ECOVACS DEBOOT Cleaning Solution(1L) x 1 for X1 OMNI/ X1 TURBO

Product Information

One major concern is maintenance. Some of the T9+’s components need to be replaced more frequently; the air freshener and dust bags every 60 days or so, depending on use. Others, such as the brushes and filters, will last for one hundred hours or more, although cleaning using the handy included tool is suggested to maintain peak performance. The Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo N8 Plus is straightforward to set up using the app, with its first task set to map the floor, although this can be disabled if you want to do it later. However, it’s a good demonstration of Deebot Ozmo N8 Plus’s mapping technology as you can watch it fill in parts of the room before it reaches them. You can choose one of four vacuuming levels – Quiet, Standard, Max, and Max+ – and the whole floor, individual rooms, or specific areas to clean. This last option relies on having your floor completely mapped beforehand.

The Deebot T9+ is about the same size as the Deebot N8+, measuring 3.75in / 30cm tall and 13.9in / 353cm in diameter, which leaves a good amount of space for it to fit under and around furniture. However, it probably won’t clear most couches and tighter spaces. On top there’s a single button which starts the cleaning process. An integrated LED light indicates status – it’s white when cleaning, blinks slowly while charging, or turns red if there's trouble. Above the button is a tiny Wi-Fi status light that glows when connected. To wake up the voice assistant, just say, "OK Yiko," and wait for it to reply, "I'm here." Yiko supports a wide range of voice commands, including "start cleaning," "make a new map," "mop the kitchen," and, "go mop the floor around the living room sofa." You can even say "come clean here" if you're in the same room as the robot, and it navigates to your position. Similarly, when you tell it, "don't vacuum here," the vacuum moves to a different spot. Yiko is enabled by default; to disable it, just navigate to More Settings in the Ecovacs app, select Yiko Voice Assistant, and toggle it off.

That said, if you’re not fussed about changing out the mop water, Ecovacs has other very capable Deebots that can vacuum and mop – and also automatically empty their own bins – for a lot less than the X1 range. We’d suggest the Ecovacs Deebot T9 Plus and the Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo T8 AIVI as cheaper yet capable robots from the brand. The infrared sensor around the front of the U2’s bumper powers the bot’s anti-collision tech. We found it works well when it comes to wall avoidance – stopping just short of large barriers – but it’s not quite as proficient at avoiding smaller obstacles like furniture legs. The Ecovacs app is impressive because it offers a high level of control over your cleaning preferences. You can specify vacuuming or mopping only, if you’d like to do them simultaneously or one after the other. You’ve also got control over suction power, the amount of water you want to use for a mopping run and whether you want it to pass over the area once or twice. You can also set cleaning schedules and adjust the charging station’s settings.

Of course, Ecovacs’ Deebot T9+ is more than just a vacuum. It offers air freshener and mopping abilities too. Swapping between the two functions is as simple as putting in a different component. It registers immediately, and you can send the device on its way. Inside, there a powerful 5,000Pa vacuum built into the device and on the base there’s a single roller built into the suction inlet. This uses both brushes and rubber flaps to agitate carpet and did a super job of staying free from hair tangles in our testing. Two rotary sweeping brushes on each side are used to catch debris from corners and throw it into the path of the vacuum. No initial mapping or anything else is required beforehand; the Deebot T9+ just goes on its merry way as soon as you press Auto Cleaning. To start, it went to my living room, traversing with relative ease, even going under furniture that was mere millimeters from the laser mapping tool that sits on top. I saw it doing a full wrap-around table legs and chairs for a thorough cleaning. Deemaid continued cruising in and out of different rooms and then would return, seemingly getting the lay of the land. As soon as it hit a rug, you could hear the suction intensify. During a one-hour mopping run, the X1 Omni returned to its base three separate times: once to empty its dustbin and twice to clean its mopping pads.

While the mopping abilities have been quite good, the X2 Omni isn’t able to properly lift the mopping pads high enough to avoid dampening the carpet. In my testing so far, the edges where carpet meets tile have been left slightly damp, though not enough to be worrisome. I’ve only tested it with Medium water flow level, and I’ll need to see how damp carpets can become while using the highest water flow setting before giving a final verdict. When you pop open the top of the Auto-Empty Station, you’ll find the preinstalled 2.5-liter dust bag isn’t massive, but should last a month or two. In addition, your first dust bag replacement is provided. Under the station is a large tube into which the dust bin is emptied, adding to the Auto-Empty Station's overall size. Nevertheless, it’s on a par with rival vacuums, and not an eyesore by any means. Ecovacs says the Deebot U2 has a run time of up to 110 minutes, and during our testing, we found the battery life to be a little lower; around 90 minutes with standard suction power. Using Max power, we got about 65 minutes of juice from the robovac, and around 45 minutes of run time on its most powerful suction setting. That’s quite an impressive battery life, especially when you consider a small open-plan apartment, or one with about two or three rooms, could get a thorough cleaning with the Max+ setting on a single run. Ecovacs has been in the best robot vacuum game for well over a decade now, so the brand knows what it’s doing. In fact, robot vacuums and their accessories are all that Ecovacs sells, ensuring all focus is put into advancing that specific technology. Ecovacs delivers high-end models such as the Deebot X1 Omni with all the top-of-line features you could ask for, including self-cleaning, and more economical options such as the Deebot T8 Pro+, which is the T9+’s predecessor. Previous Deebot models that had Alexa and Google Assistant support responded quite well to voice commands, even though there were only limited skills or instructions they could follow. Perhaps Ecovacs could improve Yiko’s functionality, but it might be a better option to revert to offering Alexa and Google Assistant support on its premium range as well.