Ecovacs Deebot N8+

Will not last the distance – My Ecovacs Deebot N8+ robot vacuum worked good for about 2.5 years. I performed regular maintenance on it, cleaning all parts and replacing them when needed. I should note that this particular vacuum required constant maintenance. Then it started malfunctioning. Below is a list of the problems it developed: * bumper bar no longer working - the… Read more

robot vacuum gets stuck when it hits any kind of surface and will stop vacuuming, citing "bumper bar is stuck"; * anti-drop sensors seemingly not working - the robot vacuum cannot move from tiles to carpet, or from tiles to a rug, or pass through a doorway into a new room, without pausing and saying the anti-drop sensor is covered with dust; * moving around in circles as soon as it starts cleaning - the robot vacuum immediately starts cleaning in circles when it moves away from the dock and will no longer clean in its usual way; and * losing its location and mapping progress at regular intervals during the cleaning cycle making it virtually impossible to maintain a clean or map my home.

I contacted Ecovacs customer service who said they only have a warranty of 1 year so I would need to send it off for repair. They could not estimate the cost of the repair, providing me a standard shipping + repair assessment fee + further invoice to be provided based on the repair work required after the assessment (i.e. different fees for different "stages" of a repair) + parts + GST. It did not all install a sense of confidence that the repair would be successful or cost effective.

I would have expected a product that costs this much to last more than 2.5 years if it is designed for daily use. I won't be purchasing from this company again.

I've decided to purchase the iRobot Roomba Combo J7+ (has excellent reviews on CHOICE).

Deebot N8+ driving wheel – I bought a N8+ on Nov 2022. In 1 year I have had to send mine 2x to the repair service under warranty with the same problem (one of driving wheel is not working). And now (2024) after 2x sending mine to the service I still have the same issue (the driving wheel is not working). Very very disappointed with this robot and with the technician as well. Just wasted $800 for buying this robot. Show details

Still Alive – I've had the Ecovacs Deebot N8+ (The plus means you get the auto-empty dock) for around 2 years now. It is still going strong. Had an issue with the motor that the ecovacs customer service team dealt with under warranty. It also does sometime lose its bearings and regenerates its map, but always finds its way back to the dock. I clean it probably… Read more

once a month. I got it for like $699 during Prime day so 2 years without having to vacuum for $699 is a steal imo. Its not worth $699 now since there are better options out there but if you see it for cheap then its worth grabbing. I don't get the people complaining about battery life, it literally has an auto-resume. If it does run out of battery it goes back to the dock, charges up and then keeps cleaning.

Has promise but mostly useless – It would be a perfect device if you lived in a rectangular warehouse with a chair, a bed and a couch. Anything slightly complicated like wires, slippers on the ground, tables with wide bases makes it totally useless. I have been incredibly patient with this device and tried setting it up in multiple locations but it manages to mess up each map in… Read more

some sort of weird fashion. Don't buy it. Just vacuum your house once a week with a stick vacuum. Your mental health will do a lot better! Ecovacs - Advertise your product for small apartments occupied by robots

consistantly loosing map – We have had this vac for close to a year now, and have spent countless hours trying to get this to work after it looses its map alot. it will work fine for a few weeks then will loose its position and map. I have tried all online help article wich does occasionally fix it but will then loose its map again. I have tried the online chat help which… Read more

was useless, they just repeat what is in the ecovacs FAQ. i have hard reset the machine and moved the dock to a different area of the house and had it remap the house (which takes around 10hrs with it returning several times to recharge battery). when having to remap the house it will sometimes only map half of the room for no apparent reason, you then have to reset map and remap the house again. It does vaccum very well, its mop feature is nearly useless on pollished tiles.

i wish i could get my money back on this, i have spent so many days (total time spent overall) trouble shooting and trying to get the map back working.

I hate this thing!

i should have read reviews on this prior to buying as what im going through is not an isolated incident.

if you are reading this review, BUY ANOTHER BRAND DO NOT BUY ECOVACS

UPDATE: Ecovacs did not help in there online chat, I contacted the shop who I purchace out through and went through the vacuums issues, they offered a full refund. We have now replaced the Ecovacs with a roborock and are thoroughly happy with it

Bad Warranty, Bad AI, Bad Build Quality – Often has great difficulty returning to docking plate. Gets wedged into strange places such as between a chair and wall. Warranty only good for 3 months - and from purchase date, not date of receipt. Cannot do a 4-bedroom 2-bathroom house on a single battery. Customer care team not helpful - the dustbin of my model had a part (small plastic flap)… Read more

break 1 week out of warranty and I was unable to reach a satisfactory conclusion with team. Some parts of robot seem flimsy.

Ordering from ecovacs is a nightmare – I placed an order directly through the Ecovacs site for the N8+ during a sale. However, when i read over the confirmation email i found that i had been billed $350 more than i should have and for a completely different model. I contacted them immediately through the support line email but got no response. Then I received an email saying they had… Read more

continued to ship the incorrect unit to me, regardless of the fact that I notified them of the error 2 minutes after purchase. They then refused to cancel the order and refund me saying id have to wait until the incorrect model arrives, ship it back to them and then wait for a refund to be approved. Over all a shocking experience. 0/10

Perfect!? – I bought this vacuum after doing 2 days of research.. it was the right price for me and jam packed full of every feature that's out there. It's so quiet and was so easy to set up. Only thing that was weird is that the default setting didn't include continuous mapping. I had to manually select that in the app. What this meant was that during the… Read more

first mapping of my house, the vac ran out of battery and went to the charger, then once charged it didn't go back and finish where it had left off.. it tried to do the whole house again.

Was good at first but now, not so much – OK we spent $800 on this back in September 2021 and for the first few months it seemed to work OK. Then a few weeks ago it all went pear-shaped. The bot started running over the charging dock like it wasn't even there, even though the dock was in the right place on the map. In the process the bot moves the angle of the dock as well which makes… Read more

it hard for the bot to dock and charge. Yes, I keep the unit and dock clean. I contacted support who suggested I do a factory reset on the bot, which I did. I then attempted to remap the house, which kind of worked but didn't label the individual rooms as it had previously, and only cleaned half the house and then decided that 'cleaning is complete'. I then deleted that map and waited a day but when it remapped the house again, it only did half the house. The dock is located in a central position. The other problem is that the dust bin has stopped emptying properly and I have to empty it manually which is a shame because that's the main reason I bought this unit in the first place. The emptying vacuum does activate OK but the dust does not evacuate the dust bin. The video below is after it said 'cleaning completed, returning to dock'. https://www.bitchute.com/video/ak8tL1CTBzoY/

Expensive, but worth the outlay for busy households – This is the first robotic vacuum that we have owned or used in our household of 6 people and multiple fur children. We had done some cursory research into such units in the past but had always come to two conclusions: 1) you have to spend a lot if you want a good one, and 2) all that money is better put towards upgrading the existing stick vac. I… Read more ·  1

always thought that robotic vacuums were doomed to be more of a hassle than a time saver... but the N8+ has changed my mind somewhat.

The Ecovacs Deebot N8+ arrived very quickly, and the first feature to impress was a fairly minor one: its packaging. The N8+ is very well packed, and evidence of that sort of care is usually a good start when it comes to appliances. Also, the included instructions are very detailed and don't leave any questions unanswered. Therefore, getting everything up and running was quick and easy.

Next to sort out was the app, which could seem like a minor or optional feature, but it really isn't. The app allows all sorts of control over your Deebot, too numerous to list here, and really should be the first thing you set up before unleashing your new vac on any sort of cleaning mission. Here I found my first foible: the vac wouldn't pair with our WiFi router properly, regardless of what I tried. Thankfully, the app then offered a 'Plan B' of pairing with my phone and achieving the same result, but it seems odd that direct pairing was difficult after ticking all the boxes... your experience may vary. Also, any notifications delivered by the app (filter cleaning, brush tangles, etc.) are very clear and easy to understand.

After pairing, placing the charging dock and allowing "Alfred" (I wanted to name it "Jeeves" but was outvoted 5-1) to charge fully, it was time to get a map of the house. This didn't take a whole lot of time, and included tiled and carpeted floors. It's definitely a good idea to make sure everything (and I mean everything) is off the floor before getting the area mapped to ensure there are no spots missed. I was impressed with how well Alfred's ToF sensor "sight" worked; while watching the map expand on the app, you can see a lot of ground being discovered well before the unit arrives to map in detail. It might seem insignificant, but being able to see all the nooks and crannies means that very little gets overlooked.

One of my major concerns was battery life. Given the combination of floor surfaces involved and the higher rate of suction on carpets (which can be altered in the app, admittedly) I was concerned that a full clean on one charge might not be possible. I was pleasantly surprised, however. A full clean of our chosen areas takes around 55 minutes, and the battery level only gets down to about 20% or so upon completion. There is a portion of our house that Alfred doesn't visit, thanks to a small step, and this leaves two bedrooms, a bathroom and a hallway out of the map... so it's likely that a charge would be needed to complete a full house clean. The omitted bedrooms are our messier ones though, owing to young children, so these ones are best handled manually anyway. The app makes it very easy to draw a no-go line across doorways if there are areas you want left alone.

In terms of vacuuming performance, I have to say I am very impressed with the N8+. It does a great job of picking up dust and hair from a variety of inhabitants including pets. It isn't immune from the usual vacuum cleaner bugbear of 'long hair clogs' though... every couple of cleans I find myself having to clean the roller and brushes with a pair of scissors, as longer hair easily gets wrapped around these parts. Balls of long hair can also pose problems when the vacuum is trying to empty itself, as the dust bin opening is quite small. To be fair, I've never used a vacuum cleaner which overcomes this obstacle. Larger particles such as very small rock, crusher dust or crystal cat litter do pose problems sometimes, as they can be flung away by the rotating brushes and missed. There doesn't appear to be a control for brush speed, so it's not possible to control this. But, as such debris isn't exactly strewn everywhere, it's a rare issue.

I have had this unit perform a few mops using the included washable pad, and the results have been admirable. You can see a small circular moulding in the top of the mop pad plate (likely for a magnet to operate a switch inside the vac) so that when the mop pad plate is snapped into the water tank and attached to the vac, it automatically activates its mopping mode. This makes it easy to switch back to vacuuming-only: just take the tank off when you aren't mopping. I have read some negative reviews about the mopping performed by this unit, and frankly I think they're based on the unrealistic expectation that the N8+ is going to scrub and buff your floors to a mirror shine. This clearly isn't going to happen, nor is it meant to. I found that the mopping pad was nice and evenly dampened, and did a good job of wiping the floor as it went. This isn't a feature for spills or stuck-on mess, this is a supplementary clean to use on hard floors every few times the unit sets out, and it does a good job on hard floors. Avoidance of carpeted areas detected during mapping was very good (you can see these areas shaded on the map) and we haven't had any issues with Alfred overstepping the boundaries.

The N8+ climbs well. I have seen some complaints about its climbing ability, but again I believe that these are related to steps which are just too tall. I wouldn't expect drops or steps under 30mm or so to be a problem, but anything taller is going to yield varying results. We have some obstacles such as the bases of cat trees, which Alfred manages to get onto and clean without an issue. These are typically 10-20mm high. The suspension and grippy wheels ensure that climbing around on most surfaces of a reasonable variation in thickness shouldn't be a problem at all.

There are some significant negatives to the N8+ though, and I'm sure that these affect other brands/models as well. My first gripe is the sheer number of consumables, or bits that have a very definite life. In the charging station, there's a bag into which the N8+ empties after each clean, by default. I found this bag to be filled (or at least wanting to be replaced) after a dozen cleans or so. The puzzle for me is that the vacuum itself has a sealed, removable container which can be lifted out and emptied manually if you like. Why doesn't the charging station employ this same principle? In this age of waste being evil, surely that's a feature worth looking at. Admittedly, replacement bags can be sourced cheaply (a shipment of 20x bags I have ordered online was around $30) but this doesn't change the fact that there are better methods available.

The front brushes and roller also have a limited lifespan, although again these can be had at a reasonable price online, often bundled with other parts like washable mopping pads and dustbin filters. While all these parts can be bought and swapped out, there is still waste that can be mitigated. I would suggest washable synthetic dustbin filters instead of throwaway paper and plastic, sealed containers instead of bags, and more robust brush bristles. I would also leave the disposable mopping pads in the box, as the washable one does a fine job. Yes, consumables add a revenue stream for the manufacturer, but this is a fairly expensive unit to buy, so it's fair to expect a product which doesn't chew through parts. As mentioned above, most of these parts can be had cheap/aftermarket and seem to fit a number of different Ecovacs models, so it's not a complete dealbreaker.

My other hassle that I came across was the need to remap the house completely if the unit loses track of its location and thus doesn't know where its charger is. This has only happened once, after tangling with a shoelace during a work day and being returned to its dock later that evening. Every effort to orient Alfred was futile, as the information had vanished from the app, and he had no idea where he was. Even placed back on the dock, given time to reorient and try again, he would rather clumsily teeter off the charging dock and crash into walls. A remap of the house solved this issue, and I was sure to save the map as one of multiple floors in the app, so hopefully he doesn't lose his marbles again. I think the ability to save maps as a file and export for safekeeping or later restoration would be a good feature to include within the app.

Having used the N8+ daily for a few weeks, I can say that I was both right and wrong about my assumptions when it comes to robotic vacuums. You do have to make some adjustments around the house before using one of these (getting the kids to clean their rooms is a good start) but they're small changes. Another issue to come to terms with is that it's yet another appliance in your house which demands periodic inspection and swapping of wrecked bits, which needs to be weighed against your need for an automated vacuum cleaner. In a house like ours, the positives do outweigh the negatives; it's not a must-have by any stretch, but it does make daily life easier and saves time for us, which is very welcome if you have a hectic schedule.

Overall, it's a good time saver for busy households. There are cheaper vacs out there, but customer satisfaction seems to taper off at about the same rate as the reduction in outlay. In other words: don't cheap out on a robotic vacuum if you have delusions of grandeur and expect to come home to a spotless house every day, because that probably won't happen. Yes, the N8+ is worth a decent chunk of cash, but something markedly worse only saves you about half the money... so that's food for thought.

The Ecovacs Deebot N8+ fits the bill for us. It does a good job of what it's meant for, and I have no problem recommending it wholeheartedly to anyone who finds themselves in the market for an appliance like this.

After using one of these, the rest of the family is buying one too – Context: We live in a two storey house with a pet dog (with long fur). Typically we vacuum about twice a week (using a stick vacuum cleaner) but have found after getting a new dog, the amount of fur and general dirt in our floors has warranted more time spent cleaning (ideally a daily clean). Aesthetics: The robot vacuum cleaner is about the size… Read more ·  1

of a large laptop and the thickness of a deck of cards. It is quite minimalist with it’s design and the dock can be easily placed in a small corner or against the wall (as long as it’s near a power point).

App Functionality: Setting up the app is relatively easy. At first I didn’t understand the difference between 2.4GHz and 5GHz wifi, but this is something you just need to quickly look up and ensure you understand when setting up the syncing function between the app and the robot vacuum.

The app itself is very easy to use, it lets you schedule times when you want the robot vacuum cleaner to run (we make it run at 5am when we go for our morning walks with the dog). You can also see the mapping and where the robot vacuum cleaner has cleaned via the app too.

Robot Vacuum Cleaner Functionality: The robot vacuum is great for keeping our floors clean, so we only need to do a deep clean once in a while. It has the capability to vacuum and also to mop. This was exactly what we wanted now that we had gotten a dog (and a messy one at that).

One of the benefits of having a machine clean is it’s thoroughness. Unlike humans, it will keep going around a chair leg until it has cleaned as much as it can. Initially, watching it move around and around tables and chairs was a bit sad, but the manual said not to help it because it needs to map the floor plan properly.

After completing it’s cycle, it will return to the loading dock where it then dispenses the dirt it has collected. We were surprised at the amount of dog hair it had collected!

Conclusion: We had been quite happy with our stick vac, but after having this robot vacuum cleaner, we can’t imagine going back. Our family has even decided to get another one because of it’s ease of use and convenience. If you have children or pets, I encourage you to consider a unit like this, it will reduce the amount of cleaning you need to do, and people like watching it when they come over to our house.

We have named our robot vacuum cleaner ‘Eco’ but some people in our family also call it ‘Slave’. It’s such a hard worker.

Compact and stylish, packed with power and smarts – The Deebot N8+ is a surprising package. The package includes the robot (weighs 3.7 kg, measures 34cm in diameter), an auto-empty station with side brushes, two disposable dust bags and mopping accessories. With the help of the quick start guide, I was able to download the Ecovacs Home app, setup the Deebot and connect to my home wi-fi and was… Read more ·  1

ready to go within 20 minutes.

The Ecovacs Home app is essential for the operation and programming of the Deebot and you cannot run the unit without it. The app offers a auto cleaning mode so that you can get started immediately. If you want more control and customise your cleaning for example, set up a sequence of rooms to clean or specific areas to clean and customize suction power, then you need to use the Smart Cleaning mode.

I used my Deebot on hard floors with hall runners carpeted rooms and tiled floors. The Deebot performed well on all these surfaces. What surprised me was how well it worked on the rugs and carpets. Deebot senses the carpets and goes into boost mode to increase its suction power.

The most surprising feature I discovered was how intelligent it was. If you use the Smart cleaning mode, it maps out your floor layout and location of furniture and uses the mapping to create an efficient cleaning program. There are sensors around and at the bottom of the robot so you don’t have to worry about it falling down steps or damaging furniture.

The internal dust bin is not very large and depending on how much dust, hair, lint and other household particles it picks up, it does get filled very quickly. This happened frequently in the first few days of use which I felt was an indicator how capable it was at vacuuming. It was a marvel at getting under beds and sofas as it only measures 10cm high.

My favorite feature of Deebot is how “intelligent” it is and it seems to get smarter the more I use it. When the internal dust bin is full, it automatically returns to the auto-empty station where the contents are evacuated from the robot into the dust bag located in the station. When Deebot detects it needs to recharge at approx 15% battery life, it locates the station and returns to the station for a recharge on its own.

My Deebot tends to go out on 15-20 min “sprints” but has gone for as long as 60min before requiring a charge. The effective cleaning time depends on the surfaces it is cleaning, number of obstacles it encounters and whether it is in auto clean mode or smart cleaning.

The Deebot does have its limitations. The primary one is size of the internal dust bin. If your house is very dusty, it will fill very quickly. If it gets too full, the auto empty function may not work properly. This is not a fault of the unit but the fact that the dust, fibres and hair in the bin have matted together and cannot fit through the evacuation ports at the base of the robot. Fortunately, it only takes seconds to manually empty the contents.

Although the Deebot does an amazing job navigating around each room and furniture, it does occasionally get stuck or jammed between furniture. This happened in auto cleaning mode. However, once I made tiny positioning adjustments to a couple of pieces of furniture and ran Deebot in smart cleaning mode, this virtually stopped happening.

It does pay to be aware of your room configuration and to pick up loose items on the floor before setting Deebot loose. The other feature I loved was the detailed messages that Deebot issues from notifying you when cleaning is complete to malfunctions like when it gets trapped (and asks to be freed) or if the wheels gets entangled in hair or string, to standard maintenance messages like clean the filter or wipe the sensors due to excess dust.

The Deebot is a surprisingly clever and capable vacuum but it may struggle if you used it for an initial heavy clean. But as a regular maintenance unit or to clean up a specific area , I can’t think of anything better. After 2 weeks , I love this little unit and I love seeing Deebot roam around the house , cleaning while I’m watching the TV. It’s like being on a Star Wars movie sets with droids roaming about. Who wouldn’t want their own personal cleaning robot?

Auto Empty Function Disappointing – Purchased a Deebot N8+ 3-in-1 with the Auto Empty dust bin. The Deebot vacuum cleaner is functioning as expected, the auto empty function is not. When the dust catcher on board the Deebot fills up, the auto empty function doesn’t work. Apparently this is not a fault, the auto empty function won’t work if the onboard dust bin is “overloaded”.… Read more

However there is no way the Deebot can sense it’s overloaded. My advice is to buy a unit with a bigger on board dust bin with the best suction for your budget. Check out the market as there are lots of deals out there. Personally I’m disappointed with Deebot.