Ecovacs Deebot T10 Plus

Don’t buy DEEBOT t10 plus – It’s a piece of crap. Never works, software issue and not help desk support. I am thinking of throwing in the bin. Never seen such a poor product support. Please do not buy from this company. Show details

The biggest waste of money – DeBot keeps breaking down. The first thing to go was the mopping cartridge, it just stopped working after a month. We called Godfrey's (place of purchase) and was told to contact the vendor. We contacted the vendor and went through the troubleshooting to which they determined that it was faulty. The vendor said they would send a replacement… Read more

cartridge but never did. Two weeks later after no further communication we contacted the vendor again who refered us to the place of purchase, Godfrey's. We called Godfrey's and after several calls we got the faulty part replaced under warranty. The whole process took 9 - 10 weeks. A couple of months later the vacum side has started to play up. Honestly after the first set of dramas it's not worth my time and energy to pursue so it sits in the bottom of the cupboard. We bought a cordless Dyson to vacum with and went back to the convential way to mop. There are a couple more problems that I haven't mentioned but basically It truly is the biggest waste of money. $1500 down the drain.

Astounding Technology for Precision and Automated Cleaning – This is an astounding piece of technology; the mapping ability and vacuuming function are outstanding, and the camera adds useful extra features. We have two dogs who shed constantly, and the battle of the hairy floors is over! With this robot, maintenance of floors is straightforward and easy. Setup is simple: plug in and charge. Download the… Read more

app. On first use, the robot will do a lap of the entire house and create a map. The mapping is extraordinarily accurate. To get the best from this function, before first use you should ensure all doors are open to any rooms you want to include, and you should remove as many obstacles as possible. This will allow for the most precise mapping. Large items of furniture stay in place, and the robot maps around them.

Once mapping is completed, it is a simple job to name all of your rooms on the app. You can also divide and merge rooms. There is a virtual boundary feature that I found useful. We have a large sliding door that the camera can see through, and the system assumes there is another room outside the house. While cleaning, the robot constantly tried to get into the perceived extra room. I created a virtual boundary along the length of the sliding door, and the problem was solved. The first time cleaning with the boundary in place did lead to the robot becoming confused (it became disoriented, and seemed unable to go back to the base), but I assisted the robot back to the charger, and the next day the robot cleaned this area normally, and the issue had resolved itself. It seems that the robot learns as it goes.

The on-board camera is great! Through the app, you can watch the vacuum wherever it is in the house, and this means you can also do so remotely. There is a feature called “Home Patrol” which is very useful if you have pets at home and you want to check on them while you are out. In addition, you can talk to your pets (or anyone else) through “Voice Call” on the app, plus you can take photographs and videos. The robot makes a loud announcement whenever the camera is turned on, for those concerned about privacy.

During everyday cleaning, the robot is careful to avoid obstacles; the sensor is accurate, and the robot approaches objects with care, slowing down as it nears any known or new items. This includes the dogs! The robot will take an alternative route when it encounters the hounds. One of our dogs is indifferent to the robot, and ignores it. The other dog is determined to befriend the robot, and flirts with it brazenly!

You can program the robot to clean on a schedule automatically, and you can choose the order in which the rooms are cleaned. You can also send the robot off on its duties at any time with voice control, and this is where naming your rooms on the app is useful, as you can tell the robot to “clean the kitchen” or whatever room you are concerned about. In addition, you can use voice control through your smart speakers; l set it up (it’s easy!) with Alexa so that I can operate the robot from anywhere in the house rather than having to go to the charging base to issue a command. This is really useful!

When vacuuming a room, the robot starts by going around the boundary, then methodically and accurately cleans every part of the floor. If an obstacle impedes the usual pattern of cleaning, the robot will go back to any missed spots; this is most impressive. The robot has rotating brushes that allow it to clean right up to the edges of the room. The same brushes mean that the robot cleans around furniture legs remarkably well. Anyone with pets knows how hair can accummulate around the legs of tables and chairs, and this is no problem for the robot. In addition, the robot is adept at getting under furniture such as couches and beds. It can get to parts of your house that would be out of reach when cleaning with a traditional vacuum cleaner (unless you move the furniture). Any lips or small ledges encountered by the robot are no problem; it will mount these with ease. I saw it only once have trouble with a lip where the floor level changed, and the robot immediately tried a different angle with success.

Once cleaning has been completed, the robot will return to the base and begin charging. It will also automatically empty the dustbin into a bag that is located in the top of the charging station. The only time this did not work was the first time the robot had been under a bed and encountered a ridiculous amount of clumped dog hair. In this instance, I had to assist. But given the nature of a robot cleaner is to do regular maintenance, the volume of dog hair no longer accumulates, and therefore this problem has never recurred. Since that first time, the automatic emptying of the dustbin has been flawless. Use the app to choose how quickly the robot returns to the base to empty the dustbin.

The mopping function is not quite as impressive as everything else concerned with this robot. The mopping unit must be attached, with the choice of a washable microfibre pad or disposable mopping cloths. Water is added to the reservoir, and away it goes. I found that it was not effective at vacuuming and mopping at the same time; the dust and dog hair just gets redistributed on the floor. However, if I ask the robot to vacuum first, then swap over to the mopping unit and tell the robot to clean the same area again, the mopping is acceptable. I find this to be laborious and tedious. Instead, I tend to use the Deebot for vacuuming only, which is the task it excels at. This mopping limitation did not lead me to deduct any stars on my review simply because every other function on this machine is so outstanding.

The robot comes with an air-freshener for use while vacuuming only. Whilst this is a thoughtful addition, the chemicals used in the air-freshener gave me a headache (and in fact the product wrapper warns that it is “toxic to aquatic life with long-lasting effects”). The air-freshener went in the bin! I would love the option of an air-freshener capsule that is made with essential oils (or better yet, one that allows me to add essential oils of my choice).

The app is very good, but it does have room for improvement. The features it provides are excellent, but it could be a little more intuitive. I am sure this will improve over time with updates. Make the effort to have a good look around the app, and adjust the settings if required: you can choose the vacuum power and water flow level (for mopping), for example.

Maintenance is fairly simple. The roller can be removed easily, the filters are accessible. The dust bag is accessed from the top of the charging base. All of these parts are designed well.

Pros: • Vacuuming is excellent: good suction, and precise cleaning. • Mapping is accurate and effective. • Naming rooms, merging and dividing rooms and creating virtual boudaries is simple. • The camera is useful and entertaining. • Home Patrol and Voice Call to see inside your house remotely, and talk to your pets. • Voice operated at the charging base. • Smart home connection: use Alexa or Google to operate robot from anywhere in the home. • Tackles obstacles, ledges and furniture precisely and effectively. • Avoids pets with caution and care. • Great at cleaning around furniture legs. • Easy maintenance. • Battery life: tackles whole house with ease.

Cons: • The mopping function isn’t great, especially if you have pets or lots of dust. • Cost of dust bags and other consumables. • The air-freshener is noxious.

Other considerations: • The charging base is sizeable. You need a suitable position. • Cost: it’s a big investment. • It takes a lot longer to clean the house compared with a traditional vacuum, but this is offset by the fact that you are not doing the work, and it will clean more thoroughly than most humans. • A sensor to detect when the dustbin is full would be a good addition. As it is, you can set the duration of use before the robot returns to base to empty the bin, and this is effective. • The app could be a little more intuitive (but it has very useful functions).

In summary, this is a piece of technology that can revolutionise your cleaning routine. It is accurate, adapts and learns as it goes, is gentle with furniture and animals, has camera functions that will thrill you and it connects with your smart home system for ease of use. Oh, and it cleans really well, too! Highly recommended.

I didn't want to like it, but it is a pretty amazing machine – Full disclosure: This machine was sent to me to review as part of the Product Review Ambassador Program. I previously owned a robot vacuum (about 8 years ago), it lasted about 3 weeks before it was retired to a shelf in my garage; only to be disposed of in a de-cluttering about 12 months later. It was useless; It simply wandered around… Read more

aimlessly, running into every piece of furniture, getting stuck on the smallest obstacle, running out of battery halfway through, and most importantly, failing to vacuum with any real zeal.

I wasn't overly optimistic about the Deebot T10 Plus’s ability to perform satisfactorily, in our house, as a vacuum and mop, given that we have: 1. Our parents are temporarily living with us which means a lot of extra clutter; 2. Two small children, whose sole purpose in life seems to be to scatter every toy they own, randomly, on every floor throughout the house. Boy, was I wrong! Ok, down to the review of the Deebot T10 Plus (let’s call him Deeb from here on in):

The unboxing is straightforward, with a quick start guide provided to get you up and running in no time. The unit comes very well packed, with a minimum of plastic waste product and is pretty much, fully assembled. Upon completing the Quick Start Guide, I was ready to see what this puppy could do.

The initial setup was as simple as scanning the barcode on the unit and installing the Ecovacs app. After this, the unit needed to create a map (or layout) of the floor area, which was easily done by selecting this option in the app (alternatively, you could use the built-in voice assistant by telling it to begin mapping – more on this option later). Note, make sure that all areas you want to be mapped for future cleaning are accessible, by leaving doors to rooms open or moving obstacles that could stop Deeb from entering). It was pretty cool watching it meander through our house and seeing the floor plan appear on the app in real-time.

Once the mapping is complete, you have the option to go full OCD and name each room, place various furniture items that match the layout of the rooms and apply boundaries to let Deeb know which areas are off limits for vacuuming, mopping or both. I didn’t bother with this at first as I thought it was just a gimmick to make the map look nicer. However, after doing a little reading, it turns out that the more details you provide, in terms of furniture and layout, the better and more efficiently Deeb is able to perform in and around these items.

Deeb also has a built-in digital voice assistant called YIKO. During the setup phase, you are asked to repeat certain phrases in order to allow YIKO to learn. I found this the most taxing part of the setup as it was hit and miss. I had to repeat phrases several times and sometimes it just didn’t respond. To be honest, I don’t think I would ever use this feature anyway as Deeb can also be controlled using Alexa and Google Assistant; but I found the app the easiest and most efficient way of controlling it.

Ok, so I finally had Deeb ready to rumble. Our bottom floor is approximately 220 square metres, comprising a bedroom, living room, media room, bathroom, kitchen and laundry/butler’s pantry. The flooring is a mix of vinyl SPC planks, tiles and rugs.

As I was testing the unit in preparation for writing this review, I decided to make him work hard for it and left all of the morning’s strewn toys, kids’ clothing and iPads laying where my kids left them. I selected the Auto Cleaning option from the app and Deeb shot out of the gate and began doing his thing.

Given my previous experience with robotic cleaners, I felt the need to follow him around ready to pluck him out of harm’s way at any given moment. To my surprise, Deeb began navigating in and around our furniture like he’d done it a thousand times before. The most impressive part was when it reached the dining room table; I decided to leave all the chairs pushed in to see how it would cope and to my surprise, it managed to get in, out and around all chairs without once getting trapped.

Next was the living room, which I was positive would bring Deeb unstuck. It is comprised of: 1. Four lounge settings of varying sizes (extras due to my parent’s stay), 2. A coffee table, 3. A large rug over SPC vinyl flooring, 4. A myriad of kid’s toys ranging in size from a matchbox car to a Barbie doll, my son’s pyjamas and an iPad, 5. For good measure I placed several assorted cables on the floor also.

Once again, Deeb didn’t skip a beat. The built-in object recognition and avoidance system worked flawlessly, and it managed to avoid running over or getting caught up on any of the items mentioned above. It can also detect when it changes from a hard floor to a carpet and adjusts the suction power accordingly, depending on the carpet type, which was evident when it started cleaning the rug. Also, given its low profile, Deeb was able to get completely under our coffee table and at least 3 to 4 inches under the lounges.

After seeing how easily it handled these first two rooms, I decided to just let Deeb do his thing and waited for the inevitable warning that he was trapped or had run out of juice. I can happily report that neither of these happened. Deeb managed to complete the entire bottom floor without once getting jammed up and still had about 65% battery left.

Upon completion, he simply scampered back to the base station and emptied the contents of his hard work into the Empty Station which can hold up to 60 days’ worth of dust and debris.

The app also logs the entire route covered in each cleaning cycle so you can see if any areas have been missed. Given the amount of carnage my kids had left on the floor, I didn’t expect it to be entirely free from dust and debris, however, the sections that Deeb had covered were very clean.

I decided to let Deeb recharge while I picked up all the items left on the floor during the previous test; this time I wanted to see just how clean he could get the floor in its normal state, without foreign obstacles. I also updated the floor map by adding pieces of furniture to match the room’s layout to see if it did assist in the cleaning process.

Being cruel though, I decided to accidentally drop some salt, cookie crumbs and small pieces of paper in varying sizes to see how well he would handle a big haul. Again, it did an amazing job and only came unstuck on some of the larger pieces of paper (about 2-3 cm squared). There were several areas where dust remained, but these were in very tight corners that even my Dyson cannot get into, and usually require a small nozzle attachment to clean. I cannot definitely say that adding the furniture to the map helped but it did seem to finish the same area in less time and had about 72% battery left on the second run.

It should also be noted that whilst we do not own a pet, my sister’s dog does spend a few hours a week with us, mainly in our living room. It is a short-haired dog and does tend to shed quite a bit of fine hair. Deeb had no problem sucking up most of it, however, there were some remnants left in the rug – but not much.

Another cool feature is the onboard 960p camera which allows you to see everything that Deeb sees as he travels through your house. This isn’t something that I would really use but it does allow you to check up on what your pets (or kids) are getting up to. You can also use this feature to put Deeb into Sentry mode which means he will randomly trek through your house to allow you to check for intruders (might be handy if you’re on holiday and want to check in every now and then).

Deeb also has the option to install an air-freshener reservoir which leaves the house smelling very nice. One of these was included in the packaging and refills can be purchased separately.

So far, I was very impressed with the performance of this unit but still had to test the mopping function. This requires changing over to the mopping module, after adding some water and an optional cleaning solution. You can adjust the water flow level (Low-Med-High) depending on how dirty the floor is. As we have vinyl flooring, which doesn’t like too much water, I decided to leave it on the factory setting of Low for the first run. The initial results were impressive, although there were several stains that remained. The second run was completed on the High setting (as I was comfortable now with how much water was dispersed) and the results were better but still not as good as a manual mop, and to be honest I didn’t expect it to be. For what it is, I think it did a great job of wet cleaning and would be suitable for those bi-weekly mops with perhaps a manual weekly for those really tough stains.

Is it perfect? No, but given it’s a robotic cleaning device that needs little to no human interaction, it is pretty close.

Would I buy one? I am undecided. It is an expensive piece of kit at AU$1699, but when you consider a new (well-known brand) stick vacuum is selling for AU$1599 it brings it closer as an option; especially as this unit can double as a mop. There are also ongoing costs that need to be taken into account, such as new brush heads, vacuum bags, mop pads etc.

My only real concern is with so much tech crammed into it, the chances of something going wrong with it are much higher; it does come with a 2-year warranty however which helps mitigate this concern somewhat.

If used daily, I could see Deeb becoming a very useful part of the family as it would help maintain a suitable level of cleanliness over an extended period. Does this mean you would not have to do a deep clean anymore? No, but it means the periods between would be much further apart. And for a time-poor family such as ours, that is a very big plus.

Manual intervention required when switching between mop and vacuum – I used this on hard floors and carpet in a single story home, with a pet. It has quite a few pros, however one of the cons is a big one, and was the reason for giving it 3 stars. PROS: It has a lower profile so doesn’t get stuck where other vacuums do. The mopping function spreads water evenly which is good. Stronger suction (3000 PA) which is not… Read more

too loud. You can lower suction power for a quieter vacuum (although it will take longer to vacuum and doesn’t pick up pet hair very well). The dustbin has a nice streamlined design. Auto empties into dustbin after a clean so you don’t empty after every vacuum and seals airtight. 3.2L hypoallergenic disposable dust bag can be used without emptying the dustbin for up to 60 days. Optional air freshener. Smart home integration using Google or Alexa. You can use voice commands directed to the vacuum; the commands are listed in the app. App is easy to use. Three-layer filtration system removes 99% of microscopic dust and allergens. Quick mapping - you can draw virtual boundary and label rooms. This was quite easy to do on the app. There is a camera and video and the option to place a call to the vacuum and speak. Could double as a pet camera! There is also an option to call Ecovacs for help, and I found them knowledgeable.

CONS: Some dustbins can be used with or without vacuum bags. With the T10 Plus you have to replace vacuum bags. Manual intervention required to remove water tank when you need to vacuum carpet. If the vacuum is plugged in on a hard floor and you want it to mop the dining room but it has to cross carpet it won’t be able to cross the carpet. You have to remove the water tank first, send it to the dining room, then stop the vacuum to install the water tank. This was a big drawback for me. The helpdesk advised that this is a temporary measure. I don't see how this will be rectified unless it's improved in a future model.