Review: Trifo’s Pet-Focused Ollie Robot Vacuum Is Full of Features for Furry Friends
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For as much we love them, pets can (and will) produce a lot of hair and trying to keep up with it all can be exhausting. That’s why a lot of vacuum cleaner brands are putting out smart vacs focused on helping you clean up pet hair. We received the Trifo Ollie, its newest pet-focused vacuum, to test. Here’s what we found.
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Buy: Trifo Ollie AI Home Robot Vacuum $299.99
Setup and Design
Upon opening the Trifo Ollie’s packaging, you’ll find the cleaner itself, an attachable air freshener/laser pointer of sorts, and the cleaner’s charging base with a power cord. As is standard with most smart devices, you’ll also need to download the corresponding Trifo smart device application. You open the top part of the device to pair it, then connect it to your WiFi and use Ollie’s built-in camera to scan an app-provided QR code to fully tether the two together. Setting up the entire Trifo Ollie took me about 15 minutes.
Specs:
120 minutes of battery life
3,000 Pa suction; 4,000 with pet attachment
600 ML dustbin
The Trifo Ollie isn’t going to look dissimilar from your standard robot vacuum cleaner; its circular-shaped design will cover a large section of your floor when cleaning. Notably, the Ollie contains a side brush on the bottom that’s capable of sweeping in dirt and dust gathered on the sides of the robot into its center compartment. Also, the laser attachment includes an air freshener so you can spritz your space as the Ollie does its work.
Features and Performance
The Ollie smart vac is intended to be extremely versatile, especially for pet owners. In addition to being a vacuum cleaner, it also has a built-in 1080p camera to not only see where it’s going but to keep tabs on events (or pets!) in your home. The 4,000 Pa suction power (with the included Pet Hair Extractor tool) is on the higher end for a mid-level cleaner and is pretty powerful; the dirt and dust in our house got swept up pretty quickly. Assuming you’re not using the video camera for the entire clean or leveraging any other higher-end features, Ollie’s battery life clocks in at a solid 120 minutes, which cleaned my decent-sized ground floor rental.
The first few cleans took a little longer as the Ollie learned our floor layout and worked around various obstacles. A notable block is the desk chair my girlfriend use; robot vacuums I’ve used in the past repeatedly bumped against it, but the Ollie did a really good job of actively avoiding it, or if the vac did hit it, moving away pretty quickly. The storage on the dustbin is generous at 600 mL and is located at the top instead of the side. The included HEPA filter also works to eliminate allergens as it works, which is a nice added feature.
The camera on the Ollie is decent at 1080p but looks a little pixelated at a full-size view. The nighttime mode also works well, and it’s an especially nice feature for checking in on the dog while we’re gone or to see where the Ollie might be stuck on something. The same goes for the built-in microphone, which isn’t a home run but isn’t bad either. With it, I can use the Trifo app to manually control the Ollie and move it out of the way if needed.
The Trifo app is pretty robust, despite looking a little aged in the overall UI design. The app includes plenty of customizable features, including settings for the microphone and a do not disturb mode, cleaning history and schedules, motion detection and more. The app also provides the ability to see a map of your cleaning area (with the ability to set specific cleaning areas) or even use that previously mentioned manual control.
One thing I’m not quite as sold on is the laser attachment, in part because it doesn’t stay as firmly attached as I’d like and also because the use of lasers as a toy for cats and dogs is somewhat of a hot topic in the vet community. The air freshener is a nice value add, however. We’re also a little bummed at the lack of any sort of mop functionality, but perhaps that’s something for the future.
Read More: Put Your Feet Up While These Smart Robots Vacuum and Mop Your Floors
Verdict
The Trifo Ollie is positioned as a pet-first and pet-friendly vacuum cleaner, and it absolutely delivers. While there’s a danger in Trifo approaching the Ollie as a kitchen sink–type solution, the final product feels focused and considered. Some might feel like there’s too much happening here, but to get all of that value in such a compelling package is well worth it.
So Should You Buy It?
Without question, especially if you don’t have an existing robot vacuum.
Pros:
Pet-friendly features
Strong suction power
Solid battery life
Cons:
App’s UI feels a little dated
Attachment falls off easily
Rating: 9/10
Buy: Trifo Ollie AI Home Robot Vacuum $299.99
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