Why You Can Trust CNET Get the Neabot self-emptying robot vacuum for $365, an all-time low price
This robot vacuum doesn't just take out its own trash, it also has lidar for mapping its route and lets you create no-go zones and named rooms.
You probably wanted a robot vacuum cleaner so you didn't have to clean the house yourself, yet here you are emptying the vacuum's dustbin by hand every single time you run it as if you were your robot's chauffer instead of the other way around. A self-emptying robot vacuum kicks that particular can down the road a bit, since you only need to empty the trash once a month or so. But models like the Roomba S9 Plus are expensive, priced well over $1,000. If you want to get a self-emptying vacuum for about a third of that price, now (and while supplies last) you can get the Neabot Robot Vacuum with Self-Emptying Dustbin for just $365 when you apply coupon code CNETBOT at checkout. (The code remains valid as of Monday, 8:30 a.m. PT, and should be available until stock runs out.) That's a CNET exclusive that drops Wellbots' price by $84. It also includes free shipping and no sales tax if you're outside of New York and California.
That's an all-time-low price not just for the Neabot, but as far as I can tell, it's perhaps the lowest-priced self-emptying vacuum currently for sale from any brand.
The Neabot got its start on Kickstarter, but it has been shipping at retail for some time. With a surprisingly long feature list, the robot seems to have learned something from pretty much every other robot vacuum cleaner on the market.
Take the self-emptying dock, for example. Yes, the Neabot vacuum empties itself when it returns to the dock and starts charging. And when it's time to finally discard the waste bag, you'll find it has a cardboard valve you can close before you pull it out of the dock, so there's no chance for dirt to fall out as you move it into the trash can.
The robot itself is fairly powerful -- it has three levels of suction power with a maximum of 2,700 pascals -- and automatically adjusts itself as needed while cleaning. It follows a Z-shaped cleaning pattern and uses lidar sensors (like the iPhone 12 Pro has) to keep track of where it is in the house.
Using the mobile app, you can set up a cleaning schedule, as well as customize the cleaning session by marking up a map of your house with no-go zones and names for specific rooms. So you can direct the bot to go directly to the kitchen to clean up a spill, for example. It's also compatible with Alexa and Google Home.
I've used the Neabot and I'm reasonably happy with its performance. It frustrated me initially because it seems susceptible to getting hung up, trapped and sabotaged by common household obstacles. The vacuum was obsessed with a particular floor lamp, for example, which has a base just high enough to derail it every. Single. Time. It also managed to get wedged under the front of the fridge, if you can believe it (that's a first among robot vacuums I've tested in this house), and regularly snagged itself on wires under the bed. But I soldiered on, knowing that as soon as it had completed one good map of the house, I could mark out no-go zones. I did, and it's been a solid performer ever since, deftly able to avoid all those robo vacuum sand traps. My early patience paid off.
Overall, this is a great alternative to the overpriced Roomba self-emptying models, and competes head-on with more affordable robots like the $550 SharkIQ self-emptying vacuum, currently selling on Amazon for $429. The difference is that, at least for the moment, Neabot has the best price around by a wide margin.
Originally published last year. Updated with the latest deal.
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