Review: Samsung PowerBot VR9000 robot vacuum

Form

Samsung breaks from standard robot vacuum convention with the PowerBot VR9000. Rather than a simple flat disc-shaped unit, the PowerBot VR9000 is beefy. The black and copper finish make it look like the whole thing is powered by a giant Duracell battery.

The vacuum is roughly D-shaped rather than circular. It is 14.2 by 14.9 inches and stands about 5.3 inches tall at its highest point. It weighs 10.5 pounds. The dirt bin is 0.6 liters—which is significantly bigger than most rival robot vacuums and also justifies the 5-plus inches of height.

The PowerBot VR9000 comes with a charging base and a remote control (along with the AAA batteries the remote requires). It also has a sponge filter and cleaning tool you can use for periodic maintenance.

Function

Samsung claims that the VR9000 suction is 60 times more powerful than an average vacuum. In defense of rival vacuums, though, Samsung does include a footnote stating that the comparison is based on internal testing between the PowerBot VR9000 and Samsung’s conventional VR10F71UCAC vacuum unit.

The PowerBot VR9000 has a digital camera and ten smart sensors it uses to analyze a room and determine the optimal cleaning path. It creates a complete map of your house including stairways, furniture and other obstacles.

One of the uniquely cool features of the Samsung PowerBot VR9000 is the Point Cleaning feature. There is a laser pointer in the remote that you can use to direct the vacuum to focus on a specific spot. The PowerBot VR9000 will also follow the laser pointer around so you can use it to steer the unit around your house.

My Experience

I love this vacuum. It seems to me that the D-shaped robot vacuums do a better job than the circular ones and I prefer vacuums that take a more methodical approach rather than just bouncing randomly around the house. When I use the PowerBot VR9000 in a carpeted room you can see the pattern in the carpet and tell that the vacuum simply went back and forth in nice, straight lines until the floor was clean—just like I would do it if I were vacuuming manually.

One of the things I dislike about vacuums in general is having to empty the bin and clean the brush. I still had to do both of those things with the PowerBot VR9000 but it was significantly easier than my experience with other robot vacuums. The bin simply pops off the top and a spring-loaded lid opens at the push of a button to dump the contents in the trash. On the base there are two tabs that hold the brush component in place. You just push those aside with your thumbs and you can disassemble and thoroughly clean the brush.

As I’ve explained in previous vacuum reviews, we have a lot of people and a small petting zoo worth of pets in our home so it’s a challenging environment for even the best of vacuums. Using the PowerBot VR9000 ranks at the top of my list of robot vacuums and the end result was a nice clean floor.

Verdict

The Samsung PowerBot VR9000 is among our favorite robot vacuums. The superior suction, methodical pattern, easy maintenance, and unique features all combine to make this an awesome household gadget.

There are two things that keep us from giving the Samsung PowerBot VR9000 a perfect 10. It’s 5-plus inches in height are taller than most robot vacuums and prevent the PowerBot VR9000 from being able to get under furniture that other units have no problem with. The other issue is the price. Samsung lists it at $1,000 but you can get it from Amazon Prime for $800. That’s higher than the Roomba 880 and almost twice as much as the Neato Botvac 80.

The PowerBot VR9000 still gets high marks across the board and it is an excellent device, but it may not be $800 worth of excellent compared with more affordable competitors.