Dyson 360 Vis Nav review (Image: DYSON)
There’s no doubt this robot vacuum has some serious lungs packed inside it
What we love
- Power leaves floors spotless
- Good battery life
- Rarely gets stuck
- Easy set-up and controls
- Simple to empty and clean
What we don’t
- Very expensive
- Can miss muck left on floors
- Best results if room cleared first
Dyson has made bold claims about the power of its new 360 Vis Nav and there’s no doubt this robot vacuum has some serious lungs packed inside it. Thanks to a new Hyperdymium motor – which spins at up to 110,000rpm – there’s really not much it won’t suck up.
Set-up is pretty simple, there’s an easy-to-use app and its futuristic design will certainly have guests asking what it is when they pop around for a quick cuppa. There’s an impressive 50-minute battery life which is helped thanks to Dyson’s clear Piezo sensor that detects when there’s more dust on the floors – boosting the suction accordingly. That automatic suction technology works really well and you can hear the power increasing as it finds more filth on your floors.
We’ve put the 360 Vis Nav through all sorts of mucky tasks and it’s performed well with our home appearing pretty spotless after each clean. However, there are times when it does miss things and to get the best results you do need to get rid of obstacles like charging wires, mats and pet bowls.
Obviously, it won’t climb your stairs and with a price of £1,199, it’s ludicrously expensive. In fact, you could buy four Dyson V8s and still have change left in the bank.
If you really want a robot vacuum, love the Dyson brand and have plenty of cash to spend the 360 Vis Nav is very, very good. We’d just rather whizz a standard vacuum around by hand and spend the £1,000 we’ve saved on something else.
Dyson 360 Vis Nav: Full review
Robot vacuums aren’t exactly new. For the past 10 years, these clever cleaners have been attempting to do the chores for us with differing levels of success.
In the past, robot vacuums have been let down by a lack of power and intelligence which often means they don’t bust the dust as well as we all hoped.
Dyson’s latest 360 Vis Nav plans to change all that with this muck-killing machine promising the most suction ever.
But does it live up to the hype and is it worth over £1,000 of your hard-earned cash? Express.co.uk has been testing it out for our full Dyson 360 Vis Nav review.
Sensors make sure the 360 Vis Nav doesn’t get stuck (Image: DYSON)
Set-up, design and battery
Getting the 360 Vis Nav up and running is way easier than you might think. Simply lift it out of its packaging, place the charging dock near a plug and pop the 360 Vis Nav on top. It’s then just a question of downloading the Dyson app and following the on-screen instructions. The whole process takes around five minutes with the 360 Vis Nav even shipping with plenty of power in the battery. That means you don’t have to wait around to get cleaning. Once this robot is connected to your phone and broadband, you can then start setting schedules and mapping your rooms – more on that later.
Like most of Dyson’s machines, the 360 Vis Nav looks pretty futuristic with its blue and silver finish making it stand out from the ever-growing crowd.
Its design is also compact and can be easily hidden away under a desk or in the corner of the kitchen without ruining the aesthetics of design-conscious homes.
It recharges itself after every clean, via the supplied docking station with battery life lasting around 50 minutes – that’s good enough to cope with most average homes.
A comprehensive app helps control the vacuum (Image: DYSON)
Cleaning
Dyson provides a whole bunch of different cleaning functions including the ability to set scheduled times that suit your weekly routine. You can ask the 360 Vis Nav to come out every day or simply tell it to vacuum the floors on specific days. The app makes things really simple and you can sort a full cleaning timetable in a matter of minutes.
If you’ve got friends and family coming over – and want to make those floors look spick and span – you can also tap the app and manually spring the 360 Vis Nav into life. Four modes are available including Auto (which adapts as it cleans), Quick (which offers a fast clean), Quiet (which is perfect for use early in the morning) and Boost (which puts the power to full but cuts down on battery life).
This machine is incredibly nimble and seems to get itself out of sticky situations without any human help
Another nice feature of the 360 Vis Nav is the option to create a map of your rooms. Once that’s done you can then mark zones to help improve the cleaning and stop the robot from accessing certain areas that might be problematic. For example, if you don’t want it knocking over your dog’s water bowl you simply mark that area as a no-go zone and the 360 Vis Nav will keep clear. We’ve been left pretty impressed by Dyson’s latest vacuum and its uprated power certainly makes sure little is left on the floors and carpets.
The addition of the clever Piezo sensor also ramps up the suction when more muck is spotted and this also improves battery life as the device only applies more oomph when it’s actually needed. Another thing we’ve noticed is how rare it is for the 360 Vis Nav to get stuck.
This machine is incredibly nimble and seems to get itself out of sticky situations without any human help. It does a decent job of getting up close to the walls and its size means it will happily head under the sofa and clean areas that are often missed.
Once the dusting is done, it’s also really easy to detach the collection chamber and throw the contents into the bin – we’ve managed two or three cleans before things need emptying but it all depends on how filthy things are. Dyson has made sure its robot can also be easily looked after with the mini display on the top of the device telling you when the filters need washing.
We covered our floor in mess such as porridge and leaves (Image: EXPRESS NEWSPAPERS)
The Dyson 360 Vis Nav coped pretty well with our mess (Image: EXPRESS NEWSPAPERS)
It did miss a tiny amount of muck that we’d spread around the room (Image: EXPRESS NEWSPAPERS)
Is it as good as a standard vacuum cleaner?
To put the 360 Vis Nav to the ultimate test we covered our floors in dried leaves, porridge, pet hair and flour to see how well it coped under pressure. After 20 minutes little was left which, considering the mess we left it, was mightily impressive.
However, there were areas it missed – including near the doormat – and it’s definitely not as precise as a human with a handheld vacuum. It also can’t cope with stairs or moving between the levels of your home – if you live in a three-story mansion this might not be the solution you are looking for.
That said, if you set it to pop out each morning, your floors will look pretty spotless and you won’t ever have to lift a finger.
Price
It’s all clever stuff but switching to robot cleaning definitely isn’t cheap. Dyson’s 360 Vis Nav will set you back a whopping £1,199. That’s a mighty price – in fact, you could buy three of Dyson’s entry-level V8 Absolute (currently £269.99) handheld devices and still have change left in the bank.
Of course, that manual device needs you to help it clean rather than being fully automated like the 360 Vis Nav. We guess it’s a matter of choice and whether you really think having the chores performed for you is worth all that cash.
Dyson 360 Vis Nav: Final verdict
Dyson 360 Vis Nav review (Image: DYSON)
Dyson’s latest 360 Vis Nav will certainly bust the dust without you doing any hard work. It’s simple to set up and control, is supremely powerful thanks to its Hyperdymium motor and will navigate around the home without getting stuck.
The clever Piezo sensor boosts the revs when needed and the app allows you to easily create no-go zones which is really useful.
It will clean for around an hour before needing a refill and emptying the dust cartridge is hassle-free.
This is a top-rated robot vacuum but we do have some gripes. Firstly it can miss things and is definitely not as fast or accurate as a human with a manual vacuum.
To get the best clean you do need to spend a few minutes getting rid of any obstacles that might get in its way and it can’t clean on multiple floors as there’s no way it will navigate the stairs.
It’s also very, very expensive!
If you’re desperate to ditch the weekly chores and love the Dyson brand, the 360 Vis Nav does an excellent job of getting rid of muck and filth that is resting on your floors.
It’s powerful, clever and totally hassle-free. Just make sure you are really happy for that much money to be sucked from your bank balance before taking the plunge.
