bObsweep Dustin Vacuum Review

The bObsweep Dustin feels well-built. The vacuum itself and its dock are mostly made from plastic with an unusual soft-touch feel, which makes it a little more pleasant to hold compared to some similarly-priced models, like the Shark Matrix Plus. The glossy top panel provides a bit of textural contrast, but the hard plastic used to cover the LIDAR sensor feels cheap and flimsy. That said, overall, the vacuum feels pretty sturdy, with few obvious weak points. The one notable exception is its flow gate, the flap that opens to allow debris to be sucked into the self-empty dustbin. It's made of flimsy plastic and doesn't close shut very tightly, so debris can fall back out if the vacuum's internal dustbin is overfilled.

User maintenance is decently simple. There aren't that many parts that need to be maintained regularly. Items like the brushroll, filter, and side brush are easy to clean, and the unit's mopping pad is held in place with velcro, so you can easily take it off. The only component that's a real nuisance to clean is the vacuum's front wheel, which takes quite a bit of force to remove, to the point where you'll have to use a pair of pliers or a flathead screwdriver to pry it out. Unusually, the battery is also listed as a component that'll need to be replaced periodically, but on the upside, you won't have to do so very often, and accessing it only requires you to remove a cover underneath the vacuum that's held in place with a single screw.

Thanks to the vacuum's self-emptying dock, you won't have to empty its dustbin at the end of every cleaning session, and the dock's dustbags have a self-sealing tab so that no debris spills out when you remove them from the dock. That doesn't necessarily negate all hands-on user maintenance; since the vacuum's internal water tank is integrated with the vacuum's dustbin, you'll still need to take it out and refill it once it's been emptied.

If you'd like a full breakdown of the user requirements for this vacuum, you can take a look at the user manual here.

This vacuum incurs high recurring costs, partly due to the added costs associated with its base station.

• Brushroll: The brushroll needs replacing every 12 months. You can buy a replacement here.
• Side brush: The side brush needs to be replaced every 12 months. You can buy a replacement here.
• Vacuum filter: This filter needs to be replaced every six months. You can find a replacement here.
• Base station dirtbags: The dirtbag is advertised as having a capacity sufficient for 70 days' worth of cleaning sessions; you should just replace it when it gets full. You can buy a replacement here.
• Mop cloth: While the manufacturer doesn't specify a replacement interval for the mop cloth, stating only that it should be washed and dried periodically, long-term usage will result in noticeable wear and tear, and a consequent loss in mopping performance. You can buy a two-pack of replacements here.
• Battery: As per the manufacturer, you should replace the vacuum's internal battery every 24 to 36 months to ensure peak performance. You can buy a replacement here.

This vacuum is pretty easy to store. Its base station has virtually the same footprint as that of the Shark Matrix Plus, but it stands a little shorter, making it easier to squeeze under some tables.

The combined capacity of this vacuum's internal dustbin and base station dirtbag is impressively spacious. A single dirtbag is advertised as being able to hold 70 days worth of debris. While the veracity of that claim will depend heavily on how much you use the vacuum, there's no getting around the fact that its 3.5L dirtbags are considerably larger than those of alternatives like the Roborock Q5/Q5+.

• bObsweep Dustin
• Robot vacuum body
• Internal dustbin/water tank
• 2x Vacuum filters
• Foam pre-filter
• 2x Side brushes
• Main brushroll
• Main brushroll gate
• 2x Microfiber mop cloths
• Base Station/Accessories
• Self Empty Station/Charging station
• 2x dust bags
• Base station motor filter
• Charging bed/Floor plate
• Owner's manuals
• Cleaning tool

This vacuum's range is limited only by remaining battery life, though it can't climb or descend staircases.

This vacuum is very portable. Despite its mopping attachment, it weighs less than alternatives like the Roborock Q5/Q5+, making it a little easier to carry to a different floor.

The battery performance is superb. In its max-power 'High' mode, it supplies just under an hour and a half of cleaning time. Using its 'Low' mode extends its runtime to a little under two hours, which isn't that drastic a change in the grand scheme of things. Regardless, the bObsweep Dustin will return to its dock and refuse to start a new cleaning cycle if its charge status is too low.

This robot vacuum has a couple of extra convenience features. You can swap between three different suction power levels through its companion app: the low-power 'Low' mode, the default 'Medium' mode, and the more powerful 'High' mode for cleaning more stubborn or heavier debris. That said, unlike alternatives like the Roborock Q7 Max, it lacks carpet sensors that would allow it to automatically raise its suction power on carpeted floors. You can also adjust its mop function between three levels of cleaning intensity: 'Light,' 'Medium,' and 'Deep.'

The bObsweep Dustin has a three-arm side brush that directs debris from the side of the vacuum into the path of the main brushroll.

Performance on hard floors is poor. The bObsweep Dustin struggles with fine debris like sand and medium-sized debris like rice on this surface type, as its side brush just tends to fling lightweight debris outwards. On the upside, it does an okay job of clearing away bulky debris like whole pieces of cereal.

This vacuum delivers okay performance on high-pile carpet. It can clear away the majority of medium-sized and bulky debris on this surface type within a single cleaning cycle, though an extra pass might be necessary to get every last bit. Unfortunately, it has a really hard time with finer debris like sand.

This vacuum's debris pickup performance on low-pile carpet is disappointing. Its side brush scatters around large and medium-sized debris like cereal and rice, though it does eventually clear away some of it if it's left to run for long enough. Unfortunately, it doesn't provide enough surface agitation to lift away finer debris like sand that's been pressed into carpet fibers. Beyond that, it also does a terrible job of dealing with debris left along walls and in corners.

This vacuum's pet hair pickup performance on low-pile carpet is terrible. It does almost nothing to lift away longer strands of hair on this surface type and even drags around lighter strands of hair, forcing you to clean up after it's finished its cleaning cycle.

Like most robot vacuums, the bObsweep Dustin has poor suction performance at its floorhead. The suction inlet is too high above the ground to generate a tight seal on bare surfaces.

Airflow performance is passable for a robot vacuum. It won't lift away heavier debris as effortlessly as a high-end model like the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra, but it's still on a similar playing field to some alternatives, like the Roborock Q7 Max.

This vacuum is remarkably quiet. You'll hear what people nearby are saying even when it's running in its most powerful suction mode.

The self-empty dock is much noisier than the vacuum when using the self-empty function, with a peak volume of 77.5 dBA.

This vacuum does an alright job of maneuvering itself. Even after generating a map of its coverage area, it fails to generate an efficient cleaning path, frequently slaloming between furniture legs, bumping into its own dock, and cleaning areas it has already passed over while missing other areas completely. The manufacturer stresses the importance of removing obstacles before it cleans, and that warning seems to hold weight, as the bObsweep Dustin frequently gets stuck on things like thick shag-pile rugs, power cords, and coat rack legs.

This vacuum has poor air filtration performance. Fine particles can easily escape from its exhaust, making it a poor option if you suffer from serious allergies.

The bObsweep Dustin provides middling crevice-cleaning performance in its 'High' power setting. It lifts only a small amount of material away, but its side brush thankfully doesn't scatter debris away. In any case, you're better off using a conventional, manually operated vacuum with a crevice tool for this kind of usage anyway.

The bObsweep Dustin's mopping function provides terrible overall performance. The different mop level settings don't seem to differ much in real-world application. Regardless of the setting you choose, a similar amount of water drips through small holes on the underside of the vacuum to soak the mopping pad. Even with the pads pre-dampened, the vacuum had minimal impact. A single pass provides a similar result to limply dragging a wet rag over the stain. Even running a second pass makes very little difference, as seen here.

This vacuum isn't designed to deal with liquid spills. It can clear away small spills by soaking them away with its mopping pads, but having the vacuum suck up liquid will likely result in damage.

This vacuum has a wide range of physical automation features. For example, you can operate the vacuum entirely without the companion app, but it's worth noting that you lose out on a lot of functionality by doing so. It features a trio of buttons on its top cover: a short press on the 'Go' button starts or stops a cleaning session, while a long press turns the vacuum on or off. A short press of the 'Charge' button when the unit is off its charging station causes it to stop its cleaning session and return to its dock. A short press of the same button when the vacuum is docked manually engages its Self-Empty function. You can also engage low-power standby mode by pressing and holding the 'Charge' button. The 'Wi-Fi' button causes the vacuum to search for new networks to connect to. There's also a quartet of display icons above the vacuum that provides information on the vacuum's overall status, Wi-Fi connection, charge, and cleaning status at a glance. Like many other robot vacuums, some built-in speakers issue warning chimes and voice prompts.

The bObsweep companion app is decent overall. You can see a quick overview of its features here. Once the bObsweep Dustin has mapped your home, you can access the coverage map to label, divide or connect areas, schedule cleaning sessions for those specific areas and choose specific settings, set up zones where you don't want the unit to vacuum or mop, or even send the vacuum to a specific area to spot clean.

You can also toggle on or off a few built-in features, like the auto-resume function that allows it to pick up a cleaning session from where it left off if it needed to return to its dock to recharge or self-empty. You can even turn off its edge detection feature if you want the vacuum to clean darker-colored floors without stopping. Just note that turning off this safety feature means there's no safeguard to keep the vacuum from rolling off a set of stairs or a landing. The app also allows you to mute the vacuum's voice prompts if you find them annoying or change how often it automatically returns to its dock to self-empty. With all of that said, it's worth noting that the app isn't especially pleasant to use, with a somewhat clunky, unintuitive interface.