Of all the reviews I tackled in 2025, Dyson’s new robotic vacuum cleaner arrived with the greatest air of excitement. No, really. I love my Dyson stick vacuum, I was disappointed to discover how poorly Dyson’s latest robovac was reviewed, and I’m a sucker for a good old-fashioned redemption story.
It’s called, rather clumsily, Spot+Scrub Ai. This is Dyson’s attempt to redeem itself in the world of robovacs, sprinkling in some of the magic of the semi-transparent, bagless cyclonic technology that has made the British-Singaporean company so successful in the fancy vacuum space.
Fortunately, the base station is bagless, something that is surprisingly rare in the robovac space. Instead of buying new bags every few months and trying to determine what type and size of bag the robot needs, you simply pick up the dust collector and empty it into a container, like you would with any other Dyson stick vacuum.
I’d prefer the container’s contents not to be visible through a clear plastic window, as if to show visitors how dirty my carpets were before they arrived, but I agree it’s a design feature that echoes the rest of Dyson’s aesthetic. I also wish Dyson included some mopping detergent in the box. Adding some to the water tank is one of the first instructions, but it is sold separately for £19.99. For a £1,050 vacuum cleaner (US and Australian price TBA), that feels a bit bad.
a little disappointing
The setup process is quite simple, especially if you have used any other robot vacuum cleaner. However, I’ve found the app a bit disappointing so far – for a premium, tech-first company like Dyson, I expected better. It’s not shaky or full of the poorly translated English seen in rival vacuum apps, but it’s not particularly logical either and I had trouble editing my map after the robot failed to identify some doors on its initial mapping run.
For a robovac that apparently has artificial intelligence smart enough to identify over 190 objects and substances (it’s best not to dwell on the latter), failing to detect a door, even when there’s a threshold and a change from hardwood floor to carpet, is disappointing. Maybe I’m being picky, but anyone spending four figures on a robovac has every right to be. And in any case, rival vacuum cleaners I’ve tested do a much better job of mapping doors and even labeling rooms based on their contents.
I’m afraid there are a couple more problems with the app. The robot adds orange traffic cone icons to the map after a cleanup, but they are not labeled and tapping them does nothing. Have you spotted a lost sock, USB cable or mouse? I will never know. Rivals at least try to guess, and some even attach a photo, although they often look like evidence from a Netflix crime documentary.
Additionally, despite spending time labeling the map (living room, kitchen, hallway, bathroom, etc.), these labels are frustratingly missing from the screen to tell the robot where to clean and are instead assigned a number. My kitchen and living room have the same icon, for some reason, and since I live in a predictably symmetrical new-build house, it’s not immediately obvious which is which. It’s always best to double check, or I’ll be worried that Dyson will try to mop the living room carpet instead of the kitchen.
My first impressions of the app aren’t great, but I’ll overlook them if the rest of the robot lives up to the hype, and after a couple of cleanings, the Dyson Spot+Scrub Ai seems pretty smart. It sails well, something its predecessor struggled with, and I think it looks good as far as these things go. I also like the bagless design and am especially interested to see how well it cleans. Given its roller design, ability to reach into corners, and use of warm water to clean, I have high hopes; Additionally, it claims to use AI to detect dirt and scrub those parts more aggressively, which will be interesting to try over the holiday period.
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