Pure Clean Robot Vacuum – Less Costly Than Roomba, But Just As Good?

The Pure Clean Robot Vacuum doesn’t look a million miles away in design terms to its arch rival the Roomba.

However, this unit is focused on the market for hardwood, lino, tiled, and hard, low-profile carpets and floors. The reason for that is that it uses sweeping rather than vacuuming to do the job, which explains why it is a lot less costly than a Roomba.

That gives it a pretty decent USP as many homes move away from carpets to other flooring to avoid dust and allergy issues. Many people also can’t afford a Roomba but would still like an automatic device to help clean up. The low profile means it can duck under most furniture, but it looks like you’ll need to block off the stairs or any elevation changes as it may fall or get stuck.

Key Features

Available in green or white, the Pure Clean is available for $99 on its own or $160 (at the time of this writing,) in a kit with an extra brush and a charger. Like the Roomba, it can provide an ability to clean the floor at your convenience, with self programming and path navigation, obstacle detection and easy to clean bin.

The unit measures 11.3 X 11.3 X 2.3 inches but despite the name, this is actually a robot sweeper with no vacuuming power. Quite how they got away with that we’re not sure, but its sweeping mechanism is pretty efficient at picking up hair and dust, and side brushes help pull debris in from around the edges.

It has three settings for cleaning runs, with 10 minute, 20 minute or maximum clean modes, as long as your floor is constant (i.e., without rugs or risers) it can do a decent job navigating. Unlike the Roomba, when it runs out of power you’ll have to manually plug it in to charge up.

Pros of the Pure Clean Robot Vacuum

Assuming you have a fairly empty room then the Pure Clean does a decent job of rolling around sweeping up the dust. It is easy enough to clean out and recharge to prepare for the next run, and in most homes that should be enough to make this a welcome addition to the war on dust. With a decent battery it can also run for longer than a vacuum robot, so it won’t be nipping off to charge every half and hour.

However, if you’ve ever been amazed by the capabilities and power of a Roomba it might leave you feeling a little underwhelmed, but then again millions of people don’t even know what a Roomba is. Lower those expectations and this might not exactly be cutting edge smart home tech, but it can help take some of the strain off the daily clean.

Another advantage is that while it might need the odd replacement brush, we suspect this will be a bit easier on consumables than its more powerful rivals.

Cons of the Pure Clean Robot Vacuum

The Pure Clean’s sensors don’t seem quite up to those of its more expensive rivals, so it is more prone to getting stuck, beaching itself or apparently getting confused and requiring a reset. It also tends to proceed in a rather random fashion, so isn’t exactly going to have the optimum path to clean a room in the shortest time.

Given that it lacks vacuum power, the Pure Clean Robot Vacuum isn’t going to pick everything up, but perhaps in combination with a regular run around with a Dyson or other power cleaner, it can help keep the floor clean. Certainly it doesn’t quite do enough of a job for those who obsess about clean floors or worry about dust and allergies.

The Pure Clean comes with a one-year warranty and you might want to make sure you fill out the online warranty card, as quite a few people seem to have had problems with their unit, although the customer service seems pretty decent. Also it is not smart enough to avoid puddles or little child or pet “accidents” so who knows what happens if that stuff gets into the mechanics.

Final Recommendation

There are now lots of cheaper devices out there on the market claiming to be a low cost alternative to the Roomba range. And, as you’d expect, few of them get anywhere close. However, as a budget option the Pure Clean comes out pretty well. Sure, it is only a sweeper, but that gives it better battery life and since hard floors are easier to clean, then it can do a pretty job.

Naturally, if you have the budget, you’d go Roomba, or one of the other high flying products, but for the rest of us the Pure Clean Robot Vacuum seems like a pretty effective and efficient alternative.