RELEASED 2018REASSESSED 2026.08.08Compare

Dyson

Dyson 360 Heurist

Name: Dyson 360 Heurist
Brand: Dyson

High-end vision system with unusual tank tracks. The 360° camera was a genuine departure from LiDAR. Availability was always the constraint, not capability.

PriceNot confirmed see pricing noteRetail price not tracked

Autonomy Ladder

Why Level III.

One five-rung scale, every category, from acting only on command to working unsupervised anywhere.

VGeneralized AutonomyAny task, any setting. No consumer robot has reached it.
IVEnvironmental AutonomyCopes with everyday clutter and frees itself, shown by independent testing.
To reach Level IVIndependent testing shows it avoids ordinary obstacles before contact, copes without the space being cleared, and frees itself when stuck.

IIIConditional AutonomyThis robot

Dyson 360 Heurist finishes whole jobs in a space it already knows, and still needs a person at the edges.

Navigation and control

360° fisheye camera + SLAM (8 LED sensors; no LiDAR)

Autonomy dimension 62 / 100 · 2 sources reviewed
IIAssisted AutonomyRuns preset routines; stalls at anything new.
IManual AutomationOne action on command; no independent operation.

How we assign a level →

Behind the classification

Sources we reviewed.

Pending2 sources reviewed

Evidence is still being collected for this product.

Sources reviewed

Specification sources1 sourceReviewed

Pages the published specifications were read from.

trustedreviews.comtrustedreviews.com

Monitoring record1 sourceReviewed

Sources behind the tracker entries following this robot.

Trusted ReviewsTrusted Reviews

Also monitored, nothing listed yet

Manufacturer documentationPending

Dyson 360 Heurist product page, tech specs (battery, runtime, dimensions, track capability); suction power conspicuously absent.

Press & video reviewsReviewed

2019 launch coverage and comparisons to LiDAR competitors; positioning and market strategy documented.

Owner reportsOngoing

UK and Asia forums (Dyson Community, Reddit /r/dyson, Diyoday); mapping performance, track durability, camera limitations in low light.

Longitudinal signalPending

Discontinuation announced 2021; transition to Vis Nav documented. Last firmware update dated 2020.

How we evaluate evidence →

Human Readiness

Discontinued.

One question: what does buying this robot today walk you into? The state is computed from the record, and recomputed daily.

DiscontinuedThis robot

Dyson 360 Heurist is discontinued. Remaining listings are old stock at uncertain prices, which no buying-today tier describes.

Listings under Availability are shown for reference, not as a purchase path.

On the record

Released January 2018; since discontinued
2 sources reviewed

The scale, for reference

Ready NowAssessed, with a clean record on file. A successor may be shipping; the page says so when it is.
New to MarketOn sale under 90 days; the ownership record is still forming.
WaitA successor is announced and has not shipped; re-read the decision when it arrives.
Known IssuesDocumented problems stand on the record; read the case before buying.

How we assess readiness →

Robovations Score

How this number was reached

44of 100

LimitedAt or above 3% of the 436 robots we scoreand 3% of the 217 scored robot vacuums

DeficientLimitedCapableStrongExemplary

What moved itpoints gained or lost against a typical robot

Held back by

Support longevity12−5.0
Software stability33−4.5
Routine maintenance30−4.4

Capability40% of the score59What it does without you.

Task completion16% of the score70

Evidence

The Ambient's tester reports the 45-minute cycle often does not finish, but 'the Dyson is clever enough to go and charge itself and then resume the job from exactly where it left off', while the 0.33-liter bin is 'full of grey filth' after a single carpet run and is emptied by hand. TechRadar found dock placement alone could make it 'miss out entire areas of your home', the robot refusing to 'venture outside of the lounge' until the dock was moved and the door left fully open.

Coverage and navigation10% of the score63

Evidence

A 360-degree fisheye camera with eight LED sensors running Dyson SLAM produces genuinely systematic coverage, and owner reports put it comparable to LiDAR in well-lit homes, which is a real achievement for a 2018 vision system. The reason it does not reach the anchor is in the same sentence: owners report it struggles in very dark rooms, and a dark room is part of the work area rather than an edge case.

Edge-case recovery10% of the score32

Evidence

The record states Dyson published no obstacle-detection capability and relied on SLAM mapping alone, so there is no material-aware pre-contact perception and the category ceiling applies. The tracked drive helps with carpet transitions but Dyson published no threshold or obstacle height anywhere, so what it clears is undocumented. Owner forums report hair and fiber wrapping the track drive, which the maintenance schedule treats as a weekly manual removal rather than something the machine resolves.

Operating envelope4% of the score72

Evidence

Trusted Reviews' test notes the tank tracks 'climb bigger steps and push through thick-pile carpet and rugs' and that the added LED ring 'makes it possible for the robot to keep going in dark rooms'; TechRadar documents the limit, that it 'needs a bit of space to work in' and 'cramped rooms with a lot of furniture and relatively small gaps to dart through can stop the cleaner from going where it needs to'.

Dependability40% of the score37Whether it keeps doing it.

Field failure rate16% of the score56

Evidence

Eight years since a 2018 launch across EMEA and Asia with four press reviews and active owner forums, and no recall or systemic defect documented, which is a mature record. Four recurring modes are documented, none job-stopping: track drive hair and fiber wrap, lens condensation after every use, track bearing debris, and moisture interference in humid climates. Held at 56 because the repairable end-of-life anchor requires an orderable part at proportionate cost, and the record states parts and repairs are unavailable through official channels.

Software stability14% of the score33

Evidence

The last firmware update is dated 2020 and Dyson ceased support on discontinuation in 2021, so there is no update channel at all, which is the anchor exactly. Six quiet years are not a record of updates that fixed more than they broke; there have been no updates. Under rule 1 a machine with no software left to update earns nothing for having none to break.

Support longevity10% of the score12

Evidence

The textbook case this input exists for. The record states Dyson ceased manufacturing and support to move owners to the 360 Vis Nav, that replacement parts and repairs are unavailable through official channels, that support and parts status is not published, and that secondhand units carry no warranty with parts scarcity making post-repair serviceability risky. There is no first-party channel, no published commitment, and no independent repair path recorded.

Ownership burden20% of the score30What it asks of you.

Routine maintenance12% of the score30

Evidence

Nothing is automated. The bin is emptied and the lens checked for condensation after every single use, the track drive is inspected weekly for hair and fiber with manual removal, the filter is replaced or deep-cleaned monthly with a track bearing check, brushes and a lens calibration check come at three to six months, and the dock has to be dried in humid climates. The per-run cadence on a machine with a small bin is the binding cost.

Consumables8% of the score30

Evidence

The filter is washable and the parts list is short, which would ordinarily be respectable. What decides this input is supply rather than price: the record states parts and repairs are unavailable through official channels, so filters, brush bars, side brushes and the battery must be sourced third-party or secondhand for a machine never sold in the United States. A consumable with no assured channel has an unbounded effective cost, and no credit accrues for the short list.

middle half of the databaseits medianthis robot

Reported, not scoredneither measures how well the robot works

Five-year costNot costed

Not purchasable new at any price. Discontinued in 2021, never released in the United States, and sold at £799 at UK launch with no US price ever set. Secondhand units carry no warranty, and the record states parts and repairs are unavailable through official channels, so no honest five-year figure can be quoted: the dominant cost is the risk that any failure is terminal.

Data postureCloud-linked

Account required. Maps and telemetry leave the home; core function survives an outage.

What leaves the homeNot documented

Read the full methodology →

FIT CHECK

Will the Dyson 360 Heurist work in your home?

Describe your home using the controls. Each choice reads the spec sheet for you, flagging where the Dyson 360 Heurist is built for your space and where it isn’t.

Home size

Primary floors

Mopping needs

You want to…

See every robot vacuum suited to these conditions

A classification of fit for the conditions you set, not a recommendation. Verdicts describe engineering design intent, not test results.

OWNERSHIP

Living with it.

Limited longitudinal data; track drive durability and camera mapping stability reported variably across owner forums.

Unprovenowner-reported arc

The record so far

UK and Asia owner forums (2019-2021) document mostly stable navigation. Occasional reports of camera lens condensation in high-humidity environments. No major firmware disasters; discontinuation halted improvements.

What goes wrongnot yet documented independently

The independent record is still forming. Failure modes are listed once an outside source reports them.

Upkeep routine

Each useEvery cycle

Empty dust bin; check lens for condensation.

Weekly52×/yr

Inspect track drive for hair/fiber wrapping; manual removal if present.

Monthly12×/yr

Replace or deep-clean ; check track bearing for debris.

Seasonal4×/yr

Inspect brush bristles and side brush wear; lens calibration check via app.

As neededno fixed schedule

Dry dock in humid climates; moisture can interfere with vision system.

Safety notes1 caution · 1 note

Track geometry near low furnitureTracks wider than wheels; may catch on chair legs or narrow table feet. Floor clearance ~3.66 inches.
CautionApp-dependent schedulingNo scheduling without Wi-Fi; network loss prevents time-based operation. Manual start required.

SPECIFICATION

The full spec sheet.

Manufacturer-published figures, measured against every robot vacuum we track.

Dimensional drawing

Key specificationsManufacturer-published

FootprintThe width, depth and height of the robot itself, without its dock.: 9.1 × 9.5 in · 4.7 in tall
WeightThe robot alone, without its dock, as the maker states it.: 5.4 lbs
BatteryStored energy in watt-hours; a larger pack runs longer, not harder.: 74 Wh · Li-Po
Wi-FiThe bands the robot can join; many models need a 2.4 GHz network to set up.: 2.4 GHz only
Onboard dustbinThe bin inside the robot; an auto-empty dock moves its contents into a bag.: 330 mL•
DockWhat the base does besides charging: empty the bin, wash and dry pads, refill water.: Charge-only dock, no self-emptying

Where it lands · ranked across 243 robot vacuumsThis robotMedianTypical range

RuntimeThe maker's stated running time on one charge, at a standard setting.75min

60 min360 min

Bottom of range

NoiseLoudness at the maker's stated distance, in decibels; ten more decibels reads as about twice as loud.80dB

43 dB80 dB

Top of range

Charge timeTime from empty to full on the dock, as the maker states it.210min

90 min420 min

Near median

WeightThe robot alone, without its dock, as the maker states it.5.4lbs

3.6 lbs25 lbs

Bottom of range

Position shows where the figure sits across the tracked category, not a quality judgment.

Official referencesManufacturer site

RECORD

How the assessment has moved.

Every announcement, release and reassessment behind the current classification.

Coming soon

Just launched

Active updates

Settled

Discontinued

Sep 2026 · AssessmentRobovations Score revised 45 → 44
Aug 2026 · AssessmentRobovations Score rescored under v4.2: 61 → 45
Jul 2026 · AssessmentRobovations Score recorded at 61 of 100
Sep 2023 · NewsDyson confirms 360 Heurist discontinuation as Vis Nav line launches
Mar 2020 · ReleaseCommercial release reaches UK and Japan retail

Common questions

What people actually ask.

4 answered

OperationWhat made the Dyson 360 Heurist's camera system different from LiDAR competitors?

The Heurist used a 360° fisheye camera with 8 LED sensors and Dyson SLAM technology for navigation, departing from the LiDAR standard established by Roborock and iRobot. Dyson published no “AI obstacle detection” marketing, relying instead on SLAM mapping. Real-world owner reports noted the camera performed comparably to LiDAR in well-lit homes but struggled in very dark rooms.

OperationWhy were the tank tracks significant?

The Heurist used tracked drive units instead of wheels, which help with carpet transitions and give the machine an unusual chassis for its class. Dyson published no threshold or obstacle height for it, in the manual or on the product page, so how large a lip it clears is undocumented. The chassis stands 120 mm (4.7 in) tall, high for a robot vacuum, which keeps it out from under most low furniture.

OperationWhy was the Heurist discontinued?

Dyson has not published a reason. The Heurist sold in a limited set of markets at a premium price and was never released in the United States. Dyson’s next robot vacuum, the 360 Vis Nav, was previewed in May 2023 and reached the US market later still, so it followed the Heurist by several years rather than displacing it at launch.

ComparisonHow does the Heurist compare to the 360 Vis Nav?

Both navigate by vision rather than LiDAR. The Heurist runs on tracked drive units; the Vis Nav uses conventional wheels. Neither mops, and Dyson has not shipped a mopping robot; the Vis Nav also ships without an auto-empty dock or wash station. The Vis Nav is the current-generation product with available support. The Heurist is a historical entry in Dyson’s robot lineup.

Cite & Embed

Reference the Dyson 360 Heurist classification.

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Citation

Robovations. "Dyson 360 Heurist: Autonomy Level III (Conditional Autonomy)." Autonomy Ladder™, assessed August 2026. https://robovations.com/robots/dyson-360-heurist/

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Where to next

Three ways to keep going.

For evaluators

Compare with a peer.

See the Dyson 360 Heurist and Roborock Qrevo Edge 2 side by side: autonomy level, Robovations Score, readiness, and price. Classification, not a verdict.

See the full comparison

Or compare with Roborock Q7 L5, Roborock Q7 M5, Dreame L10 Pro.

For browsers

See every Level III.

Every robot we’ve classified at conditional autonomy. Sorted by readiness, score, and price. Filter by category, manufacturer, or release date.

Browse the database

Updated weekly with new entries and reclassifications.

Dyson 360 Heurist

Will the Dyson 360 Heurist work in your home?

Living with it.

The full spec sheet.

How the assessment has moved.

What people actually ask.

Other robot vacuums we have classified.

Roborock Qrevo Edge 2

Roborock Q7 L5

Roborock Q7 M5

Dreame L10 Pro

Reference the Dyson 360 Heurist classification.

Three ways to keep going.

Get the next reassessment.

Compare with a peer.

See every Level III.