LG RoboKing robotic vaccuum cleaner launch soon

LG’s new RoboKing, a formidable rival for iRobot’s Roomba, is on cards. LG today showed off the new LG RoboKing autonomous vacuum cleaner in South Korea. It is not known when the product will be commercially launched, but it guarantees tough competition to the market leader Roomba.

Photo: LG RoboKing

See photos and pictures of the LG RoboKing alongside.

LG already has an autonomous RoboKing autovac (Autonomous vacuum cleaner). The new LG RoboKing is an improvement of the existing model. The new LG RoboKing comes with two cameras, instead of one on the earlier model. The iRobot Roomba finds its way with infrared sensors, not cameras.

Autovacs like LG’s RoboKing and iRobot’s Roomba work as independent portable cleaning units. They work on built-in batteries, which can be replaced and charged. The unit finds its way around the room with sensors, either with infrared sensors or with cameras. Large solid particles are picked up by bristles and swept inside, while the dust is picked up like in a regular vacuum cleaner.

The new version of the LG RoboKing is shorter, and comes at a height of 90 mm, compared to the previous model which has a height of 130 mm. In comparison, the Roomba has a height of about 3 inches.

The company claims that the new LG RoboKing is 30% more efficient, meaning it will sweep and vacuum the room 30% faster than the previous model. There is no information on the battery life or price of the new RoboKing yet. Roomba is available on Amazon at a price tag of $585 for the iRobot Roomba 4210 Discovery model.

LG also said that its new autovac will be less noisy. The new RoboKing will have a noise level of 50 dB. In comparison, the earlier model had a noise level of 63 dB.

All in all, the LG presents a good package with the new RoboKing in terms of efficiency and features. However, it will still be a tough challenge for LG to match the Roomba, the market leader in autonomous vacuum cleaners, which has sold 2.8 million units since it was introduced in 2008.