The $899 Hom-Bot Square is LG's latest robotic vacuum cleaner. It's a relatively compact, pleasingly quiet vacuum that offers several cleaning modes and comes with a remote control. It does a decent job cleaning floors, but only when Turbo mode is activated, which quickly drains power. And its navigational skills need work, so you'll likely have to do a bit of babysitting to get the results you want. For the price, you're better off getting a Wi-Fi vacuum you can control with your phone like the Neato Botvac Connected or the iRobot Roomba 980.
Pricing, Design, and Features
There are two versions of the LG Hom-Bot Square. One comes in Ocean Black with a mop attachment for $899, and the other comes in Ruby Red, without the attachment, for $749. That is a steep difference in price for what's basically a simple apparatus for a microfiber cloth. I tested the Ocean Black variant with the mop attachment for this review.
Square with rounded edges, the Hom-Bot measures 3.5 by 13.4 by 13.4 inches (HWD) and weighs 6.6 pounds, which makes it one of the smaller robotic vacuums we've tested. The Botvac Connected, for instance, measures 3.9 inches tall and weighs 9.0 pounds, while the Roomba 980 is 3.6 inches tall and weighs 8.7 pounds. Height can make a big difference if you have furniture that sits close to the floor.
The top of the vacuum has a glossy finish that's prone to picking up fingerprints. There are five embedded touch buttons, including Start/Stop, Turbo, Mode, Home, and Push. Start/Stop turns the vacuum on or off, Turbo increases suction power, Mode lets you select from a variety of cleaning modes (more on these in a bit), and Home returns the vacuum to its base station. Push pops open the lid so you can remove the dust bin. The bin is easy to remove; just lift the handle and it simply comes out. An embedded LED display above the buttons shows the battery level, selected mode, time of day, and whether the vacuum is in Turbo mode.
There are no other settings options on the Hom-Bot itself. Instead, you need to use the included remote (which is powered by two included AAA batteries) to access the rest of the vacuum's features. In addition to the settings you find on the vacuum , the remote allows you to control it manually, program schedules, set the clock on the display, and mute voice prompts. Unlike the Botvac Connected and the Roomba 980, there is no smartphone app.
Flip the Hom-Bot over and you'll find two wheels, a main roller brush, two rotating side brushes for cleaning edges and sweeping up debris, metallic charging contacts, cliff detection and lower camera sensors, and the battery housing. The vacuum also has multiple sensors around it sides, and an On/Off switch and ventilation port on the back.
Included in the box is a comb-like cleaning tool, a spare dust bin filter, an attachable mop plate, microfiber mop cloths, two spare side brushes, a roller brush for pet hair, and an AC adapter for the docking station. The docking station, which comes with a holding slot for the remote, measures 9.3 by 7.1 by 5.0 inches (HWD).
Setup, Control, and Performance
Setting up the Hom-Bot is easy. First, plug the docking station into a wall outlet. Then, place the vacuum in the base (making sure the metallic contacts touch), flip the On/Off switch, and wait three hours for it to reach a full charge. Once juiced up, you can either press Start/Stop on the vacuum itself or use the remote control to activate it.
As with traditional vacuums, before setting it loose, you should clear your floor of clothes, pet toys, and anything else you don't want the vacuum to suck up. But even after taking the necessary precautions, the Hom-Bot unplugged my electric fan, tangled up a stray Lightning cable, and kept snagging and re-snagging itself on the base of a cat tree.
I also experienced some navigation issues in testing. For example, the vacuum had trouble returning to its home base every time it finished a cleaning job, so I took over via remote and controlled the docking procedure myself. Similar to a toy car, the direction buttons used to pilot the vacuum are intuitive and responsive. It also never once entered the bathroom or entrance hall of my apartment, which again required manual intervention. For what should be a fully automated process, you can't simply set and forget the Hom-Bot.
It helps to read the manual before toggling any of the various cleaning modes. For instance, My Space mode lets you guide the robot around a chosen rectangular perimeter (smaller than 3.3 feet), which it will then clean around. Zigzag has the robot sweep back and forth across the floor. Cell-by-Cell divides areas into rectangular spaces which the Hom-Bot works on one at a time. And Spiral Spot focuses on one particular zone.
As far as cleaning performance is concerned, results are mixed. The Hom-Bot cleans quietly, even with Turbo mode activated, which should really be on by default. Without it, suction power is weak, especially on carpets. On hardwood floors, the Hom-Bot fared better. Though the included microfiber mop attachment doesn't offer any noticeable changes in cleaning. If it's shiny floors you're after, you'll want to consider the iRobot Braava 380t or the iRobot Scooba 450, two robots that specialize in mopping. The Hom-Bot couldn't navigate to my tiled bathroom on its own, and once I picked it up and moved it there, it failed to pick up most of the kitty litter left on the floor. Overall, on cleaning performance, the Hom-Bot lagged behind the Botvac Connected and the Roomba 980.
LG says the Hom Bot lasts up to 100 minutes in Standard mode. In testing, with Turbo Mode activated, it conked out in less than an hour, before it could finish cleaning my small apartment. (And it takes about three hours to fully charge the Hom-Bot.) To compare, the Botvac Connected lasts up to 90 minutes in Turbo mode, or up to 120 minutes without it.
Conclusions
The LG Hom-Bot Square has a few things going for it. It's small enough to fit under most furniture, quieter than the competition, has several cleaning modes, and comes with a useful remote control. It even does a respectable job cleaning the floor, though to do so, it needs to have Turbo mode activated, which drains power quickly. That shouldn't be the case for $900, nor should the navigation issues I experienced in testing. In this price range, you're better off with the iRobot Roomba 980, which has a much easier time getting around on its own and connects to your smartphone via Wi-Fi. Or you can save $200 and pick up the Neato Botvac Connected, which also offers powerful cleaning and Wi-Fi connectivity.
The LG Hom-Bot Square has a few things going for it. It's small enough to fit under most furniture, quieter than the competition, has several cleaning modes, and comes with a useful remote control. It even does a respectable job cleaning the floor, though to do so, it needs to have Turbo mode activated, which drains power quickly. That shouldn't be the case for $900, nor should the navigation issues I experienced in testing. In this price range, you're better off with the iRobot Roomba 980, which has a much easier time getting around on its own and connects to your smartphone via Wi-Fi. Or you can save $200 and pick up the Neato Botvac Connected, which also offers powerful cleaning and Wi-Fi connectivity.
0 comments:
Post a Comment