Whether you have pets and need the extra help, or just want to simplify your daily cleaning, a robot vacuum is a great solution. Don’t miss this Samsung robot vacuum review AND see just how easy it is to keep your floors clean (without breaking a sweat)!
Samsung POWERbot R7260 Vacuum Review
Vacuuming is one of my least favorite chores. It’s time consuming, and when you have a 75lb indoor dog, it needs to be done frequently. We recently decided to get the SAMSUNG POWERbot R7260 Pet Plus Robot Vacuum, our first robot vacuum.
Let me tell you, it is amazing!
Our new robot vacuum has completely revamped our home this summer. Having the robot vacuum clean the floors while I’m busy doing other things is so convenient, and we absolutely love it. Why did I not buy a robot vacuum sooner?!
Why We Chose The Samsung POWERbot Robot Vacuum
We chose Samsung’s ‘Powerbot Pet Plus’ model because of our large indoor dog. The pet plus model uses a special ‘self-clean soft action brush‘. It’s designed to pick up pet hair more effectively, and prevent the vacuum from getting clogged.
In this review, the Samsung POWERbot R7260 Pet Plus Robot Vacuum had a tough real life challenge: cleaning up after our four legged friend – Sage – a 75lb Chesapeake Bay Retriever.
Chesapeake Bay Retrievers don’t shed excessively like some breeds, but we live in a really small space so pet hair, dirt, and dust build up quickly.
Before the Samsung POWERbot vacuum arrived, we prepared by not vacuuming our floors for a full week! When FedEx delivered the robot vacuum, our floors were due for a thorough cleaning.
Let’s talk about the Samsung POWERbot features and specifications first, then we’ll see if all those features convert to excellent real life performance in our home. Spoiler alert: they do!
Features & Specifications
The Samsung POWERbot Pet Plus R7260 is a best in class vacuum. It’s the range topping model for Samsung’s POWERbot line of robot vacuums. Here are the features for the R7260 specifically:
Self-Cleaning Soft Action Brush
Here’s how Samsung describes the self-cleaning soft action brush:
Automatically detangles and removes pet hair that collects around the brush while picking up fine dust and improved crevice cleaning.
Hair becoming tangled in the vacuum brushes has been a problem with our previous vacuum. This feature will be very useful if the new brush design solves this issue.
Edge Clean Master
The POWERbot robot vacuums are “D” shape with a flat front, and a full width cleaning brush. The shape and design are similar to conventional upright vacuums. To help the POWERbot vacuum clean in difficult areas, the POWERbot uses:
An innovative rubber blade that extends out to clean hard to reach areas like corners and along the edges of the wall.
40X More Powerful Suction
Forty times is a MASSIVE suction increase. I think the takeaway here is – the Samsung POWERbot Pet Plus is extremely powerful. I expect it to pick up anything in its path.
The 40X suction is compared to older vacuum models that Samsung lists on their website in the following quote: “*Tested internally on Samsung POWERbot VR7000 and Samsung conventional VR10F71UCAC”
Visionary Mapping 2.0
A camera built into the top of the POWERbot vacuum helps with navigation by allowing the vacuum to see the shape of the room. This feature is designed to give it more intelligent mapping capabilities.
Many other robot vacuums clean in a random path, which seems very inefficient. I’m hoping the Samsung POWERbot R7260 is capable of cleaning in a much more logical path like a human would.
Here’s how Samsung describes the ‘Visionary Mapping 2.0’
Onboard camera and improved sensors create the ideal cleaning path for extensive multi-room cleaning while cutting down on cleaning time. Coverage map shows you where POWERbot has cleaned.
FullView Sensor 2.0
The FullView Sensor 2.0 gives the robot vacuum the ability to “Precisely scan the area in front of the POWERbot to avoid obstacles”.
Most other robot vacuums use ‘bump sensors’ to detect when when the robot has ran into an object. With bump sensors, a vacuum must ram into an object before it can try to navigating around. This seems inefficient!
The POWERbot should be able to use its sensors to see and avoid obstacles before hitting them – this seems like a much smarter way of navigating.
How The Samsung POWERbot Performs In Our Home
Advanced technology features, and big marketing claims make the Samsung POWERbot R7260 look amazing on paper. However, what really matters is real life performance. Let’s see how the POWERbot actually performed in our home.
Setup
Unboxing and setup was relatively a painless process. Following the included instructions, I downloaded the Samsung SmartThings app, created an account, logged the POWERbot into WiFi, and connected it to the app. Everything went smooth and the whole process only took about 5 minutes.
After removing a few plastic packaging stickers, I plugged in the docking station and placed the Samsung POWERbot on its dock / charger. The initial charge took just over an hour.
Cleaning Performance
Our previous vacuum cleaner was an expensive upright vacuum. It always did a good job cleaning the floors, so the new Samsung robot vacuum had big shoes to fill.
After the Samsung POWERbot vacuum completed its first cleaning, I have to say – I was impressed. The floors were spotless – a pretty impressive feat considering how dirty they were.
All of our floors are hardwood (no carpet), with several rugs. The self-cleaning soft action brush, and the extremely strong suction of the Samsung POWERbot vacuum were perfect for this combination of hardwood and rugs.
The POWERbot had very little trouble going up onto rugs from the hardwood. Occasionally, it would get caught up on the edge of a rug. When this happened, it would back up and try again at a different angle. This readjustment strategy worked well, and it would usually succeed on the second attempt. So far, the POWERbot has not gotten stuck, or failed to return home for charging.
Navigation & Mapping
With Samsung ‘Visionary Mapping 2.0’ running the show, I had high expectations for the POWERbot’s navigation capabilities. For the first cleaning, I expected to see it quickly map out our home and start vacuuming in a linear, human like path.
On the maiden voyage, I impatiently watched watched the robot vacuum roam all over in a seemingly random path for the first half-hour. But it turns out it that it wasn’t as random as I thought. It was just exploring, and building a map of our home.
For the first few cleanings, the Samsung POWERbot seemed to get a little smarter each time. After that, the robot vacuum navigated intelligently and efficiently.
Scheduling, Manual Control and Spot Cleaning
Creating a cleaning schedule is easy with the SmartThings App. You can choose which days, and at what times you would like the robot vacuum to autoclean.
Our schedule tends to vary from one week to the next, so auto cleaning schedules don’t work great for us. We manually start the vacuum whenever we’re on our way out the door, and going to be gone for a while. This system works perfect for us.
Manually controlling the vacuum is easy (and fun) for cleaning up messes. We tried controlling the robot vacuum from both the SmartThings app, and the remote control. They both work equally well, with no input delay or lag.
‘Point Cleaning’ is a feature that lets you point a red laser dot to direct the vacuum where to go. The red light is built into the remote control. Samsung recommends that you point the dot .5 meters in front of the POWERbot to manually direct it where to clean. While this method did work, my favorite way to manually clean up messes was using the arrow buttons on the remote control.
To torture test the vacuum’s ability to clean up a difficult mess, we crushed up a few handfuls of Apple Jacks cereal and spread it out on the floors, and a rug. To clean it up, we used manual cleaning mode on the remote control.
After seeing the huge mess on our floors, I immediately regretted this test and feared the the POWERbot might not be capable of conquering the crushed Apple Jacks test. But my doubts were unfounded – it easily cleaned up 95% of the cereal on the first pass! After going over it a second time, it was like the mess never even happened.
Battery Life & Docking
The Samsung POWERbot Pet Plus R7260 is supposed to be capable of up to 90 minutes runtime per battery charge. In our experience, it didn’t quite last for the full 90 minutes. Using quiet mode, the vacuum recorded a 64 minute runtime. With turbo mode, the POWERbot battery lasted an average of 38 minutes, which was more than enough run time to clean all of our floors.
In a large home where the POWERbot cannot finish cleaning on a single battery charge, it will return home to recharge, and then continue cleaning. We were unable to test this feature since the vacuum had enough battery to complete a cleaning in our home, even on turbo mode.
The overall height of the vacuum is just under 4″ (which is actually slim enough to fit under our sofa!). In our small home, space is a valuable commodity. After watching the POWERbot vacuum under the sofa, we got the idea to try moving the docking station under there to take advantage of unused space. It fits perfectly, and now the docking station and vacuum take up essentially no room.
Price
The POWERbot R7260 Pet Plus Robot Vacuum is currently available on Samsung’s website listing for $899.00.
Final Thoughts On The Samsung POWERbot Robot Vacuum
The Samsung POWERbot Pet Plus vacuum has made such a big difference in our home. Now that we’ve gotten used to the convenience, I don’t think we could ever go back. Can you tell I’m in my 30s?! I’m so excited about this vacuum… which I think officially makes me old, ha!
Have you ever considered upgrading to a robot vacuum? I’d love to hear your tips or things you do to cut down on the stress of cleaning in your own home!
If you’re looking to revamp your home this summer, check out Samsung Home Appliances for your robot vacuum needs! The POWERbot Pet Plus vacuum will be a game-changer in your cleaning routine!
UP NEXT: How to Keep Your House Clean & Free of Clutter – My Tried and True System!
A big thank you to Samsung Home Appliances for providing product for this post. As always, all opinions are my own.
