Review of Ecovacs Robotics Deebot M81Pro

This is an all-rounder robot vacuum cleaner which will work on carpets to vacuum or solid floors to either vacuum or vacuum, wet-mop then dry the floor all in one sweep. It can either be operated manually by pressing the 'Auto' button on the top of the vac, press the red AUTO button on the included remote control unit or Ecovacs app, although I haven't used or tested the latter. The remote control unit (or app) can be used to switch between cleaning modes, ie - 'Spot Cleaning' whereby the vac will rotate on the in a circle to give a more heavily soiled area a more thorough clean, 'Edge Cleaning' whereby the ran runs along the edges and corners of a room to clean along skirting boards or kitchen units to ensure nowhere in the room is missed, Intensive mode operates with a stronger vacuum suction and the side brushes operate at a higher speed. The 'Home' button returns the vac to its charging base to recharge and, if the vac is in the same room as the charging base when the battery runs low, it will return automatically.

The vac can also be set to run on a timer so cleaning can take place while the home is empty, for example, and you return home to a clean home and the van back in its charging base ready for the next run.

The wet mopping feature is especially useful for lino, tiled and laminate floors. Unlike some robot vacs which merely have a piece of fabric strapped beneath which dampens floors as they pass over them, this includes a small water tank with 500ml capacity and diluted floor cleaning shampoos can be used rather than just plain water. The water tank dispenses water onto a mop attachment which dampens floors then the rear section of this attachment dries, or largely dries them as it passes.

This vac an excellent build quality matched by some rather nifty built-in design features including a rubber bumper around the front and sides which ensures it doesn't risk damaging any furniture, and the larger than usual 500ml dust box features a hinged filter which unclips and hinges open for the easiest emptying I have seen on any robot vac while its handle securely locks it into the vac, in front of which a well-designed cleaning brush securely clips into its storage recess.

The most important feature is how well it cleans and I tested it on laminate, tiles, lino, low-pile and high-pile carpets plus a rug as demonstrated in my video review. It easily swept up crumbs, hair, fluff and other debris plus a lot of shed fur and strands of hay from my pet rabbit. Maneuverability is good and it travels easily between rooms with opened doors so can potentially clean an entire storey of a home without supervision - ideal for doing the cleaning while you're out at work. However, it can experience some difficulty adjusting to differing floor heights so can't always switch between carpeted to smooth floors in different rooms, particularly if there is a raised ridge dividing the room. This was the one and only difficulty I found with it but we have greatly varying floor surfaces and types within our home and have floor room dividers up to 2.5cm between rooms which probably no robot vacuum could negotiate.

Being only 8cm tall, it is excellent at gliding beneath furniture so is perfect for vacuuming beneath beds and other furniture, ie areas which can be difficult to reach by a standard vac.

Regarding the stairs, the sensors beneath easily detected the drop when the staircase was approached from different angle and the vac retreated each time.

The mopping is excellent and left our tiled and lino floors looking very clean. It is intended to be used with just water, I assume, but I added floor cleaner and the rear of the mopping pad didn't dry floors after using this. When using just water, floors were left just slightly damp, rather than wet.

Cleaning performance isn't as deep, thorough or intense as a conventional vacuum cleaner on carpets but would never pretend to be. It is good for a daily or bi-weekly clean, particularly in pet households, but carpets will still benefit from a deeper clean by a powerful vacuum cleaner to retrieve more ingrained and dirt which is hidden deeper in carpet fibres.

It is the quietest robot vacuum I have used and can be used in one room while we sleep undisturbed in the neighbouring room - which can't be said for conventional vacuum cleaners which are notoriously noisy.

Available from: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B...