There are three models available: the basic Scout RX3 (up to 60 minutes runtime), the Scout RX3 Runner (up to 120 minutes) and the Scout RX3 Home Vision HD (120 minutes, and onboard cameras as well). All have upgraded cleaning power when compared to the RX2 series, although Miele is cagey about putting a figure to their suction power. We’re testing the Home Vision HD model. It’s the flagship robot vacuum of this series – and the most expensive. It’s designed and built to last for five years, which is a long time in robot vacuum years.
Design and appearance
The Scout RX3 Home Vision is one of the best looking robot vacuums we’ve tested. While most robot vacuums have all the personality of a plain dinner plate, this has a bit of panache. It has a shiny black body with a digital display. At the front, it tapers down to the eye-like sensors and cameras which are housed in a rose gold band. (By comparison, the Runner model has a bronze band and the basic RX3 is all black.) The RX3 is lower than most robot vacuums, at under 9cm from the floor. This means it’s very likely to fit under a sofa and bed but we’d still advise you to measure the clearance underneath large pieces of furniture. The LCD display shows the time, which feels oddly atavistic, like looking at an old VCR. I suppose it’s reassuring: if you want to set up a cleaning programme, it’s good to know that you and the RX3 agree on what the time is.
The display will also show error messages, along with their error code. This again does feel a little old-fashioned at a time when many competing robot vacuum cleaners will literally call out to identify the problem. It also means you may have to resort to the manual or app to figure out the issue. Below the display (which also shows battery life and Wi-Fi connection), there are handy shortcut buttons for different vacuuming modes and to return to the dock. Lift up the flap on the top of the cleaner and inside there’s a 0.4 litre bin. This is perhaps a little smaller than average (around 0.6 litres) but it was still able to clean 23sqm at least twice before needing to be emptied. The bin is also easy to remove and clear out. Miele estimates that you should change the filter every six months, but you can get a bit more time from it by keeping it clean with the supplied brush.
Among its best cleaning features are the large spinning sweepers, which pull dust and dirt from the corners of the room into the vacuum’s path. They’re extremely effective. And anything that isn’t picked up by the rotating bar underneath has a second chance at removal via the vacuum slot just behind it.
Performance
Altogether, the set-up constitutes a very efficient cleaning system. No dust or fluff is left behind. There are three cleaning modes to choose from: spot; turbo; and silent. Spot is to handle specific spills and dirty patches, turbo gives you the maximum amount of power and silent is a quieter cleaning mode that’ll help to extend battery life. I found that on hard flooring, silent mode was ideal but you’ll probably want to use turbo on carpets. And be aware that although silent mode is quiet, there are enough whirring and mechanical sounds that you wouldn’t want to run it while watching TV. The RX3 is quick to set up and you can use it as soon as it’s charged (which takes four hours) via the onboard controls or the supplied remote control. The latter does seem slightly unnecessary but if you have household members who don’t want to download the app, I guess you might use it. The RX3 cleans in a logical way, in stripes, much like an ideally mown lawn. Its sensors are generally highly effective, stopping it just short of any obstacle. Except for the odd occasion when they aren’t. It may have a problem ‘seeing’ reflective surfaces like a shiny metal pet bowl, which it thunked into twice (and which seemed to surprise it). But at other times, it rammed into another object and I couldn’t find an explanation. Still, it is generally very good as giving objects a wide berth, so it never got stuck, tangled up in a wire or beached on a lamp stand. Nor did I ever have to rescue it. But it’s not a good climber. Miele says that it has a maximum climbing ability of 1.7cm (which you can opt to reduce in the app) but it seemed to struggle over even minor bumps, like an ordinary metal threshold transition strip. Even worse, one of the rooms in my home has a wide, raised wooden lip at the threshold. Some robot vacuums trundle over it without a problem, some figure out how to manoeuvre over it by reversing or turning, and some get stuck. The RX3 tried to cross it twice and then, weirdly, just gave up. Nor was it able to identify that there was a room on the other side of it, as it never appeared on the map. Using it in remote control mode, I was able to drive it over the threshold myself (mad skills) but it would not attempt it alone. Aside from this, the only issue I had with the machine during testing was errors taking a long time to resolve. I lifted up the robot vacuum at once stage and got the ‘F1 – wheel off the ground’ message. Returning the RX3 to the ground didn’t resolve the message. In the end, I had to twice switch the machine off and back on to clear the message and resolve the problem.
Camera
What sets the Miele Scout RX3 Home Vision HD apart from the other RX3 models is its onboard colour camera. You can drive it around your home using the video feed to navigate and remotely check up on its progress when away from home. The picture quality is good enough as long as the lighting is reasonable. So you’ll need to leave the lights on or be able to activate them remotely if you want to use it when you’re away from home. In terms of driving it around, you can use the controls in the app or the remote control and it’s relatively easy to do so, although as the camera points up, it’s not always clear if you’ve bumped against something until you can no longer move forward. But the larger point, really, is whether you’re going to use it. If you don’t think you will, you might be better off opting for one of the other models.
Using the Miele app
The Miele app is free to download and available for both Apple and Android. It’s simple and well designed – much more so than apps from many competing products, in fact. Via the app, you can schedule cleaning (and set up different schedules for different days of the week), view and annotate your maps with favourite and no-go areas, choose the cleaning setting you want, access the onboard camera and control the RX3 remotely.
However, the app is quite basic. It can, for example, only hold two maps, which will be a problem for people with a three-storey home or a split-level layout. Still, the maps are nicely presented and have enough detail to make them easy to use. However, the app won’t let you alter the cleaning programme while the RX3 is at work. To change, for example, from silent to turbo mode, you have to return the RX3 to the dock and restart.
Price and availability
The Miele Scout RX3 Home Vision is available for £859 from Miele, making it one of the more expensive robot vacuums that we’ve tested. However, its feature set is pretty limited for this price point and, for considerably less, you could get an equally powerful robot vacuum that empties itself and has a mop function. But if this is the robot vacuum for you, the best price we can find for the RX3 Home Vision is £779 from John Lewis – £80 less than Miele’s price.
Verdict
The Miele Scout RX3 Home Vision cleans effectively and efficiently and we like its unusual design a lot. However, it is very expensive for what amounts to a modest feature set. And it’s not flawless either: it lacks the granular controls of competing products, such as the ability to adjust the suction level as you go, and it’s slightly temperamental when it comes to navigation and error reporting. Altogether, this is a luxury buy with excellent hardware but whose software doesn’t make a strong enough case for its price point. For more options and recommendations, have a look at our round-up of the best robot vacuum cleaners we’ve tested. Emma is Home Tech Editor at Tech Advisor. She covers everything from kitchen appliances to smart home devices, from floor care to personal care to air care technology. She’s particularly interested in environmentally conscious brands and products that save people time and money.
