Eureka J15 Pro Ultra robot vacuum/mop – entry-level Gen 5 (review)

The Eureka J15 Pro Ultra is an entry-level Gen 5 robot vacuum/mop that can achieve whole-of-home cleaning with minimal house prep.

To be clear, it’s a basic Gen 5 as defined in Five tips for choosing a robovac/mop (2025 cleaning guide), so it is good, not perfect, at obstacle avoidance, and the 110mm height is too high for cupboard overhangs. It is a competent entry into the Gen 5 space, but not on par with premium models from Ecovacs, Eufy, Roborock, and Dreame.

If you were to compare, it is more akin to the value <$2000 Gen 5s like the ECOVACS DEEBOT T50 PRO OMNI – clever robot vacuum/mop at an even better price or the Roborock QRevo Master – value Gen 5 robot vacuum/mop.

What is Eureka?

Before reviewing any new brand, we conduct extensive background research to ensure we are not reviewing something that could cause issues with after-sales service, parts, supplies, etc.

Eureka started in Detroit, Michigan, in 1909 by Fred Wardell. It was sold to Electrolux in 1974, and the brand name was subsequently acquired by the Chinese company Midea in 2016.

So, expect a lot of US-washing and a lot of unsubstantiated website enthusiasm (more on that later), as Chinese companies are wont to do.

Midea Robozone Technology was founded in 1968 and now produces a range of smart home appliances, including air conditioning, cooking, laundry, refrigerators, microwaves, dishwashers, floorcare, and small kitchen appliances, sold in over 200 countries.

Midea Australia is at St Kilda Road in Melbourne. Contact details: 1800 511 806 and [email protected].

Eureka Support is 03 9068 0888 or [email protected].

Interestingly, Midea sells a version of the Eureka J15 Pro called V15 Pro for $2,399, but it has been seen as low as $1,999.

So, it all looks good, but that should not be taken as an endorsement from CyberShack, as we have no firsthand experience with the company.

Australian Review: Eureka J15 Pro Ultra robot vacuum/mop Model NERJ15ULTRAWH (white)

This is the Australian version, not to be confused with the grey market J15 or J15 Ultra.

Firmware 5.64.490

Website	Product Page Manual
RRP	$2,099 but seen for less
From	Amazon AU is the only authorised reseller.
Colours	White or Black
Warranty	1-year
Made in	China
Company	See above
More	CyberShack cleaning tech news and reviews

Ratings

We use the following ratings for many of the items below. CyberShack regards 70/100 as a pass mark. You can click on most images to enlarge them.

• Fail (below expectations), and we will let you know if this affects its use.
• Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be.
• Pass (meets expectations).
• Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good, but does not quite make it to Exceed
• Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader).

First Impression – chunky

Eureka, call this a flagship. It may be by its definition, but in reality, it is an entry-level Gen 5. No amount of website hype, as follows, can change that:

• The Eureka J15 Pro Ultra revolutionises cleaning. Sorry, there are way more revolutionary products.
• Self-cleaning base station. Many others have this.
• IntelliView AI smart system. Many are far more intelligent.
• 16,200 Pa impressive cleaning performance and 99% debris removal on carpet. Typical Gen 5 are now 20,000 Pa or more, and few achieve more than 50% debris removal on carpet in one pass.
• ScrubExtend, the industry’s most durable and high-performance swing-arm mopping system. Sorry, most Gen 5s have this.
• WhisperWork Dock. It’s no quieter than others.
• Debris will never be scattered again. It power flicks larger debris like Nutrigrain out of the way.

We don’t like calling out website hype. We test against claims. But we see this a lot when it comes directly from the Global site in China.

Back to the bot. This is a 345 x 355 x 110mm square robot, unusual in a sea of round ones. In reality, it is just a round robot in square clothing. It still features a narrow rotating 15cm brush between its tractor wheels, a non-extendable right-side whisker, and dual rotating mops at the rear.

On top is a 360° 3D LiDAR, and out front is a structure IR light and low-res 320 x 240 RGB camera. There are more advanced Gen 5 navigation and obstacle avoidance systems, but as long as you do sufficient house prep, it will be fine.

The cleaning station is also basic. It features a hot water mop wash and hot air drying, but lacks features such as wastewater dirt detection, water out sensor, a floor cleaning solution reservoir, and is a bit bulky.

But then I need to remind myself that this is a sub-$2000 robot and most of the advanced features will cost $500-1000 more.

Sensors – Pass

It meets our base definition for an entry-level Gen 5

• 360° 3D LiDAR cable of producing a reasonably accurate 2D or 3D maps.
• Single Line IR Laser (red spot in the image below) at the front for obstacle detection
• Camera for 150+ types of obstacles. Can be used for ‘rover’ function
• Edge Sensor IR
• Bumper
• Cliff sensor
• Carpet sensor
• Dual LED fill light

AI-Features – Passable

It is not the sharpest tool in the shed. In fact, despite having an AI Cleaning Butler option, it makes little difference whether it is on or off, as to how it cleans – tested over 20 runs.

The App – Passable

We don’t like Dark Mode apps, and it was only at the very end that we found Light Mode buried under the owner’s profile.

It is a basic app, sufficient for whole-of-home cleaning. Its ‘pet’ consists of pet or not.

Home Prep – Pass

Our guide outlines the best practices for house preparation. Follow this for at least the quick map and first one-pass clean.

We tested various states of ‘laziness’, leaving the home as is, where is, and it managed to clean regardless. While it passed the blind alley torture test (getting out of a dead end), it got stuck between chair legs.

Quick Map – not so

Where our 50 m² test area takes about 5 minutes on most robots, this task took 14 minutes, revisiting the same areas repeatedly. The map was relatively accurate, but the room names were off. It did not detect or name furniture.

Map editing includes no-go zones, room management, furniture editing and ground environment.

Navigation – Pass

Its navigation is standard – clean the room edges first, followed by a U-shaped cleaning run in between. But it spent too long trying to get its bearings and repeatedly cleaning areas that it had already cleaned. On our 50 m² test site, it took between 106 and 122 minutes, with a significant portion of that time spent deliberating on the next step.

Obstacle Detection – Pass

It claims the IntelliView Al-Powered Obstacle Avoidance can recognise 150+ object types, such as shoes, pet waste, and toys, and navigate around, ensuring an uninterrupted clean. Our tests suggest this is work in progress.

It understands 150 types of obstacles and how to deal with them. It uses AI and the camera to decide how close to clean. It recognised cables and shoes quite well.

Tests show that it could detect items larger than 50 x 50 mm at a distance of about 30 cm. Some Gen 5s can get down to 25 mm objects.

It is supposed to recognise pet poo. It did not recognise our faux poo (probably would have if it were more liquid), but that is not unusual.

Overall, it took a wider berth around obstacles than some others do.

Vacuum efficiency – Pass+ on hard floors and passable on carpet

• Carpet low pile: 1/2 pass 56/75% – difficulty with sand and static-charged tissues.
• Carpet medium pile: 1/2 pass 58/76% – slightly better on medium pile, which is unusual.
• Hard floor: 1 pass 94% flicking larger particles aside

Mop Test – Pass+

It has the usual 180RPM dual mopping pads with a right-side extension. It lifts approximately 12mm above the carpet, but we noticed that it sometimes lifted after moving onto carpet, causing the edges of feature rugs to dampen. Other times, it would deliberate whether to lift before proceeding.

It is supposed to recognise whether there are liquids. We tipped a glass of water on the floor, and it recognised it, stopped the rotating brush and turned around to mop it up.

We used the standard tomato sauce test. On one occasion, it lifted the roller brush, but on another, it just ploughed through, carrying a wet mess back to the base station, which required a thorough clean of the internal dustbin.

I suspect that any foibles will be fixed in future firmware updates.

It does not have a drop mop facility but can be set to clean carpets first without the mops installed.

Edge and Corner clean – Pass+ on hard floors and Fail on carpet

The long right-side whisker is 20mm wider than the robot, and the right-side mop extends past the robot’s edge. If you select enhanced edge and corner clean, the robot will crab walk to get the mop under cupboard overhangs.

The whisker flicked larger particles aside, but you can adjust whisker speed in the app.

Corner clean was as good as any, with the square design allowing it to get closer.

Cleaning speed – slow

We always prefer clean to speed, but our panellists all experienced very slow times, and with areas of up to 125 m², they ran out of battery.

Our 50m2 test took 122 minutes (AI clean) and 106 minutes (standard clean). The battery was exhausted, and it required manual return to base. Again, a minor firmware issue that should return to base at 10%. Both times it resumed cleaning.

 This equates to about 2 to 2.4 m² per minute, compared to 1 to 1.5 m² for most Gen 5. Again, I suspect firmware can considerably shorten the time.

Pets – No

It has a ‘pet’ or ‘no pet’ setting. It apparently looks for pet poo when selected, but we found it made no difference.

The robot has a FlexiRazor technology, which, when at the base station, cuts pet and long hair from the rotating brush. Our pet panellist was reasonably satisfied that it removed the hair, but most Gen 5 achieves the same end.

Battery and coverage – Pass – just

It has a 14.4V/5.2/75W battery (most Gen 5 are 90W or more) with the claim that it provides up to 100 minutes (on low power). Our main test achieved 50m2 in 106 to 122 minutes.

It charges at 19.5V/1.85A/36W, taking five to six hours to charge. Some Gen 5s have fast charge in about two hours.

Sill Climb – Pass tested to 20mm

It can climb 20mm sills, but we found that sometimes it would sit there are contemplate its next move. That may include backing up and rushing at it or lifting the mop pads.

Camera – Pass

The front camera is a QVGA (320 x 240) fixed-focus, RGB camera for still and video images. It utilises dual LED lights for low-light conditions and works in conjunction with the structured beam to assist in obstacle identification.

Privacy – Up to you

We have attached the privacy and terms of use at the end. Did we read them? Well enough to know that they do not address cloud data location (China), or Australian, European GDPR or California privacy regulations. It is governed by the laws of the People’s Republic of China.

Is this a big deal? The world’s biggest lie is that you have read the terms and conditions. Overall, they give Eureka considerable latitude to utilise this data.

Most Gen 5 vendors have Australia-specific (or at least non-China-specific) terms and privacy policies.

Noise – Pass

Typical for a Gen 5.

• Operating from 50 to 65dB.
• Washing and empty the dustbin 70-80dB

Voice – Pass

It can use Google, Alexa, and Siri. Voice commands are minimal compared to Gen 5s with their own voice assistant.

Clean station – Pass

It is also chunky, measuring 395 x 469 x 458 mm, with a 5cm side clearance and 80cm front clearance.

Power-wise it uses

• Charging 100W per hour for 6 hours
• Hot air drying 46W per hour for 2 hours
• Empty dustbin 1000W
• Water heat 960W

These are standard for Gen 5 base stations.

It features:

• Mop clean up to 75°
• 55c Hot air dry
• Dustbin Bag 3L (robot dustbin is 400ml)
• Clean water 4L
• Wastewater 3.4L
• The self-cleaning base works fairly well, but you still need to clean it regularly.

It is missing

• Floor cleaning detergent dispenser
• Clean water empty or wastewater full sensors (there is a float in the wastewater, but it did not appear to cause an alert).
• Intelligent rewash for dirty mops
• Off-peak scheduled charging
• Auto mop removal

Floor cleaning solution – none provided

Amazon AU lists a 1-litre bottle for $29.99, but it’s currently unavailable and no ETA for stock.

Using other solutions will void the warranty.

Maintenance – Pass

There are no maintenance and spare parts listed on the Eureka AU website. There are generic/compatible parts on Amazon AU and genuine parts at the Eureka Amazon Store

This requires about the same level of maintenance as any robot. You must occasionally wipe the mop base clean. You will need to source:

• 1L Cleaning solution $29.95
• Dustbags x 3 $29.99
• Internal dustbin filters x 2 $29.99
• Side whisker brush x 2 $19.99
• Main roller brush $19.99
• Mop pads

Issues

No spare dustbags or parts supplied.

Two panellists reported that it lost Wi-Fi connection when left overnight. This could be environmental, but they all have Wi-Fi 6 or later routers. We later found that it can take a couple of minutes to connect, so that is likely the cause.

All panellists reported that it left tractor wheel marks in the mopped area, but these disappeared when the area was dry.

All panellists commented that it frequently prevaricates, sitting still or turning on its axis before finding its way.

All panellists commented that it pushed furniture, footstool, chairs, planters and more. It is pretty determined.

CyberShack’s View: The Eureka J15 Pro Ultra can perform whole-home cleaning

We have delved a little deeper into this device as it is our first encounter with this brand. You may be surprised how many Chinese brands don’t make it this far.

It is a competent Gen 5, but nowhere near the premium results that you would get spending $500 to 1000 more. On the other hand, its results are comparable to those of any entry-level Gen 5.

We can’t comment on value except to say that a Prime Day or Black Friday discount would make this more desirable.

Our team of four panellists and four homes (plus mine as the reviewer) felt:

• Mop efficiency: Hard floors – as good as any with a rotary mop
• Vacuum efficiency: Hard floors – excellent. Carpet – average
• Obstacle detection: for objects larger than 50 x 50 mm. Home prep required and leaves too wide a berth around them.
• Corner clean: Hard floor average. Carpet – no
• Edge clean: Hard floor crab walk is good. Carpet – no.
• Multilevel map: Yes, but you must move the base station
• Under cupboard overhangs or low furniture: at 110mm – no
• Navigation: Yes, but it takes a long time
• Large home: no, especially with 100-minute run-time and six-hour recharge
• Pet-poo: Not really, but liquid detection is quite good
• Bouquets: Nothing stands out
• Brickbats: Long charge, privacy policy, long cleaning times, limited app

Eureka J15 Pro Ultra ratings

We rate it as a value Gen 5

• Features: 80. Entry-level Gen 5
• Value: 80. Wait for the sales!
• Performance: 85. Hard floors and 75 carpet. 16200 Pa is not class-leading.
• Ease of Use: 80. 1-year warranty is not class-leading. The app is a little limited and confusing. Privacy policy is not for Australia.
• Design: 80. The square shape means it must make more passes, which makes it slower.