Review: Is Ecovacs’ Futuristic New Self-Cleaning Vacuum/Mop the Best Robot Vacuum in the World?

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Nowadays, a robot vacuum that just vacuums is not much to behold. Technology has advanced so rapidly in the last few years that vacuuming is now just one of many tasks these robots can perform. In the ever-expanding robot vacuum arms race, even self-emptying is old news.

Take the Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni. Not only does it vacuum, but it also mops, empties its dustbin, cleans and dries its mopping plate, and refreshes its water tanks. We wrote about this futuristic robot vacuum when it first debuted at CES 2022, and in our search for the world’s best robot vacuum, we put it to the test.

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There are many features to look at in our in-depth Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni review, so let’s get started.


Buy: Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni $1,299.99

Pros
  • Vacuums well

  • Mop has scrubbing power

  • Mop is self-cleaning, drying

  • Adjustable suction, motor, waterflow

  • Big water tanks

  • Yiko voice assistant works well

Cons
  • Takes up a lot of space

  • Definitely an investment

  






About the Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni

The Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni has two essential parts: The dual purpose vacuum and mopping robot, plus the Omni base station, which recharges the bot and manages its maintenance. With a three-hour run time, it can cover a lot of floor before it runs out of battery.

The Omni is about average when compared to the size of other bot vacs, but it uses a brushed silver cover that lifts right off (instead of flipping up) to reveal the onboard dustbin. The onboard water tank in this bot is not visible or accessible, but that shouldn’t be an issue since your Omni station handles the refilling.

The mop has been rebuilt, switching from a one-piece floating plate with a microfibre cloth, and in its place are two removable round pads with little cloths that attach with special Velcro. This new mop is designed to spin and scrub, unlike others that only wipe.

Read More: The Best Self-Emptying Robot Vacuums

testing the ecovacs deebot x1
testing the ecovacs deebot x1

Quick Specs: 

  • 3D mapping

  • Auto-Emptying & refilling

  • Dual scrubbing mopping plates

  • Heated auto-drying

  • Designer look

  • Yiko built-in voice assistant

  






Omni Station: Charging, Cleaning, Refilling

The Omni Station is so large it’s almost akin to a piece of furniture, and you’ll want to ensure you have space to put it where it’s near a plug. The robot will wait here until its next assigned task and stay charged. If it runs low on power during a clean it will return to base, juice up and then resume the cleaning program.

Under the top of the Omni station lid are a clean water tank and a dirty water tank, which have handles to lift them out to empty or refill them. There’s also a small storage compartment for your extra mopping pads and vacuum bags — a nice extra detail. The vacuum bag bin now resides in a new small push-latch drawer in the front of the base; other self empty stations often have these under the top lid.

  






Setting Up the Ecovacs Omni

Start by downloading the Ecovacs app and signing into or signing up for an account. Adding the robot takes a few clicks, and it’s pretty easy and intuitive.

Next, map your home. Creating a map will allow your robot to recognize rooms and spaces, avoid furniture and obstacles, and execute room-by-room cleaning and scheduled cleaning. The Deebot had my home fully mapped on the first day, and I found the map was accurate. Once the map is created, you can make any adjustments for accuracy and assign labels to your rooms. My home map didn’t need any adjustment, so I assigned the labels and created a weekly cleaning schedule in a few minutes.

Ecovacs-Deebot-X1-Omni
Ecovacs-Deebot-X1-Omni

  






How Well Does Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni Clean?

I put every robot vacuum and mop I test through the same tests. I spread flour, rice, oats and cracker crumbs on both carpet and hard floors. For the mopping test, I pour liquid such as coffee and wine on the floor and let it dry.

The X1 Omni cleaned floors well, methodically going back and forth in neat, even rows and gathering up everything in front of it. Similarly, it was also effective on carpets. If it initially scattered spills, by the time it finished its cleaning it had sucked up all the dirt.

The major innovation is that its mop pads have actual scrubbing power, which you don’t get from most other mopping bots that wipe the floors. There are two pressurized mopping pads under the bot, spinning at 180 RPM, and were highly effective.

On hard floors, the spinning mops easily mopped up small wet spills and cleaned small dried spills well. When it’s done all its cleaning, the bot will return to the base station for a rinse and refill (and emptying of the vacuum dustbin).

There’s also heated auto-drying, so your mop can be thoroughly dried in two hours to reduce stinky bacteria growth from the pads. The heater is super quiet, and you can barely hear it running, but it’s quite effective.

Ecovacs-Deebot-X1-Omni
Ecovacs-Deebot-X1-Omni

  






How Smart Is the Ecovacs X1 Omni?

So what happens when the mopping is underway, and your Deebot encounters carpet? The Deebot X1 Omni has carpet detection technology that prevents it from going onto carpets with the mopping plates installed, meaning it will not wet carpets while in mopping mode.

In my testing, I never once had wet carpets or rugs. However, the converse is that your carpets won’t get vacuumed if the mopping pads are installed; you need to pull them off when you want the carpets cleaned, an extra manual step some users may not appreciate.

Adjustable Cleaning

The X1 Omni has Auto Boost Suction, which detects when it’s on the carpet and increases suction power. I could hear this increase in power while it was running, and I found it did an excellent job getting my carpets clean.

The bot also has a maximum of 5,000 Pa of suction, which puts it near the top of the market regarding raw suction power. Despite the power, the robot isn’t overly noisy, and you can adjust the noise level by choosing how much or little suction you want inside the Ecovacs app. Similarly, the mopping water flow level can be adjusted as well to choose how much water is used to clean the floors.

Ecovacs-Deebot-X1-Omni
Ecovacs-Deebot-X1-Omni

Hazard Avoidance

These days most high-end robot floor systems employ hazard recognition and avoidance, and the Deebot X1 does too. This technology allows the bot to recognize things that could get tangled in the brushes, and it will avoid them altogether, using laser technology and the bot’s onboard camera.

I tested this by placing shoes, cables and socks in its way, and I’m glad to say the Deebot X1 Omni was great at avoiding all the potentially tangling objects I put in front of it.

Voice Control

If you are a Google Home or Amazon Echo user, you can connect either smart home hub to your robot and use your voice to order it when and where to start cleaning. I found this connectivity worked quite well. You need to link your bot inside the Google or Alexa app first, then say things like, “Okay Alexa, tell X1 Omni to start cleaning.”

Ecovacs has also added Yiko, a built-in voice assistant that allows you to use natural language to talk to your bot directly. You can go to a specific spot in your house where you need a clean and say, “Yiko, clean this spot,” and Yiko will know where “this spot” is because of Ecovacs’ voice distance recognition. This technology works amazingly well, though it sometimes finds it more difficult to “hear” around things like walls, and the accuracy may be a bit off.

Camera Has Multiple Functions

The Deebot X1 Omni has an onboard camera to assist with navigation, and you can access that camera in the app if you want to steer your bot around the house physically.

That means you can use your robot as a mobile security camera. Doing this requires a few steps for privacy, but the camera is surprisingly high quality, and you can drop a pin anywhere on your home map, and the bot will automatically drive there. As a privacy feature, the X1 will also announce “remote viewing is active” the whole time the camera is being used.

  

Ecovacs-Deebot-X1-Omni
Ecovacs-Deebot-X1-Omni






The Verdict: Is the Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni Worth It?

I’ve been impressed with all this bot can do, so I definitely recommend it for your home — if it fits within your budget. We recently named this the “Best Overall” robot vacuum in the world, and it’s currently the best of the best.

The Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni is an impressive machine that vacuums, mops, refills its water tank for mopping and cleans and dries the mopping pads. It will also empty its dustbin inside a beautifully designed base station with thoughtful storage. It runs quietly, has great suction and long battery life, and cleans wet and dry messes on hard floors or carpets like a dream. I’ve been using this robot for the last three months, and I can confirm it works well and reliably. All the parts and pieces, from the base station to the robot to the mopping plates, seem thoughtfully designed and durable.

When it comes to the downsides, this technology is perhaps not surprisingly expensive, and it has a huge footprint that takes up quite a lot of both vertical and horizontal space.


Buy: Ecovacs $1,299.99

  

Alternatives to the Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni

The closest competitor to the X1 Omni is the Roborock S7 Max V Ultra with its empty wash fill dock. It does many of the same things, minus the drying and the eco-voice assistant, but it’s not as thoughtfully designed. Even so, it’s a bit less expensive.


Buy: Roborock S7 Max V Ultra $1,399.99

  






iRobot Roomba j7+

We recently named this the best Roomba in the world, and it’s a fantastic self-emptying robot vacuum that’s way more affordable for the average homeowner.

iRobot Roomba j7+ (7550) Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum – Identifies and avoids obstacles like pet waste & cords, Empties itself for 60 days, Smart Mapping, Works with Alexa, Ideal for Pet Hair, Graphite
iRobot Roomba j7+ (7550) Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum – Identifies and avoids obstacles like pet waste & cords, Empties itself for 60 days, Smart Mapping, Works with Alexa, Ideal for Pet Hair, Graphite


Buy: iRobot Roomba j7+ $745.00 (orig. $799.99) 7% OFF

  

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