I have owned a grand total of one robot vacuum cleaner prior to the Dyson Spot+Scrub AI. However, I have owned two cordless Dyson vacuums in my lifetime—so believe me when I say one does not replace the other. The one being a robot vacuum and the other being a traditional vacuum cleaner, that is. I was left largely unimpressed with my first robot vacuum cleaner, mostly because I still had to supervise and rescue it whenever it fell into the trenches of my one-inch-below-floor-level bathroom or it got stuck running over my pet water bowl. But it’s been well over 10 years since my first, and so I figured that technology must surely have improved. After all, the Dyson Spot+Scrub AI is supposedly the best of the best, sitting in the premium category at RM5,999.
What’s in the tech
First things first: here’s what sets the new Dyson robot vacuum apart. It’s AI-powered to detect stains and eliminate them by way of a high-resolution camera and green laser illumination to visually inspect the floor. It has object recognition and avoidance for nearly 200 everyday items, so you won’t have to worry about it trying to climb over things on the floor or dragging pet faecal matter. The machine is also equipped with LiDAR and AI-based mapping with adjustable room labelling via the MyDyson app.
The robot vacuum also comes with an extending roller, which moves to reach edges for optimal cleaning performance, while the wet roller is self-cleaning. The dock itself is a work of art, featuring a bagless, cyclonic dock with up to 100 days of capacity. It automatically empties dry debris using powerful cyclones from the robot vacuum every time you’re done.
How the tech measured up
The tech sounds impressive, but whether it measures up against daily use is another thing. Here’s how I used it in a 750-sqft apartment with two bedrooms and two bathrooms, plus two cats who love wrestling each other (thus shedding lots of hair).
Ease of use
It’s best to operate via the Dyson app, although it is possible to simply press the power button and let the Spot+Scrub AI run on its own. However, you won’t be able to customise the cleaning process if you do the latter. The app is easy enough to operate, but I did notice challenges in “connecting” to the robot vacuum, particularly if it’s been idle for a few days. I have discovered a workaround, which is to let the robot “power up” in the dock for a few minutes before it can be connected to the app.
A single run is more than sufficient without it needing to charge. In fact, a full charge can last two to three consecutive runs, which I find to be quite impressive. If you’ve left the robot vacuum unused for several days, it will eventually power off and lose battery, but recharging it to a level enough to run one pass doesn’t take too long.
Hygiene factor
The dock with three cylinders (cyclone bin, dirty water tank, and clean water tank) is perhaps my favourite part of the design. There’s something quite satisfying about watching the cyclone emptying out the vacuum is done with its run. The fact that I don’t need to manually dig out the debris from the robot vacuum itself is a huge plus point. Did I mention that I also don’t need to refill the tank inside the robot vacuum as it will automatically clear out the dirty water and then refill it with clean water from the dock’s tank? Chef’s kiss. Replenishing the tank on the dock is as easy as sliding it out with its nifty handle that’s also flush with the dock design when closed. Fair warning to empty out the dirty water tank after each pass, though—you don’t want to smell how nasty dirty water can get after a few days marinating in the tank.
On the topic of hygiene, the wet roller is also self-cleaning and self-drying once it goes home to the docking station, ensuring there’s no mould or smell after. It’s worth noting that if you’re extremely particular, you can remove the wet roller to wash it manually.
Vacuuming and mopping
Of course, does the machine live up to its actual purpose? Yes and no. The actual vacuum function works well and successfully avoids obstacles. It’s designed to go over carpets and stop the mop function while on the carpet, but it struggles slightly with thinner rugs, which sometimes get stuck between the wheels. When that happens, I would need to rescue it. Otherwise, it sweeps up dust, debris, pet hair, and human hair well. It has an anti-tangle brush bar that is engineered to help remove long hair and pet hair from carpets and hard floors with minimal tangling around the roller, something I’ve always needed to cut off manually.
Its mop function works well enough with a caveat: it needs to run on smooth floors. The floors in my apartment is slightly textured, which tends to catch dirt in those textured wood crevices. While the mop worked on the surface level, a closer look showed wheel streaks on the floors. Another unusual problem occurred during the mop function as well—I would occasionally find a drop of dirty water on the floor. It’s not often enough for it to be an issue, but enough for it to be a minor annoyance.
The mop function does come with a nifty feature: it can extend from side to side to catch corners when mopping, something most robot vacuums often miss because of its round design. Finally, the mop function has a feature I appreciate that most other brands do not support—using your own floor detergent. The docking station has a dedicated slot specifically for floor cleaner solutions, allowing the machine to dispense the correct amount of solution during each wash automatically. While Dyson also has its own specialised floor cleaner solution, it doesn’t stop you from using your preferred brand.
Final thoughts
The Dyson Spot+Scrub AI retails for RM5,999 (although at press time, we see a RM1,700 discount on the website), putting it at a higher price point than most other robot vacuums. I enjoyed utilising it to the fullest, although it was fairly challenging to find a spot in my smaller home to fit the large docking station. There are certain workarounds I have to make to compensate for the robot vacuum—droplets of dirty water, thinner rugs getting caught in the wheels—which can feel slightly annoying, as that means you can’t truly be hands-off. All that depends on what level you’re willing to compensate for these workarounds; otherwise, the Spot+Scrub AI is a pretty nifty machine to have in the home.
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