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If you’re looking for a robot vacuum, you’ve likely considered the Dyson 360 Vis Nav, a premium vacuum-only robot. I’d like to suggest that, instead, you consider the Switchbot K10+ Pro, a zippy little vacuum that is on sale for $299.99 (50% off) right now, compared to the Dyson’s $999.99 price tag.
I frequently read Reddit forums for people shopping for robot vacuums, and I’m generally surprised by two things. First, the number of people who are still looking for a robot that will only vacuum, not mop, and second, that Switchbot almost never comes up in the conversation.
$999.95
at Amazon
$999.95
at Amazon
$299.99
at Amazon
Save $300.00
$299.99
at Amazon
Save $300.00
Small size trumps smart design
Credit: Amanda Blum
Neither the 360 Vis Nav nor the K10+ Pro are traditional looking robots. The Dyson is U-shaped and sports bright colors. It has a deconstructed look, in gunmetal grey, red, and purple. The Switchbot is a mini robot, only eight inches across. Both designs deviated from the norm to give the robots better access to areas of the home, but despite all the research that I’m sure went into the Dyson’s shape, the Switchbot achieves the goal with more success. Simply, the diminutive size of the Switchbot allows it to make a tighter radius around chair legs and fit into smaller crevices between furniture.
A self-emptying tower is always better than no self-emptying tower
Credit: Amanda Blum
Personally, I’d need a real good reason to purchase a robot vacuum without a self-emptying tower—if the point of a robot is autonomy, I shouldn’t have to endure the indignity of emptying a dust canister over the trash can. The Switchbot K10+ Pro has such a tower, and like the robot itself, it is adorably small. Still, it is effective, evacuating all the debris from the K10+ Pro. The size has made it easy to park the tower almost anywhere; it is currently servicing my bedroom and closet, where the dock sits next to, and is dwarfed by, a pair of boots.
The Dyson has no tower, replacing it instead with a charging dock. In my review of the 360 Vis Nav, I wrote about how annoying I found the fact that the dock could not stay put, and was often pushed around by the robot attempting to dock. While the dock is smaller than the Switchbot tower, it is garish, with black and white checks that apparently help the robot navigate to the dock. I’d be remiss if I didn’t explain that the Dyson robot had the best and easiest canister to empty of any vacuum I’d tried: You hold it inside the trash can, press a button and the dust is yeeted out at warp speed into the can. Still, I’d prefer to not bother with it at all.
Credit: Amanda Blum
Features count, when it comes to apps
Credit: Amanda Blum
One of the charms of the K10+ Pro is that it behaves like a premium vacuum, particularly as you use the app, despite its low price. Similarly, an annoyance of the 360 Vis Nav is that it lacks many features of a premium vacuum, despite costing the same price as one. The Dyson app is, to be sure, beautifully designed with a clean, dark interface. Dyson has set the 360 Vis Nav up to be easy to use, and as such, there simply aren’t a lot of extras. You can set a schedule, decide the power with which the vacuum will work, and create/edit maps. But features like Pin and Go (set a pin and the robot proceeds there to clean) and remote control are absent, as are advanced settings for obstacle avoidance or a camera view from the robot.
Credit: Amanda Blum
While some of those features, like Pin and Go, are very useful, they’re not necessary. However, I have to point out that most robots in the price range of the 360 Vis Nav would have those features and more. To be fair, Switchbot has the remote control feature (useful when a vacuum is stuck under a couch), and though it lacks Pin and Go, the Switchbot is less than half the price and has some cool features I haven’t seen elsewhere. You can pair NFC tags with various robot functions, which is neat.
About equal in vacuuming prowress
Neither the 360 Vis Nav or the K10+ Pro are the best vacuums I’ve experienced on a robot. Switchbot’s K10+ Pro has about 20000Pa suction power on board, and Dyson’s 360 Vis Nav has 22000Pa. The K10+ Pro does a perfectly respectable job on micro and medium sized particles and struggles with large particles. What impressed me most was how effective the Switchbot was on carpet, which is where it ended up earning a permanent home in my house. Despite its size, it effectively picks up pet hair, human hair, dust, and most other items left behind and creates vacuum tracks, which soothe my inner clean freak.
In contrast, the Dyson did great with micro and medium-small debris, and struggled with anything larger than that due to the design of the vacuum. The space between the plastic housing of the robot and roller that moves debris into the vacuum is simply too small to allow anything medium sized or larger. The robot also left nice tracks on the carpet, but struggled to get around as easily. The Dyson did have one advantage, though: the K10+ Pro doesn’t have extending arms of any kind, but the Dyson 360 Vis Nav has a side vent that allows it to get close to the wall when vacuuming. This was most noticeable over carpet, actually. The Dyson got a lot of dog hair right at the edge of the carpet that the Switchbot skipped.
An easy choice
If you were going off name recognition or reputation, Dyson is almost unparalleled in the vacuum industry for expensive but value-heavy models that vacuum better than others. I was disappointed in how little that translated to the 360 Vis Nav. In every single way that counts, the Switchbot K10+ Pro beats the Dyson 360 Vis Nav’s handily. Even better, it does it for $700 less.
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