Dyson Spot+Scrub AI Robot Vacuum 2026 Review
▼ Summary
– The Dyson Spot+Scrub robot vacuum failed to clean under furniture with small overhangs, like bookshelves and cabinets, due to its lack of an extendable arm.
– It sometimes wedged itself under obstacles like bathroom cabinets and a bed frame, then struggled to free itself, requiring manual intervention and zone mapping.
– The vacuum performed well on upstairs carpet but had operational issues when cleaning multiple floors, as it would not self-empty or dry its mop pad without its docking station.
– For multi-floor use, the floor with the docking station should be cleaned last to ensure the vacuum is fully emptied and its mop pad is prepared.
– Its namesake AI feature uses a camera to identify stains and determines the scrubbing pattern needed to remove them.
While the Dyson Spot+Scrub AI robot vacuum excels at cleaning open floor surfaces, its performance in tight spaces reveals a significant limitation. During testing, it failed to retrieve two out of three strategically placed Cheerios located under furniture with small overhangs, such as a bookshelf and a freestanding cabinet. The absence of an extendable cleaning arm prevents it from accessing these common problem areas. This spatial challenge was compounded by another issue, the robot occasionally wedging itself under low-profile furniture like bathroom vanities and bed frames, then struggling to reverse out. While the accompanying app allows users to designate no-go zones, the vacuum’s mapping system does not recognize fixed furniture, forcing imprecise manual estimates that can leave entire sections of a room untouched.
Despite these navigation hiccups, the device proved highly effective on carpeted surfaces. Its ability to map multiple floors is a notable feature, though the operational workflow requires careful planning. When the robot finishes cleaning a level without its docking station, it simply returns to its starting point. If you then move it to the dock on another floor, it will charge without performing any post-cleaning maintenance. This means a wet mop pad is not cleaned, dry debris remains in the dustbin, and the dirty water tank is not dried, essentially resetting the unit and forgetting its last task. For optimal multi-floor use, you should schedule cleaning for the floor with the docking station last. This ensures the vacuum fully empties and dries itself after completing its cycle. Proper setup also requires initiating a cleaning cycle while the robot is docked so it can prepare the mopping system, then pausing it via the app or on the device itself before physically relocating it to another level.
The core innovation, and the source of its name, is the integrated AI stain detection system. Using an onboard HD camera, the Spot+Scrub scans floors and employs artificial intelligence to analyze the imagery, identifying specific stains. When a problem area is detected, the robot will engage its scrubbing mechanism, moving back and forth over the spot. The AI calculates the required number of passes to effectively remove the mess, providing a targeted clean for spills and sticky spots that other robots might miss.
(Source: Wired)
