Neato’s Wi-Fi enabled Botvac Connected robot vacuum can be controlled with your Apple Watch. That’s cool, but it’s only one of the cool things about this robo-vacummer, which can be controlled from Apple and Android smartwatches.
The Botvac Connected was tested for two weeks in a large carpeted auditorium at Northside Church in Nashville, TN, with 72 large benches for seating. Anyone who has vacuumed a large auditorium with benches knows the challenges of the job. Most vacuums are too big to move between the benches and the time required to complete the job is extensive.
The Botvac Connected comes well packaged; we (Yours Truly and the Northside staff) were instantly impressed with the quality of the machine. Setup was simple and straightforward. The Botvac performed extremely well, moving quietly between benches and down the aisles. It easily reached areas that have not been vacuumed in a long time due to the difficulty of reaching them.
The strength of the vacuum was excellent, pulling the pile of the carpet up as one would expect. The setup of the phone app (we used it on an iPhone) was simple and worked as advertised. Starting the vacuum with a simple click of the button was a breeze. The app also regularly updated you with the progression of the Botvac—vacuuming, recharging, needing to be emptied, etc.
The online videos were excellent in introducing the Botvac and maintaining it. They were both clear and helpful. You should certainly watch the videos before using the machine.
The Botvac Connected takes some time to find all the areas that need vacuuming. I hope it will continue to expand its coverage as it misses some areas occasionally.
The trash bend is much smaller than expected. While it did not affect the vacuuming of a large auditorium, if used where there’s a lot of debris on the floor, one would be emptying the container quite often. Of course, scheduling the Botvac on a regular basis will minimize the build-up of trash on the floor.
Speaking of the Botvac app, it lets you control your Neato robot from wherever you are. You can set a schedule, set your robot to clean from wherever you are, clean your whole house, or choose spot clean (and even choose to cover the area twice for extra cleaning), stop or pause the robot, and get instant notification about the status of your vacuuming run.
The $699 robot includes a combo brush and spiral blade brush. There are two cleaning modes: Eco mode for a quieter, longer cleaning run, and Turbo mode for a “super powered cleaning with maximum pickup.”
Overall, the Botvac meet my and our church’s expectations; in fact, our church plans to buy one. And several of our members want one of their own after seeing it in action.
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