Botvac D502 Connected

I can only compare the Neato Botvac D5 with a Romba as I have had several Romba’s in the past and although they have been good cleaners they always had issues about the different floor types going from one room to another getting stuck easily on inclines or slight height differences between floors and not making it back to the base, also its crash a bang avoidance system on the cheaper models when it’s navigating is rather crude!! and anything fragile on the floor had to be removed otherwise it would be knocked down or moved along with the Romba until it did a random turn to clean in a different direction. Although you will still have to use a manual vacume cleaner for a deep clean every couple of weeks the Neato Botcac D5 is in another league when it come to all the above Romba issues. It seams to clean and navigate the whole floor space upstairs or downstairs effortlessly and returned to base every time without any issues avoiding fragile objects without even touching them, I am really impressed with its Laser Navagation mapping and also once its mapped the area to be cleaned the speed and accuracy of its cleaning is fantastic, Compared to any manual vacume cleaner it’s very quiet but still maintains good suction especially good if you have pets as it seems to find pet hair when you can’t see it on the floor or carpet even after a deep clean with a powerful manual vacuum cleaner. So I highly recommend this product. At the time I was ready to buy one Amazon had it on an Editors Choice or Prime offer so it was only £300 which was a bargain price for such an advance price of kit. Its not only a really cool gadget but it really does help to keep the house clean. The Neato app on my phone gives me all the control and information I need to see the progress of the Botvac and because it’s all controlled and connected from my phone to my Wi-fi you can schedule it to clean at set times and days but I prefer to send it out when I know no ones at home so it nice and clean for when we get back. 10/10.

I bought this D5 connected nearly 2 years ago to replace my aging first generation botvac that had started to malfunction. I had some back and forth with support on the old one, but it was starting to think it was always up in the air as a sensor had gone. It had lasted 4-5 years, and was something we could no longer live without.Enter the D5 connected, having it connect to Alexa wasn’t essential, but it does make it easier, tying it up with other routines like when you leave the house is so useful. It’s performance is superior to the outgoing robot And it can even deal with the very thick rug I had to make the old one avoid. He always picks up stuff off the floor though, even after using our dyson V11 beforehand.Does it replace vacuuming fully? Well no, he can’t do stairs, and anything narrower than him, you can’t. But it does reduce the vacuuming you need to do and he keeps on top of things really well. It’s great to always come back to a clean floor.Reliability: so generally it’s good. You do need to keep on top of maintenance. Change the filters, clean the airways and eventually replace the brushes. But so long as you do that, you’ll find he always picks up everything. Sometimes you can see he’s not done a good job, and it’s usually because he picked up a big chunk of plastic early on and he’s all clogged up. You do need to keep tidy or he’ll get caught up in stuff too. Changing Wi-Fi is a pain, initial setup can be a bit glitchy, but once done, it’s good. Just keep him close to your main router for set up and you’re away.Overall this has been working hard for 2 years ish now and still going strong. When he does finally go, I’ll get a new one for sure!

I have had multiple issues with my Neato; failing to connect to wifi , failing to turn on properly, stuck firmware updates etc. over the last two and a bit years. When working the device did a reasonable job, however my Neato no longer powers on and being a couple of months outside of the warranty period has meant that Neato support want to charge me to have the unit repaired.The device was looked after well, kept cleaned and the filter etc. replaced as recommended. I also never used it that heavily, primarily just to freshen the house between cleaning with a normal upright vacuum.Given how much this cost from new and based on the amount of use I got out of it, I would have been better off hiring a cleaner. I cannot recommend either this brand or product to anyone, Neato's failure to support customers is very disappointing for what is an expensive and premium device.