Introduction to the Dyson Spot+Scrub Ai
Dyson’s first robot vacuum, the 360 Vis Nav, was powerful but hard to recommend for many homes. It had strong suction and a distinctive design, but the navigation lagged behind the best robot vacuums, and it didn’t mop. The new Dyson Spot+Scrub Ai is a much more competitive follow-up among the best robot vacuum and mops.
This time, Dyson added mopping, a proper self-emptying and self-cleaning dock, LiDAR-assisted mapping, and improved object avoidance and stain-detection features designed to send the robot back over messes that need extra attention. After testing dozens of robot vacuums over the last five years, and using the 360 Vis Nav regularly for more than a year, I can say the Spot+Scrub Ai is a major step forward.
Focus on Mopping
As the name suggests, the Spot+Scrub Ai is especially focused on mopping. It’s excellent at it, too. If your home is mostly carpet, you won’t get as much value from this robot. It’s a solid vacuum, but a better mop.
It has a few flaws too: the Spot+Scrub Ai can be messy around its docking station and is too bulky to get under cabinet toe kicks. Though these could be nitpicks, in general, Dyson has a robot you should be considering if you want constant, hands-free cleaning maintenance.
Price and Availability
Dyson deal alert: At $1,200, this vacuum falls into premium territory, and expectations are even higher about how it performs. We spotted it on sale for $350 off, for the first time, making it an even more attractive package.
Testing Process
I tested the Spot+Scrub Ai over several weeks in my home, running it through everyday cleaning jobs and controlled mess tests with rice, crushed cereal, flour, jelly, soda, maple syrup, faux pet waste, and cables. I also compared it to my experience with the Dyson 360 Vis Nav, which I used regularly for more than a year, and to my testing of dozens of robot vacuums over the last five years.
Evolution from Previous Models
Dyson traded personality for practicality. To understand the significance of the Dyson Spot & Scrub Ai, it’s worth touching on the previous attempt: the Dyson 360 Vis Nav. That one has strong suction, a big dustbin, and beefy wheels to traverse high-pile rugs. Unfortunately, its navigation made it hard to recommend for complex floor plans. And, it only vacuums.
With the Spot+Scrub AI, Dyson addressed these issues: It adds lidar to its camera-based vision system, gains mopping, and comes with a full docking station. It also integrates the green laser illumination, found on some of its cordless vacuum products, that highlights what the eye can’t see. It’s more useful when you’re the one doing the navigating than the robot; here it’s almost distracting. Overall though, it’s a tremendous leap forward from the original if you want a more autonomous cleaner.
When I first saw the Spot+Scrub Ai in Berlin during the company’s 2025 unveiling, the most surprising thing about it was how much it resembled other robot vacuums on the market. It ditched its classic Dyson flair for a mostly plain, black design. The most noticeable “Dyson” attribute that remains is the clear dustbin on the docking station. I wish it had more of the company’s flair, but the more important point is that it’s improved over the last version.
Mapping and App Features
Mapping was quick, even if the app feels busy. The MyDyson app has all the modern features of other competitors, including real-time tracking, room selection, targeted spot cleaning, and adjustable vacuum and mop settings. It’s perfectly fine for controlling the unit. It’s easy enough to use, but because the app also houses controls for other Dyson products like air purifiers, hair tools and headphones, it can feel crowded. Whether having everything in one space is more convenient or distracting will likely depend on how many Dyson products you use regularly.
The initial mapping was fast and mostly accurate, but the interior walls were less structured and more wavy-looking than they are in apps from Roborock or Eufy. This didn’t impact cleaning, but could make precise spot cleaning area harder to gauge.
Vacuum Performance
It’s a good vacuum, but not the reason to buy it. I primarily used the Auto setting to get a sense of how it would do on its own. When the Auto mode didn’t perform quite well enough in my tests, I reran tougher messes on Boost to get a sense of its top performance, which is probably only needed for the bigger messes. Auto worked fine on a day-to-day basis.
It handled everyday crumbs better than fine dust. The Spot+Scrub Ai has a top suction level of 18,000Pa. This pales in the spec comparison to other new units, like the Roborock Saros 20, which has a top suction level of 33,000Pa. In practice, the number difference was less significant.
For normal debris vacuuming, the kind of crumbs that gather on the kitchen floor throughout the day in a house with kids, the Spot+Scrub Ai did well at sucking those things up. I sprinkled around 20 grams of food items like rice, crushed up cereal, and flour on the floor and ran separate, targeted tests for each.
The Spot+Scrub Ai did the best at vacuuming the Cheerios, which I walked over and crushed up most of first. It picked up around 93% of them. The unit performed well with the other items, too, but, like most robots, it tended to scatter some rice grains outside the test area. The flour left a visible trail of white powder from its wheels as it rolled back to its docking station.
At 4.3 inches thick, the Spot+Scrub Ai is also taller, and can’t fit under cabinet toe kicks, while some other premium robots like Roborock Saros collection, which are 3.14 inches, can fit under without issue. That’s not a dealbreaker on the whole, but the robot’s slight bulk is something to keep in mind.
Carpet Performance
Capable on carpet, but better on bare floors. The Spot+Scrub Ai can auto-detect hard surfaces and carpet and identify the different floor materials in the mobile app. I sprinkled a heavy dose of flour, around 20 grams, on a low-pile rug and set it to a targeted run. It sucked up about 75% of the mess on Auto mode, then again on Boost mode, which got the total amount picked up closer to 85%.
Removing fine powder from carpet is the hardest of all the tests. The Spot+Scrub Ai performs about the same as other robots like the recent Roborock Saros 20 here. It fared much better on carpet, picking up rice and crushed up Cheerios in two separate tests. It got nearly every grain of white rice in that test and only missed a few crumbs with the cereal one. The type of carpet and its pile height will play a big role in how well it does in this area, but for my short rugs, it performed well.
Hair tangles were barely an issue. The Spot+Scrub Ai ran for a few weeks in a house with two women and a non-shedding dog. While there might not be as much hair as in some other homes, I can assure you there is at least some that gets left on the floors. The good news is that there was never more than a single strand visible on the roller brush.
Mopping Capabilities
The mop is the star of the show. If there’s a standout area of the Spot+Scrub Ai, it’s the mopping. This is the main reason to consider buying this unit over another one. I mean, it should be good because it’s right there in the name.
The primary reason this unit excels is its single mopping roller brush. During cleaning, fresh water is constantly flushed through as the brush spins, so that it’s less likely to spread spills around than the spinning circular pads. It also slides right to achieve wider coverage.
When I applied jelly, soda, and maple syrup to my hardwood floor and let it settle for a bit, the Spot+Scrub fully removed the mess in one pass. There was a slight stickiness left behind in one area. This is in contrast to the Roborock Saros 20, which left a much stickier feel over the whole test area. With a second pass, the Spot+Scrub removed the tacky residue.
As good as the roller brush mopping performed, there are a few limitations around carpets. It also doesn’t have a cover to block its mop, and as the Spot+Scrub Ai’s mop can only raise 0.4 inches, it could still come into contact with rugs. I didn’t notice any wet spots or issues on my rugs, but it definitely touched them.
Navigation Improvements
Its smarter navigation is a huge improvement. Like mopping, Dyson has hinged this product’s identity on its vision — being able to “spot” stains. For the most part, that bet has turned out well. The Spot+Scrub Ai mapped my rooms quickly and efficiently. It shows the robot in the app in real time and can perform targeted spot cleaning. It also means that it saw objects in its way and avoided them.
The robot was able to completely avoid different-sized, shaped, colored faux poop in the kitchen. The mobile app showed how it went around two areas in perfect circles. It also successfully cleared a USB cable. Beyond purposeful tests, I saw it avoid wires and cables under a couch. It was also gentle on furniture legs.
Dyson touts that the Spot+Scrub Ai will continue to revisit stains and messes it spots on the floor until it thinks they’re gone. I didn’t see much of this. The app didn’t reflect this either. The robot labeled many objects it avoided, but only one or two mess spots it re-cleaned more than once. Some of my dedicated tests could have used an automatic, second pass as well.
Docking Station Features
The all-in-one dock is pure Dyson. Overall, the dock’s functionality is great. I particularly love the clear, bagless canister. This is a Dyson staple, and it’s great in this context too. Nearly all robot vacuums hide a dust bag inside the dock, and it’s impossible to know when to empty it. Most people probably either never empty it or empty it too often.
Though some may not be too keen about seeing the collected dirt on display, with the clear canister, it’s very easy to know when maintenance is required. The company says it can hold 100 days’ worth of dirt. Based on how empty it still appears after collecting lots of dust, cereal, rice, and other debris, I believe it. Of course, depending on your general messiness, your results may differ.
I wish the freshwater container were clear, as that could alleviate any surprise notifications that the mopping has stopped until it can be refilled. For obvious reasons, I don’t need to see inside the dirty water container. A word of warning. You will want to buy the cleaning solution because, without it, I noticed a smelly odor when emptying the dirty water tank. Thankfully, it was only present when opening that reservoir. When the brush is heat-drying in the dock, the brush will rotate to keep mold and bad smells away in that area.
While the robot cleaned well, the robot and docking station did end up quite messy after all the tests. While routine crumb cleaning and not mopping food spills will make maintenance much less frequent, you will still need to brush off the dock and inspect under the robot from time to time.
I would love to see these cleaning companies develop a dock-cleaning mode where the robot spends three to five minutes sucking up crumbs on and around the station.
Battery Life and Noise
Battery life was fine; noise was harder to ignore. Once robot vacuums gained charging docks with self-emptying capabilities, the idea of battery life became a little moot, and they can easily recharge and resume the job. Still, the Dyson Spot+Scrub Ai advertises 200 minutes of runtime in Quiet mode. Even in the more powerful modes, that should be plenty of power to wash and vacuum an average-size suburban home.
The app estimated my ~650-square-foot downstairs would take about 108 minutes with no charging stops. It did need to refill the water at one point, but that was quick. Noise was more noticeable. The robot was loud while docking, refilling, emptying dirty water, and moving its internal mechanisms. I measured more than 70 decibels from a couple of feet away while it serviced itself at the dock. Quiet mode was much more tolerable for routine cleaning, but this is not the most discreet robot vacuum I’ve tested.
Alternatives to Consider
What are your alternatives? Since the Spot+Scrub Ai heavily focuses on mopping, this machine doesn’t make sense for people with all carpet. Instead, Dyson’s 360 Vis Nav is the one whose whole identity is carpeting. While I wouldn’t recommend most people go this route, it has been on sale for well under $500, as low as $280. For a sub $300 price, it’s a much better value than when it sold for $999 and is at least worth considering.
While most other $1,000+ products on our best robot vacuum and mops list are worthy considerations, not all use the single-roller brush-style mop. In that case, the Narwal Flow 2 is a fairly direct competitor with the same mopping style or the Ecovacs X9 Pro Omni, which was one of the first brands to introduce the roller style mopping. The Flow 2 has a higher rated suction power and a shorter height to fit in more places, while the Ecovacs has slightly less suction power, but costs under $800.
Final Thoughts
The bottom line. I was skeptical about this generic-looking robot cleaner, but after spending time with it, I’m much more convinced that Dyson is taking this kind of product seriously among its floorcare lineup.
The Dyson Spot+Scrub Ai is a highly compelling robot vacuum and mop, especially for its excellent mopping, ability to avoid hair tangles, and feature-filled docking station. It’s a strong candidate for homes with mostly hard surfaces.
