This year, the robot vacuum cleaner is experiencing a rebirth as all the main manufacturers come up with novel and outrageous ways to entirely automate the laborious task of cleaning your floors.
Robot vacuums were practically wandering the halls of the IFA 2023 electronic trade exhibition in Berlin this week as businesses displayed their newest developments. Robot mops that work with your plumbing, significant advancements in navigation, smaller sizes for multi-purpose docking stations, and a robot mop that can perform the splits to clean your baseboards more effectively were all on display.
Here is a list of the most recent advancements in robotic floor cleaning that we saw this week at IFA.
Being square is cool.
At IFA, Ecovacs debuted the most recent upgrade to its most popular robot vacuum mop after unveiling it last month. The Deebot X2 Omni is square and costs €1,399 (US pricing is not available yet).
Robots with a square shape can clean edges and corners more effectively but typically have greater navigational issues. With its newest model, Ecovacs believes it has solved this problem.
The Deebot X1 Omni has been completely redesigned as the X2 with a new shape, a slimmer appearance, a toweringly high suction power (8,000 Pa), and a mop lift capability (15mm). The automatic dock, which refuels the robot’s water tank, empties the trash, cleans and dries the mops, and drains, is likewise more thin.
With the help of new dual-laser lidar technology, Ecovacs also asserts that the X2’s navigation system and AI-powered obstacle avoidance capabilities have been much enhanced.
The greatest modification is that it can now “dynamically avoid” obstacles by selecting a new path when it is diverted from its original course rather than attempting to return to where its previous course had instructed it to go.
Due to its integrated lasers into the sides and redesigned navigation system, the X2 can do without the lidar tower on top, resulting in a smaller profile and improved ability to fit under low furniture.
This machine can perform the splits
The DreameBot L20 Ultra ($1499.99/£199/€1199), a new flagship bot from Dreame Technology, is also available. It goes on sale starting today, September 1, and is the first robot vacuum mop that can take off its own mop head to keep your carpets dry.
You can instruct the Dreame app to steer clear of carpets, elevate its two spinning mop heads and sweep them under the rug, or return to its dock and take the mops off before vacuuming.
The L10S Ultra, Dreame’s former flagship model, required manual pad removal, which can be dirty.
The L20 offers a surprising gimmick in addition to the normal flagship features like high suction power (7,000pa), AI-powered obstacle avoidance, and smart mapping. To reach further into a room’s corner, its mop heads can perform the splits. A new MopExtend technology extends its mops out to the walls to obtain a closer clean by using sensors to recognize corners and edges.
In relation to mopping, the DreameBot now offers a water hookup kit that will automatically fill the tanks and remove the unclean water, saving you the time and effort.
This notion is comparable to what SwitchBot demonstrated this week with its S10 robotic vacuum, which we wrote about in advance of the exhibition. Whereas SwitchBot’s version has a small water pump station, Dreame’s version needs a big docking station to accommodate the tanks.
cheaper, better bots
The cost of some of the earlier improvements is decreasing as robot vacuums become fancier.
Earlier this week, Roborock unveiled two new alternatives in its Q series at IFA, bringing some of its finer capabilities to less priced machines. Just before IFA, iRobot introduced two new lower-cost mopping auto-emptying robots.
Yeedi, the cheaper alternative to Ecovacs’ Deebot line, yesterday introduced the $699 Yeedi Cube.
This is the first vacuum mop from the company with an automatic dock that empties the bin, cleans, dries, and refills the water. Additionally, it is the model with all these features at the lowest price.
The size of Yeedi’s auto-dock station is another feature that sets it apart. It’s one of the smallest types, standing only 15 inches tall.
On September 5th, Amazon, Walmart, and yeedi.com will all carry the Yeedi Cube. Additionally, Yeedi frequently offers sales, so you’ll probably never pay full price.
The Yeedi Cube contains additional deluxe features in addition to the auto-dock that were previously only found on more expensive models from Roborock and Ecovacs. It boasts 4,300Pa suction, a mop that can be raised 8mm to reach over carpet, and sonic mopping, which vibrates the pad 2,500 times per minute to scrub the floor. In order to properly clean uneven surfaces, it can also be adjusted by 8 degrees.
The charming K10 Plus from SwitchBot is another smaller bot on display at IFA. The K10 Plus, a $499 miniature vacuum and mop (3.6 inches high and 9.8 inches wide) with a small auto-empty dock, will be available in November. (I’m holding it there with one hand; I wouldn’t do it with any other robot vacuum!).
Over the upcoming months, we’ll put all of these bots to the test and report back on how well they perform the actual dirty work.
