Good Gear Guide
25/05/12
Yesterday, Samsung launched an updated version of its NaviBot robot vacuum cleaner — the NaviBot S. We’re assuming the S stands for ‘slim’, or ‘sleek’, or ‘smart’ (or maybe ’Skynet’), because the NaviBot S promises some interesting upgrades and more user-friendly features.
Samsung's newest and smartest robot vacuum cleaner has some new user-friendly features. It comes at an increased price and we're still unsure as to how capable it is compared to a human, though.
The NaviBot S is noticeably smaller than the previous model. At only 80mm tall it sits very close to the floor, sweeping away unobtrusively — it’s not as chunky as the Roomba 577 or Roomba 530, and its glossy plastic and smooth curves make it look more like the rest of Samsung’s generally attractive home appliance and consumer IT products.
Like the previous NaviBot, the S works with virtual guards to block off difficult areas (stairways, tables and chairs, and so on) so it won’t get stuck or lost. This system would take some setting up initially, but once you’ve got your robot house-trained it should do almost as good a job as a good ol’ fashioned human being — and at a fraction of the cost.
Samsung says the new NaviBot S is a ‘visionary cleaning device’, but we’re guessing this refers to the vacuum’s integrated camera rather than its ability to predict the future. In conjunction with its Visionary Mapping Plus system, the camera lets the NaviBot S build a visual map of your house through photos of your rooms’ ceilings.
This map lets the NaviBot S work out where walls and obstacles lie, and plot the best possible cleaning courses across your floors. Samsung doesn’t profess to say that the mapping is perfect — the vacuum will only try to avoid obstacles — but it’s better than a robot vacuum with no camera.
The camera and map setup also lets the NaviBot S remember where it finished cleaning last time, before recharging or emptying its bin, so it won’t clean spots again unnecessarily.
Another touted feature is the NaviBot S’s ability to sense areas that are dirtier than others — when it is collecting a larger than normal amount of dust — and to give them extra vacuuming and sweeping attention.
It’ll boost its vacuum power in dustier and dirtier areas, so it should handle houses with mixed carpet and wood or tile floors without much fuss. We bet this will impact battery life, but with smart recharging this shouldn’t cause a problem.
The more expensive of the two NaviBot S models in Australia will have an auto dust emptying feature — a first for a robot vacuum cleaner. The charging dock for the NaviBot S also functions as the add-on dustbin, with a 2L capacity. This boosts overall capacity to 2.6L, so the high-end NaviBot S won’t need emptying nearly as often as any other robot vacuum. When it gets full, the NaviBot S will return to the dock to empty itself — minimal human intervention required.
There are two NaviBot S models now available in Australia: the NaviBot S SR8950 for $1099, and the NaviBot S SR8980 for $1299. The higher-priced model includes the Auto Dust Emptying function.
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When article are being generated for public viewing like to like products requires to be compared.
Example the Navibot SR8950 should be compared with Romba 780 ( or 700 series). This is feedback to the article writer.
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Millsy
1
I like the concept, i would like to see one of these reviewed and compared to say a dyson on how much it picks up. If it doesnt come close to how well a dyson picks up then your still going to have to vacuum making this thing a very expensive door stop.
Manu
2
Sounds great especially for working professionals like me who don't really have the time or more importantly inclination to spend my precious weekend time vacuuming.
However there seems to be no mention of how it copes with surfaces such as floorboards and rugs/carpet edges etc. These cleaners are generally only effective in apartments with wall to wall carpets.
Jeff
3
I have wasted my money on one of these. All it does is get stuck on under and around things can't find its base keeps saying it's full. So I basically have to follow it around which means I may as well vacuum the floor by hand.
Liz
4
We have 2 dysons and this Navibot S, it's not going to pick up more than a dyson, but it will clean where you can't and when you're too busy/tired to. It gets under the beds, tv units, buffets etc and its surprising just how much it collects. We have it run Mon - Fri whilst we're at work and it frees up time cleaning after the kids. The dyson is only used at the weekend these days; when it's impractical to have a robot roaming around during the day.