a schedule so you don’t even have to think about running it
- The dirt bin and brush are very easy to clean
- You can get other things done while your house gets vacuumed!
Cons
- Battery life – it will do all of downstairs on one charge but if I have it do every room upstairs sometimes it needs to charge before it can finish. Most days I close the doors to the guest bedrooms so it doesn’t clean those and it will do it all on one charge.
- It doesn’t do stairs haha – won’t that be amazing when they come out with one that can!?
- Sometimes it gets under the bed and tries to come out at the foot where the clearance isn’t as high and it will get stuck. Now I have the barrier strip at the foot of our bed so it won’t try to go under that way anymore.
- A few times it pushed it’s docking station down the wall while cleaning and then can’t find it when it goes to dock itself. It doesn’t happen that often though.
- The app doesn’t always send notifications when it gets stuck
Tips for Using the Neato Botvac Connected
- Pick up any cords, or shoes with shoelaces before running
- For extra cleaning, put chairs up on the table so it doesn’t have to go around chair legs. (I do this every once in a while but not every day)
- Check the brush weekly and clean any strings or hairs from it
- Take advantage of the scheduling! I definitely recommend running it at night while you’re sleeping.
Click here to see the Neato Botvac Connected on Amazon.
Other Robot Vacuums I Researched
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