Category: Apple Insider

Apple continues to strive for a 100 percent closed-loop supply chain, encourages others to produce mindfully, and strives to solidify the company as a pinnacle of environmentally-forward thinking.

In 2016, Apple joined a global initiative called RE100, in which they sought to shift entirely to renewable energy. In the spring of 2018, Apple announced that their data centers, retail stores, and the Apple Park headquarters in Cupertino all ran on 100 percent renewable energy.

There’s no doubt that Apple is trying to take sustainability seriously, but when you’re producing up to one billion iPhones annually —to say nothing of iPads, MacBooks, or AirPods —you’re bound to do some significant damage. In fact, nearly all of the environmental detriment that Apple causes is in manufacturing, with a distant second place going to distribution.

In fact, in 2012, Apple sent just over 4.8 million pounds of waste to landfills. By 2015, that number rose to over 13 million pounds. In 2018, Apple had sent 36.5 million pounds —or 18,250 tons —of waste to landfills.

What’s a company like Apple to do? After all, if one is to be realistic, Apple isn’t going to produce less devices. That doesn’t mean that they don’t have some ideas, though.

In 2017, Apple had announced plans to create a fully closed-loop supply chain. This would mean that eventually, all Apple products would be made with 100 percent recycled materials.

It’s not so far fetched, as Apple has already produced 100 percent recycled aluminum enclosures for the MacBook and the Mac mini.

Recycled materials often require less processing than raw materials, meaning that they’re often significantly less damaging to the environment. Recycled materials also don’t require mining, which itself is responsible for erosion, soil and water contamination, and a host of other problems.

An ambitious goal for sure, and one made without fully knowing how it would be done. “We’re thinking about literally every single part of what we are making It’s the mother of all objectives,” Cook said in an interview with GQ. “But it’s one that we love to set.”

Of course, in order to make a product from 100% recycled materials, you’ll have to harvest the materials from somewhere. Apple has begun using recycled rare earth from an unnamed outside supplier for use in the iPhone 11‘s Taptic Engine. Lisa Jackson, Apple’s Vice President of environment, policy, and social initiative, has stated that Apple is looking into how it can recover rare earth from its own products.

The act of harvesting the materials is also crucial. Liam, a robot introduced in 2016, was capable of disassembling iPhones into core components. These components could then be used in new products, such as cutting tools or solar panels.

Daisy, Liam’s successor, debuted on Earth Day 2018. Daisy is capable of dismantling 200 iPhones an hour, and at the time of introduction, could disassemble nine versions of the iPhone.

This year, Apple has pushed for consumers to trade in old iPhones when purchasing a new one. Cook states that upwards of a third or more of those coming into the Apple Store to purchase a new phone were trading in an old one. It’s an attractive option for customers to get credit toward a new device, and it provides Apple with a steady stream of iPhones to disassemble and —hopefully in the future —recycle for new in-house products.

Ultimately, Apple will continue to set lofty goals for itself in terms of sustainability, though both Lisa Jackson and Tim Cook have stated Apple has a duty to encourage other companies to follow suit.

Cook suggests that there’s a chance that Apple will be able to exert some influence over third-party Apple accessories. Providing a special badge or certification for mindfully produced goods, alongside deciding what gets sold in official Apple stores, could urge more companies to follow a more sustainable route.

“We carefully decide what goes in our store,” Cook said to GQ. “That’s sort of how we would put the finger on that scale to try to motivate people to do the right thing. In a case where there’s something that is required from us, like for use of our mark and the case of the [Lightning] connector, yes, that is something we’re talking about.”

“We feel like we hopefully are part of making a whole generation of people in the manufacturing space see clean energy as something that’s very much attainable and doable,” Jackson said in an interview with Fast Company.

This is especially important when it comes to third-party companies that manufacture consumer electronics. Apple started the China Clean Energy Fund, alongside 10 suppliers in China, with hopes of supplying one gigawatt of renewable energy to Apple’s suppliers.

Many of its suppliers have decided to power their Apple operations with renewables —44 suppliers across 16 companies. Some of the suppliers have decided to switch to renewable energy for all of their work, which includes products made for other brands.

The chance to influence other companies is one that is not lost on Cook, either.

“We think that we fail if we only do it ourselves,” he said, speaking of urging other companies to follow Apple’s path. “We do it because we want to leave the place a bit better than we found it, and not just what is left when we get finished with it.”

After spending a month with the iPhone 11 Pro, let’s look closer at the top features of the new top-of-the-line Apple smartphones.

A13 Bionic

Apple’s A13 Bionic processor uses the same 7nm architecture as the A12 Bionic and has four high-efficiency cores and two high-performance cores.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5LtOIZBuMxo&w=560&h=315]

But they’ve upped its power. The high-performance cores are 20% faster and consume 30% less battery while the high-efficiency cores are 20% faster and use 40% less battery.

Both the GPU and the neural engine are 20% faster and use less battery.

New colors

For the iPhone 11 line, Apple has mixed up the color scheme once more.

Some colors, such as space gray and silver have been around but now sport the svelte matte finish on the back coupled with the highly-polished sides.

Then we have midnight green that is entirely new to the iPhone line.

USB-C Fast Charge

To go with that “pro” moniker bestowed upon the latest iPhone, Apple has included the same 18W USB-C fast charger and USB-C Lightning cable that was included with the 2018 iPad Pro.

Apple touts that you can use it to charge your iPhone 11 Pro’s battery 50% in only 30 minutes.

Apple’s U1 chip

As a new addition, Apple has included the ultra wideband U1 chip. UWB is useful for location tracking in your immediate surroundings. Right now, not much supports that but Apple is utilizing it for AirDrop prioritization.

Point your iPhone 11 Pro at another iPhone 11 Pro and it jumps to the top of the AirDrop list.

We’re sure Apple has more in store for this in the future.

Wi-Fi 6

Up from 802.11ac, Wi-Fi 6 — or 802.11ax — will allow for faster speeds thanks to improved performance in crowded networks. Apple says on a Wi-Fi 6 network users will see up to 38-percent faster download speeds.

Of course, you will likely need a new router to take advantage of that.

Faster LTE 4G

It isn’t 5G, but iPhone 11 does feature 18-percent faster 4G LTE speeds on existing networks.

There are a lot of variables to test this out, but we will always take faster versus the alternative.

Battery

Battery life is outstanding on the new iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max. iPhone 11 Pro gets four hours more than iPhone XS and iPhone 11 Pro Max can get up to five hours more than the XS Max.

Those are some huge numbers and day-to-day, we’ve noticed it.

Super Retina XDR display

iPhone 11 Pro’s display clocks in at the same resolution as its predecessor, but ups all the other specs versus the iPhone XS. The new model now has a 2,000,000 to 1 contrast ratio, sustained brightness of 800 nits, and max brightness of 1200 nits for HDR content.

Live wallpapers

As is often the case, new iPhones mean new wallpapers.

With iPhone 11 Pro, we have a series of four new wallpapers that all feature a live animation as well as dark/light mode support. They are also somewhat color-matched to the different iPhone 11 Pro finishes.

Improved water resistance

Apple gave iPhone XS an IP68 water resistance rating, meaning it could be submerged in one meter of water for up to 30 minutes and it would be protected against harmful dust.

iPhone 11 Pro takes it a step further with the same IP68 rating, but can now be submerged up to four meters for a maximum of 30 minutes.

Along the lines of durability, we have water resistance.

Apple is claiming iPhone 11 Pro has the strongest glass on a smartphone. While we aren’t prepared to put that to the test on our own devices, stronger glass means that the front and back of your iPhone 11 Pro should be less prone to cracks and shattering than the year-ago models.

Ultra-wide lens

Ultra-wide angle lenses are becoming more popular, showing up on more flagship devices. That includes iPhone 11 Pro. It joins the existing wide-angle and tele lenses already outfitted.

This new lens can capture 170-degree shots which is great for epic landscapes or intimate close quarters.

Faster tele lens

Alongside the new ultra-wide, Apple has beefed up its other lenses. Starting with the telephoto lens. It now has a faster f/2.0 aperture. That will result in a quicker shutter in lower light which in turn means less grain.

Improved wide angle lens

The wide-angle lens was updated too with 100% coverage of Focus Pixels which means faster autofocus, particularly in low light.

Capture Outside the Frame

Now that Apple has three lenses to shoot from, they’ve created a new feature called “capture outside the frame.”

Here, when you are shooting on the wide-angle lens, it captures an extra image using the ultra-wide lens. These are merged, so when you need to level the photo, you can do so without losing image quality.

The same applies to shooting with the tele lens.

Night mode

With the new cameras and powerful A13 Bionic, new photo modes have come to the iPhone 11.

Most prominent is night mode. It couples a series of long and short exposure shots to create a combined image with much more detail and much less noise.

Deep Fusion

Deep Fusion is Apple’s name for its new computational photography tricks coming to the iPhone 11 with iOS 13.2.

The feature isn’t fully available yet, but we have gotten to try it out on the beta and in a middle-to-low light, photos should see much more texture than when shot without Deep Fusion.

It is automatically used and not a feature to toggle on or off, and the early looks are promising.

Portrait mode

Portrait mode uses two cameras to capture depth and create the amazing shots we’ve come to love. On iPhone XS, it used the tele and wide-angle lens, resulting in always a 2X zoom when taking these pictures.

With iPhone 11 Pro, portrait shots can now be captured at 2X, as well as 1X combining the wide and ultra-wide cameras.

QuickTake

In the camera app of iPhone 11 Pro, holding the shutter button no longer just captures burst photos. Rather, it instantly starts recording a video.

It records as long as you hold the button, or you can swipe to the right to lock it into recording. Alternatively, holding and immediately swiping to the left will trigger burst mode capture.

Audio zoom

This feature allows the microphone on your iPhone to match the audio with the amount of video zoom. As you zoom in closer to the subject, the accompanying audio will get louder as well.

TrueDepth Camera system

Lastly, the front-facing camera and TrueDepth Camera system were updated. It has a new 12MP sensor —up from 8MP.

It also has a wider field of view, up to 85 from 70 degrees for those group selfie shots.

4K video

The rear shooter is just as capable as it was on the iPhone XS. But, on iPhone 11 Pro, the True Depth camera system is now able to record 4K video at 60 frames per second.

Slofies

Apple’s newly-coined term seems fairly straightforward. Use the TrueDepth Camera system of the iPhone 11 Pro to capture slow-motion selfie videos at up to 120 frames per second at 1080p.

Total package

All of these features make the phone great. But, like we said when we reviewed the iPhone 11 Pro, most of the examinations have come down to that camera, and maybe the battery life.

Getting an iPhone 11 Pro for one, or all, of these features is absolutely a jump worth taking if the iPhone is integral to your daily life and your iPhone is feeling pokey.

Where to buy

Ready to purchase an iPhone 11 Pro? There are a variety of iPhone deals going on now at top wireless carriers.

iPhone 11 deals

• AT&T Wireless: Switch to AT&T and get up to $700 off with trade-in of eligible smartphone.
• Verizon Wireless: Get up to $500 off a new iPhone with select trade-in and Unlimited. Plus, switch with Unlimited and get $200 more.
• Sprint: Starting at $12.50 per month with Sprint Flex lease and select trade-ins.
• T-Mobile: Save up to $1,000 on the iPhone 11 Pro when you switch and trade in a qualifying iPhone.
• Walmart: Save up to $100 on the iPhone 11 Pro. Offer valid only on purchase with installment plan.
• Sam’s Club: Get a $150 Sam’s Club gift card when you buy and activate the iPhone 11 by Nov. 8.
• Visible: Get up to a $200 Prepaid Mastercard Virtual Account when you buy an iPhone 11 Pro and bring your phone number to Visible. Plus get 0% financing, no money down, no upgrade fees, and free overnight shipping for well-qualified customers.

Google’s Pixel 4 is the ideal, undiluted Android experience, and has features to separate itself from the rest of the pack. AppleInsider puts it side-by-side versus Apple’s iPhone 11 lineup to see how they compare in specs and benchmarks.

Size and display

The 2019 iPhone line is split into three handsets —iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro, and iPhone 11 Pro Max. iPhone 11 sports a 6.1-inch LCD display with a resolution of 1792by828 pixels at 326 ppi. iPhone 11 Pro has an updated OLED Super Retina XDR display measuring 2436by1125 at 458 ppi and iPhone 11 Pro Max measures up at 2688by1242 at 458 ppi.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mM1551HRrAk&w=560&h=315]

Pixel 4 is 5.7 inches and has a 16:9 aspect ratio at full HD+ (2,280 x 1,080) and a pixel density of 444 ppi. Pixel 4 XL is Quad HD+ at 3,040 x 1,440 and 537 ppi. Both Pixels sport OLED displays.

Pixel 4 beats the iPhone 11 contrast ratio (1400 to 1) at 200,000 to 1 but falls far behind that of the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max which bost 2,000,000 to 1 contrast ratios.

For brightness, the iPhone 11 is 625 nits, Pixel 4 is 445 nits, and the iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max are 800 nits —though the latter two can go up to 1200 nits during HDR content playback.

Apple’s iPhone 11 has True Tone on its displays but Pixel 4 now has Ambient EQ. This is very similar in that it dynamically changes the white balance of the display to match the room it is in, but in our testing, it is so subtle we can barely tell a difference.

The Pixel 4 also now has a new 90Hz refresh rate on the phone that kicks in when there is a lot of movement, particularly noticeable while scrolling. It does make scrolling and the OS as a whole more smooth, but most of the time it drops down to 60Hz to save on battery life —something very much needed.

But, that 90Hz isn’t universal. We’re seeing a lot of problems with stuttering in Chrome. Yes, the Android flagship browser.

Forehead versus notch

The Pixel 4 is sporting a bit of a forehead, encroaching from the top and pushing the display down. It houses hardware such as the speaker and camera system.

The hole-punch cutout of the Galaxy S10 is less intrusive, and Apple’s iPhone 11 notch lies somewhere between. There’s little point in debating which is better, a forehead, a notch, or a hole, because they are all compromises for the sake of technology. All are better than something protruding from the top of the phone.

Facial recognition for authentication

All of the iPhone 11 models and both of the Pixel 4 units have face-based biometric authentication. Apple calls its Face ID while Google simply calls it “Face Unlock.”

Face Unlock works very similar to Face ID in that it projects a series of infrared dots on your face then scans them to match against its saved 3D profile of your face. This is in stark comparison to Samsung which was able to have its facial recognition fooled by a video of a user.

Google’s Face Unlock in the Pixel 4 has one severe drawback, one that has been highly publicized leading up to the full launch —a user’s face can be used to unlock a device when the owner’s eyes are closed. That has serious security implications because a phone can be unlocked when a user is asleep, unconscious, or in the worst-case scenario —dead.

Google says that they’re fixing this “in the coming months.” There is no timetable other than that, though.

Face ID tracks a user’s eyes and can even require them to be looking at the camera for it to authenticate. This is somewhat unnerving as apps such as banking ones can all be authenticated this way and a lapse in security in this regard can be very dangerous.

Face Unlock is exceptionally fast, unlocking before you even have to worry about whether the phone is unlocked or not because of the radar in the phone detecting when the user is moving the phone to unlock. Compared to iPhone 11, we’d say the Pixel 4 is faster —but only by a hair.

But, that lack of attention detection is a giant problem right now.

Performance

Apple is rocking its custom-made A13 Bionic processor in all three of the iPhone 11 models. It has six cores and is blazing fast. The Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL is outfitted with the eight-core Snapdragon 855 processor —the same as in the Samsung S10 and S10+.

Using each of the phones, you aren’t going to notice huge differences day-to-day. At this point in the smartphone story, all phones ship fast —but the real question is how long they will stay that fast. These processors aren’t built for now, they are built for a couple of years in the future when computational photography, AR, and other intensive applications start to be prolific.

When we do run these through our usual barrage of tests, the iPhone clearly wins out.

In Geekbench 5, our iPhone 11 garnered a 1335 single-core score and a 3523 multi-core score. That’s compared to the 641 and 2540 scores from Pixel 4.

In the Antutu benchmark, iPhone 11 earned a cumulative score of 452039 whereas Pixel 4 earned a 408475.

Lastly, in our Speedometer browser benchmark, iPhone pulled out a 157.3 and Pixel 4 nabbed a 55.3.

If you are one of the few editing a RAW photo or exporting a long 4K video on your phone, you will notice the extra power of the iPhone 11 compared to the Pixel 4, but in daily use, you won’t see the speed benefits pay off for a year or two. At that point, the iPhone 11 will be better suited.

What we did notice, was that the battery life on the Pixel 4 was pitiful. We never made it a full day —even with normal non-benchmarking use —compared to the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro and iPhone 11 Pro Max that all made it through the day with power to spare.

On an average day, we got about four hours of screen time on the smaller Pixel 4. This is less of an issue with the larger 3,700mAh battery in the XL compared to the 2,800mAh in the smaller Pixel 4 but it still barely seems like enough.

We found ourselves disabling the 90Hz display, turning on dark mode during the day, and lowering the screen brightness on the Pixel 4 to stretch it out but this isn’t something a user should have to do or even think about. We’re hoping this is software inefficiencies on the new hardware, but phones with the same processor from Samsung don’t seem to have this problem at all.

Motion Sense

One of the most headline-grabbing features of the Pixel 4 is Motion Sense. It is a new radar system built into the front of the phone that can detect motion around the phone. Google says that there is much more coming down the line for Motion Sense, and customers need to get acclimated to using it before tacking on additional features.

Right now, though, some applications of Motion Sense are gimmicky. Waving your hand to skip songs or navigate a podcast is excessive and when it doesn’t work, it is far more frustrating than just tapping on the next button on the display.

We like the idea behind other features, such as dismissing a call with the casual wave of a hand. But it doesn’t always work.

Where Motion Sense came into play was with its proactive features, like the display turning off when the user walks away. Of course, we don’t often set our phone down, leave it on, and walk away —but it is still a cool idea.

It also will quiet your alarm as your hand approaches the phone. And when it sees you reach for the phone, it automatically fires up face unlock. That, in part, is why Face Unlock on the Pixel 4 is so darn fast.

Apple has a similar feature with its True Depth camera system. It watches your eyes and whenever you look away and the iPhone loses your focus, it dims the screen a bit. This is in the same vein as Motion Sense but far more limited —at least at the moment.

Cameras

Cameras —a critical feature that you probably didn’t expect to be sure far down this list in the comparison. For the past several years, cameras have been a large driving factor in which phones people bought.

A ton of effort goes into diligently comparing shots on one phone versus another. In fact —we will be doing a deep dive in a future piece.

But, today, we will keep things short. The iPhone has three 12MP cameras —ultra-wide, wide, and tele. Google, defiantly chose not to include an ultra-wide lens like Apple and Samsung but instead added a 16MP tele lens to its existing 12.2MP wide angle.

Google says that people care more about zoom than they do going ultra-wide, and we can see its point of view. By making the tele lens 16 megapixels we can see a huge boost in quality when looking at zoomed-in shots. There is easily more detail on the Pixel 4 than the iPhone. However, it cannot take wider portrait shots nor the stylized ultra-wide variety.

We’d just preferred Google went all-in and gave it an ultra-wide lens alongside the new tele lens, but for now, it is a compromise.

Both cameras take amazing shots as it stands. Pixel 4 has its own style that you can easily recognize and the iPhone 11 attempts to be a bit more neutral.

The biggest drawback of the Pixel 4 is video. It can only shoot 4K video at 30 frames per second, and is limited to only 1080P on the selfie cam. Apple can do 4K on iPhone 11’s selfie camera and 60 frames per second on the rear cameras.

Unless you are focused on video features, don’t let the camera be the deciding factor for you between these two handsets because both sets of photos are great and they take better photos than any other smartphones out there.

The best smartphones

Undoubtedly, these are the best set of smartphones we’ve compared yet. The iPhone 11 line is the most powerful, full-featured iPhone yet and the Pixel 4 is the best Android phone to hit the market if you want a 100% Google experience.

We’ve compared a lot here, but it mostly comes down to the user experience and a preference for iOS or Android.

Where to buy

Special incentives are already in effect on the Google Pixel 4, with both Best Buy and B&H Photo offering a $100 store gift card with the purchase of the unlocked device.

Those that choose to opt for the iPhone 11 can also find savings on new models at the following wireless carriers:

iPhone 11 deals

• Verizon Wireless: Get up to $500 off the iPhone 11 via bill credits with select trade-in and Unlimited plan. Plus switch to Unlimited and get $200 more.
• AT&T Wireless: Get up to $700 in bill credits with trade-in on a qualifying smartphone. Port-in and new line required ($300 in bill credits without port-in). Unlimited plan required.
• Sprint: iPhone 11 starts at $0 per month with Sprint Flex lease and select trade-in.
• T-Mobile: Save up to $700 on the iPhone 11 when you switch and trade in a qualifying iPhone.
• Visible: Get up to a $200 Prepaid Mastercard Virtual Account when you buy an iPhone 11 and bring your phone number to Visible. Plus get 0% financing, no money down, no upgrade fees, and free overnight shipping for well-qualified customers.
• Sam’s Club: Get a $150 Sam’s Club gift card when you buy and activate by Nov. 8.

iPhone 11 versus Pixel 4 specifications

	Pixel 4	iPhone 11	iPhone 11 Pro
Display	5.7″ & 6.3″	6.1″	5.8″ & 6.5″
Pixel density	444 and 537 ppi	326 ppi	458 ppi
Display type	OLED	LCD	OLED
Brightness	445 nits	625 nits	800 nits (1200 max)
Refresh rate	90Hz, normal 60Hz	60Hz	60Hz
Authentication	Passcode or face unlock	Passcode or Face ID	Passcode or Face ID
Rear cameras	12.2MP wide, 16MP telephoto	12MP wide, 12MP tele, 12MP ultra-wide	12MP wide, 12MP tele, 12MP ultra-wide
Front-facing camera	8MP —90 degree FOV	12M —85 degree FOV	12M —85 degree FOV
Processor	Snapdragon 855	A13 Bionic	A13 Bionic
RAM	8GB	6GB	6GB
Storage	64, 128 GB	64, 128, 256 GB	64, 256, 512 GB

If you’re looking for a good mid-range robotic vacuum to help keep your home clean, the Deebot 661 might be the perfect fit. This multi-purpose robot can both vacuum and mop your floors, giving you back more time in your day.

Last year, we took a look at Ecovacs Ozmo 601, a combination vacuum-mopping robot that we liked quite a bit. Today, we’re taking a look at the Ecovacs Deebot 661. It features an upgraded suction system and new cleaning modes to help keep your home looking its best.

The build

The Deebot 661 is a round-front style robotic vacuum, rather than the kind that feature a square front. It’s got a lower profile than many other robotic vacuums, coming in at just a little taller than 3 inches, meaning that it should be able to fit under couches and beds. It weighs around six pounds and feels like it’s fairly sturdy.

On the underside of the robot there are two sweeping arms that are used to feed debris into the beater bar where it is swept into the dustbin. The beater bar is rubber with synthetic bristles and pops out so you can remove hair and debris with the included cleaning tool.

The dustbin is located on the front of the robot and can be removed by pressing a tab. Emptying the robot is extremely easy and can be done in a couple of seconds. You’ll have to wash the included filter once every couple of weeks and give it 24 hours to fully dry to keep the robot running at peak performance.

The dustbin is also interchangeable and can be swapped with the included water tank, allowing it to double as a robotic mop. There is an included washable microfiber mopping cloth that attaches to the underside of the water tank by velcro.

It includes a remote control which can be used to control the robot if you choose to eschew using the app. The remote works fine, but I tend to lose remotes a lot more than I lose my phone, so I put it in my junk drawer and forgot about it.

Ease of use

I’m not entirely sure if there’s an easier robot to use than the Deebot 661. Setting it up took just a few seconds and the app holds your hand through the entire process. It’s worth noting that you don’t need to use the iPhone app to use the robot, though.

If you want it to sweep, just make sure you have the dustbin installed. Then, hit the power button, and it will zip around your house, happily ducking under furniture and into hard-to-reach spaces, sucking up whatever it finds. Like all robotic vacuums, make sure you keep cords and clutter off the floor unless you want it to attempt to suck them up. If you want, you can use the app to initiate spot cleaning mode or edge cleaning, which is useful as many robot vacuums tend to miss the edges of rooms.

If you want the robot to mop, fill the water tank with water, swap it with the dustbin, set it on the floor you want mopped, and hit the power button. It automatically detects that it should enter mopping mode and happily mops your floor for you.

When the robot has finished cleaning or the battery is low, it will return to its dock to recharge.

The app and features

In the app, you can keep tabs on the health of your robot. Robotic vacuums need to have parts regularly replaced if you expect them to clean well. It’s worth noting that this is also a feature of upright vacuums, though those have a bit of a longer lifespan. Having the ability to quickly view the health of your vacuum’s parts, then purchase the replacements as needed is very useful. I was glad to see it included here.

There’s also the ability to set up a regular cleaning schedule, which I think is the strongest argument for getting a robot vacuum in the first place. I found that this feature worked perfectly, so the Deebot 661 gets points there.

It should be noted that the Deebot 661 does not have a mapping feature like other higher-end robots do. This means that there’s no way to red-zone specific areas to keep the robot out. This could be problematic for areas around desks or tables replete with cords.

Vacuuming

When it comes to vacuuming, the Deebot 661 is pretty good. It doesn’t seem to miss a lot, and I found that it had no trouble sweeping up hair, crumbs, and little bits of paper. Like the Roborock S4, it also pulls an unsettling amount of grit out of the 25 year old carpeting in my apartment. It isn’t as powerful as an upright vacuum, but it is significantly quieter, and if you run it a couple times a week, it keeps your house from getting dirty enough to run that upright vacuum regularly.

The Deebot 661 features two cleaning powers, normal and maximum. The normal mode is sufficient for your average messes. The maximum mode is good if you’ve not cleaned in a while and want to be extra thorough, though I’d imagine it works well for homes with a lot of pet hair as well.

As far as volume goes, it wound up falling somewhere around 58 decibels when I was right next to it. Maximum mode barely made it over 60 decibels. Both modes are unobtrusive enough to allow the vacuum to run while you’re in the room or during the night while you sleep.

For comparison, my upright vacuum —a little green Hoover Air —hits 90 decibels with the beater bar turned on.

Mopping

I’ll be the first to admit, I’m skeptical when it comes to the idea of a robot mopping for you. To mop a floor to an adequately clean state, pick at least two: friction, cleaner, and heat. The Deebot 661 doesn’t, though.

When you mop the old fashioned way, your best tool is elbow grease, or more accurately, friction. Humans do this by exerting downward force on a mop, brush, cloth, etc. Robots don’t really have this capability. Ideally, a robot would be heavy enough to push down and loosen anything that is stuck to the floor, but the Deebot 661 is lightweight, even when fully filled with water.

Heat also helps by softening sticky and persistent dirt and allowing it to be swept away. However, there’s no heating element in the Deebot 661, and due to the plastic water reservoir, I’d be hesitant to fill it up with boiling water in the first place.

Chemical cleaners also help quite a bit. Surfactants prevent hydrogen bonding and the low surface tension cleaning solution unsticks dirt and grime from the floor. That’s all well and good, but the Deebot 661 can’t actually use chemical cleaners. The instruction book warns to avoid using cleaners as they will jam the reservoir.

As far as I can tell, most vacuum-and-mopping robots work this way. Some of iRobot’s Braava line seems to be able to use specialized cleaners, but only on the higher-end models that feature a Swiffer-style spray function. This means that this isn’t a problem of the Deebot 661, but of robotic mopping in general.

That doesn’t mean that the mopping function is worthless, it just means you’re going to need to be a little clever. The Deebot 661 doesn’t suck any water back up into its cleaning reservoir, so you can soak the included cleaning pad in cleaning solution if you need to. I also found that spraying difficult stains with a cleaner of my choice —a solution of hot water, white vinegar, and rubbing alcohol —and letting it sit for a few minutes before running the Deebot 661 did wonders.

On top of that, because it’s a quick process to fill the robot and press the power button, you can run it more often. One of the biggest issues that the Deebot 661 solves is consistency. If you mop your kitchen or bathroom a couple times a week with the Deebot 661, chances are you’re not going to have any buildup of dirt and grime that is going to need a lot of effort to clean up. It’s a win-win.

In short, if you start with a clean kitchen, the Deebot 661 will help you keep it clean. As an added bonus, it doesn’t leave that nasty build-up that happens if you use an easy-mop like Swiffer.

There is, however, one major problem. The Deebot 661 doesn’t seem to have hard floor/carpets detection or the Braava’s “never go behind the line where it started” feature. This means that if you have carpet, the Deebot 661 will try to mop it. I solved this problem by setting a box in front of my kitchen doorway, which prevented the robot from crossing onto the carpet. However, I have a galley-style kitchen in a studio apartment, so anyone with a more open-concept layout may need to hold back from this purchase or come up with a more clever solution than mine.

Overall

The Deebot 661 is a solid purchase if you’re looking for a good mid-range robot vacuum. The ability to set it up on a regular schedule can help keep your house clean with minimal effort on your behalf. If you’d like to pick up a Deebot 661 for yourself, they retail at Amazon for $319.99.

Pros

• Schedule feature keeps your house clean with minimal effort
• Decent price for features offered
• Low profile makes cleaning under furniture easy

Cons

• Mopping yields middling results
• Robot will attempt to mop carpeted surfaces

Score: 3.5 stars out of 5