Hoover - Rogue 970 BH70970 App-Controlled Self-Charging Robot Vacuum - Black

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• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  Awesome - Much Better Than I Was Expecting

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  I wasn't too sure about this vacuum going into using it. Hoover doesn't exactly have a reputation for robot vacuums and I wasn't sure how this would hold up next to something like a Roomba. After spending the weekend using it though I've come away extremely impressed with the Rogue's cleaning and navigation abilities. There are some issues with the app right now - I wish I could give this 4.5 stars, but I’m going to give it 5 stars trusting that Hoover can fix the issues with the app. The box contains what you'd expect and includes the vacuum, base station, and a cleaning tool. There are some status LEDs on the top of the vacuum and the dust bin is stored in the center, accessible by flipping up the lid and pressing a button to pop it out. I really like the dust bin design and it seems like it's bigger than our Roomba 690's bin, though I couldn't confirm if this actually true. Setting it up was pretty easy through the app and after getting the Rogue connected to WiFi I sent it off into 'Recon Mode', which sends the vacuum off to map out your floor with it's built-in laser sensors. I did this on both floors of my home and the mapping didn't take longer than 5-10 minutes on either floor; my second floor has 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms and I was especially impressed at the speed that it was able to navigate and map all these rooms. My maps don't look as good as the ones in Hoover's pictures, but I'm impressed with their accuracy. The app doesn't save maps for multiple floors, so if you move the vacuum between floors you'll have to remap them each time (I think Hoover also recommends you do this if you move the base station to another part of your floor as well). Once the mapping was done I set off to clean my first floor, which is consists of a hallway, living room, and kitchen, with no doors separating them and all hardwood. It cleaned the entire floor without a much issue. One thing I did notice was that the Rogue was not a ‘brave’ as my Roomba about getting under things and really working itself in. This might have more to do with the fact that my Roomba has relies on its bumpers instead of lasers, but there were a couple of corner spots the Rogue didn’t quite get into. The noise level wasn’t bad - I would say it’s slightly louder than my Roomba, but it sounds more like a loud desk fan where the Roomba sounds like an RC car, which is more pleasant to my ears. Moving upstairs I was most excited to try the Rogue here. I discovered while moving the vacuum upstairs that it has 3 power modes - Stealth, Normal, and Beast. It’s automatically set to Normal mode, but since my upstairs is all carpet I decided to try Beast mode out. Beast mode ups the noise and power level noticeably and it did a really good job cleaning our carpet. I did seem to cut the battery life in about half, but was able to get through the entire floor with just enough juice left to make it back to the charger. Watching the vacuum run upstairs I could see how it navigates much better. From what I can see it moves from room to room, does the edges, and then does a back and forth to fill in the middle space. It’s very methodical and easy to see where it’s been and where it’s going to next. The app even gives you a live view of where the vacuum is and what areas it’s cleaned. I did run into two problems while cleaning upstairs. The first problem was that the vacuum clogged with hair and fur once and I had to clear it out. Granted, it had been a couple of weeks since I last vacuumed upstairs and I imagine this is something that will occur less with regular cleanings, but it’s something to note. My second problem was with a TV stand that is just about the same height as the vacuum, but a little shorter. It led to the vacuum wedging itself underneath and getting stuck. The Hoover app allows you to set up virtual boundaries to prevent this sort of thing, but as it stands right now the virtual boundaries are really hard to set up in the app. When adding a virtual boundary the app freezes the map in whatever view you had it in and often creates the boundary offscreen with no way to grab and move it to where you need to go. Even when I finally got it into the position I wanted it to be in, adjusting it on a small scale to avoid something like a piece of furniture tested me. Hopefully this is something Hoover will improve in the future. I also had to empty the dust bin a few times while it was cleaning upstairs, but that’s understandable given the size of the area. Overall I have a lot more good things than bad to say about the Rogue. It’s not perfect, but most of the time it’s so good I don’t remember that.

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  Posted 8 years ago by SamG

• Rated 4 out of 5 stars

  Awesome cleaner with some setbacks

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  Hoover is a name that im sure most of us grew up with seeing in our household. So who better then to produce a robotic vacuum cleaner from a name you know and trust. Lets talk about some of the cool features and also some of the setbacks and find out if this may be a right fit for you. First off if this is your first go at buying a robotic vacuum let me talk briefly about what to expect. Out of the box your going to get a charging station with power cord, the actual bot, two side rollers and the waste bin. Out of the box Hoover gives you this undercover secret agent type feel with the cleaner. They give you a folder with "Top Secret" orders to get it started. Your going to get about two hours of run time and when the battery level gets low the cleaner will automatically return to its docking station to charge itself back up. This is pretty much the standard for just about every robotic cleaner out there. But lets talk about what makes this really stand out and hold it back. First off Hoover really centers alot around you using their app. The reason i say this is because the actual bot itself has only a play/pause button. So what this means is that without the app all you can do is basically wake it up and have it clean at its own pace. Without the app you cant utilize the different cleaning modes available or even set up cleaning schedules. So this is pretty much where im seeing most new robotic vacuum cleaners go now, which is the way of an app to control your unit remotely from anywhere at anytime. However this is where i found the first and most frustrating problem yet. In order to use the app you have to link the two together but before you can do that your Hoover vacuum needs to be connected to your WiFi. All im going to say is if you are not tech savvy you will have a hard time doing this and if you are, well your still going to struggle a bit. The problem i had with connecting it to my wifi was for starters it only wants the 2.5gHz line which is fine by me. However every time i tried to connect to my WiFi my signal would drop out and it would keep giving me an error message. It seems my SSID was holding it up however i was under the impression that it was supposed to be user friendly and that i wouldn't have to dive that far into my settings. It took me a good 15 mins to get it connected and that was only after me researching trouble boards for a solution. Next was the app. The app at first was no where to be found but then after a little more digging i finally found it. It seems this product may still be in beta testing because the app i found reads like this "Hoover Home ( unreleased)". It goes on to tell me that the app is still in development and may be unstable. Great!! Needless to say i was getting very upset and on the verge of giving this 1 star. So why the change of heart? Well i realized that after getting in contact with the manufacture they assured me that through firmware updates the app would continue to improve and become more user friendly. I understand that no product is perfect and only gets better with time so i gave the app another go. To my surprise i finally got the two to link up and this is where i really saw the unit shine. Once you get past the very annoying and frustrating hiccups (which as of writing this review they still exist) you will get to see what exactly makes this such a great unit. The app allows you to name your bot and set up schedules. It will let you know when the waste bin is full and it will also let you pick from three different modes which are quiet, standard and best mode!!!! You heard right this thing has a beast mode. Lets talk about its recon feature first. Right off the bat Hoover ask for you to put the robot in to "Recon" mode. While in recon the Rogue 970 will act like just about every other unit out there. It starts roaming around aimlessly bumping into just about everything acting like a clumsy bot. Whats its actually doing is its trying to map out your floor plan so that it can clean in straight lines and knows automatically what obstacles are where so it can avoid it. But what is key to this feature is that it allows you to create virtual barriers that the unit is not allowed to go. So let me explain this a bit if your new to this. As smart as some of these bots are there are some things they just cant see and avoid. Electrical cables are the big concern and reason in my opinion for barriers. So lets say you dont want the bot to go in your children's room due to the fact that theres lots of small toys and electrical cables it may suck up. Some of the cheaper bots will not provide anything so this forces you to have lay an obstacle down such as a chair or maybe a box to block its path. Some of my other bots that i own have magnetic strips that you lay down and the unit will not cross the line. Other units make you buy add on sensors that need to be equiped in order to accomplish this task. Hoover however has built into its units technology a system that will map out your floorplan and then allow you to mark what areas you want it to avoid. This feature is awesome cause it means you dont have to lay anything down or buy any add ons. If you look in the picture i provided you can see how the floor layout looks. i know, it looks like a 6yr old drew it but when you think about the technology behind its processing, its actually pretty impressive. And believe me when you mark an area that is off limits it will not go near that area at all. Also once it learns your floor plan it then begins to vacuum in a normal manner now. So after it is done doing its job you now have these nice straight carpet lines from it moving up and down instead of moving in an erratic manner like most other bots. Now what happens if it sucks up a power cord or sock by accident? Well in most cases depending on how big the piece is it will shut itself down and send you a message. However power cables will not be detected and will not stop the unit. It will suck up cables and continue to keep on moving with a tail hanging out. Don't let this discourage you however cause this is pretty much an issue for just about all units on the market including the higher end ones. So how well does it clean? Quite well to tell you the truth. The Rogue 970 will clean just about any and all animal hair out of most carpets. Its suction power is quite strong, so strong that i wouldn't use it on shag carpet and area rugs with long or thick fibers cause it will yank it so hard that the unit will get itself stuck. As far as the three modes go so far unless im looking at them wrong they seem to be related to sound and suction power. Quite mode is as it says. Its very quiet and makes almost no noise and also seems to do very light cleaning. Standard is slightly louder and is just about what your going to use for everyday use as far as suction power goes. Beast mode, well it is as the name says. The noise is louder for sure but nothing ear blowing. Its still quieter than an upright, the main difference is in beast mode you will get the the max suction power available for deep cleaning and it appears to drain the battery alot faster in beast mode. The waste bin is a little smaller than i would of liked. Its enough to clean one room then after that your going to have to empty it. If you forget to empty it no worries, the unit will let you know its full via a light on the actual unit itself or the app. The units optical sensors seem to be very heightened. Its able to very easily recognize most obstacles without bumping into them and has no problem with stairs. The unit will not attempt to go over a stair case, its sensors pick up on it then turn it around right away. It also has no issue going over transitions or area rugs either. Heres my final verdict. You need to understand something when buying robotic vacuum cleaners and that is that no unit out there is perfect or flawless. Its more of a give and take. The biggest set back for me and this unit is the fact that all the bugs are not worked out. Im upset that Hoover would let something go that still seems like its in beta testing and not in its final stages. This doesnt bother me too much because i know over time its going to improve through firmware updates. However if you are looking for a 100% out of the box user friendly set up, then as of right now this may not be for you. But if you can get past the clunky set up and see all the potential and technology that this unit has to offer then i think your going to be very happy. This is by far my favorite cleaner now that it is all set up and working properly. The technology packed inside this unit is some of the most advance i have seen so far. In my opinion this the first cleaner i have owned or seen that will clean in perfectly straight lines. Who knows by the time you buy this product all bugs may be worked out and it may be a perfect unit after all. Either way this is a good unit for me and if you do decide to buy one just make sure you know someone who is slightly tech savvy. The Good: -Two hour battery life -Beast Mode!!! -Smart technology for floor mapping -endless barrier set ups -Smart obstacle avoidance The Bad: -Horrible WiFi set up -An incomplete app

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  Posted 8 years ago by Crasher

• Rated 3 out of 5 stars

  Smart Rogue Bot BUT Caught by its APP

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  Hoover Rogue Robot 970 Vacuum Setup/Testing/Conclusion I have to first praise Hoover’s marketing team for doing such a wonderful job with the PR for this robot. Everything from the design of the box, the materials used for the manuals and other goodies within the box; all were done with quality and really thought out ideas. So GOOD JOB there Hoover!! Setting up the robot was not too difficult. Being that the Hoover Home app was not available on Android when I was first setting up the robot, I did it on my iOS device. Once I was able to connect the Rogue 970 to the app, the very first thing I did was complete a full charge (that is what the instructions tell you to do!). Once the Rogue 970 had a full charge, the next thing I did was recon mode. I found that you can’t necessarily use the robot unless you did the recon mode first. Basically in recon mode, the Rogue 970 will scout out your home and load the map into the app. I found this feature VERY awesome and new to the robotic vacuum cleaning world. Once the Rogue 970 has completed its recon mission, you will have the ability to set up barriers as well as send the Rogue on its next mission; to clean. I didn’t send it right away to clean after its recon mission and instead waited a couple days… To my surprise, my map that was originally already on the app was gone! Someone stole the intel! Well… Not necessarily. I think the app glitched and erased the map. So I ended up having to do the recon mode again which was kinda a waste of time. Speaking of the Hoover Home app, it definitely needs some work. When I mean it needs some work, it legitimately NEEDS work. The app is very unstable and its glitchy. I lost my mapped out home twice for no reason and in addition, it keeps saying that the Rogue 970 is disconnected. I tried refreshing the tabs back and forth within the app but it didn’t work. The only way to actually get things “connected” again was to close out the app completely and restart it. Even after doing this I still could not locate my maps. I noticed that Hoover updated the “system” tab so now if you click filter, dirt cup, brush roll, or side brushes; it’ll take you to YouTube where there are videos to show you how to clean them which is kinda neat. Hopefully they’ll add the feature where you can also purchase spare filters and brushes so that you can easily purchase replacements when needed. Now to the cleaning. Overall, the cleaning that the Rogue 970 does is average with a couple other robots that I own. I purchased a Roomba years ago in addition to a Samsung cleaning bot and the Rogue 970 is about the same… Where the Rogue 970 shines is that it doesn’t “always” run into things. It actually does a decent job avoiding objects and not crashing into things like the Roomba and Samsung do. Also, it has a system/pattern in place so that it actually cleans how a person would vacuum as opposed to going everywhere like my Roomba does. Although the Rogue 970 is smarter, it was completely “dumb” when it saw my glass sliding closet doors. It thought there was more room to go so it kept crashing into the glass, thankfully not hard enough to the point where it broke my glass closet sliding doors. With a full charge, it was able to clean my living room, kitchen, one bathroom and one bedroom. The Rogue 970 never made it to my other bedroom or bathroom unfortunately. Overall, it did a pretty decent job with cleaning. When cleaning the dust bin, I found my spouse’s hair and some dust. My place wasn’t too dirty to begin with. Once the Rogue 970 has completed its mission, you can use the included brush to clean the brushes as well as rinse the dust cup and filter. Make sure everything is dry before you send the Rogue 970 on its next mission! A couple things I would’ve liked to see is the ability to do spot clean and specific room cleaning. I noticed in some of the documents I received that you are technically able to do that. But I tried everything and there’s no option to do that currently. I’m guessing the app needs work as I mentioned above. I also ran into this weird thing where the Rogue 970 kinda “skipped” here and there when it was cleaning. When I mean skipping I mean stuttering, it was weird; this was on hard wood floors. In conclusion, I feel like the Rogue 970 has GREAT potential. In the state of where it is now, I would have to give it a 3 out of 5 stars. As mentioned, the cleaning was on par with other bots except for that the Rogue 970 doesn’t ALWAYS bump into stuff. The app needs A LOT of work… Perhaps Hoover should’ve waited to release the Rogue 970 after the app was fine tuned and polished. Being that the Rogue 970 is driven by the app, you NEED the app. So once Hoover is able to get the app all good to go, I’m sure the Rogue 970 will accomplish all its missions. But as of current… The Rogue 970 has been spotted by the enemy. Quick Features on the Product A Smart Vacuum. Not just a ROBOT Smartwall Technology (Create virtual boundaries in the Hoover Home App to customize what areas are off limits to Rogue) Robart Technology with Memory (Rogue intelligently maps and remembers your home for an optimized and efficient cleaning mission) Auto Docking (Rogue returns to base to charge when the cleaning mission is complete) Wi-Fi Connected (Connect to Rogue wherever you are for commands and mission updates) Hoover Home App (Schedule and interact with Rogue through the free Hoover Home App) Voice Control (Control Rogue with vocal commands issued through AMazon Alexa and Google Home Assistant) Tri-Clean System (Rogue utilizes a trifecta of agitation, brushing, and suction to pick up dirt, dust and pet hair for an advanced clean on multiple floor types Dirt Detection (With specialized sensors, Rogue recognizes dirtier areas on your floor for a concentrated clean) Rogue Control Center (One convenient location for commands, alerts and indicators, such as dirt cup full, battery level and Wi-Fi status Run Time (Rogue has up to 120 minutes of fade-free run time) What's in the box? Rogue 970 Robot Charging Dock/Base Cleaning Brush Quick User Guide User Manual

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  Posted 8 years ago by MarkusKong