When you buy through our links, Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more. James Brains/Insider Over the last few years, I have tested more than 40 of the most advanced robot vacuums.
Recently, I tested the Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni, which vacuums, mops, and performs video surveillance. It’s the most advanced robot vacuum I’ve tested, truly automating floor cleaning, but it’s pricey. Over the last few years, I’ve tested the most high-tech robot vacuums in the industry.
I’ve put over 40 robot vacuums through their paces. That said, the Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni is the most advanced — and most expensive — model I’ve ever tested. The major downfall is its $1,549 price tag.
Still, if you have the money, the X1 Omni does the best job of automating your floor cleaning by mopping and vacuuming at the same time, filling the vac with clean water and emptying the dirty water, cleaning the spinning mop heads, and emptying the dust bin after each cleaning. It even has video surveillance, so you can keep tabs on your home while away. Below are more details about what sets this robot vacuum above the rest.
Setup took about 25 minutes, including 10 minutes installing and pairing the app and then updating the firmware. James Brains/InsiderThe vacuum comes in a massive box that weighs over 50 pounds, but unpacking it wasn’t as strenuous as getting it up to my third-floor testing area. The vacuum paired seamlessly with the Ecovacs Home app (available for iOS and Android.
)The X1 Omni is the first robot vacuum I’ve tested that has built-in voice control. James Brains/InsiderYou can use the X1 Omni with Alexa or Google Assistant, but it’s not necessary. You can just talk directly to the vacuum to control it.
Yiko, the name of the voice assistant, is available in six English dialects, French, German, Italian, Indonesian, Japanese, Korean, and Mandarin Chinese. I prefer using the app, which has all of the same functionality. This is because I don’t use home assistants generally and don’t like being in a room where a robot vacuum operates because it can kick up irritating dust.
Instead, I control the vacuum from a different room, which you can do with the app, not voice commands. Still, I found the voice commands worked effectively, making them a great option for those who prefer them. The Deebot X1 Omni is one of only 4 robot vacs that vacuums and mops simultaneously.
Setup instructions are conveniently found under the lid of the charging station. The dirty water tank is on the left, and the clean water tank is on the right. James Brains/InsiderI only know of three other robot vacuums on the market that can mop and vacuum at the same time, including the $1,400 Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra, which I plan on testing soon.
The dual mode was a big drain on the battery, running for just an hour at a time. In that time, it cleaned about 250 square feet. But if it doesn’t finish the job, it will pick up where it left off after recharging.
If you’re cleaning a 250-square-foot space or smaller, the X1 Omni is much faster and more efficient than running a separate robot vac and robot mop. Two separate robots may be faster for larger areas since they usually cover more area on a single charge. But, in the next slide, we’ll discuss why the X1 Omni is superior to most robot mops.
Below is a short video of the vacuum in action. It stops and goes back often to mop thoroughly and suck up the dirty water afterward. Unlike most robot mops, the X1 Omni sucks up the dirty water, rather than pushing it around and self-cleans its mop heads.
Oh yeah, and it does an excellent job of mopping. James Brains/InsiderTo test the mopping capabilities of robot vacuums, I spill two ounces of soda on vinyl flooring and let it sit overnight to dry. I then run the robot vacuum over the testing area to compare before and after photos to see how much it cleaned up.
After this test, it’s sticky like the floor of a movie theater. That’s because most robot mops just push the dirty water around. However, the X1 Omni sucks up the dirty water and empties it into the charging station along with any debris in the dustbin.
You just dispose of the full dust bag or empty the charging station’s roomy dirty water tank when the app sends you a push notification to do so. In the test, it mopped up about 90% of the dried soda I spilled on the floor, making it one of the best moppers I’ve tested. Self-cleaning spinning mop heads aid the mopping.
When the vac returns to the charging station, it automatically cleans debris off the mop heads. This is the gross gray water that most robot vacuums just push around your floor, but the Omni X1 picks it up and collects it in this tank for easy disposal. James Brains/InsiderThe dirty water tank has a tight seal, so you don’t smell the water, which was incredibly stinky.
I like not having to fill the vacuum’s water tank. You just fill the clean water reservoir located in the charging station, and the charging station fills the vac. The charging station also empties debris and dirty water from the vacuum.
The robot vacuum was better than average at vacuuming, but I had higher hopes. James Brains/InsiderThe performance was great, but there are more powerful options out there, including the top pick in our robot vacuum guide, the iRobot Roomba i3+ EVO. On carpeting, the X1 Omni picked up virtually all of the coffee grounds, kitty litter, and pet hair I laid out.
However, it left behind about 20% of the flour I dispersed. It did much better on hardwood, leaving behind only traces of cat litter and flour. The threshold between the hardwood and vinyl flooring in my home is nearly an inch high.
Many robot vacuums fail to make it over the lip. The Ecovacs X1 Omni had no trouble with it. It didn’t get as deep into the corners as I wanted.
It came within 2 inches of corners, which is satisfactory but not as good as I’d expected. It at least did well picking up the flour it could reach in the corners. The vacuum has three levels of suction power: Quiet, Standard, and Max.
I tested the X1 Omni, and all vacuums I test, using its maximum suction power. The vacuum runs quietly, never getting louder than 65 decibels even when cleaning in Max mode. James Brains/InsiderFor reference, 65 decibels is a little louder than normal conversation.
When vacuuming, the battery run time is impressive: over 3 hours in Quiet mode and nearly 2 hours in Max mode. James Brains/InsiderCharging took a while, though. Once the battery was drained, it took more than 5 hours to get it back up to 100% charge, which is about an hour longer than the average I’ve recorded testing robot vacuums.
It can remember where it was in a cleaning job and resume once charged. I liked that I could schedule the robot vacuum to clean rooms in a specific order or only clean certain rooms. The customization features worked flawlessly during testing.
James Brains/InsiderAt first, I had trouble locating standard robot vacuum app features, but I was soon able to customize my cleaning experience. To access cleaning preferences, including suction power, mop water flow, and scheduling, you just swipe the bottom menu up. Once you enter “smart cleaning” on the main device screen, you just tap the rooms you want to clean on the accurate map the X1 Omni creates on its first run.
You can also denote no-go zones and virtual boundaries. The X1 Omni rarely got stuck, a major bonus. However, it failed to recognize and avoid objects.
James Brains/InsiderI left out a big fake poo, and the X1 Omni bulldozed it. Good thing it wasn’t the real deal. The X1 Omni also provides video surveillance, so you can look around your home when you’re away to ensure everything is in order.
This is a screenshot I took on my phone of the X1 Omni’s video. James Brains/InsiderYou can save and share short videos taken by the X1 Omni. Here’s a video it took of my messy testing area:Overall, if I had the money, I would buy the Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni Robot Vacuum.
It does a better job of automating floor cleaning than any vacuum I’ve tested. James Brains/InsiderI especially like that it automatically cleans the mop heads and fills the vacuum with water for mopping. The less I have to do the better.
Most of us probably don’t have $1,500 to drop on a robot vacuum. At almost a third of the price, the iRobot Roomba i3+ EVO may be a more budget-friendly option. You can pair it with the Braava Jet m6 Robot Mop and still save $650, but this option lacks the level of automation and mopping ability offered by the X1 Omni.
The main benefit of a robot vacuum is it automates floor cleaning. If automation isn’t important to you, then you’d be better served and save a lot of money by choosing from the picks in our best vacuums and best mops guides. Read the original article on Insider.
From: insider
URL: https://www.insider.com/guides/home/ecovacs-deboot-x1-omni-review
