Deebot X1 OMNI robot cleaning station review: Everything you will ever need for automated floor cleaning | ZDNet

The Deebot range from Ecovacs has been going from strength to strength since I first reviewed the Deebot 711 in January 2019. Products such as the

, the superb

,

, and

 have demonstrated just how much Ecovacs continues to innovate.

The

, and a 2022 CES Innovation Awards honoree.

 will vacuum, mop, empty, fill and clean itself. Furthermore, this robot cleaner has really innovated with its YIKO technology. This uses natural language processing (NLP) technology that will operate using direct speech and commands without a third-party smart device.

OMNI’s YIKO is the first robot I have seen to date that uses this technology and I have reviewed 49 robot vacuums for ZDNet since June 2018.

The robot has an onboard 400ml dustbin and will return to its base station to auto empty collected dirt and debris.

At the station, the robot will auto wash and dry the mop pads in the washing sink area, and uses a design that simulates hand washing. It also refills the water tank in the cleaning sink with clean water.

The Ecovacs Deebot X1 OMNI box is huge. Inside the box, there are a plethora of items. There is the X1 OMNI robot, two side brushes and two rotating mopping pads, that look similar to the mopping pads on the

. Then there is a tall OMNI base station, a power cord, a cleaning brush, and a cleaning tool for the roller. There is also a spare dust bag. The base station is taller than the Dreamebot W10 and

.

Also: Dreame Bot W10 review: Self-cleaning robot vacuum and mop is superbly smart

The Deebot X1 OMNI has an integrated drawer that contains the onboard dust bag. Above this drawer is a compartment that holds tanks for the clean and dirty water tanks. Hidden in between the two tanks is a slim accessory storage box that can be used to store the spare mopping pad covers and the washing sink cleaning brush.

To assemble the station, find a suitable spot close to a power socket and plug in the station. Wind the spare power cable around the guides to stop trailing wires and fill the clean water tank with water. You can add Ecovacs low foam cleaning fluid to the water – however, this is sold separately and there is no cleaning fluid — not even a sample — supplied with the X1 OMNI.

Dock the robot vacuum in the station to fully charge for around 6 hours. You must switch on the robot in order to charge it, but at first glance, there is no power switch. This is hidden under the top cover of the X1 OMNI – but the cover is not hinged. The entire top of the robot is fixed to the X1 OMNI with magnets and must be removed to access the power switch, onboard dustbin, Wi-Fi button and indicator light.

To operate the Deebot X1 OMNI you can either press the power switch on the top of the robot itself, tap the play/pause button on the top of the OMNI station, or invoke cleaning by using the YIKO voice control. You can also connect the Deebot X1 OMNI to the app and schedule its cleaning times. 

Connecting to the app is simple. The robot quickly connects to the Wi-Fi and the app. Once connected, there are lots of useful features in the app that you can use once the initial mapping has been completed. You can use the quick mapping function on the app which does not mop or sweep but quickly scans the rooms to get a reasonable map of the area. In order for the X1 OMNI to generate an accurate map of the environment, start a regular clean using the sweeping function only. When the mop pads are fitted, make sure that the app has been configured only to mop the hard floors and not to cross into carpeted rooms.

Once an accurate map has been created you can set virtual walls, no-go and no mop zones. You can set automated schedules for cleaning and store multiple maps in the app.

When in use, the X1 OMNI uses obstacle avoidance to navigate its way around objects. It uses its AVI camera to identify common objects in the house — and it also uses what Ecovacs calls TrueDetect which uses laser depth scanning to create a 3D map of the area cleaned.

The app also has custom objects and furniture that you can add to a room for ultra customised cleaning. You can specify that you want the X1 OMNI to clean around the couch only using this feature — but I would not use it. If the robot is in use, I want the whole space cleaning. Perhaps customised cleaning around specific items of furniture is the new ‘spot cleaning’ technology.

Its obstacle avoidance does seem to get very close to these objects whilst cleaning. I would be concerned to leave a full glass of wine in the vicinity — and I would be wary of it avoiding low profile pet poop too.

The X1 OMNI has a maximum power of 5,000Pa — the most powerful robot suction power I have seen so far. It is quieter in use than many 3000Pa robots I have reviewed. Its mops spin at 180rpm and use downward pressure to create a rotary scrubbing action when mopping. If the X1 OMNI detects that the mopping pads are even slightly dirty, it will return to the OMNI station to clean them. Impressive. 

The 4-litre dirty water tank fills up slowly and notifies you when it is full. Other alerts notify you when the mop cleaning sink is full, or that the clean water tank is empty. Some residual water may remain in the cleaning sink base if you do not get around to cleaning it as often as Ecovacs suggests. The dirty water tank is sealed — so it does not smell — even when it has been in the OMNI station for a couple of weeks. It is easy to clean too with a few tricky corners where dirt and dust could collect.

I do like its YIKO (pronounced Ee-koh) voice control. You can verbally ask the robot itself to start cleaning, pause its task, turn on flow mode or change the current suction mode. I found that when the X1 OMNI was in max suction mode I had to speak really loudly before the robot itself would follow my commands. For the first iteration of voice control, YIKO is far better than Alexa or Google’s first iteration of voice assistants.

The X1 will also capture photos and videos from its front-facing camera so you can monitor your home remotely using the app. If you are concerned about security and privacy with the camera, Ecovacs has obtained both software and hardware full-link TÜV Rheinland privacy and safety certification. TUV is an agency that certifies that the device meets a standard for security and data protection (ETSI TS 303 645). Requirements include passwords, secure storage, secure communication, software updates. Compliance with the standard restricts the ability of attackers to gain access to devices.

All in all, I am full superlatives for this absolutely superb multi-function sweeping and mopping robot and cleaning station.

At a recommended price of

, and

BestBuy.com

from 22nd March 2022. You will not be disappointed in your investment of this new generation in home cleaning robots.