Samsung Jet Bot AI+ Review: It’s A Smart Vacuum That Moonlights As A Sentry Unit
March 11, 2022It’s an AI powered robot vacuum that wants to put an end to a troublesome choir
Max Consumption Power: 170W
Set Weight: 4.4Kg
Cleaning Time: 90/60min
Battery: Li-ion
Mapping: LiDAR Sensor
Obstacle Sensor: 3D Sensor
Dust Capacity: 0.2L
SmartThings App Support
Clean Station Details
Dust Bag: 2 EA
Dust Bag Capacity: 2.5L
Weight: 5.1Kg
Consumption Power: 1000 W
Rating: 9/10
Price: 4,999.00
Home appliances aren’t products that we drool over. They are designed and built to serve a specific purpose. This is especially true of handheld vacuum cleaners because regardless of how colorful or cool they might look; the novelty wears off in a day or two. However, this isn’t the case with robot vacuums.
They are an intriguing bunch that aim to do the dirty work for you. There are many such machines in the market ranging from cheap ones that are relatively inept at their job to more useful ones that are far more expensive and packed with “self-awareness” sensors and sophisticated vacuum technology.
Samsung’s Jet Bot AI+ falls in the latter category. It’s a relatively small machine measuring 305×136.5×320 mm with a menacing side profile that resembles tracks of a modern tank. They house the propulsion system that allows this little machine to move, turn and meander past obstacles.
How Does It Work?
Its movement is governed by the 3D depth sensor and object recognition technology. What this means is that instead of seeing a chair or lamp stand as a generic obstacle, this Jet Bot recognizes them for what they are – a chair, lamp, sofa, coffee table or something else. This works on small objects like cables too. It can “see” with a 60-degree view, horizontally and a 40-degree view, vertically.
The LiDAR sensor at the back helps the Jet Bot detect where it is as well as sense its distance from surrounding objects and obstacles. It’s quite effective at meandering past tables, chairs, sofas and potted plants. But it isn’t perfect, it can get itself into situations where it needs to reverse, and adjust to the left, then to the right, before it can “unwedge” itself.
Having said that, there hasn’t been an instance where I’ve had to intervene and help the Jet Bot AI+ find its way out of trouble. The software keeps working tirelessly to help it find a way out. Unlike the cheaper vacuums that keep doing the same thing over and over when stuck, Samsung’s device actually knows what it’s doing, and remembers what hasn’t worked.
It then surmised the best course of action to get out of trouble. I noticed this when it circled around my coffee table but veered into the crevice separating my sofa and nightstand. Instead of going forward and reversing repeatedly to try and break free, the Jet Bot AI+ shimmied to the left, then to the right before deciding that it had enough space to back up.
It’s wheels or track system is pretty effective at getting the Jet Bot AI+ wherever it needs to go, even if that means traversing over thick carpeting or slippery floors. As such, you won’t have to worry about it sliding out of control on a polished floor or getting beached on your Moroccan rug.
The Jet Bot AI+ uses cylindrical brushes that have fine fibers made of soft woven materials that include anti-static silver. The point here is making it difficult for hair, fibers or other fine debris from getting tangled with it, and eventually causing the mechanism to seize or compromise the vacuuming process.
It’s sucking mechanism consists of a multi-cyclone structure (two chambers). The Jet cyclone (first chamber) helps capture large amounts of dust. The second chamber has 8 separate cyclones to trap fine dust. This is part of a 5-layer filtration system that helps capture particles of various sizes.
The Maintenance Work
The air that eventually escapes from its vents feels cleaner than that expelled by regular handheld vacuums. You’ll need to wash the micro filter and sponge filter from time to time. And the best part of it all, the entire multi-cyclone system can be dunked into a pail of water for a simple rinse or thorough cleaning. It’s designed to make it as convenient as possible to clean once a month or whenever the filters get dirty.
Unlike regular robot vacuums, the Jet Bot AI+ comes with a tall, towering docking system to charge and expel its waste. It parks itself at the base of said station, and automatically begins expelling its contents into the piping system. This dirt and debris is then funneled into a collection box located at the top half. In it, is a waste bag that collects these contents, which you can then remove and dispose of as needed. Remember to replace it with a new one.
It has a built-in speaker, which is unusual for a vacuum. Its purpose is to allow the machine to speak to you and let you know about the cleaning process. You can’t converse with her nor is she able to utter more than a sentence or two. But the presence of this “being” helps humanize the entire experience.
You don’t feel as though you’re dealing with a bunch of sensors and a yarn of wires, instead it’s a more thoughtful, self-aware machine that takes the tedium out of cleaning your home and emptying the collected trash. The dustbin needs to be covered with a disposable trash bag before use. Otherwise, the Clean Station will spew the Jet Bot AI+’s contents all over said compartment.
I know all of this may sound overwhelming especially to people who just want a robot vacuum that will get on with it, and free them of their troubles. Well, despite its internal complexity, the user experience is very straight forward.
Initial Setup & Use
Once you’ve unboxed the Jet Bot AI+, you’ll be greeted by the robot vacuum, its 5-layer filter and the cleaning station. These are the spare units, a set of them have already been installed in the machine itself. All you have to do is plug in the clean station/ docking station and place the Jet Bot AI+ in its place to begin charging.
While that’s happening, whip out your phone and install the Samsung SmartThings app. This is the tool you’ll use to govern the operations of your robot vacuum. Follow the onscreen instructions to connect to the Jet Bot AI+ directly via WiFi, then get it to connect to your home WiFi network.
Once done, The SmartThings app should give you access to the vacuum’s features. You can either allow it to begin vacuuming as it learns the environment or send it on a scouting mission to understand the layout of your entire home. I suggest that you do the latter because then, it can efficiently clean your home without the hassle of figuring out how it’s going to maneuver past your TV stand.
It will create a plan layout for your home. From here, you can segregate areas such as your living room, bedroom, kitchen or storage space. You can also set no-go zones, which prohibits the Jet Bot AI+ from entering certain areas or rooms.
Once you’ve defined the areas of your home, a cleaning schedule can be created along with areas that you’d like vacuumed at any given time. Once this is done, the Jet Bot AI+ will go about vacuuming the selected areas based on the time schedule. When done, it will automatically find its way back to its docking station.
Mind, it uses artificial intelligence to get its work done and move about, so it’s constantly thinking of what to do next, including attaching itself to the docking station. It’s absolutely mesmerizing to watch, because you can actually imagine the cogs turning as its AI brain figures out the best course of action to go around an object or reattaching itself to its station.
The robot’s suction power can be adjusted to your liking, but leaving it on automatic, allows the Jet Bot AI+ to turn on the vacuum at full chat only when needed. This will prevent unnecessary battery drain and operating noise while it is on duty. That said, even when at full blast, it’s nowhere near as irritating as a conventional vacuum.
It’s able to suck just about anything that you’ve dropped onto the floor. This includes chips, lint, pieces of paper dust and other small debris. The rollers effortlessly go over this stuff and sucks them into the mechanism with the same intensity that a garbage truck scoops up trash bags. It doesn’t stumble or get clogged up unless it’s on something substantially large.
Practicality of the Jet Bot AI+
I found the Jet Bot AI+ to be extremely useful because it freed me from the choir of having to vacuum my home once a week. The cleaning schedule that I defined, allowed the machine to clean selected areas when no one’s home. That way it wouldn’t interrupt me during a conference call or ruin a Zoom meeting.
Its onboard camera allowed me to keep tabs on what it’s doing as well as keep a watchful eye on my home as it patrols the selected area. Besides being a decent vacuum cleaner, it also functions as a sentry, helping me inspect blind spots my CCTVs cannot see. The Jet Bot AI+ can also be used to track the whereabouts of pets.
A real-time cleaning report can be viewed via the SmartThings app, which helps you determine the status of the job as well as whether the Jet Bot+ has encountered any problems. Throughout my experience, it hasn’t had it scurry back to its docking station due to the battery running low.
My advice for you is to let it charge for a few hours before getting it to clean your home. Overall, I’ve had a pleasant experience with the Jet Bot AI+. It manages to accomplish 85% of the work you’d probably get done if you were to vacuum the same area yourself. Keep in mind that this robot vacuum can only clean areas that are wide enough for it to get to.
This isn’t possible for narrow crevices and other nooks and crannies. And as smart as the Jet Bot AI+ may be, it will sometimes bump into furniture as it tries to go about its cleaning job. It can be embarrassing at times, but like a little child, it eventually figures out what to do.
Picking fault at the machine for not being as efficient as a human is a little silly. This is a robot vacuum that can clean your home without your help, yet is able to deliver near perfect results for most use cases. It frees you from most of the hard work including having to contort your body into unfamiliar positions to reach under furniture.
You may need to do 5 – 10 minutes of extra cleaning once a fortnight to get to areas where the Jet Bot AI+ couldn’t reach. That’s a whole lot better than spending an hour each week wearing out your back and knees as you clean the house with a conventional vacuum.
Should You Buy One?
The Jet Bot AI+ is an ideal solution for people like me who hate to vacuum. It’s also useful to those who are constantly on the move and have unpredictable schedules. Older folks might benefit from it as well, because they no longer have to do much work to keep their homes clean.
Though it can’t replace an actual human, the Jet Bot AI+ comes quite close to being the only vacuum solution you will need. It’s able to keep your house clean, which helps reduce the frequency at which you’ll need to clean the house yourself.
Yes, it costs 10 times as much as a regular handheld vacuum, but the price tag is justified when you consider that it does an almost perfect job of vacuuming your home, cleans itself and deposits the trash into the clean station (done via the app), and doubles as a sentry that keeps an eye on your home while you’re away. It isn’t a dumb vacuum, but a rather home smart cleaning solution.
