Ecovacs Deebot N20 Plus robot vacuum/mop – first look (cleaning)

10/11/2024
By Ray Shaw
In Reviews

The Ecovacs Deebot N20 Plus joins the Deebot range of over 20 models and variants. Confused? Our ‘first look’ positions this device and should help you wade through all the Black Friday and Xmas promotions to get the right robovac/mop for you.

First, please read our guide Five tips for choosing a robovac/mop, because it explains the five generations of robot vacuum/mops and what each does, from a DumBot to a SmartBot.

The following generally affect your choice of generations. The more complex your needs, the more you need to spend to avoid disappointment.

The mix of carpet (and pile height), timber, and ceramic floorcoverings
Home Design (single/multi-level)
Pets
Good Wi-Fi coverage
Your expectation of unsupervised whole-of-home one-pass cleaning (if this is a priority, you need a Gen 5 Ecovacs Deebot X5 Pro Omni – its best yet for one-pass, whole-of-home

Assuming you now know the fundamental differences between generations, let’s explore the Ecovacs Deebot N20 Plus (Black).

A DEEBOT N20 PRO PLUS (White) has a slightly upgraded OZMO Pro 2.0 vibrating mopping pad. You can see the basic comparison here.

What is a first look?

Pre-Xmas CyberShack gets inundated with requests to do reviews in time for the Black Friday and pre-Christmas sales. Our deep-dive review queue at present is about 10 weeks so we wanted to get the salient facts to you first.

Australian First Look: Ecovacs Deebot N20 Plus

10/11/24 – Note: CyberShack has five different robovacs under test (Ecovacs, Roborock, Philips and Narwal), and we will hopefully have full reviews in mid/late December.

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
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

Let’s categorise the Ecovacs Deebot N20 Plus

Round robot 353 round x 96mm high (should be able to get under 100mm cupboard overhangs)
2D LiDAR navigation to .8m
IR and bumper front obstacle detection to 100mm
IR Left side edge detection
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)
Zero Tangle hair cutter (good for pets)
20mm sill negotiation
Internal dustbin and filter
8000 pascals (about average)
Static platten mop and integrated 220ml water container (Pro Plus has vibrating platten)
Attach the static or vibrating module to mop.
Wi-Fi 2.4GHz and mesh aware (same SSID/password)
Voice commands
3+1 maps
Run time range 170 (8000 pascals) to 300 minutes (5200 pascals)

The mop will require manual cleaning about every 15-20m2 to avoid ‘dragging’ dirty water over the floor. It is simple to remove the Velcro pad, rinse under cold water, ring out excess water, and reattach. Then, top up the water tank. It is a maintenance mop—it will not remove stains.

The dock is 356 x 451 x 380 plus the obligatory 500 mm on either side and 1.5m in front clearance. It charges the 5200mAh battery in about 6.5 hours and is a single-function dustbin empty only. It uses a cyclonic bagless vacuum canister you empty into the general rubbish.

Note the DKX55 is the Pro Plus and DKX56 is the Plus.

What does this mean?

It is essentially a Gen 3 AverageBot with some Gen 4 features via the excellent Ecovacs Home app, which adds more flexibility.

Good for

Timber or tiles to do daily or scheduled vacuum/mop.
Single-level homes or apartments.
An anti-tangle brush should help with pet hair.
Will require full home preparation as smaller obstacle detection is based on IR and bumper

Missing – Gen 4 and 5 robots required

3D LiDAR for better maps and AI intelligence cleaning
AI Camera obstacle detection to enable whole-of-home one-pass cleaning with minimal prep.
Corner and edge clean
Wider roller and/or dual whiskers
Two function cleaning station (dust empty and mop wash/dry)

CyberShack’s First Look – Ecovacs Deebot N20 Plus is a great Gen-3 entry-level robovac/mop

Having been spoilt by the robot vacuum superiority race and experienced actual whole-of-home one-pass cleaning (without much prep), I came back to reality. I understood that only some have $2500+ for a Gen 5.

So, our best advice is to shun Gen 1 and 2 robots and consider this an entry-level robot that may do most of what you need.

Full ratings will come with the review in December (we need four whole weeks at four homes to properly review robovac/mops).