Once upon a time, robot vacuums weren’t exactly super smart. They’d rumble around the house, bumping into anything that got in their way, and would turn around until it happened again and again. While it’s likely that these vacuums would eventually clean most of the surface area of floors in a home, leaving cleaning up to chance isn’t exactly confidence instilling. The Neato Botvac D7 Connected is here to change that though, and while it’s nowhere near the first generation in a line of vacuums that can actually map out your home, it is the first from Neato that can save that map and give you the virtual ability to use that map for a greater purpose.
One of our favorite things about the original Neato Botvac Connected was its ability to map the home in concise detail, and use that map to accurately navigate throughout the home without smashing into furniture or get stuck in closets or corners. Neato’s latest invention not only maps your home, but allows you to save this map for future use and view it at any time via the brand new, overhauled Neato app. This new feature, called MyFloorPlan, allows users to set up virtual barriers to keep the robot out of specific areas of your home. This is opposed to the magnetic barriers that Neato’s other vacuums use, which can be convenient for moving, but still require a bit of extra work. Also useful here is the ability to see where the Botvac D7 Connected has actually been able to clean, and where it might have missed, giving you the opportunity to make sure every nook and cranny of your home is clean without worry.
Neato continues its inter-connectivity with other gadgets by continuing to provide integration with Android Wear, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, Neato ChatBot for Facebook and even IFTTT, making this one of the most robustly connected robot vacuums on the market. Neato is also improving the design over previous generations, keeping the unique D shape, but topping off the build with a metallic finish for extra durability. Neato is also utilizing a new SpinFlow™ system that’s designed to be more careful around furniture, and the ultra performance filter and turbo modes makes sure this one leads the pack in suction. Neato is launching the Botvac D7 Connected in Q4 2017 in the US and Europe for $799/£799/€899.
