Neato Botvac D7 Connected

Neato D7 Connected is useful but a noisy robot vacuum cleaner. I have had the pleasure of testing the Neato D7 Connected for a month, and this is my review.

Design

The Neato D7 Connected has a D-shape, which is different from other robot vacuum cleaners I have been testing so far (from Xiamoi, Eufy and Ecovacs). The convenient shape enables the robot to get very close to the walls for cleaning. On the other hand, this shape is not that efficient in corners or reach challenging areas.
The robot features a broad brush which facilitates high vacuuming efficiency. Although the side brush is small, it works efficiently due to the shape of the robot.
Overall, the robot vacuum cleaners design works very well.

Set-up and operation

I had some issues with setting the robot initially.
The robot would not connect to the Wi-Fi in the beginning (but after a while it worked) and has been working perfectly since.
Also, I had some difficulty assembling the filter correctly.
In general, I don’t think the robot vacuum cleaner is easy to operate as other models I have tested.

Navigation

One of the significant differences between a budget robot vacuum cleaner and the expensive ones is the navigation ability.
Neato D7 Connected features Laser navigation (Called LaserSmart Navigation by Neato), which is very useful. The robot creates a map of every room after cleaning, which works very well.
Other robot vacuum cleaners that we have tested didn’t have a navigational system and had random cleaning path but not a clear and defined path. The absence of navigation feature also makes cheaper robot vacuum cleaners inefficient for multiple rooms.
Neato Botvac D7 handles multiple rooms effortlessly. We have been testing the robot on two floors: Floor 0 with two rooms and Floor 1 with four rooms, and it managed both the levels exceptionally well.

App

In general, a robot vacuum cleaner with app-functionality is quite handy for my needs and Neato D7 Connected, of course, comes with this feature as well.
The App comes with basic options like Scheduling, choosing between the two modes: Eco and Turbo etc. Further, you can select between the cleaning options House, Spot and Manual.
You can create maps for multiple floors, depending on where you want to clean, which works well, especially if you have multiple floor levels. In the map, you can easily create virtual “No-go lines” using the App, which is very friendly and far better than the magnetic tapes that come with other robot vacuum cleaners.
After Neato D7 Connected has finished the cleaning, the App provides you with a cleaning summary.
The App works very well, but cannot provide real-time tracking of the robot, which is offered in other robot vacuum cleaners on the market such as Xiaomi Roborock S6.

Cleaning performance

Compared to other robot vacuum cleaners that we have tested, the Neato D7 is a very noisy model, and it is not a great idea to operate the robot in my house, while I am at home which was possible with other models.
The cleaning performance of the robot is excellent and has a great suction power. It operates efficiently and covers a large area with a single charge and even comes with ‘Recharge and Resume’ function.

Cleaning and maintenance

The handle of the dust bin for Neato D7 is placed on the top, which makes it easy to empty. The brushes are also easy to clean.

Price

The buying price of Neato Botvac D7 is € 440 which is very reasonable for the product. But we have noticed that the robot was priced at € 899 just 2 years ago, which definitely is far high, compared to other high-end robot vacuum cleaners on the market.