Five tips for choosing a robovac/mop (2024 cleaning guide)

25/05/2024
By Ray Shaw
In Guides

I have a love-hate relationship with robovacs – I love the ones that work, and I hate those that don’t. Five tips for choosing a robovac/mop might just save you from an expensive mistake.

Perhaps the most important tip is that you cannot expect most robovacs to do it all. Left unsupervised, it can be a disaster. You need to prepare the house for a robovac and understand that it will likely snag and choke on every errant charging cable, shoelace, children’s toy or rug tassel.

What are the basic differences?

When you go shopping for a robovac, you may not know what to look for. More than 20 brands/models are currently on offer – note that each generation includes features from previous generations.

Detailed feature comparison – use this as your shopping list.

A blank square means it does not have that feature.

Robovac

Item	Gen 1 DumBots	Gen 2 DimBots	Gen 3 AverageBots	Gen 4 BrainyBots	Gen 5 SmartBots
Price	<$500	<$1000	$1000-$1500	$1500-$2000	$2000+
Format	Round	Round	Round	Round Square: Eufy X9	Round Ecovacs T20 Eufy X10 Pro Square: Ecovacs X2
Navigation	Bumper	Bumper and 2D LiDAR	Bumper, 2D LiDAR and mapping	AI mapping	AI mapping
Headlights					Dreame L20 Pro can see better in low light and under furniture
Main brush size	13cm	13cm	13cm	17cm	17cm
Pet-friendly zero tangle				✅	✅
LiDAR 2D 180°		✅	✅
LiDAR 3D 360°				✅	✅
Map	Pattern clean	✅ Set basic no-go zones.	✅ Editable	✅ Set more comprehensive options.	✅ Set more comprehensive options
ToF laser obstacle detection				Some ToF is better than forward IR detection	Not required with a camera. Dreame x40 adds a line laser to recognise small obstacles better.
Forward camera AI obstacle detection					✅ A camera differentiates Gen 4 from Gen 5
AI recognition					At least 50 objects, which should include animal faeces.
Forward Bumper 180° obstacle detection	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
IR front obstacle detection			✅	✅	✅
IR right-side obstacle detection		✅	✅	✅	✅
IR left-side obstacle detection				Some	Most
IR Cliff Detection	2	2	2	4	4
Carpet Detection				✅	✅
Pascal suction maximum	2000	2000	4000	5000-8000	8000+ Dreame x40 has 12000 pa.
Auto-adjust suction speed				✅	✅
Right Edge Clean whisker	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅ Dreame X40 has a liftable and extendable whisker to avoid spills and clean corners better. Ecovacs T30 has a whisker extend feature.
Left Edge Clean whisker				Some	Some
Corner Clean					Some. The square format is better, but some use AI to crab walk along the edges. Dreame L10s and X40 do this.
Sill height negotiation			Some	10-15mm	10-20mm
Mop		Platen	Platen	Platen or rotary pads	Rotary pads
Mop lift over carpet				Some. Up to 10mm	Most are 10mm. Some up to 20mm
Mop pad extension on right side					Some Dreame X40 Dreame L20 Dreame L10s Ecovacs T30

Dock

Item	Gen 1	Gen 2	Gen 3	Gen 4	Gen 5
Self-empty dustbin dock			Few	Some	Most
Water and wastewater container				Some	Most
Base clean					Dreame X40 cleans the base plate as well.
Can be plumbed in				Some	Some
Return to the dock to clean and refill water.				Most	Most
Mop Clean				Most	Most. Some use hot water Dreame L10s/L20/x40 Ecovacs T30
Hot Air mop dry				Some	Most
Floor clean solution dispenser				Some	Some. Dreame L20, L10s. X40

App

Item	Gen 1	Gen 2	Gen 3	Gen 4	Gen 5
Basic App	✅	✅	✅
Fully featured App and AI				✅	✅
Multi-floor map			Some, if you move the base station to each floor.	Ditto, and up to five maps	Ditto
Intelligent, clean/mop				Uses AI to map cleaned areas and returns to areas not cleaned	Same
Voice control				Most have very limited Alexa, Google or Siri commands	Ditto. Ecovacs has Yiko that has many more commands
Area, room clean			A few can go to a named room	Most	All
Schedule			Most	Most with the option of selecting room order and multiple days	Ditto. Ecovacs has a Housekeeper mode that learns the best cleaning pattern, etc.
Maintenance tracking				✅	✅

Five tips for choosing a robovac/mop

How do they see?

Generation 1 Dumbots do not see. They simply bump their way around the area and perform a set cleaning pattern. Don’t bother with these unless low-cost is your driver.

Generation 2 Dimbots 2D LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging radar) and SLAM (Simultaneous localisation and mapping software). Add to this collision bumper avoidance, which describes 90% of robovacs. Pro: lower cost. Con: No AI to improve the experience.

Generation 3 Averagebots add IR object detection sensors to LiDAR to reduce the need for bumper collision avoidance. Pro: What most people buy who don’t know what Gen 4 and Gen 5 can do.

Generation 4 Brainybots add 360° 3D LiDAR that can see around the robovac (2D) and up and down, giving it a 3D image. They may also have more sensors (dToF and IR) and an Ultrasonic sensor (for carpet or hard floor detection). These are vastly superior in navigation and larger obstacle avoidance.

Generation 5 SmartBots rely heavily on AI and cameras for small object recognition. Some can even recognise and avoid pet poo. The Dreame L20 and L10s and EcoVacs Debot X2 and T20 are in this category.

What are the different types?

Most are round, with about a 13-17cm rotating brush supplemented by one or two side whisker brushes. They usually have a mop attachment, which can be enabled by swapping the vacuum dust bin for a water tank and a static microfibre mop pad.

D-shape are harder to find and usually have a larger rotating brush that cleans faster. But this is not a big issue as round robovacs are getting faster and more powerful.

Some have a cleaning station that empties the robovac and charges it. The Ecovacs Deebot X2 Omni – can a robot vacuum/mop get any better? really does add a convenience factor, but costs close to $2,600.

How do smarter robovacs know the areas to clean?

During the first setup, the Wi-Fi recharge base station acts as the ‘anchor’ for robovac to build a map from and return to. Home Wi-Fi is typically 2.4Ghz with an effective indoor transmission distance of about 30 metres. If the robovac loses the signal, it cannot get home, so make sure you have decent Wi-Fi. 90% of complaints about dropout are due to the cheap router supplied by so many NBN resellers – see Crappy NBN FTTN Modem – here are a few better ones (guide).

Gen 3 or later, robovacs ‘see’ the area and track around all walls and fixed objects like furniture. This is stage one of its map – an outline drawing of your home. Next, it cleans in between those outlines using a zig-zag or U-shape cleaning pattern to finish the map. Once saved, you can name rooms, set no-go zones, set up schedules and get feedback on cleaning. If you have a multi-story home, you can carry the base station (or buy another – they are usually pretty low cost) and repeat the process on different floors – most store about three maps.

What do you need to do to prepare for a robovac?

Gen 4 or later model robovacs are better at obstacle avoidance, but it is far better to prepare the home first. Let’s put it this way— few we have tested can complete the clean without some issues.

Remove clothes/shoes/bags off the floor
Tie up loose cables off the floor
Lift dining chairs, stools, side tables, and wastebins off the ground
Lift floor rugs (especially those with tassels) that could tangle in the brush
Close doors to areas you don’t want to map or clean

If you use the robomop attachment, ensure no-go lines are drawn and doors are closed to carpeted areas, or it will mop them. For example, this is a pain if you want to mop a bathroom off a carpeted bedroom.

Whole-of-home one pass clean. Fact or fantasy?

The new Gen 4 or later robovac/mops have a mop/no mop feature and a carpet sensor to lift and turn off mopping/water while on the carpet. In theory, these can do a one-pass clean and mop on a mix of hard and carpeted floors.

In practice, carpet comes in many styles and pile heights. The lowest pile or sisal weave style need a 7-10mm lift to avoid the mopping pads. Longer pile will need the mopping pads removed.

But it is a fact now that Dreame L20 and L10s and Ecovacs X2 can do whole of home.

Battery Life

Most can go for at least an hour or 100m2 of cleaning. Then they need a recharge – typically 4-6 hours. The better ones restart and continue cleaning.

How good are they?

No matter what any salesperson or website hypes, a robovac or robomop does not substitute for a traditional vacuum or mop. It comes down to how acceptable that is to you.

All robovacs are reasonably efficient on hard surfaces – tiles to laminated timber but can be inefficient on carpet, particularly sisal (ridged) and longer pile. Forget feature carpets or shag pile. They don’t do steps or edges! And most need considerable home preparation before being set free.

We use 100g of test detritus ranging from dust to Nutirgrain test efficiency. Most will only pick up about 40-50g because they don’t do edges very well. Some whisker brushes are of little help, often flicking larger detritus out of the vacuum path.

By comparison, Dyson Gen5detect – the evolution continues counts both the dust size particles and the amount collected) and gets 100%. But if you run the robovac twice weekly, its efficiency figure gets closer to 8%. Most Gen 1-3 robovacs do poorly on carpet. Gen 4 and 5 with 500+ Pascals suction are fine.

(L) Most robovacs cannot handle carpets well. (R) Typical robovac dust collection (bottom) and what the Dyson V15 Detect finds straight after.

Robomops are, at best, a maintenance mop

They typically drag a microfibre cloth around that lacks the ‘elbow grease’ needed to remove dried milk/coffee/soft drink stains and cut through grime. The exception is the Hobot Legee 7, which uses a vibrating plate. It is more of a robomop first with a small conventional vacuum, but it is the only one that comes close to proper mop results.

The Legee7 and D7 with twin vibrating pads do an excellent job of mopping.

The new Ecovacs X2. Dreame L20, Dreame L10S and eufy X10 Pro have dual rotating pads and a downward pulsating force to add elbow grease to mopping.

So don’t expect the combo robovac/robomop to do it all. You will still need a good stick vac for edges and stairs, and do a thorough mop if you want a clean and healthy home.

Reading

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CyberShack robovac news and reviews

Update – CyberShack’s view 2024

We have reviewed most of the better robovacs – at least Generation 4 or 5 this year. There is a definite improvement in AI navigation and AI/Camera obstacle avoidance, including pet poo.

Gen 5

The most impressive in 2023 was the $2799 DreameBot L20 Ultra is a very smart, efficient robovac/mop, a very smart, efficient robovac/mop that also has a floor-cleaning solution dispenser, mop extender and fully-featured dock.

The runner-up is the $2499 Ecovacs Deebot X2 Omni – can a robot vacuum/mop get any better? which possibly has more smarts and AI and a fully featured dock.

Gen 4

This was the year that vendors snuck in an AI camera, which until now was the differentiating feature of Gen 5.

The winner is the $1999 Dreame L10s Pro Ultra Heat – value premium robovac/mop with almost every feature of the L20, including an AI camera. It, too, has an extendable mop and a fully-featured cleaning station.

The $1799 Ecovacs Deebot T20 Omni—faster, cheaper, and better (cleaning station)—is a Gen 4.5 (extra smarts like an AI camera) that did a near-perfect one-pass whole-of-house vacuum and mop on 70/30 hard floors and sisal carpet. It has just been replaced by the T30 (yet to be reviewed), which looks very fully featured.

The $1499 Eufy X9 Pro robot vacuum and mop—one of the best of 2023 (mop cleaning station)—is a Gen 4.5 (extra smarts like an AI camera), perfect for smaller homes/apartments with hard floors. It has just been replaced by the X10 Pro (yet to be reviewed), but it looks very fully featured.

Hobot Legee D8 and Lulu mop cleaning station (robot vacuum/mop cleaning ($1250 bundle price November 2023). While it is strictly a Gen 4 (no AI camera for intelligent obstacle recognition), it does a good one-pass whole-of-house vacuum and mop on 70/30 hard floors and sisal carpet.