Most robots produced today can vacuum, mop, and take care of minor maintenance tasks such as emptying dustbins and cleaning their mopheads.

If the item comes direct from a manufacturer, it may be delivered in non-retail packaging, such as a plain or unprinted box or plastic bag. I was able to grab my phone and cancel it, but being able to establish quiet hours for the robot, where it would not venture out again, would be helpful in my opinion.We also liked that you can control the SpinWave from the easy-to-use Bissell app, setting up automatic cleaning schedules and adjusting the mop’s scrubbing intensity with ease.

As a robot vacuum, the Bissell SpinWave R5 is not going to get all the corners or do the kind of on-the-fly judgment on what to clean or go around that a person with a vacuum can. The app then instructs you to locate a QR code under the dustbin and scan it with your phone to start the pairing process.

The vacuum does not map out rooms with fancy tech, like the Eufy RoboVac L70 Hybrid with its lidar, nor does it do anything particularly smart. The first time I used the mop function, it took a few passes across the house before both of the mop pads were saturated and actually cleaning. Now, in fairness, Bissell does not make any claims that this robot has any hazard avoidance whatsoever, so I might be overstepping and looking for this feature.