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Nobody needs a $750 robot vacuum to clean their floors — but after using one, I now get why they're so popular

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Unlike other robotic vacuums that employ a circular shape, the i9 is actually more triangular, which means that it’s able to get into nooks and crannies that I have trouble reaching even with my traditional vacuum. Amazon

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  • Keeping your home clean no longer has to mean traversing it.
  • With the Electrolux Pure i9, your vacuum cleaner doesn’t even need you to do its job.
  • Thanks to the robotic cleaner’s 3D Vision technology, setting and forgetting now applies to your household chores as well.
  • The Pure i9’s powerful suction and triangular design allows you (or rather, your proxy) to reach all the difficult nooks and crannies that you never thought would get fully cleaned.

Your family will fight over the right to vacuum your home. Mostly because it won’t involve lifting a single finger. If you’re looking for a way to take the chore out of your chores, you may want to take a closer look at Swedish company Electrolux and its new Pure i9 Robotic Vacuum. As the name suggests, it’s a self-driving cleaning device that does a surprisingly good job of not only navigating through your home, but also cleaning up your (friends') mess.

While I’m all about finding ways to multitask and optimize efficiency when it comes to household duties, I’ve always been a little skeptical of Roomba-esque machines. They scare your pets, they’re loud, and honestly, if you want your home to be cleaned the way you want it to be cleaned, you should probably do the cleaning yourself. But with the new Pure i9, I have discovered a newfound freedom that comes along with not vacuuming my apartment myself every single day. Because yes, I do that — when you live in a space the size of a shoebox, it had better be the cleanest shoebox in the world.

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It can run for about 40 minutes on a single charge. Amazon

To say that I have exacting standards when it comes to the cleanliness of my floors is probably something of an understatement. Exhibit A: my daily vacuuming habit. So when I fired up the Pure i9, I was fully prepared to find it, at best, tolerable. But I was surprised to find that the robotic vacuum was fully capable of holding its own.

Key to the effectiveness of the device is its 3D Vision navigation technology, which employs a camera and a laser to ensure that this vacuum is of the self-driving variety. And unlike other robotic vacuums that employ a circular shape, the Pure i9 is actually more triangular, which means that it’s able to get into nooks and crannies that I have trouble reaching even with my traditional vacuum. In particular, I was pleased to find that the Pure i9 was able to clean the space between the bottom of my cabinets and the floor — also known as the space where crumbs love to congregate.

In addition to the clever shape, the Pure i9 comes with two "XXL" 21-centimeter wide front brushes to help sweep up dirt, dust, and debris on your hardwood, tile, carpet, and anything in between. However, I found that the most useful brush was the anti-tangle PowerBrush — when you take the Pure i9 out of the box, you’ll find that you’re given two extra brush attachments that can be added (one at a time; the other is your backup) in order to extend the vacuum’s reach, and help it clean out corners. Keep in mind though that you probably don’t want that brush still attached when the Pure i9 goes onto the carpet — at least, I didn’t.

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If you want the i9 to clean a specific part of your home, you can use the companion app to tell the vacuum exactly where to go. Amazon

And while I did have to pause the vacuum in order to quickly detach the PowerBrush, I did not have to adjust the vacuum’s suction based on the type of surface it was cleaning. Rather, thanks to its AutoPower feature, the Pure i9 does that entirely on its own, which meant that it cleaned my carpet as well as it cleaned the bamboo floors.

I was also a bit worried that the vacuum wouldn’t be able to make its way from the hardwood to the carpet, which sits about three quarters of an inch higher than the surrounding floor. But with a little bit of effort, the Pure i9 quickly adjusted itself to its new environment, and I heard the tone of the suction change, indicating that a different power setting was being used.

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In particular, I was pleased to find that the i9 was able to clean the space between the bottom of my cabinets and the floor — also known as the space where crumbs love to congregate. Amazon

Of course, the beauty of having a robotic vacuum is that you don’t have to control it in any capacity, and the Pure i9 is no exception to this rule.

I found that the vacuum did a pretty impressive job of not bumping into walls and corners, thereby avoiding even the possibility of scuffs or marks on furniture or paint jobs. That said, if you do want the Pure i9 to clean a specific part of your home, you can use the companion app to tell the vacuum exactly where to go, or access the spot cleaning function for a more concentrated clean. And when you’re ready to send the vacuum back to its charging dock, just press the home button, and it’ll find its way to its initial starting point. It automatically begins charging once docked, and regains a full charge in a matter of a couple hours (and can run for about 40 minutes on a single charge).

The Pure i9 has already met with quite a bit of success in Europe, where it was initially launched in September 2017. Already, the vacuum has won accolades, including the iF Design award. And now, it’s in the US, where it can be purchased for just under $750 on Amazon (price up to date as of November 12, 2018).

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Buy the Electrolux Pure I9 Robotic Vacuum for $744 on Amazon

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Disclosure: This post is brought to you by the Insider Reviews team. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. If you buy them, we get a small share of the revenue from the sale from our commerce partners. We frequently receive products free of charge from manufacturers to test. This does not drive our decision as to whether or not a product is featured or recommended. We operate independently from our advertising sales team. We welcome your feedback. Email us at reviews@businessinsider.com.

Read the original article on Insider Picks. Copyright 2018. Follow Insider Picks on Twitter.
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