Experience the Dyson 360 Vis Nav robot vacuum cleaner for yourself

The British manufacturer’s new sweeping robot, the Dyson 360 Vis Naz, has finally landed in the United States. I just got my hands on the $1,199 machine ahead of its official release on March 19, and have some early thoughts to share.

This is Dyson’s second attempt at entering the U.S. robot vacuum market (the first was in 2016), and the Vis Nav’s giant wheels bring a lot to the table. Dyson says it has up to 65 watts of suction power, making it the most powerful robot vacuum you can buy. Combined with a very unique design and a very large, fluffy brush, there’s a lot to like here.

Vis Nav has completely redesigned the Dyson 360 Eye (which was only sold briefly in the United States) to be thinner, shorter, and wider than its predecessor. The new design should mean it can be hidden under furniture and better suited to larger US homes. These are the issues facing Eye, and why Dyson decided not to sell its second robot vacuum cleaner, the 360 ​​Heurist, in the United States.

Unlike most robot vacuums, the Vis Nav has a D-shape with a square head that accommodates the largest, fluffiest, and plushest robot vacuum brushes I’ve ever come across. What a joy this is! The brush is positioned right in front of the robot, which means it should reach the edges and corners of the room.

Side actuator brushes use the robot’s suction power to pick up dirt from the floor, rather than relying on sweeping brushes like most robots. Below are two huge tank-like wheels that Dyson says can traverse obstacles up to 21mm tall. It has a lower profile of 3.9 inches, which means it can fit under a sofa.

The Vis Nav is a vacuum cleaner that moves autonomously, not a robot that vacuums — they look like the same thing, but they’re not. Its only goal is to suck dirt from the floor. It doesn’t mop floors, babysit your pets, or try to be anything other than a wheeled vacuum cleaner. Its impressive suction power is the closest to a stick vacuum of any robot vacuum. Add the Dyson Hyperdymium motor and you have a powerful vacuum cleaner.

According to Dyson’s John Ord, the vacuum has a maximum suction power of 65 air watts, with a standard pulling power of 10 to 10.5 air watts. Ord says that even at lower levels, the Vis Nav has twice the suction power of its competitors. Most robot vacuums are measured in pascals (PA); Ord declined to provide a direct comparison to power amps, instead stating that air watts are a more accurate measure of suction power. (This is the measurement used for a stick vacuum, which is still more powerful than the Vis Nav. Dyson’s Gen5 stick vacuum has 280 air watts.)

However, the Vis Nav lacks most of the bells and whistles we’d expect from a robot vacuum that costs over $1,000. There is no automatic base emptying, no floor mopping, no artificial intelligence obstacle avoidance, no lidar navigation, and no security camera function. It also only runs for a maximum of 65 minutes; even the most budget bot I’ve tested can run for two hours. But in exchange, you get suction power. If you regularly struggle with dust, dirt, and pet hair on your floors, this might be the robot for you.

On its first cleaning trip at my house, the Vis Nav demolished a pile of dry oatmeal in seconds; other robots start by tossing flakes around with a side brush and then get it all clean in two or three passes. That’s because most robot vacuums have shorter main and side-sweep brushes that could theoretically push debris into their path. In effect, this sweeping motion also spins these particles out of reach of the robot. Dyson’s design seems to solve this problem.

When the suction power is high, the noise is also high. The Vis Nav lingered in my kitchen for an hour and was loud, especially when it detected dirt and kicked up to full power.I can too look suction. As it passed some papers on a low shelf, they rustled in the robot’s wind!

While I haven’t had time to test its mapping (it’s a simultaneous positioning and mapping system that uses an upward-facing 360-degree camera), early impressions are that its navigation is smooth.

It rolls smoothly around objects and seems smart enough to navigate my floor. Initial reviews of the vacuum when it launched in Europe last year complained about its navigation capabilities, but Dyson told me the system has been improved ahead of its U.S. release.

I hope that’s true because it’s a powerful machine roaming around my house. I’m worried about my daughter’s double bass rolling in and it really trying to eat my large rug fringe – but it decides not to and walks away.

Dyson says the Vis Nav has an “advanced processor” that can “think and adapt” to data collected from 26 sensors to avoid obstacles, detect dust and find walls. But without AI-powered obstacle avoidance, it doesn’t know what it’s avoiding (so, yes, it might get up close and personal with pet poop). On its first trip through my cluttered downstairs, nothing tripped it and it made its way back to base.

The lack of a self-emptying charging base is a bit of a nuisance for me, but Dyson at least put a huge 500ml bin on this thing so it doesn’t need to be emptied as often. I like the quick release buttons for easy handling without getting my hands dirty.

Another design decision I really don’t like is the color. It’s a very big, very blue/purple robot with a serious sci-fi vibe. It doesn’t quite match my mid-century decor. However, without a huge self-emptying base to deal with and given its lower profile, hiding this thing under a sofa is doable. (Although Dyson advises you shouldn’t do this).

Here are some of the other features Dyson is touting for its new robot. As mentioned, I’ve been using Vis Nav for two hours, so I haven’t done any testing of these claims. Check back for my full review in the coming weeks.

• Piezoelectric sensors detect the amount of dust on the floor so the vacuum can automatically increase suction power.
• HEPA filters capture up to 99.99% of dust particles as small as 0.1 microns. The whole machine adopts a fully sealed HEPA filtration system to keep dust inside.
• There are four cleaning modes: Auto mode analyzes dust levels and adjusts suction power; Quick mode avoids edges and cleans only open areas; Silent mode; and Boost mode for deep cleaning.
• Vis Nav is controlled from the MyDyson app or the LCD screen on the device. It works with Amazon Alexa and Google Home for voice control and routines. It is incompatible with matter.
• The app allows for mapping, cleaning of specific rooms, and assigning “restrictions” such as no-go areas and no-climbing areas.
• According to Dyson, the images captured by the camera never leave the robot. “We only capture features from the image that are used for navigation, which are temporarily stored on the device and then deleted.”

The Dyson 360 Vis Nav will be available on Dyson.com and select retailers starting March 19 for $1,199.

Photography: Jennifer Pattison Tuohy/The Verge