Samsung Powerbot VR9000 review

The internal battery lasts for up to 100 minutes of regular cleaning, although it will drain much faster (around 60 minutes) if you use the Max Suction mode. That was still enough for it to complete a full pass of our two bedroom flat, with enough power for some manual spot cleaning and still get back to the charging station. It takes around two and a half hours to fully recharge, so will certainly be ready to go if you leave it docked overnight. It moves at about 0.3m per second, although based on how well it has learned your room layout it could take several passes before it decides the room is clean and moves on.

The charging station really needs to sit on a firm surface, as it often failed to make a connection when the VR9000 sank into the carpet. There are at least mounting brackets on the back to screw it into a wall, to prevent it moving when the vacuum docks.

While we were impressed by the Powerbot VR9000’s suction abilities, which are up there with the best robot vacuums we’ve seen to date, it still struggled to make its way around a relatively small flat until it had spent a considerable amount of time learning its routes. Manual control and spot from a remote are welcome features, but only if you don’t need to rely on them to get the cleaner to complete a full circuit of your house.

Robot vacuums themselves are still only really practical for single level flats, unless you’re prepared to lug it up and down the stairs every other day to clean multiple floors while you’re out at work. At £700, the VR9000 certainly isn’t cheap; you could buy a full-size vacuum and still have enough left over for a cordless handheld model. Considering you’ll still need to do a bit of work yourself, as the VR9000 can’t get completely into edges or corners, we imagine most people will opt for a traditional cleaner rather than this, but if you have the house for it and are prepared to help it through its learning phase, it’s a viable (if expensive) alternative to the weekly clean.

If the VR9000 isn’t for you, check out our best buy vacuum cleaners.