- Bigger, better dust bin
- Slightly less dust makes it into the HEPA filter
- Slightly better / cheaper roller design
... and similar details.
A friend gave me their smarter vacuum (which they didn't use), and I hated it:
1) It tried to overthink things and was pretty demanding.
2) It didn't clean as well. My Roomba has a pretty anaemic vacuum, but cleans very well by virtue of going over every place many times in random directions as it bumps along for 30+ minutes. The smart vacuum plotted a course which covered everything once, finished up in record time, and nothing was actually clean.
What's odd is that even now, 2+ decades after launch, so little has improved. What I really want is "cyclone operation," as in any modern dumb vacuum, so most of the dust doesn't make it to the HEPA filter. The design is stupid simple:
- Air comes into a circular container from a hole in the side, so the air spins.
- Suction comes out a hole in the top at a half-way point in the radius of the dust container, while most of the dust wants to stay at the inside or outside
- If you're even more clever, you put the suction at half height, because dust naturally goes to the bottom.
The annoying thing is cleaning or replacing filters.
The "gets stuck under furniture" is a bug. However, I don't have much furniture at Roomba height. If I did, it'd make the device useless.
I like the simplicity.