6 ms·

I haven't kept up in recent years. Who are the better competitors these days?

vosper 3y ago
I don’t know if they’re better, but from watching reviews I believe Roborock and Dreame are considered pretty good competitors. I’m certainly happy with my Roborock (which has no cameras, and their latest model also comes in a no-camera variant) I wouldn’t touch an iRobot (or any camera vacuum) after their camera scandal: https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/12/19/1065306/roomba-irobot-robot-vacuums-artificial-intelligence-training-data-privacy/amp/ https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/12/19/1065306/roomba-i...
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]
- KerrAvon 3y ago
  FWIW, production Roombas don't send pictures back to the mothership. The scandal was that pictures from development Roombas -- explicitly expected to be reviewed by humans -- leaked.
JoshGlazebrook 3y ago
Roborock is miles ahead of Roomba.
- BossingAround 3y ago
  In what ways? The Roomba J7 I'm using is pretty amazing at what it does; the only thing I'd appreciate would be a remote control for some manual cleaning. The automatic stuff is pretty great.
  - izacus 3y ago
    For starters, the best Roborock supports improved mopping, including a dock with self-emptying container, self-cleaning mop and proper refills. Together with noticably better obstacle avoidance algorithm. The new Xiaomi versions now even sport extendible arms to reach corners fully.
    - Izkata 3y ago
      On mops: The newest Dreame model can actually disconnect the mops and leave them in the dock, so because of the relationship through Xiaomi people seem to expect that to come soon to Roborock as well.
  - ponector 3y ago
    Roborock can do more with lower price tag. Isn't it "miles ahead"?
darknavi 3y ago
Roborock (Xiaomi) and Dreame are the big players from what I see. Both conveniently have models that can be "de-clouded" with Valetudo: https://valetudo.cloud/ https://valetudo.cloud/
datavirtue 3y ago
Does it matter? We are talking about fun consumerist novelties facing a shrinking population with shrinking disposable income. No one needs these "things."
- bombcar 3y ago
  That’s the real issue. As far as I can tell everyone who wants a robot vacuum already has one, and if they’re crappy enough that you’d upgrade, they’re also crappy enough that you’ll likely just give up. If they work, you’d not feel the pressure to upgrade.
driscoll42 3y ago
I usually look at rtings robot vacuum reviews for recs: https://www.rtings.com/vacuum/reviews/best/robot https://www.rtings.com/vacuum/reviews/best/robot

I don’t know if they’re better, but from watching reviews I believe Roborock and Dreame are considered pretty good competitors. I’m certainly happy with my Roborock (which has no cameras, and their latest model also comes in a no-camera variant) I wouldn’t touch an iRobot (or any camera vacuum) after their camera scandal: https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/12/19/1065306/roomba-irobot-robot-vacuums-artificial-intelligence-training-data-privacy/amp/ https://www.technologyreview.com/2022/12/19/1065306/roomba-i...

deleted 3y ago
[deleted]
KerrAvon 3y ago
FWIW, production Roombas don't send pictures back to the mothership. The scandal was that pictures from development Roombas -- explicitly expected to be reviewed by humans -- leaked.

JoshGlazebrook 3y ago

Roborock is miles ahead of Roomba.

BossingAround 3y ago
In what ways? The Roomba J7 I'm using is pretty amazing at what it does; the only thing I'd appreciate would be a remote control for some manual cleaning. The automatic stuff is pretty great.
- izacus 3y ago
  For starters, the best Roborock supports improved mopping, including a dock with self-emptying container, self-cleaning mop and proper refills. Together with noticably better obstacle avoidance algorithm. The new Xiaomi versions now even sport extendible arms to reach corners fully.
  - Izkata 3y ago
    On mops: The newest Dreame model can actually disconnect the mops and leave them in the dock, so because of the relationship through Xiaomi people seem to expect that to come soon to Roborock as well.
- ponector 3y ago
  Roborock can do more with lower price tag. Isn't it "miles ahead"?

darknavi 3y ago

Roborock (Xiaomi) and Dreame are the big players from what I see. Both conveniently have models that can be "de-clouded" with Valetudo: https://valetudo.cloud/ https://valetudo.cloud/

datavirtue 3y ago

Does it matter? We are talking about fun consumerist novelties facing a shrinking population with shrinking disposable income. No one needs these "things."

bombcar 3y ago
That’s the real issue. As far as I can tell everyone who wants a robot vacuum already has one, and if they’re crappy enough that you’d upgrade, they’re also crappy enough that you’ll likely just give up. If they work, you’d not feel the pressure to upgrade.

driscoll42 3y ago

I usually look at rtings robot vacuum reviews for recs: https://www.rtings.com/vacuum/reviews/best/robot https://www.rtings.com/vacuum/reviews/best/robot