Samsung POWERbot R9250 Robot Vacuum, Large Dust Bin Ideal for Carpets & Hard Floors, Works with Amazon Alexa and the Google Assistant

First some History:I am a self-proclaimed Robot Vacuum geek. Back when I saw the original Roomba in 2002 I was hooked. I have had at least one model out of every series Roomba created going back to 2003 (Original, Elite, Discovery, Red, Sage, 570, 535, 560, 650, 790 and lastly the 980). I have been loyal to iRobot and their Roombas only having strayed for a brief period with the Neato XV series units (but quickly went back) so my knowledge and experience with the iRobot line is vast.I purchased a Roomba 980 in Jan of 2016 as a replacement for my Roomba 790 as the only robotic vacuum in our house. While I was impressed with the mapping ability, the runtime of the Li-Ion battery and the Aero-Force extractors in terms of maintenance, I have been bothered by what I feel as less effective cleaning from the vastly more expensive 980 compared to my previous Roomba’s. I have a yellow lab and three kids in our house so there is no shortage of hair, dirt, crumbs, etc. to go around. My main gripe with the 980 and what caused me to look at alternative robotic vacuums was its poor performance in picking up my yellow labs hair off our hardwood floors as well as its inability to fully navigate our entire main floor without becoming stuck on our area rugs or under the furniture. The answer to this for me was having SIX Virtual walls throughout the house blocking various trouble spots for the 980. The virtual walls work great but the batteries run down or one of the kids move them and then the Roomba gets into someplace it shouldn’t and gets stuck. Coming home to a frequently stuck $900 vacuum robot that does not get all the dog hair was the last straw.Upon doing weeks of research, I found the Neato Connected and the Samsung PowerBot line of units. Having been less than impressed with Neato products (reliability, performance, design, etc.) in the past and having good luck with the Samsung appliances and TV’s I figured I would give them a try.R9250 Review:I purchased a BotVac R9250 last week and have run it 15 + times since (have spent hours watching how it operates, learning how it works and following up on its cleaning effectiveness) and I must say I am impressed with its build quality, cleaning ability, navigation and design.The R9250 looks like it has an actual vacuum head attached to a giant motor and dustbin and is HEAVY compared to any Roomba unit I have owned.In the many cleaning jobs, I have run since I got it, it is yet to be stuck and cleans my floors better than any Roomba I have had before. I can turn the PowerBot on and it will clean our entire first floor in a single charge (1,500sqft, all hard surface mostly hardwood floors, with large shag area rugs and some tile in the entryway). The spinning brush on the PowerBot is 12” wide (nearly double what the Roomba’s is) and does an excellent job on the floors picking up pet hair and fine dust that the Roomba 980 would miss. On Carpet it leaves nice lines and a good clean floor. In the past, the Roomba’s with the brushes required a decent amount of maintenance to remove the hair and fibers that would wrap around them. The Powerbot does get some hair on the brush but the way the brush is designed, it is much easier to get the hair and fibers off compared to the Roomba’s.The waste bin is HUGE a .7L and is easy to empty and can be submerged / rinsed with water. This always bothered me with the Roomba’s because the motor was part of the waste bin and was tough to keep really clean.The R9250 has Wi-Fi Capability and uses the Samsung Smart Home app. The configuration process is easy and once connected you can control the basics of the unit from the app. The biggest missing thing on the App is there is no history or map of what the unit cleaned. The app is basic and not very polished but it gets the job done. It is lagging behind the 980 in terms of functionality and polish.Overall, I am impressed with Samsung’s entry in this space and after nearly 15 years with iRobot Roomba’s I have jumped ship and moved on. Will see how reliable the Samsung unit is and how easily I can get replacement parts if / when needed but so far I am glad I made a change.

When it worked it was a great cleaning companion. After I was evicted in June 2021 and moved in with my parents, the docking station failed to charge the robot. Now its a tombstone sitting in the corner of my parents house.Update: Turn off robot.Remove battery plate. Unplug battery and reattach connector. Reattach battery plate and attempt recharge on docking station.

Robot vacuums have been around for a while now. Though I'm all about making life easier through the use of technology never did I think I would ever own one. I'm happy to say that my experience has been pretty good with the Samsung Powerbot 9250. I was surprised by its size when I first unboxed it. The 18.7 x 20.9 inch frame was bigger than I expected. What's great about it is there are multiple ways to operate it. It comes with a remote that you can use to direct it around the house. It can connect to wifi so you can use Google home or the Amazon Echo to tell it to clean. If you are a Samsung Smartthings user (like myself) you can integrate it into your routine configuration. Also as with a lot of other things these days you can use an app (Samsung Home) to control it from your phone or tablet device. Initially putting it together took no time at all. It comes with a remote, extra filter, cleaning tool and a magnetic strip. The strip is used to mark off areas you don't want your Powerbot venturing into. I let it charge for about 2 and a half hours as listed in the instructions. Connecting it to my home wifi was fairly easy using the Samsung Home app. Integrating it into the Samsung Smartthings app did take a couple tries but I was eventually able to get it connected there as well. For being one of the more powerful robot vacuums on the market it wasn't disturbingly loud while in use. The first time out I just let it run and find its way around. The visionary mapping was pretty accurate in making sure it didn't bump into things it came into contact with. Due to its large frame it did have a little difficulty maneuvering through narrow spaces. I was still confident with letting it run while I was out of the house and am glad to report that nothing was knocked over. When it was finished it immediately returned to its charging dock. Manually directing the Powerbot using the remote made cleaning up simple spills quick and easy. The Samsung Powerbot 9250 has definitely set the bench mark for me when it comes to what I want from my smart vacuum.