This little i2 (Hal) is my first foray into robot vacuums and I purchased it on the recommendation of a friend who has owned a number of different brands/models, including this one. I live in a 2 BD/2 BA condo with hardwoods and carpet. I regularly swept and vacuumed my place but would always turn around and see a dust bunny or clump of cat hair that blew out of some corner which bothered me and incentivized me to get a Roomba.
Going on a month with Hal cleaning 3X a week, I have to say that I'm rather impressed with it. I was a bit worried during the first weeks when Hal was returning to his docking station 3 or 4 times during his runs to let me know he needed to be emptied. I was beginning to think that I was going to be catering to this device constantly and rethinking my decision to buy him. Turns out that even though I try to keep the place clean, Hal is regularly cleaning in places I never regularly attended to myself like way back underneath beds, under dressers and the like. Hal got me caught up on cleaning there. Now Hal needs to be emptied maybe 1.5 times on an average run, something I can live with.
Hal does some things wonderfully like map out you living space and making sure to hit each and every corner and under every piece of furniture he can. On the downside, Hal does have issues getting stuck after running up the legs/base of my Barcelona chairs and will go all catawumpus until I go and put him back on a level surface. He doesn't the gradual upward slope of the legs. This happens on low bases of things like floor stand fans too. Hal seems to like to pull at the fringe ends of my Persian carpets too so these get shaken off and put up on an ottoman on days that Hal runs.
Overall, I have to say that I'm pleased I bought Hal and feel that the rubber brushes do a dynamite job of picking up hair and detritus from both hardwoods and carpet. Especially carpet. I did have to make sure that charging cords, routers, carpets with fringes are tucked away, relocated or picked but this has helped me to make tidy up things too. If you're on the fence about getting one of these, I'd urge you to go ahead and get it. Ultimately it helps immensely in both maintaining a cleaner home and forcing you to declutter.
Update: Several months in, Hal's dirt cannister is ~2/3 full after a complete run of my home. All in all, Hal was a good purchase and I think he'll last a good while.
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