Ecovacs Robotics Deebot X8 Pro Omni Australian review: Dogs put it to the test
With two dogs in the house, Australia’s newest robotic vacuum and mopping device has been really well tested. FIRST LOOK
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With two dogs in the house, Ecovacs’ latest robotic vacuum and mopping device has been well and truly tested over the past few weeks.
Our dog Ava, has short black hair which shows up ‘beautifully’ against our white tiles.
The other dog, Maggie, who we are looking after, is a long haired golden retriever who sheds her white hair like there is no tomorrow.
There was so much hair that at one stage I had to clean the poor bot’s sensors after it ventured under the couch and was coated in it.
Some days, my wife, feeling sorry for our automatic friend, even gives the worst areas a quick vacuum before we send it out on its mission.
The Deebot X8 Pro Omni is the latest from Australian market leader Ecovacs Robotics, which has been innovating for almost three decades.
The big innovation is the use of the ‘Ozmo Roller’, a mop which is in the shape of a paint roller which combines constant pressure and instant self-washing technology.
The clever part of the mopping technology is the way it cleans itself even dealing with large stains so there is no cross contamination.
The roller spins at 200 revolutions a minute, which together, with constant pressure, means it can get through some decent messes.
Combined with technology to ensure the bot cleans right up to the edges of each room, it ensures super clean, and thankfully fur-free floors, albeit only for a short time.
The Deebot X8 Pro Omni has advanced AIVI 3D 3.0 Omni-Approach Technology which recognises the contours of various objects to better avoid them.
That together with the TruEdge 2.0 Adaptive Edge Cleaning helps efficiently clean rooms right to their edges, along with objects on the floor.
It’s not perfect, though.
Annoyingly, bots can still get caught on rugs, especially those with tassel edges.
And of course, it pays to put up small objects like dogs’ toys (or the bits they have left behind after destroying them), or phone cords and speaker wires which easily get stuck in the bot.
When it comes to speed, my wife and I are still quicker at giving the house a quick once over, though the Deebot has quicker cleaning modes.
In our testing, cleaning in normal mode takes just about one minute 30 seconds for every square metre cleaned. It cleaned 54 square metres in 90 minutes, 20 square metres in 29 minutes and 7 square metres in 9 minutes, in recent tests.
Of course, the whole idea is you set and forget and go about your day. You can also schedule cleans, from the whole house to various high use rooms.
The downside of bots is if they run into trouble when you’re out, you have to either ring someone at home to rescue them or wait until you return to allow the cleaning to resume.
Setting up the Deebot X8 Pro Omini was pretty easy out of the box with good instructions on the minimal self-assembly, which even I could follow. (That’s saying something, ask my wife).
It comes with its own station which has a separate container for clean water, dirty water and for the optional cleaning solution, which definitely ensures a better result.
After downloading the Ecovacs app to your phone, you pair it with the bot and connect it to your local Wi-Fi network.
The Deebot will then map your house which will display on the app.
You can add additional dividers to differentiate different rooms as well as put in virtual boundaries where you may not want the bot to go. We set ours under the back of the lounge to avoid it sucking up the TV and speaker cables.
When you first start out, it recommends you do a vacuum only but after that you can automatically vac and mop or mop after vacuuming.
You can auto clean which will do the whole house or you can select different parts of the home on the map, which is handy if you are working in one part of the house and don’t want to be annoyed by the sound.
You can change the suction power from quiet mode to right through to max suction power which will use more energy and obviously create more noise.
The Deebot X8 Pro Omni has powerful 18,000 Pa and ZeroTangle 2.0 Anti-Tangle Technology which no doubt helps it cope with all that dog hair.
At just 98mm tall it is ultra-slim, meaning it will easily get under beds, chairs and even our dog food holders.
When you watch the X8 Pro Omni in action, you start to appreciate the precision that advanced technology offers as parts move in and out to get the very best clean.
In years’ gone past, robotic technology has been somewhat hit and miss, leaving people to finish the job themselves.
But this is a bot that does the job well enough that my wife returns home to notice how clean the floors look and how well vacuumed the carpet is.
Ecovacs says research carried out in late 2024 show 89 per cent of Australians are open to robotics in their home, though 40% still had reservations about cleaning performance.
Karen Powell, director of Ecovacs ANZ said the Deebox X8 Pro Omini was a good example of the way the company had listened to consumers.
“Powerful suction and intelligent obstacle avoidance eliminate the daily hassles of cleaning,’’ she said.
“The future of spotless living is here … and it’s effortlessly intelligent.”
Ecovacs first revealed mopping technology in 2017.
It has changed from a flat microfibre cloth and mop plate, to vibrating mopping systems, dual rotating mop pads.
Latest iterations have included station self-cleaning, mop lifting and lowering over carpets, and TruEdge technology allowing it to extend mop pads into corners and around furniture.
Its fourth generation Ozmo Roller system uses 16 water nozzles to continuously wet the roller with clean water.
After each pass over the floor, a scraper removes dirty water from the roller, depositing it into a wastewater tank. Clean water is then immediately reapplied to the roller.
This process happens 200 times per minute thanks to the roller’s high spin speed.
The end result is definitely cleaner floors than last year’s model – as evidenced by the colour of the water in the dirty water tank.
Ecovacs says the system’s integrated roller structure prevents slippage, ensuring consistent contact and pressure against the floor.
Compared to round or track-type mops, the roller has less surface contact, resulting in more concentrated pressure and friction for effective stain removal.
For those worried about their carpets getting wet, there is a carpet first function to vacuum all carpets before mopping.
One of the improvements on last year’s model is the more advanced mop washing tray which offers a 150-day maintenance-free period.
That seems to have fixed annoying messages we got around malfunctions in that area.
The mop washing ranges from 40 to 75 degrees Celsisus depending on how dirty your floors are, while the mop is dried using a 63 degree dryer to prevent odours.
The Auto Empty dustbin provides for up to 90 days of cleaning before you have to remove the bag
The smaller, and better looking Omni Station automatically adds cleaning solution at a rate of 200:1.
As you would expect, the bot responds to voice commands with YIKO-GPT promising an even smoother human-AI interaction.
Ecovacs says whether through text, voice messages, or long conversations, it communicates more seamlessly with users.
Remote communications allows you to communicate with the bot from wherever you are and if you’re wondering what your pets are up to, you can send it out on patrol using the integrated camera system and talk to your dogs via the bot.
The Ecovacs Deebox X8 Pro Omini has a recommended retail price of $2,499. It is available from March 5 from Bing Lee, Harvey Norman, JB HiFi, Retravision, The Good Guys, and Ecovacs online.
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Originally published as Ecovacs Robotics Deebot X8 Pro Omni Australian review: Dogs put it to the test
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