Ecovacs DEEBOT N10 Plus review

The N10 Plus is a no-frills robot vacuum that does exactly what it says on the tin, it vacuums and mops. 

More advanced features like an auto-rising brush, an onboard camera, self-cleaning features and voice assistant support aren’t here. If you want the very best of what a robot vacuum can do you’re better off eyeing up the $3000, Roborock S8 Pro Ultra.

But at $1,200 the N10 Plus is good enough. The mopping functionality is lacklustre, and the object avoidance is a bit hit and miss, but the N10 Plus is a solid option for someone looking to dip their toes into the world of robot vacuums, without having to spend over $2,500.

Price

The N10 Plus costs $1,200. It’s a midrange robot vacuum that’s not quite as expensive as the $3,000 best robot vacuums NZ, it’s more in line with the $1,400 Roborock S8 and the $1,200 iRobot Roomba i8+.

Features

Like most robot vacuums, the N10 Plus is easy to set up. Just plug the docking station in, download the Ecovacs app, scan the QR code and press start. It’s straightforward and very easy.

On the first clean, the N10 Plus will go around the rooms of your house and generate a 2D map using its TrueMapping technology. From here you can set cleaning schedules, create a cleaning sequence which defines the order in which you want your rooms to be cleaned, change the vacuum and mopping intensity and more.

If you have a home with multiple floors you can generate numerous maps for each floor. Of course, you will have to pick up and place the N10 Plus on each floor room, however that’s to be expected. A robot vacuum that can traverse steps doesn’t exist…. yet. When moving the robot between floors, it will quickly recognise the map it has generated for each and won’t need to remap the area again.

The N10 Plus is capable of both mopping and vacuuming simultaneously. For hardwood floors this is great. The N10 Plus will vacuum up everything in front of it and will drag a mopping pad behind. But it’s important to know that this feature isn’t quite as useful if you have a house like mine in which there is both hardwood and carpet floors.

In mopping mode the N10 Plus can recognise carpet and will avoid it. However, if you want the robot to vacuum carpeted areas then mop hardwood areas, you’ll have to physically take the mopping pad off and or put it on. This takes away from the autonomy of the robot as you can’t leave it to do its thing. It requires extra input which defeats the purpose of having a robot vacuum. If you have a house with only hardwood floors, or only carpet, you won’t have this issue, but I ended up never using the N10 Plus for mopping because of this.

There are robot vacuums that can mop a hardwood floor and then vacuum a carpeted area without requiring any input however this is a feature seemingly reserved for the best-of-the-best robot vacuums and these are almost double the price of the N10 Plus at $3,000.

Boasting a 5,200mAh battery the N10 Plus can vacuum for around five hours continuously. This is plenty and will cover 99% of houses. If you are fortunate enough to have a house that demands more than five hours of vacuuming, the N10 Plus supports Continuous Cleaning in which it will continue where it left off once it recharges.

The vacuum comes with an auto empty station that’s small enough to place in a corner. It’s unobtrusive and contains a 2.5l bag which you’ll only have to empty once a month. Frustratingly, the station is designed to push you into buying extra bags which cost $27 for a set of three. While it’s not super expensive, it’s not something I have to consider with a normal stick vacuum that I simply empty into a bin.

Performance

The N10 Plus boasts 4,300pa suction power. This is quite a bit below the best robot vacuums which boast 6,000pa suction. While it’s hard to compare this to something like the Dyson Gen5Detect Absolute which measures its power in AirWatts, it’s a long way off the power of the latest and greatest stick vacuums.

You can set the N10 Plus to vacuum at three intensities. I exclusively had it on the highest level of suction. This uses more battery but not once did it run out halfway through a cleaning cycle. At this level, the N10 Plus is powerful enough to show that the area has been vacuumed but if you’re looking for an extra deep clean you’ll be better served by a stick vacuum. After the N10 Plus had finished cleaning my house I went through with my Dyson Gen5Detect Absolute and noticed I was still able to pick up quite a bit of dust and dirt.

The mopping performance is disappointing. Instead of scrubbing the floor, the N10 Plus simply drags the mopping pad along behind it. For spills and stains it doesn’t pry them off the floor, instead it just drags the mess far enough so you no longer notice.

I also had some issues with the N10 Plus’ object detection and avoidance. On a few occasions it picked up cables and got stuck. Thankfully my phone would alert me when the vacuum was stuck and I could resolve the issue however it definitely wasn’t as good at avoiding obstacles as the best robot vacuums with their more advanced detection software.

The N10 Plus also has stair sensors so it won’t drive off the edge of a stairway. These work well, it gets right to the edge of the step and then stops. 

Verdict

The Ecovacs Deebot N10 Plus is a no-frills robot vacuum that performs its primary functions of vacuuming and mopping adequately. 

It’s at its best when in a house with only one type of flooring. If you have a house like mine which combines both hardwood and carpeted floors, the inability for it to switch between mopping and vacuuming without having to manually take the mop pad off or put it on, does take away from the autonomy of the robot.

It offers decent mapping capabilities, long battery life, and an auto-empty station, making it suitable for most homes. However, its mopping performance is lackluster, its object detection and avoidance isn’t as good as the best of the best, and it lacks advanced features found in more expensive models. 

If you’re seeking top-tier performance and features, you may want to explore higher-priced alternatives like the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra. 

But for those looking for a reliable midrange option, the N10 Plus is worth considering at its price point.