bObsweep PetHair Plus Robotic Vacuum Cleaner and Mop, Charcoal

We have critters - right now 2 cats and 3 dogs - AND live on the beach. Our house is basically vacuum-cleaner hell between the hair and the sand.It is the breeds of the dogs that are the ultimate challenge for any vacuum of any type. The 2 breeds are both double-coated long-haired breeds with hair on their chests, necks, bellies and legs that can be over 8" long. Double-coated means twice as much shedding. The Shetland Sheepdogs (Shelties) have a moderate texture outer coat and a 'pure fluff' under-coat - there is a reason they are nicknamed "fuzzy-butts" My other breed - Kuvasz - are huge (28" at the shoulder 95-120 lbs). They are the ancestors of Great Pyrenees. A difference between Kuvasz and Pyrenees is that while Pyrs have the double coat too, the Pyr coat is softer and silkier (as is the coat of the Bernese Mountain Dogs and Newfoundlands) than that of the Kuvasz. The Kuvasz coat is long and wavy with a coarse texture and a bit wirey. Kuvasz hair KILLS vacuums - canister, upright you name it and they have a lifespan of 6 months. The ONLY vac I have had that was be able to pick up Kuv hair without keeling over is my vintage Electrolux canister.Shedding season ....yikes. Both breeds blow coat 2 times a year. The Shelties' shed can be mildly annoying but a Kuvasz blowing coat leaves a room looking like you turned on a cotton candy machine and it flung white cotton candy everywhere -- just clouds of the stuff.In terms of shedding Shelties are the 20th worst breed. Great Pyrs are ranked 15th but since Kuvasz have a more difficult coat to vacuum up, call them around 10th. So if you take my Shelties and Kuvasz together, the shed problem here would probably come in among the top 5 of breeds --- and none of those ranked as shedding more have those long long coats. Add the beach sand and densely woven wool oriental rugs and you have the toughest test around for a vacuumBeing tired of dragging a big vacuum out, we decided to try a robo vac (lot of crossing fingers in hope.) Picked the Bobsweep Pethair Plus because* Bobsweep is made for pet hair - pet hair is not an "oh yeah and it can do that" item on its skill set* Pethair Plus has the largest bin and the most suction of any robot out there* Can run it from a remote rather than having to have a $$$$$ smartphone and phone plan to make it goAnd Bobsweep is DOING THE JOB!!!(1) Given that it is shedding season, the bin fills fast with that fluffy long hair. I empty the bin 1-2 times & clean off its brushes when it is running and then do it when it goes back to charge. The bag on my Electrolux fills fast too when it comes to long dog hair. I'm good with this - I'm not the one vacuuming now.(2) Noise is de minimis. I don't know what some reviewers are whining about. Yes you can hear it run. No it is not loud. It is quieter than my hairdryer is from 10 feet away; than the Electrolux; than the food processor; than the stand mixer; than the high velocity 18" floor fan; and than the Splendide clothes processor. It is louder than the ultra-quiet dishwasher.We can stream programs while it is running right between us and the screen without any problem.(3) It does all surfaces. We have tile and hardwood floors in the main part of the house and carpet in the bedrooms. Over top of the tile, hardwood and carpet are fifteen 100% wool oriental rugs from Iran & Pakistan scattered about - thick rugs with a pile so dense that you can not get your finger nail between the loops. The rugs go from 9x12 to 3x4. Bobsweep has to go from rug-hardwood-rug-tile -rug etc. It does just fine and does not get stuck.The oriental rugs are dark - range in color from deep deep federal blue to a clay-pot-red to a dark red. It has ZERO problem with the dark rugs against lighter floors. We just turned off the edge sensors that keep it from falling down steps (we have no stairs so it doesn't matter) It IS GETTING that long dog hair out of thickly woven wool oriental rugs!In fact Bobsweep is obsessed with doing those wool rugs - keeps going at that them. And yes it is getting up the dog and cat hair and the sand(4) It gets under the kitchen cabinets and though the legs of the Windsor birdcage chairs(5) It learns its way around. After 3 -4 days, it would come near a wall or object, get within 1/2"-1" and then turn away instead of bumping into the object as it had done at first.(6) It is finding its way back to its charging base which can be difficult with our layout. It will usually have to go left or right - straight down hall -left for 7 feet in hall -right - precise path down room with furniture on either side - right to base.Now I did play fair with it before turning it loose as we are in shedding season with a summer's worth of sand that has been tracked in and down in those thick orientals. I did a super-diligent vacuum with the Electrolux canister before turning the Bobsweep loose. It would be unfair to expect the robot vac to get up 1-2 weeks+ worth of dog hair and sand all at once. Then I left it to Bobsweep Pethair Plus. It does a little each day and stays on top of the hair/sand. I haven't had the Electrolux out in a month.Dogs and cats are fine with it. The Shelties just step aside and watch it. The Kuvasz (who knows she is the baddest thing in town) just steps over it and if it comes at her and bumps her, she gives it a disdainful look and won't budge. The one cat watches it - guess he thought it would move and play with him but figured out it was too boring for words and won't play. If it bumps into him when he is sprawled on the floor, he just scooches over and ignores it. The other cat (a big 15 lb girl) considers it beneath her notice. If it bumps her then up comes the paw and she clocks it one so it heads away.I bought it on Amazon (obviously with the Verified Purchaser) from the seller Bobsweep Flash which is the Bobsweep company itself. They have been great - answer questions on setup etc immediately and then follow up the next day with an email to make sure what they told me to do worked. Fabulous customer service!

I have had a BobSweep Pethair vacuum for years. Old Bob sadly stopped working late this summer. He hadn't been able to dock for awhile, but I had nursed him along and manually plugged him in instead. When he decided life was an obstacle and he could only go backwards, it was time to get a new robotic vacuum.I looked at many other robot vacuums but ultimately ended up purchasing a replacement Bob (in a much more fun color) as it was a known quantity, I loved the scheduling options, he has a huuuuuuuuuuuuge dustbin, etc. Bonus? At the encouragement of the Bobsweep customer service team, they provided a discount as a returning customer. Having reached out to the customer service team periodically over the years with questions, the dedicated customer service also played a role in getting New Bob.So how do I like New Bob?I like him better than Old Bob. Old Bob continually got stuck under my dining room hutch and under my fridge. I had to create manual barriers or be at home to release him when he vacuumed. New Bob does NOT get stuck under my fridge at all, and he rarely gets stuck under the hutch. At times he'll start to get stuck, but 80+ percent of the time, he releases himself.New Bob continues to clean thoroughly. We have all hardwood and a cat. He runs 6 days a week, and I'm constantly amazed by what he picks up. When I empty the dustbin, it always has lots of ... stuff. I don't see it when I look at my floors, but clearly it's there!I really appreciate that the dustbin is as large as what it is, too. I don't remember to empty it every day, and thankfully I don't have to! It holds a lot. A lot a lot.The scheduling functions are so much easier. Once upon a time, Old Bob had scheduling functions on his base. I used to have to Google how to do it each time I accidentally unplugged the base or we lost power or whatever. The scheduling now comes on the remote control for Bob, which is so much easier.I like this remote control more in general. It has more functions and features than Old Bob did without being so many that I'm overwhelmed. I use the remote regularly to nudge New Bob to certain areas that need extra attention.Tools and filters are huge - I like the easy cleaning tools that come with New Bob and ensure that I get all the dust and gunk from his bin and elsewhere. And he comes with an extra main brush "just in case" - though in the past three months, I've yet to need to use it. His filters are super easy to clean and replace, and I appreciate that they're there, which keeps the dust and dirt he collects from spewing into the air.His brush is easy to clean. I also own a Roomba - my upstairs vacuum - and the Roomba is a pain in the rear end to clean. I have a lot of hair that sheds, plus the cat hair, etc. It gets caught in the main brush frequently - though interestingly, much less so in New Bob than in Old Bob or the Roomba. To cut out the hair, etc (because you have to - there is no other solution), I struggle with the Roomba because of the brush design. With Bob (new and old), there's a much easier brush pattern that makes it far easier to remove hair from the brush itself to keep Bob cleaning well.Bob's videos - can I tell you how much I love the Bob YouTube videos? Every time I have a question, I can Google it and find a video answer demonstrating the answer to my question. I used them frequently to troubleshoot Old Bob. I used it with New Bob setup, especially his schedule, and they're so useful.What don't I like about Bob?He doesn't vacuum every surface every day. His pattern is random and doesn't always catch an area that needs cleaning. This, of course, is partly why he runs 6 days a week. If he misses something one day, he'll catch it the next.Bob has a hard time getting into corners, especially under cabinets. Those areas, even if I remote control him into them, don't get all their schmutz picked up most of the time. Instead, I'll grab the broom and pull out the dirt and leave it where I know Bob will go or actually be the bigger person and sweep it into the dustpan and throw it away myself.Bob runs for just about an hour, which isn't enough time to get the entire floor. It may be because I use the deep clean setting - but I'd rather get everything he covers 100% clean than do the whole surface 60 or 80% clean.Most of my issues are the same ones that I would have with any robot vacuum based on reading of reviews and talking to friends who have other models. Could he be better? Yeah... but I'd absolutely purchase him again.