After a bit of a hiatus, Dyson has officially jumped back into the world of robot vacuums with the Dyson 360 Vis Nav. Earning a spot on our top luxury tech gifts list, its colorful blue design makes it stand out in a market of white and black products, and thanks to its bold contours and quirky shape, it’s incredibly easy to pick out of a lineup.
It’s not just its design that separates Dyson from the competition, but also its price tag. Clocking in at over $2,000, the Dyson 360 Vis Nav is much more expensive than other premium robot vacuums, including the powerful Roborock S8 Pro Ultra. But do you get a lot more for your money?
Here’s a look at the Dyson 360 Vis Nav and Roborock S8 Pro Ultra to help you figure out which is best for your home.
Pricing and availability
The Dyson 360 Vis Nav is one of the most expensive robot vacuums available at a staggering $2,399. Only one color is available, and that’s the striking blue design with red accents. It also comes with a small charging dock.
The Roborock S8 Pro Ultra costs $1,599, which also makes it one of the most expensive robot vacuums money can buy. It’s available in black or white color options and includes a large charging dock.
Winner: Roborock S8 Pro Ultra
Vacuuming
Both the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra and Dyson 360 Vis Nav do a great job of cleaning your floors. The Roborock offers up to 6,000Pa of suction, which helps pull pet hair, dirt, and other debris from your floors. You can even customize the suction power levels using the smartphone app — running a deep clean while you’re away at work or a quiet, low-suction session while you’re on the phone.
The Roborock uses lidar to accurately map your floor plan and offers a side brush that helps sweep up dirt around the edges of your home. It can even detect when the floor surface has changed and alter its cleaning method to pick up the most dirt.
The Dyson 360 Vis Nav boasts a motor that spins at a staggering 110,000 rpm and churns out 65AW of suction (the company doesn’t measure vacuum performance in Pascals). Those numbers allow it to churn out cleaning power that rivals (and possibly surpasses) the S8 Pro Ultra. Its big selling point is its D-shaped body, allowing it to get incredibly close to walls and edges.
Toss in a piezo sensor that automatically adjusts suction levels based on the amount of detected dust, a side duct to redirect suction to the side of the robot for enhanced edge cleaning, and a robust smartphone app, and it’s clear that Dyson built the 360 Vis Nav to compete with the best.
Winner: Tie
Mopping
While it carries a massive price tag, the Dyson 360 Vis Nav doesn’t do anything other than vacuum. So if you’re looking for a robot that vacuums and mops, the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra is the automatic winner.
The S8 Pro Ultra does a great job of mopping up your tile, hardwood, or other non-carpeted surfaces. Roborock has kitted the device with the new VibraRise 2.0 system, which is a fancy way of saying it provides downward pressure while mopping to help remove tricky stains or other gunk that are clinging to your floors. Best of all, the mop can lift 5mm off the ground, allowing it to travel on carpets without dragging dirty mops across your home.
Keep in mind that 5mm isn’t much clearance — and it won’t be enough to completely avoid thick, high-pile carpet. But if you have low-pile carpets or rugs, the Roborock should have no problem keeping them dry. Rounding out the package is the ability for the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra to wash and dry its mopheads while docked, allowing you to go weeks before needing to perform any manual mopping tasks.
Winner: Roborock S8 Pro Ultra
Additional features
While the Dyson does a great job of vacuuming floors, it really doesn’t do anything else. Unlike the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra, the 360 Vis Nav can’t empty its dustbin while docked. This means you’ll still need to intervene after each cleaning and empty its dustbin before sending it off to its next task. Emptying its dustbin is a hassle-free process (thanks to a one-touch ejection design that keeps your hands clean), but it’s still a missed opportunity — especially when you consider its price tag.
Roborock’s S8 Pro Ultra, meanwhile, will automatically empty its dustbin for weeks before you need to replace the large, disposable bag inside its dock, and the fact that it mops your floors (then cleans and dries its mops) is a big selling point for homes with two types of floors.
Both products require regular maintenance, although this is similar to what you’d expect for traditional vacuums — that is, you’ll be detangling hair, rinsing off roller brushes, and ensuring nothing has become tangled in its wheels or other nooks and crannies.
Winner: Roborock S8 Pro Ultra
Is the Dyson 360 Vis Nav worth the price tag?
There’s no doubt that the Dyson 360 Vis Nav does an excellent job vacuuming. However, there are plenty of other robot vacuums on the market with lower price tags that offer similar performance. Not only that, but other products give you a boatload of extras without ever cracking the $2,000 threshold.
Because of this, most homes will find the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra to be a better fit. Not only is it cheaper, but it can automatically clean and empty itself after each run, allowing you to go for extended periods without having to worry about it. The Dyson, meanwhile, can’t empty itself — so you’ll need to intervene after each cleaning cycle. And if you have hardwood or tile floors, you’ll still need to worry about mopping.
