Ecovacs DEEBOT N20 Plus – budget robot vacuum/mop sucks it in (Cleaning review)

The Ecovacs DEEBOT N20 Plus is a budget robot at $949 but savvy shoppers will find substantial discounts. As with any robot vacuum/mop, we set out to find its strengths and weaknesses.

After our panel, comprising four homes plus mine got over the initial dissonance of testing a budget robot (they are used to Gen 5 premium bots), I brought them back to earth. “What do you expect from a $649 robot (on special)?”

We then went through Five tips for choosing a robovac/mop (2024 cleaning guide), eliminating things that require more sensors, cameras, dToF, extendable mops/whiskers cleaning stations that wash and dry mops, etc. It has

Navigation

• 2D LiDAR
• IR front obstacle avoidance
• 2 x IR Edge Sensor
• Carpet sensor
• Cliff sensor

This means it will create a map (Ecovacs TrueMapping is pretty good) that can be edited with no-go zones, etc. It also means that there is no AI or camera obstacle recognition and that complete home preparation is required.

Mopping

It has a static half-moon-shaped mop platten and a 254ml water tank capacity. Once you attach the mopping module, it will automatically avoid any carpet. If you detach the module, it becomes a vacuum-only device.

This means you cannot do one pass cleaning as it does not lift the platten over the carpet.

Cleaning

It does not have extendable mop pads or whiskers, so it will lack the same edge and corner cleaning ability as any round robot.

Cleaning station

The station is for charging and emptying the 400ml robot dustbin. The station uses 1.5L cyclone technology to empty (think Dyson) and does not use a bag.

Let’s see what this $649 robot can do.

Australian Review: Ecovacs DEEBOT N20 Plus

Website	Website Product Page (N20 Plus black) Product Page (N20 Pro Plus white)     Manual
Price	$949 N20 Plus but seen as low as $854, so shop around $999 N20 Pro Plus but seen as low as $899, so shop around
From	Ecovacs Online, JB Hi-Fi, Bing Lee, Good Guys, eBay Ecovacs store Avoid online and international stores as they don’t have an AU warranty.
Colours	Black or White
Warranty	2-year ACL
Made in	China
Company	Ecovacs Robotics is a Chinese technology company best known for leading the development of in-home robotic appliances. Founded in 1998 by Qian Dongqi, Ecovacs has a commanding lead in the Chinese market and is #1 in Australia.
About	CyberShack cleaning news and reviews CyberShack Ecovacs news and reviews

We use Fail (below expectations), Pass (meets expectations) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. We occasionally give a Pass(able) rating that is not as good as it should be and a Pass ‘+’ rating to show it is good but does not quite make it to Exceed. You can click on most images for an enlargement.

First Impression – Pass

It is essential to set expectations for a robot vacuum/mop. Unfortunately, most buyers don’t read our guide and think all robots do the same job. Well, we know differently, and there are currently five distinct categories. In brief:

• Gen 1 DumBots <$500: Don’t have LiDAR; bump and grind around a home. They are perfect for small (50-80m2) hard floor, single-level apartments for maintenance, vacuuming, and mopping. Full house prep is required as they don’t have intelligent obstacle detection.
• Gen 2 DimBots <$1000: Adds basic 2D LiDAR Mapping and pattern cleaning. Still for smaller, single-level hard-floor homes.
• Gen 3 AverageBots $1000-1500: The Ecovacs DEEBOT N20 Plus fits this category with editable maps, more IR detection, and a static platten mop module.
• Gen 4 BrainyBots $1500-2000: These generally have a cleaning station that cleans the mop and empties the waste bin. The robots lack a camera or AI obstacle avoidance features, but they can do one-pass cleaning in the right home.
• Gen 5 SmartBots $2000+: These are premium devices with more advanced cleaning stations, cameras, and AI obstacle detection. They offer true one-pass, unattended, whole-home cleaning and side mop and whisker extensions.

Our panellists are used to Gen 4 and 5 and needed to objectively assess this robot’s capabilities within the Gen 3 bracket. We also asked them to consider the value it provides.

What is an Ecovacs DEEBOT N20 Plus (or Pro)?

• Robot Type: 353 round x 96mm high x 8.2kg (should be able to get under 100mm cupboard overhangs)
• Navigation: 2D LiDAR navigation to .8m
• IR Sensors: Left, Right and Front to 100mm
• Carpet sensor 300Hz (low pile carpet only)
• Cliff detection sensor
• Single left whisker brush
• 13cm rubber composite roller (smaller means more passes and slower to cover the same area) with a zero tangle hair cutter (good for pets)
• 20mm sill negotiation
• Internal dustbin empties to the cleaning station
• 8000 pascals maximum (about average)
• Run time range 170 (8000 pascals) to 300 minutes (5200 pascals)
• Static (this is not the vibrating model) Ecovacs DEEBOT N20 Plusplatten mop and integrated 220ml water container. Attach this vacuum/mop.
• Wi-Fi 2.4GHz and mesh aware (same SSID/password)
• Voice commands
• 3+1 2D editable maps
• 1.5L cleaning station dustbin

Mapping – Pass

The quick map created a 2D map in under 10 minutes. Panellists mentioned that it created some phantom rooms and often broke up single rooms into multiple ones. These were fixed in map editing, which allows for dividing and combining. You can use preset names only.

One annoyance was that the maps were always upside down, e.g., north-facing south, and we could not find a way to orient them correctly.

The App – Pass

The limited app has:

• Map edit
• Cleaning log
• Maintenance (based on time used)
• Room cleaning sequence
• Intelligence: Auto empty or extra empty dustbin and Suction boost on carpets
• Do Not Disturb, Child Lock, Auto Resume and Area Unit.
• About DEEBOT, including firmware update (V 1.34.0)

Mopping efficiency – Maintenance Only – Pass

The panel agreed it is a maintenance standard mop as it would not remove dried-on coffee, juice, or milk stains. It lacks things like dirt detection and spot cleaning, but these are not expected of a Gen 3.

We set a limit of 50m2 for tests, and the 220ml water container was empty after with no notifications.

The mop platten is wet via four outlets and has three flow settings. It is removable and needs to be washed about every 15-25m2; otherwise, dirty water will drag over the hard floor.

In this mode, it will not enter if the carpet detector indicates carpet.

Vacuum – hard floors – Pass

The advertised 8000 Pascal suction on Max. We estimate:

• Quiet:1500
• Standard (default): 3000
• Strong: 6000
• Max: 8000

The hard floor vacuum was satisfactory, besides the edge and corner cleaning (more later).

The carpet vacuum was not. It left over 30% of our test detritus and, to our ears, did not adjust suction on this short-pile carpet. We ran the tests again with the suction set to strong and two passes. The vacuum efficiency rose to an acceptable 88%. Ditto for edge and corner clean.

There is no notification for a full internal dustbin, and panellists felt that it filled too quickly with pet hair and carpet detritus.

Edge and Corner Clean – Fail

To explain the fail, NO Gen 3 round robot does edges and corners.

The rotating brush is approximately 13 cm wide, leaving about a 100mm gap between the robot and the wall on each side. The IR edge detectors also need to leave a small gap to avoid damaging kickboards. The spinning right-side whisker does little to pull detritus from the edges.

Physics dictates that a round robot cannot get into square corners.

Getting stuck, obstacles or lost – Pass for Gen 3

We have a blind alley test that most round robots fail because they lack the intelligence to rotate and drive out. This initially got stuck until we added 90mm extra width, and after a 47-point turn 😁it edged its way out.

On the torture test, it voraciously ate cables, shoelaces, Lego bricks, socks, and much more. It ploughed in the faux pet poo test and tried to mount horizontal coffee table legs and lower round barstool bases. It saw larger objects like sports shoes and navigated around them, leaving quite a large, uncleaned area. But, hey, any Gen 3 does this.

It has good Wi-Fi mesh awareness and returns to base every time.

Pet and long human hair – PAA

The anti-tangle brush works well. The vacuum throat is well placed under the dustbin, but it fills quickly.

Cleaning pattern – Pass

It cleans the walls first and then infills with a typical 5-meter U-shape pattern. We saw no evidence of wandering and getting lost.

Sills – Pass

20mm sills were no issue.

Speed – Pass

50m2 took 57 minutes on one pass and used 20% battery on defaults.

Noise – Pass

The default settings were about 60dB, and the maximum was about 78 dB. The empty station exceeded this for a couple of seconds.

Voice Assist – No

We miss Yiko, Ecovac’s super helpful voice control.

Battery – Pass

Panellists felt the 6-7-hour recharge time was too long, but again, that is typical of Gen 3 robots.

The battery is 14.8V/5.2A/77W, but the robot is rated at 45W, which extends the usable battery time.

Ecovacs claims a battery life of 170-300 minutes (Max suction to quiet). We feel that around 180-200 minutes (200m2) is about right. This may take four water refills and four dustbin empties.

Maintenance – Pass

Ecovacs lists these on its website

• DEEBOT floor cleaning solution $75 for 2L
• 3 x mopping pads $29.90
• Internal dustbin filter $16.95
• 2 x side whisker brushes $14.90
• Anti-tangle rotary brush $49.90
• Main brush cover $29.90

CyberShack’s view – The Ecovacs DEEBOT N20 Plus is a Gen 3 budget bot that performs as well as, if not better, than other Gen 3 robots.

Remembering that we had to ask panellists to adjust their expectations, the fact that it passed every main test (that is, to an acceptable standard) speaks volumes.

If you have $649, a suitable home (up to 200m2 hard floor), and don’t mind full house prep, this is for you.

Ecovacs DEEBOT N20 Plus ratings

It is rated as a Gen 3 robot in the $500-1000 price bracket, although the value rating is on the $649 special price. Please remember that 70 is a pass mark.

• Features: 80 – it has all the expected Gen 3 features
• Value: 90—At $649, it is hard to beat. At RRP $949, better Gen 4 and some Gen 5 robots are on runout. Ecovacs brand counts for something, so expect to pay a small premium.
• Performance: 80 – it meets or exceeds Gen 3 expectations
• Ease of Use: 80—The amount of home prep is often overlooked, and you must do a full prep. Once done, it is fine for up to 200m2. It requires separate passes for vacuum and vacuum/mop.
• Design: 80 – a round robot with a bagless cleaning station.

Pro

• Meets or exceeds all Gen 3 performance and specifications
• Good company with solid local backup

Con

• Nothing really at the price
• No empty water and full dustbin sensors
• Can’t seem to orient map correctly.

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