Will the Dyson 360 Eye robot vacuum live up to its high price?

Dyson–both the founder and the company–has a well-earned reputation for unique solutions and exceptional quality. Those things come at a price, though, because Dyson products generally cost significantly more than similar competing products. The new Dyson 360 Eye is no exception.

I’m a huge fan of Dyson as a company. James Dyson was an early version of Elon Musk. They seem to have similar philosophies about identifying issues and thinking outside the box to find solutions. Dyson just focused his engineering prowess on reinventing the vacuum instead of revolutionizing space travel or automobiles.

The question is whether or not the Dyson 360 Eye is unique or superior enough to be worth the extra money:

It’s been over a year since I was first briefed by Dyson about the 360 Eye robot vacuum. The official release of the household gadget was delayed significantly, but Dyson finally launched the 360 Eye vacuum in Japan this week. Despite Dyson’s exceptional reputation with vacuums in general, there are a few factors that will make it difficult for the 360 Eye to gain traction in the robot vacuum market.

Competition

Dyson is late to this party. The Dyson 360 Eye is entering a market where Roomba has been a household name for over a decade. When people think of autonomous robots scampering about the house, iRobot’s Roomba is the first thing that comes to mind. Roomba is synonymous with robot vacuum the same way Coke is synonymous with carbonated soft drinks, Kleenex is synonymous with facial tissue, or Google is synonymous with Internet search engines.

As if competing with the ubiquitous brand recognition of Roomba isn’t enough, there are also a number of competitors in the game ahead of Dyson. Robot vacuums like the Rydis H68 Pro, Deebot, Neato Botvac, and Samsung PowerBot are already working to dethrone Roomba—and a couple of them could actually do it.

Size

The Dyson 360 Eye is tall for a robot vacuum. If you look at the array of options currently available there seems to be some sort of consensus about the height of the device. The Samsung PowerBot stands out from the crowd as having a unique design with a bulkier height.

Extra height is both a pro and a con. The larger the unit is, the bigger the collection bin can be, so you don’t have to empty the device as frequently. The down side is that it may not fit under your furniture. None of the vacuums I’ve used have been able to fit under every piece of furniture in my house, but you do want the vacuum to be able to get to places you can’t normally get—like under the sofa or under a bed.

Your mileage will vary depending on the clearance of your furniture, but the Dyson 360 Eye looks like it would have a problem getting under much of my furniture.

Read the full story on Forbes: Dyson 360 Eye Robot Vacuum Faces Tough Competition.