Ecovacs Deebot T20 Omni – faster, cheaper, and better (cleaning review)

11/09/2023
By Ray Shaw
In Reviews

The new Ecovacs Deebot T20 Omni offers a true one-pass robot vacuum and mop solution on hard and carpeted floors. The secret – it lifts the mopping pads when it detects carpet. It has a sophisticated cleaning and charging station as well.

With most robovac/mops, you need a run for vacuum/mop on hard floors and another run for carpet areas sans the mopping pads. It also presents issues where a tiled ensuite bathroom is off a carpeted bedroom. There, you need to set go and no-go zones and name rooms to get it to vacuum/mop the bathroom. It works, but there must be a more straightforward way.

Enter the Ecovacs Deebot T20 Omni. It has carpet detectors that lift and stop the rotating mopping pads when it encounters carpet. Add to that the latest in mapping and obstacle avoidance, heated water mop pad cleaning, even more vacuum power, and longer run-time, and it is a winner.

The price of progress

Last year, we reviewed the superb Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni, which got our vote as the best robovac/mop of 2022. Its one flaw was that it could not do a one-pass vacuum/mop on hard and carpet floors. The X2 Omni has just superseded it ($2,499 – more in another article).

The Ecovacs Deebot T20 Omni costs $1,799 and can do one pass. It does it well and costs less. The features that impressed us included:

A 55° Hot Water Mop Washing Technology to clean mop pads and remove stubborn grime and grease. It also ensures no wet-mop smell between use.
6000pA (X1 is 5000Pa, and X2 is 8000pA) vacuum suction removes 97% of hard floor detritus and significantly more carpet dust and lint.
TrueDetect 3D 3.0 obstacle avoidance and TrueMapping 2.0 fast mapping (under 6 minutes) for precise navigation with fast mapping (X2 has the next generation 3.0).
5200mAh battery life – 140-260 minutes, depending on the mode and surfaces
Dual side brushes for better edge cleaning
Rubber rotating brush
20mm sill climb (22mm on X2)
180RPM Rotating mop pads lift 9mm and shut off water to avoid mopping carpet.
300ml dustbin and a 3L Omni bag system.
4L clean water and wastewater capacity
Greater privacy for Australian users
Expanded Yiko voice commands and all executed locally (not like Google/Alexa/Siri)
New Housekeeper AI mode to dynamically adjust its cleaning according to your home environment and cleaning preferences.
Fashion white Omni station
36.3cm round and 1.04cm height x 4.4kg

If you are unfamiliar with the various robot vacuum and mopping technologies, read Five Tips for Choosing a robovac/mop (2023 update guide).

Australian Review: Ecovacs Deebot T20 Omni robot vacuum and mop

Website	Website, Product Page, Manual and Quick Start Guide
Price	$1799
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	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. Est 1998 by Qian Dongqi. According to Statistica, Ecovacs Robotics had 41% of the Chinese market for robovacs/mops by 2018. Globally, in 2020, it was #2 at 17% market share.
About	CyberShack news and reviews Robovacs and Robomops

We use Fail (below expectations), Passable (meets low expectations), Pass (meets expectations), Pass+ (near Exceed but not class-leading) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. You can click on most images for an enlargement.

First Impression – Pass+

We loved the X1 Omni except for one thing – it needed two passes – one for vacuum (all) and one for mopping (except no-go carpet zones). The Ecovacs Deebot T20 Omni uses a similar Omni cleaning station and solves the one-pass dilemma. And it is lower cost.

I like the White colourways; it is beautifully built and deserves a high recommendation.

Sensors – Exceed

We currently assess robovacs by their level of technology, from Gen 1 – dumbots to Gen 4 brainybots. This is more like a Gen 4 with significant AI benefits.

TrueMapping 2.0 Distance using ToF LiDAR maps out to 10m.
TrueDetect 3D 3.0 Obstacle avoidance uses a line laser to .35m and images from an RGB camera to generate 3D coordinates and uses AI image algorithms to identify the object’s size.
Anti-drop uses Infrared sensors underneath to avoid more than a 60mm drop.
Carpet Detection uses a 290Hz ultrasonic echo signal to identify the floor material and adjust the vacuum and mopping.
Front/side bumper sensor
Microphone for Yiko Voice Control effective to 8m.

Setup – Easy – Pass+

Ecovacs Home App for Android and iOS is easy to use and connects to Wi-Fi 4 N 2.4Ghz (it will accept Wi-Fi 5Ghz, but the range is smaller). You must set up an Ecovacs account (email and password), give the App location and find nearby devices permission. The Terms of Use and Privacy provisions are benign. The App provides lots of functionality:

Manage Maps
Cleaning Settings
Mopping Settings
Cleaning Sequence
Change smart settings
Create a custom cleaning schedule
View cleaning history
Manage YIKO or other voice assistant settings
Turn on do-not-disturb settings

Perhaps the most useful feature is to set 1 or 2 passes and cleaning efficiency to standard (U-shape), deep (Overlapping U-shape) and fast (expanded U-shape). The default standard and one pass are perfect for most homes.

Carpet cleaning has options for auto-boost suction (recommend), auto (lifts mopping pads over carpet) and bypass (avoid all carpets – unnecessary with Autodetect).

Mopping settings include wetness (low, normal, and high), cleaning interval (6/10/15 minutes before return to base) and hot air mop drying time (2/3/4 hours).

Omni station

The station needs mains power. It houses the clean water and dirty water reservoirs. It is large at 448 x 430 x 578mm and requires about a meter clear in front and a little side clearance.

It has a replaceable dirt collection bag, filter, and two 4L clean and wastewater containers. It washes and dries the mop.

Mapping – Exceed

The Ecovacs Deebot T20 Omni initially does a quick map (6 minutes for 100m2) by running around the area’s perimeter to be cleaned. The result is quite accurate. From there, you can set go and no-go zones, name rooms, etc.

As it auto-detects carpet, you don’t need to set no-mop zones. Once the map is done, you can start cleaning. It also updates the map as it cleans.

As it needs to return to the base station for mop cleaning frequently, you can only do multi-level homes if you clean one floor, move the station to the next, select that map and so on.

Home Prep and Obstacle Avoidance – Pass+

In our guide, we outline the best house prep practice. Follow this for at least the quick map and first one-pass clean.

After that, we did not do house prep, and it navigated around tables, chairs, footstools, shoes, clothes on the floor, etc. Its only hiccup was shoelaces, and USB cables must be tucked away.

Its AI is allegedly able to identify pet poo, but we did not have a test subject.

Power and Battery – Pass+

6000pA is a lot of power, but that is on Max+ mode. It also has Quiet, Standard, and Strong modes. Mostly, it will be about 2800pA (Standard) and increase as necessary. The Air Watt rating is 45.

Ecovacs claims 260 minutes on (quiet mode, vacuum only), and the one-pass run time is 140-170 minutes, depending on the hard floor and carpet mix.

The 5200mAh Lithium-ion battery takes about 6.5 hours to charge via Omni station.

Maximum 240V power use: 1650W during hot water washing and drying and 1000W emptying.

Speed – Pass+

It vacuums/mops at about 1m2 per minute. This is twice as fast as separate passes for vacuum and mop.

Noise – Pass

All robovac/mops make noise. This is about 60dB in operation and 80dB in emptying and initial cleaning.

Sill height – Pass

If stuck on a 20mm sill, it will persistently move around and try different approach angles. It is usually successful.

Yiko voice assistant – Pass

Yiko voice assistant is still an AI work in progress. For example, ‘Follow my voice’ should be continuous to take it to a room, but it requires you to stand still until it finds you – no more than 2 metres away.

But it has more commands than OK Google or Alexa, and each firmware update becomes more accurate.

Vacuum efficiency – Pass+

One of the benefits of auto-empty is that you don’t have to open it and manually empty it. But as it returns to the Omni station every 6/10/15 minutes to clean the mop, you never get a proper indication of vacuum efficiency.

Carpet – low pile: Standard mode removed 90% of the 100g test sample (Dyson Gen5 Detect was used to measure what was left, and it was mostly fine particles). Auto mode removed 95%.
Hard floors: It removed 97% of the test sample.
Hair mixture of pet hair and 30cm human hair: It removes all hair, but the 30cm hair tends to wrap around the rubber roller, needing cleaning after each use.
Edge Clean: It has left and right whiskers, so it does not matter which side the edge is on. It will angle into the edge to get as much detritus as possible. Subjectively, it does one of the best jobs on edges, reaching over 80%, but you will still need a stick vac to get 100%.

It performs like any other premium device visually and with the barefoot test.

Mop efficiency – Pass+

It has two 180RPM counter-rotating plates with an automatic 9mm lift over carpet. We have a short pile carpet and could detect no wetness.

Again, subjectively, this seems to have better mopping power than most premium devices. It has a small 80ml internal water tank and returns to the Omni every 6/10/15 minutes for a clean and re-wetting. By default, that is about every 10m2, meaning it is not dragging a wet mess around like static mop pads.

You can add Ecovacs cleaning solution to the freshwater tank as it is specially formulated to cut grease, not foam or streak (not tested).

It does a better job than maintenance mopping.

Build Quality – Exceed

It is very well-made, verging on over-engineering.

Maintenance – Pass

At the end of a clean, the Ecovacs Deebot T20 Omni return to the station for a final mop wash and dry. Drying eliminates the potential for mould and small if not regularly used.

Robot Part	Maintenance Frequency (Once per week infers after each weekly use.)	Replacement Frequency
Washable Mopping Pad $29.90 (4)	Can be hand or machine-washed if required	Every 1-2 months
Dust Bag $29		Replace when voice prompts
Dual Side Brushes	Inspect every two weeks	Every 3-6 months
Floating Rubber Brush $39.99	Remove cover. Inspect/clean each after use	Every 6-12 months
Filter (Internal Dust Bin)	Fill before/after each use. Check filter gauze and clean	Every 3-6 months
TrueDetect 3D Sensor TrueMapping Distance Sensor Universal Wheel Driving wheels Anti-Drop Sensors Bumper Charging Contacts OMNI Station Pins	Inspect and wipe over once per week.
Omni Cleaning Sink	Once every two weeks
Filter (Cleaning Sink)	Once per month
Clean Water Tank	Fill before/after each use Check filter gauze and clean
Dirty Water Tank	Empty after each use
Dust Collection Cabin	Once per month
OMNI Station	Once per month

While this may sound onerous, it is no different to any other robovac/mop if you want to keep it in top condition. The Once a week can easily be stretched to every month for typical users.

CyberShack’s view – Ecovacs Deebot T20 Omni – faster, cheaper and better

Two words – exceptional results. It builds upon the features available to its predecessors and improves the overall design.

Most notable are the lifting mop pads. On previous ECOVACS robots we’ve tested, the robot would avoid carpets or rugs while the mops were attached.

Ratings

Features: 95 – everything you need, and the Omni station dries the mop pads
Value: 95 – Great value as it does one-pass cleaning
Performance: 95 – better than average mopping, mop lift on carpet, and terrific on hard floors.
Ease of Use: 90 – Easy to set up, and Quick Map is excellent. Maintenance is a little more than expected.
Design: 90 – The white finish is attractive.