u/amandainpdx

After I test a robot, they get given away or donated, and usually I don't see them again. But this weekend I was staying at a friend's beach condo and she had all the entire Switchbot Household Robot set I'd given away last year in the garage, so I went ahead and set everything up for them.

If you don't know the model, Switchbot took the K10/11, which is their tiny robot vacuum, and then tried to give it all kinds of additional functionality. So aside from the self emptying dock, there's also this platform that the robot can dock to, and it becomes this much larger robot, and you attach all sorts of things like an air purifier, or a fan or a camera or one of those poles where an Ipad sits at eye level, and drive it around, or there's a charging table you can put on it, and just sit your phones on it to charge.

Now. I don't personally think its all that useful to have a roving air purifier or fan, but I definitely get the point of the camera and the pole, and I sort of get the charging table, too. But there's a bigger point- Switchbot very intentionally made the platform so you could 3D print pieces for it, and gave instructions on how to even integrate the power supply, so you could 3D print powered add ons. They want you to hack it. They want you to work w the ecosystem.

Also? I'd forgotten that the platform has these gigantic eyes on it, and it has this kinda simple but congenial sense about it. It's cute. You want to engage with it.

https://preview.redd.it/ia5uvmu0ijbh1.jpg?width=3072&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=704d6d876cac4b282be12d0b1042c089ee734b01

I always talk about the K10 and K11, because I think they're the exact right robot for lots of people in smaller spaces without complicated needs. In a tight space, they're perfect. But also, I freaking love Switchbot as a brand. They're not a robot company, they make solutions for stuff, and its often unsexy and clunky, but it works. They had a robot, the S10, and it was the first robot vacuum that had the R&D so you could directly pipe it into your water line. But they knew people didn't have water lines available, so it shipped with hardware to pipe it to your toilet or faucet. But even better... the S10 had a magnificent idea: it could be a water jockey. It could pick up water from the dock, and then bring that water to another device... and fill it up, and then go back and get more water. The execution sucked.... the only device they ever made that was compatible was a humidifier. But imagine it refilled an automated plant watering system. Or your dogs water bowl. The idea was awesome.

Anywhoos.... I spent the weekend wheeling the Switchbot around the house... it moved my bluetooth speaker around, I used it to send drinks to my friend from the kitchen to the living room (because I could) and then we attached the pole and while I was out shopping, I remoted in and sent a tablet around to follow my friend in the kitchen "looking" over their shoulder, mostly because I thought it was hysterical.

I thought Matic was a fine robot, though nothing special. But I was surprised how many people said they loved how you could put stickers on it to make it look like a face. Meh. If you're looking for fun, I'm telling you, the Switchbot S20 is a blast.

1. Planned prime day to end just before EOM, with only a weekend buffer, so no matter your ordered revenue, your shipped items was likely not to make tiers before EOM.
2. Incentivized orders to choose July 1 delivery by offering 7% return on Prime CC accts, so those items less likely to ship before EOM.
3. Create massive gaps between tiers, so rather than getting consistently rewarded for work, you're less likely to hit reward tiers.

Once I noticed all this, and how slow items were shipping.... I started to figure out it was planned this way.

Last hours of Prime Day. What are you trying to decide between? I'll help you decide.

There's a certain nerdiness that is fed by fielding these questions. For reference, I have tested, reviewed and written about robots for a few years, including floorbots, lawnbots, poolbots and even a strange yellow rolling ball robot that just followed me around for a few weeks. Each Prime Day, I offer a few lists- first, of ALL the robots on sale and the ones I'd recommend by price tier. I've responded to hundreds and hundreds of folks in this sub, and most are pretty happy (or the unhappy ones are really quiet. Either works).

If you're still stuck and can't decide... don't be overwhelmed. You get 30 days to return it. Tell me about your household-

how many floors
thresholds between rooms
kids? pets? long hair or short hair
what floor types you have
budget

My lists are getting deleted by automod and moderators aren't responding today, so the list is here: https://www.whatrobotvacuumshouldiget.com/my-prime-day-recommendations-by-price-band/ and you can come back to ask questions below.

Automod keeps catching it and the mods aren't responding. https://www.reddit.com/r/RobotVacuums/comments/1ud0iv6 feel free to reach out to the mods to republish it.

Here's my recommendations by price band: https://www.reddit.com/r/RobotVacuums/comments/1udtlwf/my_prime_day_recommendations_by_price_band/

Meanwhile, I don't love it, but you can find my whole list here: https://www.whatrobotvacuumshouldiget.com/primeday2026/

Heya. I've tested a LOT of floorbots and I am someone with a lot of mess. I drop food in the kitchen. I have a big, shedding dog. Chickens that occasionally figure out the doggie door. Lots of mulch, mud and dirt that gets tracked in by everything w a heartbeat, and you know, general mess. I blame the ADHD. Here's the thing... I don't say this with judgement.

I came to robots because i desperately wanted a helping hand. Like, if a robot just constantly vacuums and mops, then the mess will be less, and I won't always feel like I live in a zoo, right?

The problem is this: there are no robots that can really handle the households that need robots the most. I frequently get asked questions like, "I have 4 dogs and 6 cats and 3 rowdy kids. What robot? I have cats that scatter little and occasionally puke or small dogs that poop in the house. What robot? I have lots of clutter on the floor and cords everywhere. What robot?

Yeah. No robot. No robot is going to handle that for you. I wish that wasn't the case. One reason I was just besotted with the 3i S10 was that it actually DID handle most of that, hands off. (But don't buy one now, 3i is dead AFAIK).

Let me explain. Robots are good at vacuuming up dust, microdirt, and small, light stuff. Cheerios. If you've got tiny slips of paper or mulch or legos.... those are robot killers. The robot gets caught on them, rattles around and then you've got to clean the whole thing out. If you've got anything above cat litter size, your robot is going to struggle.

A few robots come equipped with a razor blade and can cut up hair, like pet hair. But, that's not going to help if you've got one of those dogs that just constantly sheds gigantic poofs of long, fluffy hair. You're going to be emptying the robot ALL the time, and its going to get clogged anyways. The more pets w that condition, the harder.

If your pet pukes or poops on the floor, don't get a robot. Yes, they have better nav and obstacle avoidance than they used to, but they're robots, they're falliable. HOW does a robot know the difference between cat puke and mud or a spill? It doesn't. It'll usually skip the poop, but I'm just talking about solid poop. Extrapolate at your own risk.

Cords on the floor are robot killers. Every single robot will get caught on a cord. There's a solution, which is to pin the cords to the wall. They make all kinds of hardware for that. But if you don't, your robot is constantly going to be stuck. Yes, your robot can navigate around rando toys and small stuff, but it gives those things such a wide berth as to not be worth it.

In short.... you WILL need to inevitably bend to the robot. Make changes to your lifestyle or layout to accommodate it, the robot will not bend to you.

I said what I said :) Haters, line forms to the right.

Hello! I do this every time there's a big Amazon sale. This will be a list of all the robots that we've gotten advance notice of from PR agencies to reporters, as soon as they're off embargo. This way you can see everything in one place.

The entire list is now below. On Tuesday, I'll post a list of my recommended bots per price band. The past few sales, prices have changed again during the sale, so I expect to see more tomorrow.

I've reviewed robot vacuums for the past few years. I test robots in my home, rather than an obstacle course. This tends to reveal weaknesses that other outlets might not see. In particular, I'm interested in robovacs that can help folks with accessibility needs, ADHD, and generally messy homes, since if you're house is generally neat and clean anyways, almost any robovac will work for you.

The table is here. I've tried to post it in comments, I've begged mods to reinstate this thread, they're not responding. Sorry. Just view the list, and then come back to ask questions. I have permission from the mods to post them. If you're going to ask for recommendations, I'll try to monitor this thread and do my best to answer, but its helpful if you tell me about your floor. Sure, size, different floor types, and thresholds, but more importantly... do you have pets? Are your kids messy and leaving stuff on the floor? What kind of debris are we talking about (dust, or bigger stuff). Are there multiple floors? How often do you sweep or mop now?

Chickens enjoy a dust bath and mine have taken over all my planters in search of the perfect soak. It's quite cute to see their little heads poking out of my planters but not so much for the plants. So, I'd like a bathtub for the backyard where they can soak to plant themselves to their heart's content.

Some exceptions: if you have a credit card that guarantees price matching within 30 days and it includes sales like Prime Day. Or, if you're bound and determined to buy direct from manufacturer. Or, you have a Costco membership. But here's why, even though capitalism sucks, I recommend getting your robovacs from Amazon:

You're going to get the best pricing, in all likelihood. While some manufacturers price match and even exceed Prime Day prices on their own sites, you pay for shipping and still don't get it overnight or 2 day shipping.

Returns are miserable through the manufacturer. Rightly so or not, manufacturers want reasoning, they'll try to troubleshoot. They want pictures and videos, and the whole time you're dealing with AI or overseas support on off hours. Amazon asks no questions, you just head to the UPS store and drop it off.

You can buy extended warranties at the same time- I mean, you can always go to SquareTrade and buy one after the fact, but Amazon kills 2 birds with one stone by offering the extended warranty when you check out. Remember, it only goes into effect AFTER the manufacturers warranty and that only goes into effect AFTER the 30 day return window from Amazon.

And, while Costco's return policy is even better than Amazon, Costco's offerings are limited. They tend to have weird sub models, rather than the models we've tested and reviewed.

I'll be back here, with a list of every single Prime Day sale, recommendations by price band, and for every kind of buyer, like I have been doing for the last year. You can bookmark this thread for those links when they go live.

Hi there. A limitation of the various food distributions we do around town is that we mostly rely on disposable pans. While easier for clean up, this means more waste and more $$ spent. We'd love to have hotel pans (any size, really) to work with that we can wash and recycle. If you've got 'em, we'd love them. Covers are great but not necessary, and like I said, quarter/half and full size are all useful.

Four years ago I dug in all my own irrigation lines and built this manifold, based on advice from this forum, and I'm so grateful. I'm back for two reasons: first, I used pvc for the blow out valve, and by last year, the very metal connection from the compressor no longer screwed in right to the PVC, meaning I couldn't blow the system out in the fall. I got super lucky it was a mild winter, but I don't want to chance it again. My plumbing guy said that female connection on the manifold should be metal as well. Cool, no idea how to do that.

Second, I want to add fertilizer injection to the manifold, so it'll work automatically with the drip. As you can see on the image, this manifold feeds not just my four irrigation zones but also one line that runs to a freestanding spigot in my yard that I use all the time.

Here's what I'm struggling with. It was a real puzzle to get everything into this valve box, and I bought the biggest one I could source, How do y'all do it? I know the fertilizer needs to come after the tee for the spigot, but I'm curious on your opinions of the two options out there. Something like the EZ-Flo, or something more like the spikes, which seem common (something like thie NEWTRY 1:250 to 1:25 Fertilizer Injector). Also.... I definitely think a blow out valve is important, and the point about using a female metal socket to receive a metal male slip (both threaded) seems valid. I just need someone to help me figure out a new layout to put this thing together.

Also... i know this isn't professional looking or standard by any stretch, but I am SO proud of getting this far on my own, the drip system (Hydrawise) has been flawless the last few years and my microfarm has benefitted so much- so please be critical but not a jerk in offering help.

https://preview.redd.it/i2khphe7ndzg1.jpg?width=1900&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=ec85e2c6e1663d6756077b220753e825b8894963

Pictured: the manifold just before it was connected to the main, so you can see how it was built.