Frustrating Technology that Cannot Handle Transition Between Carpet and Floors
[[VIDEOID:8ea5dfaa166848a736fa1f56072ca2a0]] When I was told of the opportunity to review this Hoover robotic vacuum, I was very excited.  I had wanted a robot helper around the house while I was at, and I had high hopes that the machine would eliminate or at least reduce the frequency with which I had to vacuum the house manually. Unfortunately this unit suffers in a number of areas: set up was not as intuitive as it should be, the Bluetooth connection worked only sporadically, and worst of all the device was completely unable to navigate over area rugs and easily became hung up on objects.<br /><br />The quick start guide on the box seems deceptively simple. Simply find an open stretch of wall for the charging base, turn the unit on, and let it charge till ready.  The blinking light indicates charging...until it stops blinking. Powering it on resulted in the unit backing up, beeping, and returning to the base to charge. Sometimes pressing the top power button results in a squawking beep and refusal to move. After much trial and error, the unit did start vacuuming on its own.<br /><br />I had hoped the Bluetooth connection would help with the lack of feedback from the unit itself.  However the Hoover app doesn't seem to work well. I selected the model, and the app searches for nearby robots....and searches...and searches... The Hoover app did not find the robot most of the time.<br /><br />These little inconveniences could be overlooked if the robot worked when it got going.  Unfortunately the area rugs for certain parts of my hardwood floors were insurmountable objects.  Worse, the little robot would get part way onto the rug and become stuck rather that backing up or realizing it couldn't mount the rug. Manually placing the robot on the carpet, the robot will vacuum; however, it becomes easily stuck on furniture.<br /><br />At this point I have to give this unit a 2-star rating: I don't like it.  If I wanted someone to refuse to vacuum and squawk at me when I ask it to work, I'd try to make the kids vacuum.
Rating: 2 stars