Neato Botvac D6 Connected

The quiet Neato D6 performed well across the board. We noted that it tightly hugged the walls and furniture legs, which is a plus. Overall it was efficient and only made one pass in a grid-like pattern over each area. The large spiral brushroll has a combination of a rubber blades and bristles to help it pick up different varieties of debris. One positive of the side brush is that it attaches to the vacuum magnetically and releases easily. To remove the brushroll, you have to pop the magnetic side brush off first which is an extra step. Most of the hair that it sucked up was in the brushroll and it wasn't easy to remove. It only has one spin brush that is small and barely extends past the vacuum's body reducing its Edges score. The spin brush, however, did not scatter test debris. Testers noted a loud, consistant squeaking coming from robot. Like other Neatos, it has track type wheels that suspend to allow it to maneuver from different floor types and thresholds. It was able to pass over power cords and avoid getting caught in rug tassels. The one-button toggle between modes wasn't intuitive at first. The D6 has a built in handle and a good sized dirt bin capacity. Features: Eco and turbo modes, spot cleaning, scheduling, extra care navigation mode and find me mode when the robot is lost. It has a multiple floor plan feature which claims to store up to three floor plans (not tested). You can set No-Go lines on the floor in the app to prevent the vacuum from going in areas you don't want it to go. You can also see a map of the area cleaned. The app is compatible with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and IFTTT. App: Neato Robotics version 2.9.2 Battery: Li-ion (19V, 38W, 2.0Amax). Includes: magnetic strips, power cord, cleaning tool, docking station. Warranty is 1 year limited for hardware and 6 months for the battery. (although the side brush is small and barely extends past the vacuum's body).

The Neato Botvac D6 Connected is part of the Vacuum Cleaners test program at Consumer Reports. In our lab tests, Robotic Vacuums models like the Botvac D6 Connected are rated on multiple criteria, such as those listed below.

Carpet: A high score means the vacuum effectively removes surface debris and embedded dust from medium-pile carpet. A top-scoring model picks up more debris from carpet per run.

Bare floors: A high score means the vacuum effectively removes surface debris like sand from smooth hard floors. A top-scoring model picks up more debris from non-carpeted flooring per run.

Navigation: A composite score that includes combined coverage over multiple runs, clearance under furniture and obstacle and entrapment avoidance.