Background#
- I like to keep things clean, so I clean up every week and hire a cleaner once a month. However, during the week, when the floor gets dusty, I often don't have the energy or time to clean, so I hope to have a robot vacuum to help me with this.
Reasons for Choice#
- After looking at various reviews (many of which are actually sponsored), I specifically sought out user reviews. The main contenders were Roborock, Dreame, and Ecovacs. In terms of cost-effectiveness and performance, it seems that Roborock is the best. They also recently released a robotic vacuum with a mechanical arm. Dreame has been temporarily excluded due to quality control issues.
- I am a renter, so I move every few years, and the condition of each house may vary. Some can have plumbing installed, while others cannot. Therefore, I hope to buy a robot vacuum that can switch between two modes. Currently, it seems that only Ecovacs has this feature, and the XIAOYA 002 does not have this function. The XIAOYA 001 Max is the highest-end model that has this feature.
- The price is currently quite reasonable; this product was released in November 2024, and now, six months later, the price has dropped from just over 4000 to 2500 on JD, which I think is a reasonable price.
Mapping#
- Fast, but not precise; the general layout is correct but needs manual adjustments. It can build maps for up to 5 houses (a very unique requirement).
- It can automatically identify and create the locations of sofas, beds, and toilets, but only the toilet's position and size are completely accurate, so the furniture still needs to be manually adjusted.
- It can recognize different types of floor materials, but if a room has two different materials, it will only choose one, usually the one with a larger area. In this case, manual segmentation of the room is needed for proper settings. For example, my living room has wooden flooring, and the hallway has tiles, but since these two are connected, it recognizes them as a whole living room with wooden flooring, which needs manual adjustment.
- It can accurately identify different types of carpets to decide whether to vacuum or avoid them (automatically set but can be manually adjusted).
Cleaning#
- Modes include: sweeping and mopping simultaneously, sweeping first then mopping, vacuuming, mopping, and maintenance.
- The mode I use: sequential cleaning, sweeping first then mopping, and the mop is washed separately after each room is cleaned. After the task is completed, it will dust, dry, disinfect, wash the mop, and dry the mop.
- Vacuuming: quite clean, but it's best to sweep twice because the first time may bring out some dust from corners.
- Mopping: also quite clean, but sometimes it scrapes the floor, the reason is unclear; currently, I see a line that seems to be caused by it, but it's not very obvious.
- Cleaning efficiency: 95 square meters (actually cleaned 60 square meters because there are some places it cannot access) took 1 hour and 50 minutes in the current mode. For a relatively clean home, I think a reasonable approach is to sweep twice and mop once. For heavily soiled areas, it's best to sweep three times and mop twice.
Obstacle Avoidance#
- It can recognize cables, shoes, and obstacles, so I can generally let it run around the house without worry. I have executed a full-house trial. For areas I am particularly concerned about, such as the router and NAS, I can set up a no-go zone to prevent access.
- However, if you remove obstacles during the cleaning process, it may still think there is an obstacle in that area during the current cleaning or sweeping session. But it will re-detect in the next session.
- It got stuck once on the track of the kitchen door, but other situations were fine.
Video and Patrolling#
- The robot vacuum has a built-in remote video viewing function, with a clarity of about 480P, allowing for remote viewing.
- It can patrol regularly, and you can set up regular patrol routes and take photos, which seems suitable for households with pets.
Voice and Third-Party Integration#
- It comes with a voice assistant that can be activated via voice commands on the base station and the robot vacuum to perform various commands.
- It can also be integrated with Siri, Xiaomi Home, and Baidu.
Noise#
It basically does not affect my TV watching, and the drying of the mop does not disturb my sleep.
The robot vacuum itself makes a strange noise when vacuuming due to the collision of the plastic shell; the reason is still unclear, but it can be confirmed that it is not caused by the magnetic cover on top.
When mopping, sudden stops and high-speed turns can cause scraping noises, leaving a water mark, but most of the time, it only leaves water marks without scratches.
Power Consumption#
Vacuuming and mopping 95 square meters once + washing the mop 8 times + drying the mop consumes 0.3 kWh, which can be ignored.
Water Consumption#
Every 100 square meters requires a refill of the water tank and emptying of the waste water tank. Although it is much more convenient than mopping and washing the mop myself, if it can do automatic water supply and drainage, it is better to choose the automatic option.
Warranty#
It comes with a 90-day exchange only warranty and a 2-year repair warranty.
However, there may be situations where repeated repairs do not resolve the issue, so it might be worth considering purchasing a 2-3 year exchange only service, where performance failures and issues covered under warranty are exchanged only.
- Exchange only: for warranty failures, provides one exchange only, accidental damage is not covered, and shipping costs are borne by the seller.
- 2 years 219, 3 years 309
- Full warranty exchange: for warranty failures, provides one on-site exchange, with a new machine purchased directly from JD, which will come with a warranty. Users must pay 20% of the invoice amount as a replacement fee for accidental damage.
- 2 years 229, 3 years 359
Setup Guide#
- The cleaning mode for each room can be set; the default is sweeping and mopping simultaneously, which may leave some debris behind and could cause scratches.
- It is best to manually adjust the house mapping, adding furniture, appliances, and the size of room edges, as this is very helpful for setting up no-go zones.
- For the mop cleaning mode, I recommend cleaning the mop separately after each room to prevent cross-contamination. Another mode is to clean the mop every N square meters, but for the living room, I think these two modes can run in parallel, but currently, this is not possible.
- Sweep each room separately, and after sweeping, check the trajectory to adjust the map. Sometimes it will also adjust itself.