Miele Scout RX3 Home Vision HD review

Miele is understood for its quietly efficient, prime quality house home equipment. Its newest robotic vacuum liberate is the Scout RX3 collection.

There are 3 fashions to be had: the fundamental Scout RX3 (as much as 60 mins runtime), the Scout RX3 Runner (as much as 120 mins) and the Scout RX3 Home Vision HD (120 mins, and onboard cameras as neatly). All have upgraded cleansing energy when in comparison to the RX2 collection, even supposing Miele is cagey about hanging a determine to their suction energy.

We’re trying out the Home Vision HD style. It’s the flagship robotic vacuum of this collection – and the costliest. It’s designed and constructed to remaining for 5 years, which is a very long time in robotic vacuum years.

Design and look

The Scout RX3 Home Vision is without doubt one of the perfect taking a look robotic vacuums we have examined. While maximum robotic vacuums have the entire persona of a simple dinner plate, this has a little bit of panache. It has a glittery black frame with a virtual show. At the entrance, it tapers all the way down to the eye-like sensors and cameras which might be housed in a rose gold band.

(By comparability, the Runner style has a bronze band and the fundamental RX3 is all black.)

The RX3 is less than maximum robotic vacuums, at beneath 9cm from the ground. This approach it is very more likely to have compatibility beneath a settee and mattress however we might nonetheless advise you to measure the clearance beneath huge items of furnishings.

The LCD show displays the time, which feels oddly atavistic, like taking a look at an outdated VCR. I guess it is reassuring: if you wish to arrange a cleansing programme, you need to know that you simply and the RX3 agree on what the time is.

The show may even display error messages, along side their error code. This once more does really feel a bit of out of date at a time when many competing robotic vacuum cleaners will actually name out to spot the issue. It additionally approach you might have to hotel to the handbook or app to determine the problem.

Below the show (which additionally displays battery existence and Wi-Fi connection), there are to hand shortcut buttons for various vacuuming modes and to go back to the dock. 

Lift up the flap at the most sensible of the cleaner and within there is a 0.4 litre bin. This is in all probability a bit of smaller than moderate (round 0.6 litres) but it surely was once nonetheless in a position to wash 23sqm no less than two times ahead of wanting to be emptied.

The bin could also be simple to take away and filter out. Miele estimates that you simply will have to trade the clear out each and every six months, however you’ll be able to get a little bit extra time from it via conserving it blank with the equipped brush.

Among its perfect cleansing options are the huge spinning sweepers, which pull mud and mud from the corners of the room into the vacuum’s trail. They’re extraordinarily efficient. And anything else that is not picked up via the rotating bar beneath has a 2d likelihood at removing by means of the vacuum slot simply in the back of it.

Performance

Altogether, the set-up constitutes an overly environment friendly cleansing machine. No mud or fluff is left in the back of. 

There are 3 cleansing modes to make a choice from: spot; turbo; and silent. Spot is to deal with explicit spills and grimy patches, turbo offers you the utmost quantity of energy and silent is a quieter cleansing mode that’ll assist to increase battery existence. I discovered that on onerous ground, silent mode was once perfect however you’ll be able to almost definitely wish to use turbo on carpets. 

And remember that even supposing silent mode is quiet, there are sufficient whirring and mechanical sounds that you would not wish to run it whilst gazing TV.

The RX3 is fast to arrange and you’ll be able to use it once it is charged (which takes 4 hours) by means of the onboard controls or the equipped far flung keep an eye on. The latter does appear quite pointless however when you’ve got family participants who do not wish to obtain the app, I suppose you may use it. 

It’s additionally suitable with Amazon Alexa, so you’ll be able to get started and forestall it the use of voice instructions. There’s no fortify in case you are a Google Assistant or Siri family, regardless that.

The RX3 cleans in a logical means, in stripes, similar to an preferably mown garden. Its sensors are usually extremely efficient, preventing it simply wanting any impediment.

Except for the peculiar instance when they are not. It could have an issue ‘seeing’ reflective surfaces like a glittery steel puppy bowl, which it thunked into two times (and which perceived to wonder it). But at different instances, it rammed into any other object and I could not to find an evidence.

Still, it’s usually superb as giving gadgets a large berth, so it by no means were given caught, knotted up in a cord or beached on a lamp stand. Nor did I ever must rescue it. 

But it is not a excellent climber. Miele says that it has a most mountaineering talent of one.7cm (which you’ll be able to choose to cut back within the app) but it surely perceived to battle over even minor bumps, like an abnormal steel threshold transition strip. 

Even worse, some of the rooms in my house has a large, raised wood lip on the threshold. Some robotic vacuums trundle over it with out a drawback, some determine methods to manoeuvre over it via reversing or turning, and a few get caught.

The RX3 attempted to move it two times after which, weirdly, simply gave up. Nor was once it in a position to spot that there was once a room at the different aspect of it, because it by no means gave the impression at the map. Using it in far flung keep an eye on mode, I used to be in a position to power it over the edge myself (mad abilities) however it could now not strive it on my own. 

Aside from this, the one factor I had with the gadget right through trying out was once mistakes taking a very long time to get to the bottom of. I lifted up the robotic vacuum directly level and were given the ‘F1 – wheel off the bottom’ message. Returning the RX3 to the bottom did not get to the bottom of the message. In the tip, I needed to two times transfer the gadget off and again directly to transparent the message and get to the bottom of the issue. 

Camera

What units the Miele Scout RX3 Home Vision HD except for the opposite RX3 fashions is its onboard color digital camera. You can power it round your own home the use of the video feed to navigate and remotely check out its growth when clear of house.

The image high quality is excellent sufficient so long as the lighting fixtures is affordable. So you’ll want to depart the lighting fixtures on or have the ability to turn on them remotely if you wish to use it while you’re clear of house.

 

In phrases of riding it round, you’ll be able to use the controls within the app or the far flung keep an eye on and it is rather simple to take action, even supposing because the digital camera issues up, it is not at all times transparent in case you’ve bumped in opposition to one thing till you’ll be able to now not transfer ahead.

But the bigger level, in reality, is whether or not you will use it. If you do not assume you are going to, you could be choosing some of the different fashions.  

Using the Miele app

The Miele app is loose to obtain and to be had for each Apple and Android. It’s easy and neatly designed – a lot more so than apps from many competing merchandise, if truth be told.

Via the app, you’ll be able to time table cleansing (and arrange other schedules for various days of the week), view and annotate your maps with favorite and no-go spaces, select the cleansing atmosphere you need, get entry to the onboard digital camera and keep an eye on the RX3 remotely.

However, the app is rather fundamental. It can, for instance, handiest dangle two maps, which might be an issue for folks with a three-storey house or a split-level structure. Still, the maps are properly introduced and feature sufficient element to lead them to simple to make use of.

However, the app may not mean you can regulate the cleansing programme whilst the RX3 is at paintings. To trade, for instance, from silent to turbo mode, it’s a must to go back the RX3 to the dock and restart. 

Price and availability

The Miele Scout RX3 Home Vision is to be had for £859 from Miele, making it some of the costlier robotic vacuums that we have examined. However, its function set is lovely restricted for this value level and, for significantly much less, it is advisable get an similarly robust robotic vacuum that empties itself and has a mop serve as.

But if that is the robotic vacuum for you, the most productive value we will to find for the RX3 Home Vision is £779 from John Lewis – £80 not up to Miele’s value.

Verdict

The Miele Scout RX3 Home Vision cleans successfully and successfully and we love its abnormal design so much. However, it is extremely dear for what quantities to a modest function set. And it is not flawless both: it lacks the granular controls of competing merchandise, similar to the power to regulate the suction point as you pass, and it is quite temperamental on the subject of navigation and blunder reporting.

Altogether, it is a luxurious purchase with very good {hardware} however whose tool does not make a powerful sufficient case for its value level.

For extra choices and suggestions, take a look at our round-up of the most productive robotic vacuum cleaners we have examined.

Specs

Miele Scout RX3 Home Vision HD: Specs

• Dimensions: 35 x 35 x 9cm (approx)
• Weight: 3kg
• Cleaning time: 120 mins
• Recharging time: 237 minutes
• Comes with far flung