I was very skeptical about how good this could be at the price point it is at. For years I have wanted a Roomba, but the price and battery life has kept me away. Also the fact that Roombas are well known to not do a great job on carpet unless you buy the really expensive one and even then some people complain. All of the amazing reviews on this and it’s re-labeled clone (Eufy) convinced me to give it a try.
Upon arrival I unboxed it and noted the high quality engineering, extra side brushes and spare filter. A nice touch! The included remote requires a couple of AAA batteries, which I had. I peeled the protection stickers off and hit ‘Auto’ on the remote to see what it could do. I was amazed at how well this avoids people, pets and furniture! I let it run for about 30 minutes, then checked the pickup bin and was horrified at the amount of stuff this thing got off my man-cave carpet. It wasn’t more than two days prior I vacuumed with my Dyson!
Next I placed the recharger down on the carpet against a wall and decided to let it go for a full cycle and see if it would find its recharger. After about 2 hours it made it’s way to the charger and I found the first minor flaw of this.. The charging station should have a weight in it to improve stability, especially on carpet. Not a huge deal of course, but added a small 1-2lb piece of metal in the bottom would really improve the feel and stability of the station. Anyway, the 2 hour cycle ran and it found it’s way back to charge. Presto! Reluctantly I decided to check the catch bin and again was horrified at the amount of debris it picked up.. Where did it find all of those toenail clippings???
Protip: The indentation on the charging station is a holder for the remote! Keep it there, so you don’t lose it.
Once my wife got home and saw it in action she took it upstairs to the main floor. After it fully charged she ran it through the 2 hour cycle and you guessed it.. Stacks of debris in the bin, filled to the top. My wife was 100% impressed with how incredibly well it cleaned our first floor – a mix of rugs and hardwood. Subsequent runs of it we noted how amazing it was at avoidance. But more importantly, we loved how it whisked around chair and table legs grabbing pet hairs and debris that gets caught on the bottom of the legs. Perfecto!
It’s at this point I realized it was a keeper and decided to install the APP. (Android) I had great difficulty getting the Deebot to connect to the app then realized why – I had AP Isolation on between SSID’s.. Remember, you will run into the same issue if you run isolated SSID’s or Guest Networks! The device MUST be on the same SSID and be able to communicate on the same Subnet. Alternatively, you can put the Deebot into WLAN mode and connect directly to it from your phone/app using it’s built in hotspot. Sadly, this is a 2.4g device only – they should add a 5Ghz radio to it as soon as possible – next model maybe? Anyway, once paired up, it’s fantastic and the control from the app is great. Also the Deebot gives you status updates on the app as it goes about it’s business! (Cleaning, Returning to Charger, Charging, Stuck, etc)
The scheduling works perfect, right on time the Deebot will run through it’s scheduled cleaning time, hands off.. Every single time it will return to the charger as it starts to run dry. Perfectly. Frankly, I have zero to complain about with this little guy. So much so, I purchased a second one a couple days later since my wife refused to give up the little guy for the main floor.
The amount of time this will save is ridiculous. We have a dog and a cat, and kids.. We literally have to vacuum everyday to keep the house feeling and looking clean. With this guy? Schedule it and forget about it… Maybe once a month use the normal vacuum to touch things up but otherwise forget it and let it do its job.. I can imagine saving hundreds of hours of work over a year or two AND having a much cleaner home. One thing my wife noticed – the house ‘feels’ cleaner, fresher air, less dust.. Probably a result of the extensive cleaning and filtration of the air. As for maintaining it – once a week you will need to use the included tool to cut the pet hairs out of the brush (if you have pets). When you first start using it you will need to empty the catch bin every single time. As your home gets cleaner you’ll be able to go without emptying it for a day or two.
Be warned, even if you are a clean freak, this will shock you with how much it picks up! You, like everyone else is in for a rude awakening and the realization that these things actually do clean better than you do. Get one!
Update: I’ve had the second one running twice over the last 24 hours. I think it’s possible I got a defective one as the battery run time is about half of the other one. However there is one huge difference between these – the one on the main floor battery lasts a LONG time – at least hours but the main floor is hardware and some low-pile rugs. The lower floor is 100% ‘lower’ pile carpet. I’m seriously wondering if the carpet is causing the battery to run out quicker – the robot certainly has to work much harder on the carpet. I am working with support to look into these issues.
