Ecovacs Deebot X2 Omni – can a robot vacuum/mop get any better? (cleaning review)

The Ecovacs Deebot X2 Omni has rewritten the robot vacuum/mops rules. It has a new, more efficient square design, built-in dual laser LiDAR navigation, and a new AINA brain to give results we have never seen before.

It supersedes the X1 Omni, which sold over 1 million units. Ecovacs has been the #1 Australian brand for the past four years.

When reviewing tech cleaners, we use our test panel with various home and floor types and get the end users’ opinions.

The unanimous opinion is that the Ecovacs Deebot X2 Omni is the best robot vacuum cleaner yet, and they have seen quite a few over the past five years.

Why best? We review high-tech robot vacuums from Eufy, Dyson, Roborock, Dreame, Robot My Life (Ultenic), and others. Over that period, we have gone from Gen 1 ‘bump and grind Dumbots’ to today – a Gen 5 with the works.

What is the Nirvana?

The Gen 5 Nirvana is 100% reliable, needs minimal home prep, and gives hands-off cleaning.

• The 2022 $2499 Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni robovac/mop review answers the question. Is it worth it? Yes, it came close, but it could not do one-pass cleaning on a mix of hardwood and carpet floors.
• The 2023 $1799 Ecovacs Deebot T20 Omni – faster, cheaper, and better achieves genuine one-pass for mixed floors.
• Now, the 2023, $2499 Ecovacs Deebot X2 Omni improves on the X1 and T20 Omni in so many ways.

To learn more about robot vacuums and mops, read Five tips for choosing a robovac/mop (2023 update cleaning guide).

Website	Website,  Product Page
Price	$2499
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	Silver
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 cleaning news and reviews CyberShack Ecovacs news and reviews

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

How does the Ecovacs Deebot X2 Omni up the ante?

New design features

• Not round. It is square, allowing for a wider (200mm) brush roller (most are 130-160mm).
• It has lost the typical top LiDAR turret, so it is lower (95mm) to get under more furniture and cupboard edges.
• Narrower 32cm to get in and out of tight places.
• Square means it gets within 5mm of an edge and into corners. Its unique edge mode can ‘crabwalk’ to get maximum edge clean.

A new type of LiDAR

Gen 3 or 4 robovac will have a rotating hexagonal mirror top turret using an Infrared LiDAR (LIght Detection And Ranging). Unstable rotation speed and bumps to the turret can cause inaccuracies.

Ecovacs have invented a 210° semi-solid-state 20,000Hz LiDAR embedded in the robot body. It is more reliable, not prone to alignment issues and can detect objects as small as 2mm and up to 10 metres away.

AINA – Artificial Intelligence Navigation

This is a Gen 5 robot using a mixture of dual-laser LiDAR, AIVI (AI Vision) Starlight 960p RGBD (Red/Green/Blue/Depth) camera, TrueDetect 3D ToF (time-of-flight) sensor, edge sensors, carpet sensor, and more to create maps and navigate.

AINA uses machine learning to develop the most comprehensive understanding of your home. It can think about the best way to clean.

Higher carpet mop lift

When it encounters carpet, it will lift the mopping pads by 15mm, stop rotating, and cut water. This works well on short and medium piles. You must set a no-mop zone and remove the mopping pads for any longer pile.

Rugs on the floor can get a damp edge – it is not really an issue.

Vacuum power improvements

It now has 8000 Pa suction (on Max+) for improved suction, especially on carpet.

Omni cleaning station improvements

After use, it cleans and hot air dries the mop pads at 55°C – no chance of mould.

Yiko 2.0 is better

Yiko’s voice control now nearly matches the App for functionality. Unfortunately, Google and Alexa assistants can only do a fraction of what Yiko can.

Higher sill lift

It can now navigate 22mm sills with mopping pads attached, where most are 15-20mm.

Pet Poo identification

AINA and the camera can recognise and navigate around pet poo. We have not tested this, but I suspect it needs to be semi-chunky rather than ‘poo’rrhea.

Roving security camera

You can enable it as a roving security camera if you wish. Footage is stored on the robot – not the cloud.

Setup – Easy – Pass+

Download the Ecovacs Home App for Android or iOS and follow the prompts. It requires an Ecovacs account, which stores the data in Singapore, so privacy should not be an issue.

The App sets up Wi-Fi, downloads firmware updates, and has dozens of customisable parameters.

It is impressive because it offers a high level of control. You can specify vacuuming, mopping or both by floor type, single or one-pass. You can control suction power (Quiet, Standard, Strong, or Max+), water flow (low, medium, and high), and repeat cleaning twice.

It has schedules, multi-floor mapping, deep scrubbing and way too many options. Select default.

Quick map – Pass+

Next, run Quick Map. It is accurate, and the robot updates the map each time it cleans. The only issue is that you cannot use your room names. Otherwise, it is simple to edit, create zones, etc.

Home Prep – 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.

It got stuck twice.

• A stairwell where it was determined to clean the floor on the other side. A no-go zone solved that.
• Behind some lounge chairs where it could access but not turn around. Widening the space to allow turns solved that.

Vacuum efficiency – Pass+

It has up to 8000 Pa suction on the highest level. It has quiet, standard (default), strong and Max+. It has an internal 420ml dustbin that auto empties (usually when it returns for a mop clean) into the 3L Omni dustbag.

Hard floors: A 200mm wide rubber roller brush easily removes detritus up to grains of rice. Larger items like Nutrigrain are occasionally flicked aside. As it auto-empties, we can only guesstimate (effective based on what the Dyson Gen5detect – the evolution continues was able to collect after) that it is close to 100%.

Short Pile and sisal carpet: It collects more than any other robovac tested. It still has issues with static electricity-charged lint and tissue particles. Our guestimate was 90%.

Long pile: You should remove the mopping pads. Our guestimate is 85%.

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

Carpet – Pass+

The rotating cleaning pads lift 15mm over carpet. The 180ml water tank stops pumping. This works very well for short pile and sisal. But long pile and rugs placed on the floor (a raised lip) can get damp edges. Set these as no-mop zones.

Mopping efficiency – Pass+

It has 180 RPM counter-rotating mops that also pulsate as they clean. The unit has a 180ml water tank – better than those without a tank that return every 10 minutes to the cleaning station.

The panel feels it is the best robomop solution they have seen. It could remove light dried stains like juice, milk, or coffee. If your floors are dirty, change the App to Deep Scrubbing and 2X cleaning.

Again, subjectively, this has better mopping power than most premium devices. It has a 180ml internal water tank and returns to the Omni every 10/15/25 minutes for a clean and re-wetting. By default, that is about every 15-20m2, meaning it is not dragging a wet mess around like static mop pads.

Ecovacs sells a 110ML floral aroma cleaning solution for $6.95 that helps cut grease. You add 20ml to each clean water tank fill. We did not test it but have used it in the past. There is also a bundle bundle with 2 x 2L and 2 x 110ML for $84.90.

Omni Cleaning station – Pass+

This is an integrated dustbin empty and mop wash and cleaning station. The X2 has a 55°C heating function to dry the mops in two hours, useful when stored to avoid mould and smell.

The 3-litre dustbag should hold a couple of months of dirt. It does not have a HEPA filter – not a deal breaker.

It has 4 litre clean and wastewater tanks. Changing these after each run is wise, but they should last 2-3 runs.

It is 394x443x527.5mm and needs about a meter clearance in front.

Sill negotiation – Pass+

Up to 22mm – the first that has conquered our 20mm sills in vacuum/mop mode.

Noise – Pass

It is slightly noisier than expected at 67dB in Max+ mode. It has a ‘Do not disturb’ app setting.

Speed – Pass

On default settings, the one-pass vacuum and mop speed is about 1.5 minutes per square metre. This is average for robot vac/mops. Options such as deep scrub will slow it down.

Battery – Pass

It has a 14.4V/6.4A/92W Lithium-ion battery. There are no spare parts prices yet, but the good news is that it can be easily replaced, and we estimate the cost will be around $250.

Ecovacs claims the battery can last up to 210 minutes on the lowest settings.

We found mopping and vacuuming with default settings averaged:

• 1 hour 25 minutes (70% carpets)
• 1 hour 45 minutes (30% carpet)
• 2 hours 12 minutes (no carpet)

Charging from 0-100% is nearly 6 hours.

Power use in emptying and washing was 850W, and drying was 1600W.

These figures are commensurate with Gen 4 and 5 robovacs.

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.

Build Quality – Exceed

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

Maintenance – Pass

At the end of a clean, the Ecovacs Deebot X2 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 (3)	Every couple of months	Replace when voice prompts
Single Side Brush $9.90	Inspect every two weeks	Every 3-6 months
Floating Rubber Brush $49.90	Remove cover. Inspect/clean each after use	Every 6-12 months
Filter $14.90 Internal Dust Bin	Check filter gauze and tap/brush clean	Every 3-6 months
TrueDetect 3D Sensor TrueMapping Distance Sensor 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 – The Ecovacs Deebot X2 Omni is the best to date

Not to take away from it, but the robovac/mop race is highly competitive, and you can be sure that Eufy, Dreame, Roborock, et al. are working on similar concepts.

It comes down to investing in a robot that will give you a good five years of use (at $2499, it should provide even more), so you need to look past specs to the company and its support. Ecovacs wins hands down there with office/warehouse/service in Australia, its local manager is an Aussie, and the company has a long-term view for Australia with a greater diversity of products like the GOAT mower and air purifiers to come.

You are more likely to get firmware updates to make the device more useful, and your privacy is strongly protected using a regional cloud.

Ratings Ecovacs Deebot X2 Omni

This is getting harder as more robovacs add more features. If you rate it as a Gen 5, it has everything you could expect. If rating it as a Gen 4, it gets 100 points all the way.

• Features: 95 – everything you need, and the Omni station dries the mop pads
• Value: 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: 95 – Easy to set up, and Quick Map is excellent. Maintenance is a little more than expected.
• Design: 95 – square makes sense.

Specs: Ecovacs Deebot X2 Omni

Item		Explanation	Grade
Shape	Square	Effectively addresses the ‘round’ issues with edges and corner cleaning	Pass+
Lidar	210°	Gen 5 TrueMapping 2.0 dToF (LiDAR) is now part of the body instead of a rotating turret,	Pass+
Sensor	IR	A forward IR sensor helps to avoid obstacles	Pass+
Camera		Forward-camera (RGBD) and 3D mapping. Option to enable live view	Pass+
Maps	5	Stores up to 5, but you must take the base station to each level.	Pass+
Map edit	Yes	All the usual, including mop and no mop zones	Pass+
App	Ecovacs Home	Google Play Store or Apple App Store Meets all typical needs. Modes include vacuum, mop or both, suction (4 levels), water volume (three levels), battery level and cleaning diary, area clean, navigation pattern, schedules, etc. Real-time tracking. Yiko has far more commands than other voice assistants.	Exceed
Edge		It gets closer to edges (5mm) than round-robovacs	Pass+
Carpet		It depends on the carpet type – uses a stronger suction setting and repeat clean patterns.	Pass+
Efficiency		>90% on carpet and >95% on hard floor	Pass+
Carpet Lift		15mm	Pass
Sills	22mm	It is better at 20mm sills and will persist.	Pass

Continued

Other Sensors	All	Forward bumper sensor. The cliff detector stops it from going down the stairs Carpet detector, Edge detectors	Pass+
Suction	8000Pa	On Max+	Exceed
Dustbin	420ml	Adequate given 3L self-empty function	Pass+
Water internal	180ml	It returns to base every 10/15/25 minutes	Pass+
Battery life		85 to 142 minutes, depending on vac/mop and power levels	Pass+
Battery	6400mAh	14.4V/6.4A/92W	Pass
Wi-Fi	2.4GHz	Same as most robot vacuums/mops. It will use 5Ghz but has a shorter distance from the router.	Pass
Size		320x353x95 x 4.2kg	Pass
Dock		Recharge time is about 6 hours 3L dust bag 4L water and wastewater	Pass
Inbox		Robot Cleaning station and AU power cord Robot 1 whisker 1 pair mop pads 1 Dustbags Cleaning brush/tool	Pass