Dyson Spot+Scrub Ai robot vacuum first impressions: Not quite the comeback story Dyson needed

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Dyson had nowhere to go but up behind his last robot space. You don’t even need to test the new Dyson Spot+Scrub Ai to already know that it completely outclasses the 2024 Dyson 360 Vis Nav in any way it sells.

Still, as Dyson’s third attempt to close the robot after two flop releases, there’s a lot riding on the Spot+Scrub Ai’s success. If it sells well, that means the 360 ​​Vis Nav really was a hit. But if the Spot+Scrub Ai can’t compete with the best robot vacuums of 2026 from other brands, maybe it’s time to accept that it’s not always necessary to impose the “vacuum brand mark on the robot vacuum line”.

For the past few days, I’ve been testing the Dyson Spot+Scrub Ai at home against the top Roborock and Dreme models. My first impressions have been up and down so far, taking me from excited to overwhelmed within minutes. Let’s talk.

What’s so special about the Dyson Spot+Scrub Ai?

Dyson’s green laser makes cleaning a pleasure to watch.
Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

I’ve been spotting a robot vacuum with a laser since I tried my first Dyson stick vacuum with a laser in 2022, so the green light that illuminates the dust is a big talking point for the Dyson Spot+Scrub Ai. Green light works together with AI to help Spot+Scrub Ai find hidden stains and small debris, distinguish between wet and dry moisture, and adjust cleaning accordingly. Unlike most other robot vacuums, which simply make a set number of passes through a certain area or room, the Spot+Scrub Ai double-checks each area before moving forward and then going back again if necessary.

Some of the improvements to the Spot+Scrub Ai seem to be huge compared to the 360 ​​Vis Nav, but they were still a long way off compared to the rest of the robot vacuum market. The Spot+Scrub Ai isn’t just Dyson’s first robot vacuum – it’s Dyson’s first robot vacuum. at all. In classic roller mop vacuum fashion, the roller is washed in real time to ensure every inch of the floor is scrubbed with a clean pad. It’s very rare to find a robot vacuum and mop combo that actually runs warm water to break up stains, but the Spot+Scrub Ai does. (Most people only wash the mop with hot water, but clean it at room temperature.)

It wouldn’t be Dyson without a bold color scheme.
Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

Should a dustbin publicly display the messiness of your home?
Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

The Spot+Scrub Ai also finally adds a self-draining dock (those that have been everywhere for half a decade), and washes and dries a roller mop. The AI-powered HD camera brings a little obstacle avoidance technology to the Spot+Scrub Ai resume, but it doesn’t send or record images (so no live-streaming pet cam).

For general and decorative vibe purposes, I can’t say I’m happy with the look of the dock. The three-canister case is large (like the robovac itself) and unnecessarily industrial. But if you think this design is loud, just wait until you hear the sound that lets you off the hook. FWIW, I appreciate the built-in cleaning tank and bagless dust bin.

Despite so many new features, Dyson surprisingly did not increase the price from the 360 ​​Vis Nav. The Spot+Scrub Ai costs $1,199.99, matching the starting price of the 360 ​​Vis Nav when it comes out in 2024. I’m glad Dyson realized that the 360 ​​Vis Nav was ridiculously overpriced, which is probably why it’s not hard to find it on sale for more than 60 percent off.

Is the Dyson Spot+Scrub Ai cleaning that smart?

Spot+Scrub Ai started by applying a few of my standard litter box cleaning tests to all robot slots. I have an uncovered litter box (crystal litter) in the bathroom and a Litter-Robot Evo (grass seed litter) in the kitchen. Both areas are well covered with trailing dirt even after a day, but I pour more on the floor for the first test. The Spot+Scrub Ai has eliminated up to 98 percent of debris and dust accumulation of each type of waste, rotating to use a laser to scan for lingering particles before officially marking the spot as complete.

Although the Spot+Scrub Ai is round (not D-shaped like the 360 ​​Vis Nav), the roller mop does not block the edges of the wall. I watched it rise against the baseboards, the open cupboard door, and the washing machine. It even hugs the toilet as much as I could hope for in such a tight space.

The roller mop was extended to scrub around walls, doors, and ovens.
Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

The first wet spill prevention lesson included chunky salsa splatters and red wine spills on hardwood. Spot+Scrub Ai caught the salsa, picking up an impressive amount on the first pass. It turned back the other way to catch a few pieces that were blown out of the way earlier. In total, the Spot+Scrub Ai+ had to make about five passes on the same piece of hardwood after I thought it recognized that some salsa, a piece of dry cat food, or a spot of litter was left behind. In the app, you can follow the map to see where the spot was found. That part made me very happy.

When it’s perfect, it is completely. But if not…

But that level of accuracy wasn’t there when the botvac approached the spilled red wine. It wasn’t the actual roller mop that caused this spill, but the two twisting side brushes usually associated with dry debris.

The whole ethos of Spot+Scrub Ai is using artificial intelligence to clean at its toes, right? There’s been a lot of hype around the joint execution of the AI ​​camera and the green light to make changes to cleaning at the moment – so much so that they’re straight up putting it on the subject of a vacuum. So I feel like it’s fair to assume that the Spot+Scrub Ai is smart enough not to do any damage. even worse. If it sees debris on the road ahead, wouldn’t it make sense to install rotating dry brushes to keep the spill from continuing?

The original wine puddle was far from the carpet.
Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

Spot+Scrub Ai+ was able to smear the wine around the rug flap (and ignore the powder).
Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

Instead, I saw the Spot+Scrub Ai drive right where the spilled side brushes were spinning at full speed, spraying wine around the floor and all over the underside of the vacuum. (Liquid flow through internal parts is a recipe for a robot vacuum to stop working.) Those side brushes, now soaked in wine and salsa, don’t get washed in the dock like a real roller mop does.

You can imagine my surprise when I heard the “cleaning done” announcement, only to look down and see a puddle of trash plastered in the corner of my Ruggable kitchen, and a pile of spilled protein powder on a completely ignored lap. Dyson says the Spot+Scrub Ai relies on photographic evidence of contamination removal before returning to the dock. What was it like this did you miss it? And what if the mat was not machine washable?

Some features I looked at

Mopping fails aside, I have a few concerns with the Spot+Scrub Ai. Although I have accepted that the robot vacuum mop is the longest type of robot vacuum mop combo, the Spot+Scrub Ai is so thick and heavy that it limits the access to the good cleaning features of the AI. It doesn’t fit under the Litter-Robot’s step where a ton of trash collects, while the Ultra-slim Dreame X60 Max Ultra Complete slides smoothly under a few inches to provide. The Spot+Scrub Ai kept getting stuck under my kitchen cabinets, fighting this cabinet for a minute straight. Similarly, the Spot+Scrub Ai ended up scrubbing the brown gunk off the floor under the dishwasher because the squeeze was so tight.

Spot+Scrub Ai is so tall that it pulled this drawer open.
Credit: Leah Stodart / Mashable

I also wonder if the weight of the Spot+Scrub contributes to its struggle to lift safely over fence corners.

Spot+Scrub Ai has shown average carpet performance so far. It did a satisfactory job of cat hair in the living room, but left behind more than a few sprinkles and tortilla chip crumbs in the same room. Its suction power of 18,000 Pa is the lowest for a $1,199.99 robot vacuum. I can’t help but compare it to the Roborock Qrevo Curv 2 Flow, my current favorite robotic valve. It costs $999.99 (as low as $849.99 on sale) and has 20,000 Pa of suction.

No, the Curv 2 Flow does not have a laser feature. If you are really sold on the laser again roller mop features, I have a better way for you to spend $1,199.99 on a vacuum setup: Spend $599.99 on the Eufy C28 robot vacuum (15,000 Pa) and $599.99 on the awesome Dyson PencilVac Fluffycones instead.

Dyson has baked a lot of settings into the Spot+Scrub Ai app, so I’m open to the possibility that cleaning and navigation gets better as we both make changes over time. But for now, I’m not sure that the Spot+Scrub Ai is the comeback story that Dyson needed in this market.