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Hoover's New Robot Vacuum Cleaner Is Here, And It Can Map Your Entire ...
QUICK SUMMARYHoover has launched its first-ever robot vacuum cleaner, the HG4. It boasts a variety of top-performing features, including its ability to map an entire home in under 10 minutes.
The HG4 has an affordable price point, coming in at £249. It's available to buy directly from Hoover, and comes in two different colourways.
Widely regarded as the undisputed leader in the floor-cleaning market, Hoover has officially announced the release of its first-ever robot vacuum cleaner. The HG4 is designed to clean methodically whilst detecting and avoiding obstacles, leaving users with incredible results.
The launch represents a shift from Hoover's best cordless vacuum cleaners, but it's clearly a well-considered move that's in line with the growing demand for robot vacuums.
The Hoover HG4 is priced at £249, making it an affordable choice compared to other models. It can be purchased from Hoover's website directly, and it's available in Iron Gray or Urban Black.
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(Image credit: Hoover)
One impressive feature is the HG4's ability to create the first map in under 10 minutes, giving users the ability to name to each room, split or merge them, add no-go areas or virtual walls. Its LIDAR navigation continuously scans, learns and updates the map's layout, and anti-fall-down sensors allow it to detect and avoid steps or stairs.
The HG4 is is suitable for carpets and hard floors, and can climb onto rugs up to 2cm tall. Limited movability is a common issue for even the best robot vacuum cleaners, so it's great to see Hoover focus on this in particular. It also has a low noise level; only 65 dBA in Quiet mode, or 74 dBA in Max mode.
Antony Peart, Director of Brands and Communications at Haier Europe said, "Hoover's HG4 is a game changer in the robotic vacuum marketplace. If offers all floor type cleaning with powerful suction and can create a map of your home in under 10 minutes. We are so proud of this development for Hoover and hope it will bring a lot to people's homes in terms of cleaning efficiency."
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I Was A Robot Vacuum Skeptic, Then I Tried The IRobot Roomba J7+
iRobot I'd always used a manual vacuum to clean my apartment. I believed that my stick vacuum offered more control and cleaned more efficiently than a robot vacuum could. Then I tried the iRobot Roomba j7+. This top-rated robot vacuum totally changed my mind.
Top products in this article:
iRobot Roomba j7+ robot vacuum, $599 (reduced from $800)
iRobot Roomba i3+ EVO robot vacuum with automatic dirt disposal, $445 (reduced from $599)
Jet Bot AI+ robot vacuum with object recognition, $1,099 (reduced from $1,299)
I work from home, and vacuuming is one of my least favorite chores. I think it's incredibly time-consuming, boring and noisy. Plus, I hate emptying the dustbin. If you're anything like me, your dustbin is basically just a large hair ball studded with bits of dirt and crumbs. However, I was willing to suffer through all of this because I thought manually vacuuming my apartment was a necessary chore that would give my space the best clean.
Reader, I was wrong.
I am a commerce expert. I have read countless robot vacuum reviews to bring you pieces such as the best early Black Friday robot vacuum deals and the best smart robot vacuums.
But because I have seen reviewers both praise and disparage these smart cleaning devices, I wasn't sure that a robot vacuum would be right for me. I worried that a robot vacuum might not be up to the task and that I would surely have to use my stick vacuum after.
Fortunately, iRobot offered to send me one of the brand's top-rated robot vacuums to test: the iRobot Roomba j7+.
iRobot Roomba j7+ robot vacuum
Amazon I tried the iRobot Roomba j7+. The iRobot Roomba j7+ is one of the most advanced robot vacuums on the market. This 4.4-star-rated robot vacuum continuously learns and adapts to the layout of your home for a more thorough and efficient cleaning.
It is also the first iRobot Roomba model to include advanced object recognition and avoidance.
You can save $200 on the iRobot Roomba j7+ at Amazon now.
iRobot Roomba j7+ robot vacuum, $599 (reduced from $800)
How I setup my robot vacuumI named my robot vacuum Sally.
Sally is an impressive size. I wasn't expecting the robot vacuum to be as large as it is, or as sturdy. After I downloaded the iRobot app and paired Sally with my Wi-Fi, my Roomba reversed out of its docking station and began mapping my home. Sally rolled from room to room, its camera eye taking in any potential obstacles in its surroundings. I noticed that this robot vacuum is virtually silent on carpet. It does make noise on my floors, though it's not nearly as loud as my stick vacuum.
Once Sally was done mapping, the iRobot app had a layout of my apartment. I could select specific rooms and areas that I wanted Sally to clean, make a weekly cleaning schedule or ask my Roomba clean everywhere. Since I hadn't vacuumed yet this week, I asked Sally to clean my whole apartment.
"Sally" the iRobot Roomba in its charging station. Courtesy of Lily Rose What it's like to use a robot vacuum for the first time I followed behind my Roomba, watching it suck up dust and hair littered about my living room. We've long-touted this robot vacuum as a pet owner must-have. Well, I don't have any pets. But I do have really long hair that I like to play with while I sit on the couch and watch tv, so I shed a lot. Unlike my stick vacuum, I noticed that the iRobot Roomba j7+ was able to suck up any hairs without getting them tangled or stuck in the machine. When I manually vacuum, I typically miss random strands. But because this Roomba covered every square inch of the room, I feel like it picked up pieces I usually wouldn't see.
The iRobot Roomba in action. Courtesy of Lily Rose I noticed that the Roomba did not suck up any charging cords or bath mats and that it avoided several pairs of my boyfriend's strewn-about shoes. The iRobot device was also able to easily maneuver out places where I thought it might get stuck: under kitchen chairs, the floor of my closet and in between various potted plants.
Shop the iRobot Roomba j7+ robot vacuum
Here's how well the Roomba j7+ cleansEventually, I got bored of watching my robot vacuum work and sat down. Not having to monitor the Roomba felt especially nice. You can ask the iRobot Roomba j7+ to do a single or double pass around your space when it cleans. I asked Sally to do two, thinking one might not be enough. When the Roomba finished, I looked around and was pleasantly surprised. Sally did a great job sucking up all the hair, dust and debris on my floors. The robot vacuum was even able to find and eliminate the hard-to-reach dust bunnies under my dresser and bookshelves. I was so pleased with my cleaning that I didn't feel the need to use my stick vacuum after.
The app notified me with cleaning recommendations. Sally offered extra scheduled cleanings for messy areas and let me review potential obstructions. With that knowledge, I was able to come up with the perfect weekly vacuuming schedule for my apartment.
I am now a robot vacuum fan. I'm likely going to purchase robot vacuums for everyone in my family. No wonder the iRobot Roomba j7+ is one of our 2022 most-wanted holiday gifts.
Shop the iRobot Roomba j7+ robot vacuum
Shop more top-rated robot vacuums on sale nowIf the iRobot Roomba j7+ isn't exactly what you're looking for, discover more top-rated robot vacuums below. All of these robot vacuums are on sale now.
You can also check out our robot vacuum buying guide.
iRobot Roomba i3+ EVO robot vacuum with automatic dirt disposal: $445
Amazon The iRobot Roomba i3+ EVO uses "Imprint Smart Mapping" technology to map your home. Use your connected phone to direct the Wi-Fi-enabled robot vacuum to clean any room you want. You can even schedule a future clean. This Roomba is compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
The smart appliance learns your cleaning habits and can suggest extra cleanings during peak pollen and pet-shedding seasons. And don't even worry about dumping out your dustbin. The Roomba i3+ EVO features iRobot's "Clean Base Automatic Dirt Disposal" system and empties your accumulated dirt into an enclosed bag.
iRobot Roomba i3+ EVO robot vacuum with automatic dirt disposal, $445 (reduced from $599)
iRobot Roomba 694 robot vacuum: $166
Amazon The Roomba 694 is Wi-Fi-enabled. Control the vac with your connected smartphone or device via the iRobot Home app. The Roomba 694 has a 90-minute run time before it automatically docks and recharges.
On Amazon, one reviewer praised the iRobot device's ability to keep a pet-friendly household clean. "We have two dogs, one that sheds moderately," the customer wrote. "I purchased in hopes that it at least would help between regular vacuuming. I vacuumed first with my Dyson then set it free. When it was done with the job, I didn't expect much in the dust trap... I was wrong! It was full! Super impressed."
iRobot Roomba 694 robot vacuum, $166 (reduced from $274)
Samsung Jet Bot+ robot vacuum with Clean Station: $690
Amazon While this more affordable Jet Bot+ robot vacuum by Samsung doesn't feature 3D recognition with AI, it does have LiDAR sensor navigation, five watts of adjustable suction and the all-important self-emptying Clean Station.
Mapping can be controlled via your phone with the Samsung SmartThings App. Remotely check the Jet Bot+'s cleaning status, pause or stop cleaning and view the cleaning history.
Samsung Jet Bot+ robot vacuum with clean station, $690 (reduced from $799)
Jet Bot AI+ robot vacuum with object recognition: $1,099
Samsung The Samsung Jet Bot AI+ robot vacuum has a bunch of cool features, including 30 watts of adjustable suction, 3D object recognition with AI and powerful LiDAR navigation. This robot vacuum can recognize what objects to avoid, so you won't have to deal with it constantly crashing into the couch or a pile of laundry on the floor. Have a very specific clean in mind? Mapping can be controlled via your phone.
You can even watch your robot vacuum operate no matter where you are, using Samsung's SmartThings App. The Jet Bot AI+ comes with a front camera that can live stream in real time. It boasts its own no-touch "Clean Station" that will empty your dustbin using Samsung's Air Pulse technology. The vacuum's 0.2 liter dustbin is fully washable.
Jet Bot AI+ robot vacuum with object recognition, $1,099 (reduced from $1,299)
Roborock Q5+ with self-empty dock: $600
Amazon This 4.6-star-rated robot vacuum by Roborock comes with serious smarts: It uses LiDAR navigation to create an editable map of your home, so it knows not to bump into furniture or tumble down steps. It supports app- and voice-based controls. The Roborock Q5+ comes complete with a 2.5-liter filtered cleaning station that promises seven weeks of hands-free cleaning before it requires emptying.
Roborock Q5+ robot vacuum, $600 after coupon (reduced from $700)
If you opt for a Roborock robot vacuum that you empty yourself, you can save a bit of money.
Roborock Q5 robot vacuum, $330 after coupon (reduced from $430)
Yeedi Vac 2 robot vacuum and mop: $245
Amazon Need a robot vacuum and a mop? Check out the budget-minded Yeedi Vac 2, on sale on Amazon. This multi-purpose cleaning device features 3D object avoidance which allows it to recognize any objects in its path and move around them to avoid getting stuck. It's designed to avoid your dog's food bowl, water bowl and dog toys.
Yeedi Vac 2 robot vacuum and mop, $245 after coupon (reduced from $350)
The upgraded Yeedi Vac 2 Pro version with a longer run time is also on sale as part of the Amazon early Black Friday sale.
Yeedi Vac 2 Pro robot vacuum and mop, $345 after coupon (reduced from $450)
Eufy RoboVac X8: $350
Amazon Eufy (an Anker brand) makes some of the best-rated budget robot vacuums you can buy on Amazon. The 4.4-star-rated Eufy RoboVac X8 features twin turbines that generate 2,000Pa of suction, LiDAR-based (laser) navigation and AI mapping technology. It's Wi-Fi enabled, too -- you can view and edit maps of your home on your phone, creating no-go zones you want the vacuum to avoid.
Eufy RoboVac X8, $350 (reduced from $500)
Shark IQ Robot vacuum with self-emptying base: $407
Shark via Amazon This 4.4-star-rated Shark IQ Robot vacuum (RV912S) cleans your whole home in neat rows. It lacks the advanced smarts of more expensive robot vacuums, but this is one of the most affordable robot vacuums with a self-emptying base you'll find.
This Shark model comes with a 45-day capacity cleaning base.
Shark IQ Robot vacuum with self-emptying base, $407 (reduced from $650)
Shark Ion robot vacuum: $205
Amazon This Shark robot vac features side brushes, channel brushes and a multi-surface brush roll to handle dirt and debris on all surfaces. Use the SharkClean app on your connected smartphone or device to control when -- and where -- your robot vacuum cleans. The vac offers 120 minutes of run time. Choose from three colors.
Shark Ion robot vacuum (gray), $205 (reduced from $230)
Lefant M210 robot vacuum cleaner: $100
Amazon Lefant's M210 robot vac features built-in, anti-collision infrared sensors so it won't bang into its surroundings. The robot vacuum detects "stuck areas," and adjusts its cleaning path automatically. Download the Lefant app to pair the Wi-Fi-enabled vac with your smartphone or device -- the better to control the appliance remotely. The robot vacuum features 100 minutes of run time.
Lefant M210 robot vacuum cleaner, $100 (reduced from $260)
Laresar Grande 1 self-charging robotic vacuum: $153
Laresar Store via Amazon This Laresar smart robot can vacuum and mop your floors (water tank sold separately). The machine is equipped with sensors that detect stairs and prevent falls. The robot vacuum is Wi-Fi compatible and can be controlled by smartphone. Download the Laresmart app to schedule cleanings, swap cleaning modes and control cleaning direction.
Laresar Grande 1 self-charging robotic vacuum, $153 after coupon (reduced from $200)
Related content from CBS Essentials Lily RoseThe Best Robot Vacuum For Me Is The One I Hacked
Tech /Reviews /Smart Home ReviewsThe best robot vacuum for me is the one I hackedRobot Vacuums can be privacy nightmares. That is unless you run Valetudo.
Robot Vacuums can be privacy nightmares. That is unless you run Valetudo.
by Chris PersonOct 31, 2023, 3:30 PM UTCLinkFacebookThreadsIf you buy something from a Verge link, Vox Media may earn a commission. See our ethics statement.
A little extra hardware, a handful of Linux commands, and boom, the vacuum is free.Photo Illustration by Cath Virginia / The VergeConceptually, I love robot vacuums. A little friend who cleans up my floor? Fantastic. Into it. The issue is, unfortunately, I don't trust them. They constantly report back to the external servers, and they can be a huge security liability. I don't want that. Someone has to have hacked these things, I reasoned. A quick search revealed I was correct. This is how I came across Valetudo, a project that aims to liberate robot vacuums from the cloud.
Valetudo is a firmware replacement for your robot. It integrates with a vacuum's existing software and acts like a cloud replacement that allows you to control your robot vacuum locally. Instead of having to use a proprietary app on your phone, which connects to a distant server, which then connects back to your robot, you can simply control it directly with either an Android app or a simple web interface. (An iOS app is currently not available.) It also works with MQTT, and it can be controlled via the open-source home automation solution Home Assistant once properly configured.
The first thing I should stress is that this is not, in its current state, a beginner project. Installing and setting up Valetudo on a compatible vacuum requires some knowledge of Linux and the ability to patiently follow instructions. Even if you have those skills, there is still a nonzero chance you could brick your robot. It's also unlikely that you'll be able to revert your vacuum back to its default state once this is installed. But if you want a vacuum that is not tied to an internet connection and don't mind getting your hands a little dirty (and voiding warranties), Valetudo does the trick.
A Dream L10S Ultra getting injected with Valetudo firmware.Photo: Chris Person / The VergeValetudo itself exists because of Sören Beye (AKA Hypfer) and Dennis Giese. Giese, a PhD student at Northeastern University, started hacking back in 2017, eventually found a way to root a Xiaomi robot, and wrote a cloud replacement implementation called Dustcloud. He published it at Def Con and CCC, and then someone used that to create a more lightweight implementation called Dummycloud, the concepts for which would find their way into Valetudo. (Valetudo is the Roman name for Hygieia, the Greek goddess of cleanliness, health, and hygiene.)
Beye had seen Giese's Def Con talk and, a year later, started hacking a Roborock S5 he got from Aliexpress. Eventually, Beye put the prototype of Valetudo on GitHub and announced it on Roboter-Forum, a German forum about cleaning and mowing robots. Slowly, their work drifted together, with Beye working on a lot of Valetudo proper and Giese responsible for the image and rooting tools, as well as finding the exploits as they evolved. Giese later created DustBuilder, which streamlines the process of building firmware and rooting devices.
To decrypt firmware from new models and vendors, the keys from real devices are needed, and while some people do donate robots and Beye and Giese take donations to keep the project going, a lot of the cost comes out of pocket. Giese admits he has probably spent close to $30–$40,000 on robot vacuums. "Money donations are a bit cyclic. Sometimes, I get some cash together to buy a robot. But it's obviously still a money pit," he told me.
There are many advantages to using Valetudo instead of a vacuum's default system. The big one is that your robot is not connected to the cloud, which is very important if you are overly paranoid that your vacuum might, say, take photos of you on the toilet, which then get shared by gig workers to Facebook. "All of the robots store pictures in one form or another. Some of them are uploading the stuff," said Giese. "It's not your devices; it's the vendors. They have full control over the data and the device."
With Valetudo, maps of your house are not stored on a remote server but locally on the vacuum's internal storage. The interface is standardized across all the supported vacuum models, so you don't have to relearn anything if you switch to a new robot. You are not forced to install updates to your robot. You are not subject to marketing or push notifications, and your email and phone number will not be subject to a data breach. You do not agree to an extended and unreadable corporate TOS. It does not require a smartphone app connected to a distant server, which also means better latency for commands. And even outside of what it doesn't make you do, there's tons of additional functionality like custom Home Assistant integration, Wi-Fi strength mapping, the ability to turn your house into a Minecraft map, and voice packs. (There is a GLaDOS pack someone made, but I am trying to hack it so it sounds like Roger from the show American Dad.)
iRobot and Roomba are almost synonymous with robot vacuums at this point; they aren't ideal for hacking because they lack the processor overhead to run Valetudo. The most commonly used models for installing Valetudo are from Roborock and Dreame.
For this project, I used a Dreame L10S Ultra, which has recently been added to the list of compatible robots. The method of modifying the robot varies from model to model and vendor to vendor (some older robots can actually be rooted OTA, or over the air), but the easiest way to hack the Dreame requires some specific hardware and direct access to the robot. This Fastboot method uses an exploit to the Allwinner LiveSuit tool for Linux and modified LiveSuit images. "Fastboot was my solution to prevent people from bricking their device," Giese said. "The alternative would have been real livesuit images, which are dangerous."
To hack the robot, I acquired a $5 custom piece of hardware called the Dreame Breakout PCB through the Valetudo Telegram group, where most of the support for the process lives. Strictly speaking, you do not need this adapter to hack this model; it just makes hacking it easier and can be easily shared with hacking spaces and groups of like-minded friends. I also will never pass up an opportunity to solder a doohicky I got from GitHub.
"[Valetudo] requires rooting. But with the builder, it's technically not that hard to use, even for non-Linux users. We have a very big community with lots of people that have experience." Giese told me. "You see the usual suspects in Telegram helping people."
The next step was to actually gain root access to hack the robot. The process I followed strongly recommends using a laptop with Linux installed (Debian, for example). (A Raspberry Pi does not work in this specific case since fastboot requires x86 binaries, which the Pi can't run.) I did not have a Linux laptop handy, so I pinged a good friend of mine from my local hacking space to help out. This was also convenient because while I am pretty good at using intermediate Linux commands, this specific method currently requires quickly inputting commands in a slightly narrow timeframe of 160 seconds or risk bricking your device, and frankly, he just types faster than me.
We installed the necessary dependencies and software, pried open the top using a couple of small flathead screwdrivers, took the breakout PCB I had soldered, and, per the instructions, plugged it into the 16-pin Dreame Debug connector. From there, we connected the laptop via USB and used the software to extract the config value of the device and input it into Dustbuilder.
Once the website generated and sent us the custom firmware images and text files, we were able to root and flash the device through a series of fastboot commands. "There are some aspects of the rooting which are black box... I don't like that necessarily, but I did not find a better solution," Giese told me later. Finally, we installed Valetudo using the Valetudo-Helper-HTTPbridge and backed up the calibration and identity data of the robot. Those are all the parts that were a pain; the rest is pretty easy.
After going through the rooting process, the robot appears as a Wi-Fi access point, like many smart home devices do during setup. You connect to the robot's network, open a browser, type the local IP address into it, and then input your Wi-Fi credentials to connect it to your network. From here on out, find it on your network and open the address in a browser. Congratulations, little buddy, you're free.
Interacting with a robot via Valetudo is, like using Home Assistant, a simple and no-nonsense affair. I typically control mine via a local browser window. The robot will start by mapping the space it is in, segmenting the space into zones, and then that map can be modified freely using the UI. You can choose to have the robot vacuum all spaces, individual segments, or even just areas you select with a lasso tool. Fan strength, manual controls, surface behaviors, docking behaviors, timers, and every granular capability you can think of are available. There's even a way to control it with a gamepad. And while some vendor-specific features might not be present, the ability to have total access and control of your robot opens up many possibilities. While writing this article, a person on X (formerly Twitter) responded that they discovered they could pipe a voice synthesizer into their robot via SSH, allowing them to screw with their roommates by having it complain about its imprisonment. You simply can't buy fun like that.
So much of what tech companies do, both generally and here specifically, is not particularly special and, in many ways, actively intrusive. IRobot is not some unicorn tech company at this point. It is a company with several competitors that all strive to do more or less the same thing. These robots do not strictly "need" to be connected to the cloud all the time to clean your house, but they are, and to me personally, they are worse devices as a result.
Valetudo even allows you to fun things like map your house's Wi-Fi signal strength while you're vacuuming.Screenshot: Valenori"I think that in a perfect world, Valetudo wouldn't exist," Beye told me over Telegram. "It fills this gap that would be technically trivial to fill by the vendors, but they simply refuse to do so because requiring the cloud makes for a better business model."
All I wanted was a vacuum that I could trust, one that would treat me like an adult. You know, like my regular vacuum cleaner. I don't know if any company out there would voluntarily consider offering a vacuum robot that just vacuums without phoning home, not even a solitary model marketed to weirdos like me. A Framework laptop, but for cleaning my house.
Beye believes that the most likely path to vendors offering local devices is EU regulation forcing IoT devices to give people the option to use their devices offline or without registering an account. When I asked Giese about the idea of an open-source vacuum, he believed it to be unrealistic in the current market. As it stands, if you don't want your vacuum to narc on you and if you want respect from your tech, you have to patch it in yourself, and there's only one place to find that: on a Telegram channel with a bunch of other friendly, opinionated nerds who will send you a circuit board in the mail.
Once he was liberated, my robot started making happy little laps around my house, scanning it, mapping it, and storing it locally. For now, his name is Chappie, named after the military robot that stops being a cop in the charming but bad movie of the same name. I cannot express the irrational amount of joy I felt, like a proud parent, watching this little guy go. For the hell of it, I had him start mapping my Wi-Fi signal strength so I could potentially make adjustments to my access points.
At the risk of sounding too over the top, I felt true elation and affection when I finished this project. It felt like when I was young and when computers were new and fun things before everything became gray sludge and tablets, condescending UI, and endless pages of unreadable, untrustworthy terms of service agreements. It's that rare moment when you touch a piece of tech and know it all does what you want it to because you made it that way. It felt like a friend.
I love my dust-sucking son. And I cannot tell you how happy I am that he is finally free.
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