Ecovacs recently came out with its newest robot vacuum, the Deebot X11 Omnicyclone. Like the last couple of models, this new vacuum has Matter integration and it's able to connect to HomeKit so it can be sent off to clean the floor with Siri voice commands.
Design
The X11 is the same size as the prior-generation X9, coming in at 3.86 inches tall. I've tested several robot vacuums now, and that's on the thinner side. It can get under almost all of my furniture, including my stove, to vacuum in areas that are often untouched.
Height is the most important metric when it comes to robot vacuums, but if you have a lot of tightly spaced furniture, you also need to consider width. The X11 is about 13.8 inches across, and it could be too large for smaller apartments.
Underneath the vacuum, there's a roller bar, a mop, a brush that gets into nooks and crannies along baseboards, a canister for dust and debris, and internal areas for clean and dirty water for mop washing and cleaning. You can access the dust canister by removing the top plate of the robot and undoing the latch.
Exterior vacuum design didn't change much between the X9 and the X11, but the X11's base station is entirely different. It's significantly larger than before because it includes a reusable canister for dust instead of a bag.
The canister is why the X11 has its "Omnicyclone" name. It reminds me of a Dyson-style vacuum canister, and it's built right into the middle of the base station. You can pop it out and empty it into the trash, then stick it right back in. Large chunks of debris can get stuck, so as with a Dyson, the canister can need cleaning at times. There is no need to buy bags with the X11, which does make it stand out from other robot vacuums on the market.
Along with the vacuum canister, the base station houses a 2.7-liter dirty water tank and a 3.2-liter clean water tank. The water tanks are larger than the tanks in the X9, which means less maintenance. I fill the clean water tank less, and I try to remember to empty the dirty water tank regularly because it can get smelly if it sits.
Inside the base station, there's a spot to add cleaning fluid. The X11 supports two kinds of cleaning fluid, one for standard cleaning and one for deep cleaning. Two cleaning fluid options are more expensive and more of a hassle, so I'm not a fan of the dual cleaning. Ecovacs recommends that you use Ecovacs cleaning fluid, and it sells the two variants.
Setup and Maintenance
Setting up the X11 is straightforward enough that anyone can do it. There's a single-page startup guide that has easy instructions on putting the base station components together, then it's just a matter of filling the water tank, downloading the app, turning on the robot, and following the app steps for pairing.
The X11 is simple enough that someone not technologically inclined could operate it, but the number of app settings and complicated features like voice activation could be confusing. None of those features are required, and it can clean on default settings, but if you have older parents who struggle with electronics and buy this (or any robot vacuum) for them, you're going to get calls for troubleshooting.
There is maintenance to take care of, like occasionally replacing the rollers and brush with parts purchased from Ecovacs. The site sells a bundle that includes a new roller brush, three filters and two side brushes for $60, and a new roller mop is $35.
Vacuuming
The X11 has the strongest suction of any robot vacuum that I've tried. It is excellent at picking up pet hair, dust, and debris on my hardwood and tile floors. I started tossing a handful or two of dirt on the floor to see how much robot vacuums can clean up, and the X11 got almost all of it in the first pass.
Robot vacuums are meant to clean regularly rather than deeply, which is why it's not an ideal test, but it does give me a clear metric to compare by.
According to Ecovacs, the X11 has 19,000 Pa suction and it uses the same Blast system (multi-stage suction and airflow) from prior Ecovacs robots. It's more suction than the X9, which I already thought worked well, and more suction than the Roborock vacuum I use regularly. If you have hard floors and pets or kids, it's good at getting up even trace amounts of pet hair, and it doesn't miss crumbs in the kitchen.
There's a side brush for sweeping along baseboards and in corners, and it's able to get most dirt and fur up. You'll want to manually vacuum in corners every so often, but it's not a situation where the X11 is vacuuming the main area of a room and pushing dust to the sides. It is able to use the added side brush and the improved suction to do a passable job keeping hard to reach areas clean.
Ecovacs' robots have a ZeroTangle brush, and it works. I have long hair, my partner has long hair, and we have two cats. I haven't seen the brush get tangled up with hair, and I've never had to fuss with it.
The X11 is able to get over higher thresholds than prior Ecovacs robots, so if you have a tall threshold that other robots can't handle, the X11 might be able to navigate it. It can go over thresholds as high as 2.4cm (0.95 inches). It can get into a bathroom that has a higher than average threshold, but another room with a baby gate has a threshold too high for it to overcome. I definitely notice a difference between the X11 and the older X9 when it comes to threshold navigation.
Despite stronger suction, the X11 isn't louder than prior models, measuring in at around 62 dBA in tests. I wouldn't want to sleep while the X11 is running, but I can work while it's on if I put in my AirPods Pro to block out the noise. Emptying the vacuum into the canister at the base station is the loudest a... Click here to read rest of article
Article Link: Ecovacs Deebot X11 Omnicyclone Review: HomeKit Robot Vacuum With Bagless Design and Fast Charging
