Robot vacuums aren’t new by any stretch, in-fact, I’d go as far as saying that they’re probably the first ‘smart home’ appliance that most people buy in their home, just based on the fact that nobody likes vacuuming, and quite frankly robot vacuums can do a better job getting under couches and beds than you can with a stick vacuum.
As far as features and cleaning go, the Ecovacs Deebot X1 Plus basically goes above and beyond anything you’d have experienced with even other high-end robot vacuums, with a number of features that really enhance the overall experience.
Just talking about the core functionality first-up, the Deebot X1 Plus really manages to pick more up than other robot vacuums than I’ve used, mainly due to its dual side brushes as well as its huge suction power and fast-spinning main brush. It really managed to get into every corner, and bring in even the smallest bits of dirt and dust (and with two sausage dogs there’s a lot of it).
What it does so much better than other robot vacuums is mapping. This is thanks to its RGB grade camera (which we’ll get into a little bit later in depth) that it uses to not only quickly map your house at its first clean, but also just ensure that it’s not bumping into things. The camera sounds like overkill, but even the best robot vacuums that I’ve used have had issues trying to get over things or running into things, and it drives me absolutely crazy, so to have that totally alleviated thanks to the camera, is a huge positive.
The X1 Plus comes with an auto empty station, which really takes the worst part out of vacuuming away, emptying it. It will automatically return to the base and suck up into a bag within the station, so that you don’t ever have to actually touch any of the nasties that are sucked up into the vacuum, instead just emptying and replacing the bag, every 30 or so cleans.
The X1 Plus is also capable of mopping thanks to a totally different compartment that you can fill with water and then use reuse-able mopping pads or single use. It did a really good job, and much better than robot vacuums that I’ve used. It’s still a little bit of a chore to have to physically change the unit (and there are other Ecovacs models in this range that auto-clean and auto-refill the water), but it still provided a really good result.
When the mopping component isn’t connected, there’s an air freshener component that you have connected, with the X1 Plus able to spit out a really pleasant berry flavour (there are also others), that isn’t too overwhelming, but definitely was able to be smelt throughout the home.
The actual mapping on the X1 Plus was exceptional. As mentioned, you can do a quick map which makes the little robot vacuum breeze through your house to get a general sense of where each room is, and then during its first clean it’ll do a more thorough look at where everything is, and even go as far as give you a 3D look at your home, and automatically place furniture such as bedding or couches. It’s not perfect by any stretch, and I did have a few glitches (as I have with other robot vacuums) where the map will disappear or slightly change/become worse over time, but it was a huge improvement.
This vacuum is $1,499, so not a small amount of money, but the added additions such as the auto empty station, better mapping capabilities and air freshener compartment are really just the beginning. The RGB camera is not only used for obstacle detection, but actually acts as a security camera that can survey your home.
Not only can you check in at any time whilst vacuuming to get a colour view of whatever the robot vacuum is looking at, once your house has been mapped out, you can actually send it on a patrol, where it’ll stop in each room of your house, and do a full 360 view and take photos in order to monitor your house. You can also command it to go to certain rooms in order to see what’s happening, and as I touched on earlier, with two sausage dogs that are constantly at home alone, this is a huge game changer for me as indoor security cameras just can’t capture every part of my house.
The X1 Plus also has voice control with the YIKO voice assistant, and it did take a little bit of getting used to, just due to the fact that it wanted YIKO pronounced in a very specific way, and it just doesn’t roll off the tongue in the same way that Google or Alexa does, but it listened to each command which was anything from a simple command to start cleaning, asking it to follow my voice or even telling it to clean under the couch.
I’m not going to sugarcoat it, the Deebot X1 Plus is pricy at $1,500, but what you’re getting is the most fully-fledged robot vacuum cleaner that I’ve ever purchased and a lot of time and effort saved in the process.