Neato XV-11 Robotic Cleaner

I have several robotic vacuums, which I've reviewed separately. The Neato XV-11 was purchased after a great deal of research and after reading about the experience of other users on the robotreviews.com forums.

I waited until late May/early June to buy my unit, because I had heard about an update to the robot's software, and wanted to ensure I had the latest version. I was not disappointed.

Unlike the Roomba robots that wander around in a pattern that mimics the behaviour of foraging insects, the XV-11 uses LIDAR (it's like RADAR, but with Laser Light) to measure the distance between it and other objects. By interpreting the reflected invisible light signals, it can create a map of its surroundings, then navigate its way around the room being careful to visit every reachable area, with minimum repetition.

This "intelligent&quot​; navigation allows the XV-11 to guarantee coverage of the current room before it moves to another room. And it does it quickly because it's moving very efficiently. The Roomba, meanwhile, will take substantially longer to clean the same space, because it has no idea which area it has cleaned and which it hasn't - it just keeps working for "long enough" to be reasonably sure it has covered everything.

The difference in the navigation logic means that the XV-11 can devote more of its battery power to "cleaning", and less to "moving around". The Roomba, meanwhile, always has to be sensitive to the fact that it wanders around for longer periods, and therefore, conserves more energy for "moving around".

The Neato XV-11 does a good job on non-carpeted floors, using its superior suction and beater bar that doubles as a rubber sweeper. On carpet, my opinion is that the Roomba is probably a bit better because it has two, counter-rotating brushes (including one with bristles). That said, the Roomba's bristle brush traps hair in all the wrong places (in the bearings) and that brush needs to be thoroughly cleaned after every cleaning cycle. The Neato doesn't have a bristle brush, and the beater bar does not need to be cleaned anywhere near as often. In the first 6 weeks of operation, I have only needed to clean the beater bar one time!

Unless you have an expensive Roomba with the "Lighthouse" technology to help guide the robot, Roombas can take a very long time before they find their home base for docking. The Neato remembers where the dock is (because it maps its surroundings) and therefore can find its way back home much more quickly. It will go home under two circumstances: it's completely done the job; or it's running low on battery power. When the XV-11 needs to go back to its base for charging, it turns off the vacuum motor to conserve power. The Roomba, while searching for its base, continues to vacuum. If the Neato has not yet finished cleaning your whole house when it senses a low battery charge, it will go back to its base, recharge its battery, and then AUTOMATICALLY go back to where it left off and continue cleaning!

The Neato XV-11 is not perfect. Because it's not round like the Roomba, it can get itself stuck in tight spaces, but that doesn't happen often. While its flat front is designed to maximize vacuum efficiency and get into corners more completely than the Roomba, in practice, this hasn't been fully realized, and there is room for improvement.

Overall, however, the

Just a short review:
1. Easy to maintain. Only empty the bin daily, nothing else
2. You can schedule ahead the whole week
3. Average power suction. Good to pick up dust, good for maintainance, does not do a very good cleaning if your floors are really dirty
4. Can clean 100m2 in 45 minutes. Does not cover the same surface twice almost at all
5. Bumps in furniture very little, almost not at all
6. One charge last for 100m2 flat
7. Has found it's base each time
8. Very easy menu
I don't have carpets yet, so I can't coment on that
Compared with other vacuums, does need little maintanance as does't have those brushed who get fill with hair, and gets broked all the time, does not navigate randomly and does not cover a room in 45 minutes, can do 3-4-5 rooms in one charge, enters form room to room until finish the entire area, the noice is not to bad, the power suction is better than in most of the robotic vacuums, does not bumps the furniture, navigates with sensors. I have black wooden floor in living room and black tiles in kitchen, so I don't know what i would have done withouth it. Is not perfect, but it is a piece of technology. I have studied what the market can offer in a matter of inteligent vacuum, and I reached to the conclusion that this is the best for me, and definatelly in top 3 in the world. Good value also.
Downsides:
1. Even if you clean the area so the vacuum doesn't get stucked in cords, shoes, etc, still gets stucked about once a week; you need to free its way
2. Could use a little more power suction
3. Very little cleaning very close to walls
4. Occasionally can miss few areas that has cleaned before on previous occasions
5.people don't speak to much about this, because they write reviews in the first weeks of usage. So, how long can it run withouth problems? well, be prepared to face some problems in the first weeks/months of usage, and continue with problems avery few weeks. My robot, broke it's wheel engine after 4 weeks of usage.Of course customer service are lovely, they will send you a new one, but not all the time.

I have a large, ranch-style home out in the country. I live on a somewhat busy dirt road, and the floors always look terrible. I purchased the Neato XV-11 so I wouldn't have to vacuum, sweep, and mop the entire house (carpet, tile, linoleum, and hardwood) all the time.

Likes:
- It really picks up a lot! I try to empty it after every cleaning, and I am still amazed by how much dirt and fuzz gets picked up each day.
- I LOVE that it has a daily timer. I have it set to clean the house at nine on days that I work, and noon on my days off. I love that the schedule is easy to set and change at any given time.
- Obviously, the greatest thing about the vacuum is that I don't have to do anything!

Dislikes:
- The Neato isn't that great at picking up cat hair. It will get the small stuff, but I have to manually pick up the bigger chunks of hair left by my shedding feline.
- It also doesn't do that well against edges and in corners. I usually vacuum/sweep these areas about once a week or so. The Roomba is better in this regard, but I would still prefer the Neato.
- It doesn't always pick everything up on the first run, especially if it hasn't run for a few days. It really isn't that big of a deal though, because you can just push the start button again and it will get back to work!

Overall, I would recommend this product to anyone who wants a cleaner floor without the extra work. I do not know how well it would be for a multilevel home, but for a ranch-style house, this thing is awesome.

The best robot cleaner I have seen so far. For me it works best with Firmware 2.0, not 2.1, but the differences are not big. In my old House there are small steps from room to room, i would say up to 2,5 cm (1 inch), which I have covered with fillets. The Neato climbs them better than any other robot I have tested. My wife calls mine "robby" and she really likes our new pet. Robby has been cleaning our house every day now for one month and still the mechanical parts, especially the rubber brush is pretty clean. We have a dog and we have quite some dog fur on the floor every day. It picks up close to 100% of the dog fur and all other dirt. It is very flat and fits under the bed, the couch, most cupboards and places, where almost no human cleans every day. Our house is definitely cleaner now. The only minor backdraw is, that it is louder than some other other popular vacuum robots. But I don't care and that is probably the price for real vacuum cleaning. My wife already asked me, if they also offer a mop robot. And for sure, as soon as Neato brings out a mop robot that works as good as the vacuum, I will buy it

So far, after about 3 months, this thing is terrific. It seems to cover the house pretty thoroughly, sucks up a ton of dust/dirt, and otherwise does the job. Here are a couple thoughts/issues that I have:

- While my house is mainly hardwood floors, I do have some pretty thick rugs(sisal style) and it seems to make its way over them quite easily. It does not, however, do very well with those super thick shag carpets.

- Like any vacuum, it does not like chords or cables. Nor does it like things like dust ruffles or curtains that hang on the floor. And, unlike a person who will simply avoid those, it doesn't know any better and will inevitably get hung up. So, you need to proactively make sure things are picked up or cleared before starting.

- It can also get hung up if it tries to go under a couch or other piece of furniture that's has similar clearance to its height, but is slightly lower. For instance, my couch is just high enough for it to get under, but low enough that it can't make is way all the way through. In my case, I simply put a few coasters under the couch legs and now it gets under with no problem and doesn't get wedged in.

- It can occasionally get hung up in tight spaces. For instance, I have a floor lamp in the corner of a room. The Neato gets in behind the floor lamp, is limited in its movement, gets confused, and then is stuck until I remove it. Again, its a simple fix: Either move the lamp closer to the wall so the Neato can't get behind it, or move it out some so it can negotiate a larger space.

In short, you just have to experiment a little bit with your particular home and learn what it doesn't like and then make a few adjustments. But hey, that's part of the fun of having a robot.

I highly recommend this item.