A Modern Dilemma: Robot Vacuums vs. Traditional Vacuums

Media has always been at the forefront when it comes to anticipating technology. While no watch today can help see through handcuffs, the watch worn by Roger Moore’s James Bond did predict smartwatches… kinda? So, is the case with K.I.T.T. in Knight Rider predicting a smart and self-driving car.

Well, if there is one thing that technology is yet to catch up to, it is AI that cleans and maintains your house like Betsie from The Jetson’s did. While the robot vacuums of today are quickly evolving, the AI that powers it is yet to reach the lengths necessary to completely take over traditional handheld vacuums, let alone taking over the human race. Sigh.

The Benefits of Robot Vacuums

Vroom vroom, as the little robo vacuum glides across your house, it brings with it many benefits that traditional vacuums don’t bring to the table. Here are a few of them:

Extremely Convenient

Trust us when we say that there is nothing more convenient than scheduling your robot vacuum to clean your house when you’re leaving and coming back to clean floors. Heaven. Most advanced vacuums even have dedicated mobile apps where you can set timers and map out the paths that you’d like the robot to take and clean.

Great At Spot Cleaning

This one is for all you clumsy people out there; robot vacuums are great at spot cleaning. Whether it is a spill or mess, you can simply direct your robo towards it, and it will make short work of the task. So, no more getting up to get the mop every time you spill your beverage on the floor. Yays all around!

Goes Where Hands Don’t

We all have nooks and crannies in our house where it’s almost impossible to get a handheld vacuum in. It is in these areas, where a traditional vacuum is frightful to go, the little robot vacuum braves into and comes out a victor. Most of the time.

The Limitations of Robot Vacuums

It is because of these four factors that a robot vacuum falls short, and a handheld vacuum gets the win:

They Get Stuck Quite Frequently

We can’t say this enough; robot vacuums are SO STUPID. If you’ve ever felt like robots will take over the world, you should see a robot vacuum bumping into obstacles. The thing is, while some advanced models do have intelligent obstacle detection technologies, the average robot vacuum will require you to vacuum-proof the house.

So, you’ll need to remove any socks and toys from the floor and then pray to God that the robot doesn’t get confused and keep bumping into corners. Imagine getting back home from work only to find out that your vacuum got confused and died down while trying to get out of a corner!

Needs To Be Emptied

While some robot vacuums include self-emptying trays, for the most part, you’ll need to empty the dust bag every day or so. This can get really annoying really fast, especially considering that the emptying routine is a lot less frequent on handheld vacuums.

Significant Dollar Signs Required

Remember when we talked about advanced robot vacuums? Well, gadgets with premium features will cost you a bucket load of money. That is not to say that a standard robot vacuum won’t cost you much.

The price range on robot vacuums usually starts at $250 and can go all the way to $1000! That’s a lot of money, especially when you consider the fact that you can score a traditional vacuum for less than $100.

Less Efficient

Let’s get one thing straight; a robot vacuum is not a substitute for a normal vacuum. You’ll still need to vacuum your floors, maybe every week or so.

So, a robot vacuum offers convenience and will save you a lot of time that you would have spent vacuuming. All it will cost you is an extra few hundred dollars and time spent removing obstacles and emptying its bin. A real dilemma, if you ask us.