The Neato Botvac D6 Connected is one of the two robot vacuums that the Newark, California-based robotics company introduced at the IFA 2018.  Neato Robotics explained that the Botvac Connected D6 was aimed at pet owners and those who suffer from allergies.
What can you expect from the Neato Botvac D6 Connected?
Features of the Neato Botvac D6 Connected
The Neato Botvac D6 Connected has the D-shape that the Botvac line is famous for.  It is a departure from the round robot vacuums we usually see. The flat side of the vacuum helps it get closer to walls.  Even so, the Neato Botvac D6 Connected still has a side brush that allows it to clean thoroughly in just one pass.
The Neato Botvac D6 Connected measures 13.21 x 12.56 x 3.92 inches.  Because of its width and its wide brush, this robot vacuum has a cleaning path of 12.00 inches.  Meanwhile, the low profile means that it could quickly get under furniture with a clearance of at least 4 inches.  It weighs 7.5 pounds.
LaserSmart navigation
The Neato Botvac D6 Connected can scan your room and create maps for your entire house.  It uses its patented LaserSmart technology to map your floors. It will then use this map to move in a methodical pattern, going in straight lines rather than randomly bumping around the room.  Going in a straight line from one end of your room to the other, the Botvac D6 is able to ensure a comprehensive cleaning without missing too many spots. The Botvac D6 can store up to three floor plans, making it ideal for multi-level homes.
Virtual No-Go Lines
Using the maps created by your Neato Botvac D6 Connected, you can quickly draw lines to block off areas where you do not want the robot vacuum to go.  For instance, if you do not wish the Botvac D6 to go inside the bathroom, you can just draw a no-go line on the doorway through the companion mobile app.
Best for pet hair
The Neato Botvac D6 Connected has a bigger brush than other robot vacuums.  The company claims that its brushes are 70% longer than the ones you find on the D5 Connected.  The longer brush helps the robot vacuum clean a wider area and lessens the chances of tangling.
What’s more, the Botvac D6 uses the ultra performance filter.  This filter can trap dust and allergens as small as 0.3 microns in its 0.7-liter dustbin.
Long battery life
One full charge and the Neato Botvac D6 Connected will run for up to two hours.  This ensures that the robot vacuum will be able to clean your home in no time, even if yours is a big house.  The Botvac D6 also offers the Quick Boost feature. If the robot vacuum runs low on battery juice in the middle of a cleaning session, it will calculate just how much charge it needs to finish the job and then goes back to the charging dock.  It will then charge itself just enough to go over the remaining dirty areas in your room. This feature ensures that the robot vacuum does not take a long time to recharge itself and finishes its cleaning jobs more quickly.
For instance, if the Botvac D6 needs only 30 minutes’ worth of charging to finish off a job, the quick boost feature will tell it to recharge for only 30 minutes.  You do not have to wait for two hours, which is the time it takes to get a full charge.
Connected
The Neato Botvac D6 connects to your Wi-Fi network.  You can pair your robot vacuum with your mobile phone and start cleaning sessions remotely, set up schedules, and operate the Botvac D6.  You can also use voice commands to run your robot vacuum if you have an Amazon Alexa or Google home speaker.
What’s more, you can download the Apple Watch app and start cleaning from your wrist.  The Botvac D6 also works with IFTTT recipes.
Pricing, ratings, and reviews
Find here the latest price for Neato Botvac D6 Connected on Amazon!
The Neato Botvac D6 Connected gets a rating of 4.2 stars out of 5.0 on Amazon.  Early reviews from Amazon customers talk about how the Neato Botvac D6 works well when cleaning pet hair.  They also praised the robot vacuum’s companion app, as well as its performance. They also attested that the Botvac D6 allowed them to skip vacuuming and just do more important things.
Meanwhile, customers on BestBuy gave this robot vacuum a rating of 4.2 stars out of 5.0.  Most reviewers talked about the features offered by this robot vacuum, how easy it was to set up and use, and how powerful its suction is.  Critical reviews point out that the Botvac D6 Connected can get really loud when you turn on the turbo mode. Meanwhile, others complained that the Botvac D6 failed to adequately handle power cords and other small things on the floor.
What you would like about the Neato Botvac D6 Connected
The Neato Botvac D6 Connected’s LaserSmart technology uses lasers instead of a camera in mapping out your floor.  A camera needs light to function correctly, but the lasers can map your rooms even in the dark.
The Botvac D6’s mobile app does not only give you the chance to operate your robot vacuum remotely, but it also shows you where it cleaned, as well as shows a history of your most recent cleaning sessions.
Then you have the robot vacuum’s Extra Care Navigation feature, which guarantees that your robot vacuum will not bump into anything. If you have expensive vases or if you want to protect the Botvac D6 from rough bumps, then you should use this option.
What could be better?
The Neato Botvac D6 uses the spiral combo brush. The company claims that this brush is ideal for pet hair because debris stuck to the brush would be easy to remove.  However, it does have brush bristles that might cause tangles. Other than this, you would be hard-pressed to find another flaw in this robot vacuum.
How does the Neato Botvac D6 Connected compare to other robot vacuums?
The Neato Botvac D6 Connected first came out at a time when several other manufacturers also launched their latest models.  These models include Neato’s own Botvac D4 Connected, the iRobot Roomba i7+, and the Deebot Ozmo 930. How does the Neato Botvac D6 compare to these three?
The Neato Botvac D4 Connected
The Botvac D4 Connected was the other robot vacuum that Neato introduced in the IFA.  The Botvac D4 and D6 share a lot of similar features, such as the LaserSmart Navigation technology, a dustbin capacity of 0.7 liters, and connectivity features. Both robot vacuums can find their way back to the dock to recharge their batteries automatically, and they can resume cleaning after getting recharged. They also have the quick boost feature.  Like all robot vacuums in the Botvac D series, they also have a D shape, and you can schedule cleaning times using the mobile app.
However, the Neato Botvac D4 Connected is priced lower than the Botvac D6. (Find the latest rates here!)
Some features where the two models differ from each other include:
- Battery.  While both these robot vacuums use a high capacity lithium-ion battery, the Botvac D4 only has a maximum runtime of 75 minutes, compared to the 120 minutes you get from the D6.
- Coverage.  A fully charged Botvac D4 can cover up to 4,000 square feet, while the D6 can cover a room that is 1,000 square feet bigger.
- Filter used.  The Neato Botvac D4 Connected uses a high-performance filter, which is inferior to the ultra performance filter used by the Neato D6.
- Brushes used.  The Neato Botvac D4 uses a combo brush, while the D6 uses a spiral combo brush.  You can also find a side brush on the D6, while the D4 has none.
A side-by-side comparison of the Neato Botvac D4 and Botvac D6
To make it easier for you to compare the two robot vacuums, here is a comparison table of their specs and features:
| Model | Botvac D4 | Botvac D6 |
| Price | (Check out the latest rates here!) | (Check out the latest rates here!) |
| Dimensions (inches)Â | 13.21 x 12.56 x 3.92Â | 13.21 x 12.56 x 3.92Â |
| Weight (pounds)Â | 7.37Â | 7.5Â |
| Runtime (minutes)Â | 75Â | 120Â |
| Coverage (square feet)Â | 4000Â | 5000Â |
| Filter used | High-performance | Ultra-performance |
| LaserSmart Navigation | Yes | Yes |
| Dustbin capacity (liters)Â | 0.7Â | 0.7Â |
| SpinFlow | Yes | Yes |
| Turbo/Eco mode | Yes | Yes |
| Cleaning brush | Combo | Spiral Combo |
| Side brush | No | Yes |
| Auto charging | Yes | Yes |
| Auto resume | Yes | Yes |
| Scheduling | Yes | Yes |
| Wi-Fi connectivity  | Yes | Yes |
| Companion app | Yes | Yes |
| Mapping | Yes | Yes |
| High capacity lithium ion battery | Yes | Yes |
| Amazon Alexa | Yes | Yes |
| Google Home | Yes | Yes |
| Neato Chatbot | Yes | Yes |
| IFTTT | Yes | Yes |
| Entire level cleaning | Yes | Yes |
People who bought the Neato Botvac D4 Connected from Amazon left an overall rating of 3.7 out of 5.0 stars.  You will love the laser navigation feature and the cleaning maps, as well as the virtual no-go lines.
Additionally, you will love how you can use voice commands to start cleaning, and you will love its IFTTT compatibility.  But you might want to get a longer run time from the battery.
iRobot Roomba i7+
The iRobot Roomba i7+ was also announced at the IFA, and it was impressive.  The latest Roomba model bested out all other robot vacuums by offering a self-emptying capability.  The Roomba i7+ retains the circular shape and looks a lot like other Roomba models, but it has a green brush that you can see underneath.  Another change is the dock, which now has its own vacuum. The idea is that when the robot vacuum returns home to charge, the charging dock will be able to suck all the dirt out of its dustbin and then deposit it into a bag in the dock.  Each bag can hold around 30 full dustbins.
The Roomba i7+ retains all other features that people loved in the Roomba 980.  It connects to your Wi-Fi network and allows you to control everything from your smartphone.  You also get Amazon Alexa and Google Home compatibility. It can store the floor plans of up to 10 rooms.  You can then label these maps so that you can tell the Roomba i7+ to go to a particular area and clean there.
The Roomba has had an impressive run, with each flagship it introduces becoming the instant king in the robot vacuum space.  The Roomba i7+ is not an exception, with its self-cleaning feature and the ability to recognize which rooms you want to clean.
However, the convenience that the Roomba i7+ brings comes at a steep price.
This robot vacuum has an excellent rating of 4.9 out of 5.0 stars.  Customers love how this robot vacuum cleans efficiently and has a battery with long runtimes. It is also straightforward to use.
Compared to the Botvac D6, the Roomba i7+ wins because of its self-emptying dustbin.  But the D6 comes with a much attractive price while offering the same features as the more expensive robot.
Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo 930
Like all the robot vacuums we have featured here, the Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo 930 is compatible with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa.  However, this is unique in that it has a mopping function that can help clean hardwood floors more efficiently.
If the Roomba i7+ has a self-emptying dustbin, the Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo 930 has its automatic floor sensing feature.  The Ozmo 930 can detect if the floor needs mopping or vacuuming and changes the cleaning pattern it uses to efficiently clean your room.
The Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo 930 can run for 110 minutes on a single charge. It can automatically find its way to the charging dock to recharge and then automatically resume cleaning when the battery is full again.  Like the Neato Botvac D6, the robot vacuum also uses lasers to map your floors.
This robot vacuum has a rating of 3.7 stars out of 5.0 on Amazon. You can
see the price for Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo 930, here, and can buy it from online retailer sites such as BestBuy and Amazon.  Users love the long battery time and the advanced features that you would find on more expensive robot vacuums. However, critical reviews talk about how the automatic floor sensing feature does not really do much because you can only mop or vacuum, but not both at the same time.  Others complained about the weak performance of the mobile app. For instance, there are issues when the app prevents the user from logging in, which means that the app cannot connect with your Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo 930.
Should you buy the Neato Botvac D6 Connected?
The short answer is yes.  But we were never one for quick answers.  The Neato Botvac D6 had the misfortune of being introduced around the same time as the iRobot Roomba i7+, which gave people the convenience of not having to clean their robot vacuum and empty its dustbin for about a month or so. But if you do not have $1,000 to spend on a robot vacuum, or if you are willing to do without the self-emptying feature of the Roomba i7+, then the Neato Botvac D6 Connected is a good choice.
The Botvac D6 has all the features you would want in a robot vacuum.  In fact, its features set is pretty similar to the Roomba 980, but it has more connectivity options such as the IFTTT compatibility and the ability to use Facebook chats to operate your vacuum.
If you are looking for a more affordable option than the Botvac D6, you can check out its sibling, the Botvac D4. You might be interested in the Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo 930 because of its mopping function and auto floor detect feature, but you might ultimately be turned off by the fact that this feature seems to have been added at the last minute and was not thoroughly thought out when the robot vacuum was designed.
How does the Neato Botvac D6 Connected compare to other robotic vacuums?
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