Neato D9 (robot vacuum cleaner): our review

Coming home from work to find the hallway and sitting room already vacuumed is the ambition here. With a stated runtime of 200 min, the D9 has scope for a long cleaning run through several rooms. That is useful breathing space when the kitchen needs attention as well as the room where everyone spends the evening. The appeal is simple: let the robot tackle the floors while you get on with your evening.

The setting makes a difference. The advertised duration applies to the gentlest mode; stronger suction shortens it. We would treat that endurance as room for a sustained cleaning routine, rather than a prediction of how much carpet will be finished before charging. If vacuuming keeps slipping down your list after work, a robot with time to work through several rooms has a clear job to do.

The robot's 700 mL dustbin is large, which should allow longer gaps between emptying. For a household dealing with cereal beneath the breakfast table and loose fluff around the armchairs, that matters. A robot is a more welcome helper when you are not constantly stopping to empty what it has collected. Toast has surprisingly ambitious travel plans.

This capacity belongs to the robot itself. We like the practical emphasis: room for collected debris has an everyday purpose, without needing a dramatic feature name. Emptying remains part of ownership, so think about the chore you are reducing rather than expecting dust to disappear altogether. If your main ambition is a Saturday morning with less time spent pushing a vacuum around, this is a specification with a clear household benefit.

A maximum coverage figure of 150 m² puts a house with several living spaces within the intended brief. Think of the kitchen, hallway and rooms used throughout the day, rather than concentrating only on the patch around the sofa. Recharge and resume supports that broader routine: the robot can recharge and then continue cleaning. Maximum coverage can involve charging stops, so do not read it as the area finished on a charge.

LiDAR navigation adds to the appeal of a robot intended to work across several rooms, although that feature alone cannot tell you how neatly every run will unfold. There is still some preparation for you: follow manufacturers' advice by gathering socks, charging cables and small objects before cleaning. The laundry basket remains your department. After that small tidy, handing over the vacuuming becomes a much more practical proposition.

For a home with more rooms competing for attention, the Cecotec Conga Y60 Pearl is better suited to a large house because its maximum area is higher, at 200 m². The Cecotec Conga Y60 Pearl has a lower dustbin capacity of 350 mL, leaving less room for collected dirt. The Cecotec Conga Y60 Pearl offers similar battery life at 200 min, so endurance is not the main distinction here.

The D9 is well placed overall. Its combination of endurance, a roomy bin and recharge and resume makes sense for regular vacuuming across several living spaces. The Cecotec Conga Y60 Pearl has a similar overall score, which makes the household job a more useful deciding factor than the overall assessment. We would favour the D9 when fewer interruptions for bin emptying matter most. Match the robot to the rooms you actually want cleaned, rather than choosing by the longest specification alone.