The latest in vacuum cleaner technology and home appliances has been featured last year at the The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas. The main focus of the showcase this year has been the future advancement of robotics in vacuum cleaning technology.
A global study published in November 2015 predicts this field developing into a $2.5 billion industry by year 2020 which represents a 15.3% compound annual growth rate in a 5 year period.
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He loves, he love me not – the price dance
Considering the rate of growth in popularity and practical use of robotic vacuum cleaners, it won’t be long until they become a household staple replacing the standard vacuum cleaner.
While every market indicator point to the same conclusion, that these smart vacuums will find their way into most homes, the reality is a bit different and it tells a story of a “love-hate” relationship between a robot vacuum and an average household.
With the economy still recovering, most lower-income families go for the cheaper vacuums that are still good enough. People are still looking at affordable vacuum cleaners in the price range under $100, it’s just what the budget of most households allows. There are even robot vacuums available for under 100 bucks.
It can be compared the Tesla car, everything about is great and it’s the environmental friendly option, but for it to become a common site on the streets two things will have to happen – the average income will have increase substantially and the price will have to go down. The same scenario played out with snow blowers. One moment you had to spend half an hour shoveling snow from your drive way, the next, you got the job done within minutes.
Anyway, let’s get back to the matter at hand
Here are the highlights and favorite picks of what’s latest in vacuum cleaner technology.
LG Electronics
LG presented an array of new, exciting upgrades to their CordZero collection. The most innovative of them being the HOM-BOT Turbo+, the world’s first ever robotic vacuum cleaner equipped with augmented reality technology.
Featuring Home Joy, a smart user interface which allows full control of the vacuum cleaner through the use of a camera of any Smartphone. From the camera’s viewpoint, you can select an area of the room to clean, and the robot will move to that location and begin cleaning.
The innovative HOM-BOT TURBO+ has soon proven itself to be a fierce competition to the other vacuum cleaners on the market.
Here are some of its best features:
- Home-Guard feature – If the machine senses movement it will start sending photos from the interior of the house to the users paired smartphone. By providing the user with real time feedback and a sense of peace and security, it is a great addition to the list of it’s innovative features.
- Robonavi – by utilizing the robots dual CPU, this intelligent software system makes incredibly fast changes in direction, avoiding obstacles and improving general navigation.
- Home-View feature – By using the camera on the front of the HOMBOT Turbo+ and built in WiFi this feature allows the user to turn on and control the machine in real time through their phone, from anywhere at any time.
- Smart Inverter Motor is covered by a 10 year warranty
- Triple Eye camera sensors record the surroundings tracking which areas have already been cleaned
The 2-in-1 stick canister
Another great addition to the cordless vacuum cleaner collection that’s been presented at the CES2016 were the CordZero Canister, the 2-in-1 CordZero hand stick vacuum cleaner and the CordZero Bedding Cleaner.
The main selling point of these three new additions an impressively strong lithium-ion battery.
The LG CordZero packs a punch with a 80V PowerPack lithium-ion battery that provides strong and continuous suction for up to 40min of regular cleaning. LG promises that the maximum performance of this unit is almost 10% more effective than a standard, conventional 2,000 watt corded vacuum cleaner.
According to Jo Seong-jin, president and CEO of the LG Electronics Home Appliance & Air Solution Company “ The powerful technology behind the LG CordZero products represents the commitment to innovation and improvement of the quality of life for the consumer.”
NEATO
Selected as a CES 2016 Innovation Awards Honoree in the Home Appliances product category Neato presented their WiFi enabled Botvac Connected robot vacuum.
Being the smartest and best cleaning robot yet in the Botvac D-series, the Botvac Connected allows the user to connect and control their vacuum cleaner through the use of the Neato App on their smartphones. The app has different options like setting up a cleaning schedule, spot cleaning or cleaning the entire house, stop and pause as well as receiving notifications of the status of your cleaner. Retailing at $699, Botvac Connected offers two different cleaning modes, the iconic D shape designed for cleaning corners, a strong, long lasting lithium-ion battery and superior cleaning performance.
Samsung
Samsung introduced their new Powerbot Turbo VR9350 at CES2016 continuing the “Internet of things” trend. The Powerbot Turbo VR9350 is an upgrade of their VR9000 Powerbot robotic vacuum cleaner.
Similar to Neato’s Botvac, the built in WiFi of the Powerbot Turbo allows for the user to connect to the machine through an app. This enables the consumer to set up a cleaning schedule and gives control over the machine from anywhere, at any given time.
Samsung decided to set their new robotic vacuum apart from the rest by using the information the machine gathers while cleaning to create a floor plan map that syncs to a Smartphone paired with the unit.
This allows the user to navigate and send the vacuum cleaner at any desired spot in the house that needs to be cleaned. This type of control displays an added level of convenience and power a user can have over their unit through the use of their Smartphone.
Powerbot Turbo will be equipped with up to 40W of suction which is four times more than any previous model of the same line. The user will be able to choose from 3 different power modes with running times to match which are expected to be around 30,60 or 90 minutes.
A hefty price tag
Samsung has set the Powerbot Turbo VR9350 up in the high end price range, retailing at $1200.
A second, more affordable but just as impressive robovac, has also been announced. An app-enabled version of the Powerbot Essential which will retail at $800 putting it at the same price point as the latest robotic cleaners offered by Neato and iRobot. However this model will have a slightly reduced suction power of only 9.5W and will not feature the mapping functionality.
Again, although everything points to these eye-candy sidekicks being the way of the future, with the prices in mind, it seems the future will just have to wait a bit before we can afford to welcome it into our homes.
