When someone asks for a tech recommendation, we almost invariably answer with one question: what’s your budget? It’s as true with vacuums as anything else. You can get a pretty good one for not a lot of money. That’s the best option for most people. But those people are not Dyson people.
The Dyson vacuum is nearly a category unto itself — a product for people who, for whatever reason, need the sports car equivalent of a home appliance. I’m not knocking it. I have a very visceral memory of driving a premium car for the first time, and it’s a lot like the first time I fired up a Dyson vacuum. It’s suddenly like, “oh, I get it.” I never knew I wanted a vacuum with kickback until that very moment.
This morning (in Singapore, at least), the company announced a revamp of its vacuum and air purifiers. The list includes a new robot vacuum, the Dyson 360 Vis Nav, which it says has “twice the suction of any other” robot vacuum. As the name suggests, the vision/navigation systems are the most interesting additions to the high-end Roomba competitor, including a 360-degree camera with a fish-eye lens for a better view of the room it’s cleaning. The company is also talking up the edge detection here, noting that the system is capable of recognizing its position within 71mm.
“Robotics, sensing, intelligence, these are all areas that are typically considered ‘future technology’ but at Dyson, they have long been part of product development,” says CTO John Churchill. “Our engineers have, and continue, to employ these technologies to reduce the cognitive burden on our owners, saving time, energy and effort in maintaining a healthy home — a true set-and-forget mindset. Our future vision is of a home that can look after itself. The new technologies launched today are the embodiment of this.”
Almost exactly a year ago, Dyson revealed that it’s been dumping a lot of money into robotics research, including the addition of a large lab in Singapore. It’s shown off some early concepts for home robots, but thus far, robot vacuums continue to be its biggest play in the space.
As for manual vacuums, there’s the Gen5detect and Gen5outsize cordless unites, which have improved filtration systems and a battery the company says will last up to 70 minutes on a charge. Battery life has long been a bugbear for the line. Also new are the Dyson V15s Detect Submarine and Dyson V12s Detect Slim Submarine vacuums, which have wet rollers for hard floors. The Dyson Purifier Big+Quiet Formaldehyde air purifier, meanwhile, has a 360-degtree particle filter the company says will trap up to 99.95% of pollutants.
The Gen5detect and Gen5outsize will be available June 6 for $949 and $1,049, respectively. No date or pricing yet for the others.
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