Neato Botvac D7 Connected

amazon Neato Botvac D7 Connected reviews

Neato’s Botvac D7 Connected offers interactive cleaning maps, long battery life, and better third-party smart home integration than any other robot vacuum.

The Neato Botvac D7 Connected is smarter than your regular vacuum cleaner. In addition to laser navigation, it features interactive cleaning maps, a simple and intuitive app, and leading integration with third-party smart home devices and services. When you add in the battery life and excellent cleaning performance, the D7 justifies its hefty $799 price tag.

Design

The D7 bears a strong resemblance to the other vacuums in the Botvac Connected line, with Neato’s signature D shape to get into tight spaces. The main physical difference from the D5 is that it has a new metal finish that is more resistant to dust and scratches. It also features four LED indicator buttons — two more than previous models — that provide better feedback during cleaning (you can see battery level, Wi-Fi status, and cleaning mode).

The vacuum cleaner measures 3.9 x 13.2 x 12.7 inches (HWD). It’s slightly taller than the iRobot Roomba 960 (3.6 inches), so be sure to measure any low-air furniture that you might not fit. The extra height is partly due to the circular turret on top of the D7, which has a laser navigation system and gives you a 360-degree view of your house. The top part also houses the trash can, which is very small and easy to remove and replace as usual. Below you will find two main tracks, two smaller wheels, a roller brush, and a small spinning brush.

The D7 comes with a charging dock and your typical spare brushes, filters, and cleaning tools in terms of accessories. It also comes with a two-meter-long magnetic strip that acts as a physical boundary marker. You probably won’t need it, as you can set boundaries in your app, which I’ll detail in the next section.

Apps and settings

Setting up the D7 is relatively easy. You don’t need to attach any parts or brushes as it comes pre-assembled. All you have to do is download the Neato app for Android or iOS. From there, you’ll be guided through the process of pairing the vacuum cleaner to your Wi-Fi network; it supports both 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wi-Fi.

Neato’s app has been redesigned since we reviewed the Botvac D5 Connected, making it cleaner and more intuitive. The main screen now shows your robot’s name and its current state. You will see a battery indicator on the bottom left, which you can tap to see how much battery is left. Below that is the start button. At the bottom right is a small square grid showing your cleaning history with detailed maps and stats for your past 20 cleans. You’ll also find a button to bring up a screen for cleaning options.

The cleaning options screen lets you switch between Home, Spot, and Manual cleaning modes. In-Home mode, you can choose between Eco and Turbo cleaning profiles — the former is quieter, longer, while the latter is more powerful. You can also choose Extra Care navigation, which is gentler than the default mode. For Spot mode, you can specify the cleaning radius.

You can also tap the three-bar icon at the top left to access scheduling, and a new feature called My Floor Plans from the home screen. Although the D7 comes with the aforementioned magnetic side tape, you can also set the No Go lines in the app. The bot will map your entire home after running the initial diagnostic. From there, you can save your floor plan and draw red lines to indicate areas where the robot should not be. That worked fine during testing, although the Don’t start line is only followed when you start your cleanup sessions from the app.

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Performance

In-Home mode, the D7 expertly navigated back and forth from my apartment while navigating around obstacles with ease. It treats various surfaces, such as wood, carpet, without difficulty. It can also reliably dock on its own—something infrared-based vacuums often struggle. If it gets stuck, you can use your phone to control it, which is a feature that the Roomba 960 doesn’t support.

In terms of cleaning power, the D7 naturally picks up dirt, hair, and other debris from all types of floors. Its suction is on par with the Roomba 960, though perhaps not as strong as the Dyson 360 Eye in Max mode. That said, the 360 ​​Eye only lasts up to 45 minutes in Maximum mode (and up to 70 minutes in normal mode). The D7, on the other hand, managed 130 minutes during testing, which is great for large homes or messy plots that require multiple passes. However, the small trash can be a problem here — it may need to be emptied before the full cleaning is complete.

While I wouldn’t say any vacuums, except for the quiet Eufy Robovac 11, the D7 was loud enough to wake my dog ​​from the opposite end of the apartment. If you’re trying to watch TV in the same room that’s being vacuumed, you’ll need to turn up the volume.

Many new robot vacuums are compatible with Amazon Alexa, but the D7 goes a few steps further. You can also control it with Google Assistant, and it supports If This Then That (IFTTT) recipes. If you own an Apple Watch, you can also control it from your wrist. As mentioned earlier, you can’t use the No Go series with these methods, but it’s a convenient benefit if you have many other smart home devices.

Compare and conclude

At $799, the Neato Botvac D7 Connected is pricey. Still, the excellent navigation, long battery life, interactive cleaning maps, dual-band Wi-Fi support, and third-party integration are well worth it. The Roomba 960 costs $100 less, but doesn’t support phone control, only works on 2.4GHz Wi-Fi, and requires physical beacons to designate no-go zones.

Advantages

Great navigation and battery life.

Detailed, interactive cleaning map.

Application-based virtual boundaries.

Expanded third-party integrations include Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant, and IFTTT.

Defect

Expensive.

Small trash.

Noise.