Neato D3 Connected Release Date, Price and Specs – CNET

Neato’s D3 Connected offers hi-tech smarts for a lot less.

Neato Robotics

Easily costing anywhere from $700 and upwards in the US, the price of many robot vacuums makes them a hard sell to all but the well heeled. Not quite so with the new $399 Neato D3 Connected which was just announced at IFA 2016 here in Berlin. While by no means inexpensive, it’s the most affordable automatic cleaning machine we’ve seen yet. (UK and Australian prices are yet to be revealed, but that converts to about £300 or AU$530.)

That doesn’t mean the Neato D3 Connected is a fresh face masking old hardware either. Indeed this robovac, as its name suggests, features many of the parts and capabilities we loved in Neato’s premium product, the $699 Botvac Connected. Specifically the robot links to Neato’s mobile app via Wi-Fi, which allows you to both activate and schedule it remotely right from your phone or tablet.

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The Neato D3 draws electrical power from an advanced lithium-ion battery, similar to the modern battery system at the core of the company’s current flagship, the Botvac Connected. The Neato D3 also relies on Neato’s unique laser navigation technology in order to efficiently map then scour floors dirt- and debris-free.

As a result, according to Neato, the D3 will be able to navigate multiple rooms and cover up to 1,800 square feet in one charge. And like the Neato Botvac Connected the robot will make as many trips to its base station as required to recharge and complete a total floor cleaning.

A view of the Neato D3 Connected from the top.

Neato Robotics

Tradeoffs for a lower price

Neato, however, did cut a few corners to keep the D3 Connected’s price low. The machine’s battery, for example, has a lower capacity than the previous Botvac Connected and new $699 Neato D5 Connected flagship model that will eventually replace it. The same is true of the D3’s “Standard” filter, which is apparently more porous than the “Ultra Performance” filter tucked inside the D5 Connected and “High Performance” filter screening the older Botvac Connected.

The $399 Neato D3 Connected will hit store shelves by early October of 2016 in the US and Europe. Neato plans to ship the robovac to China and Japan later that year.

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Neato cleans the smart home with a connected robot vacuum
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