Ecovacs Deebot X1 PLUS review

Ecovacs’ Deebot X1 PLUS is a robot vacuum for those that don’t want to pay close to $3,000 for a premium device.

Boasting the same 5,000pa vacuuming performance as Ecovac’s flagship Deebot X1 OMNI, and the same advanced technology like AIVI 3D object detection and TrueMapping 2.0, the X1 PLUS is a capable autonomous vacuum that will make you never have to think about vacuuming again.

Mopping is a different story though. $800 cheaper than the X1 OMNI, what you’re losing is mopping performance. The X1 PLUS doesn’t have the same water auto-filling capabilities, it doesn’t automatically clean and dry the mop pads and it uses a singular mopping system which isn’t as effective as the dual-mopping setup of the flagship device. You also still need to manually attach the mopping pads whenever you want to use them.

The unnecessary features found in the X1 OMNI – like the Yiko voice assistant and the on-board camera – are also present. This all adds to the price. 

And although this is $800 cheaper than Ecovacs flagship robot vacuum, $2,199 for a vacuum is still very expensive. 

Price

The X1 PLUS costs $2,199. As a comparison, Dyson’s flagship stick vacuum cleaner, the Gen5Detect, costs $1,599.

This is an expensive robot vacuum cleaner, but it’s not quite as expensive as Ecovacs flagship model, the Deebot X1 OMNI and the iRobot Roomba S9+, which both cost $2,999. It’s more in line with the $2,058 Roborock S7.

Performance

Boasting the same 5,000pa suction power as the X1 OMNI, the X1 PLUS is a very effective robot vacuum cleaner. With two dogs in my house and young children regularly dropping food and crumbs on the floor, the X1 PLUS had no problem picking up everything. 

The PLUS uses the same brush design with two rotating side brushes and a floating main brush. It’s effective. The side brushes ensure the vacuum can get hard-to-reach spots, like up against a wall, and the floating brush does the rest.

The only minor issue I encountered was long hairs getting wrapped up in the floating brush. Although the X1 PLUS easily picked them up, they tangled around the mechanism. This wasn’t much of a problem, though, as it didn’t impact performance. I just had to cut the hair away every now and again.

The X1 PLUS also has a mopping mode. The X1 PLUS uses Ozmo Pro 3 technology in which the mop oscillates, creating a scrubbing effect instead of a wiping style. It has a singular mop similar to the design in earlier Deebot models like the T9+ and the N8 Pro. It did the job but wasn’t as good as the X1 OMNI’s OZMO Turbo dual-mopping system for getting out tougher marks. 

To put the X1 PLUS into mopping mode, you need to attach the mops to the device physically. This takes away from the autonomy of the robot. I found it easier to clean the floor with an old-fashioned mop and bucket. This is the same issue we came across when testing the X1 OMNI. It detracts from the independence of the robot and is a downside.

The X1 PLUS boasts Ecovacs’ AIVI 3D technology which is the company’s latest object detection software, and it’s impressive. It easily avoided larger furniture items and even toys left on the floor. There is still some room for improvement, though, as, on occasion, the X1 PLUS did pick up a charging lead or cord and got it tangled in its wheel. But this didn’t happen regularly and can be avoided with a bit of pre-planning.

A helpful feature is the surface detection technology in which the X1 PLUS identifies the type of surface it’s on and adjusts the suction power to suit. It worked well. On dense carpet, you could hear the vacuum increase suction power to ensure it was getting a deeper clean. The vacuum also has accurate edge detection technology. It won’t drive off stairs or over an edge. 

I was impressed at how quiet the vacuum is. Often, I didn’t realise it was on until I saw it scurrying around my house.

Dock

The dock for the X1 PLUS is significantly smaller than the larger bin that comes with the X1 OMNI. I much preferred the smaller size. However, there is a reason for this discrepancy. The OMNI’s dock can autonomously empty and refill the vacuum cleaner’s water. It has two 4L containers for clean/dirty water, and it independently dries and cleans the mops. The X1 PLUS doesn’t have these capabilities.

Still, the smaller bin was easier to place in my house, and it didn’t look out of place. The Jacob Jensen design is sleek and is a significant improvement over the older Deebot models.

The X1 PLUS’ dock is compatible with auto-emptying. It boasts 21kPa suction power and only takes 10 seconds to empty the dustbin. It’s impressive, but it is loud. You won’t want to set this up outside a bedroom as it will wake you up, which ruins the possibility of running the vacuum cleaner at night.

Inside the bin there’s a 3.2L disposable dust bag which will take up to 60 days to fill (depending on how much you use the vacuum and how much it needs to pick up.) I loved this. I never had to worry about the vacuum and would only have to empty the bin once every two months. It adds to the independence of the X1 PLUS and is a must-have in a robot vacuum.

App

The Ecovacs app is as simple as ever and comes with everything you need.

When first setting up the X1 PLUS, it will go through a mapping sequence in which it navigates the house and creates a 2D map of the layout. This utilises Ecovacs TrueMapping 2.0 technology, and it’s very accurate. Impressively, it automatically determined individual rooms and gave me a bird’s eye layout of my house that I could recognise.

You can view the map in 3D, which allows you to add objects like tables, beds and furniture. However, this was more hassle than it was worth, and the system was finicky and unintuitive. I stuck with the 2D map, and that was fine.

Once the X1 PLUS is set up you can customise the map by naming rooms and changing room boundaries. You can also set a cleaning schedule that tells the vacuum what time of the day to clean, and you can change the sequence in which the vacuum cleans the house. It’s all straightforward.

Features

Much like the X1 OMNI, the X1 PLUS has a camera on board. Ecovacs told theBit it’s part of what makes the AI technology work as essentially, it’s the eyes of the robot. Interestingly though you can use the camera to watch a live video stream of your house. I had no use for this, and I’m still perplexed as to who would use this functionality.

You can set the vacuum to patrol the house, making it act like a security camera, you can voice chat through it, and you can watch a live feed while it cleans the house. It’s nowhere near as effective as something like a Google camera or an Arlo system, and it also feels a little weird having a device that can store videos and images recording inside my house.

The X1 PLUS is also compatible with voice assistants. Both Siri and Alexa work here. However, they’re limited in their commands when compared to Ecovacs’ voice assistant, Yiko.

Yiko allows you to talk to the vacuum cleaner, and you can give it a massive number of commands. For example, you could say, “Yiko clean the kitchen,” and the vacuum would spring to life, head to the kitchen and start cleaning. While it’s an interesting feature, the results were hit and miss.

To talk to the device, you have to be close to the vacuum, which means if you’re in a room away from where you’ve based the X1 PLUS, you would have to walk to it and give it a command. Also, on numerous occasions, Yiko would start talking because it thought the TV show or movie I was watching had commanded it. I ended up not using Yiko much. The app on the phone is more intuitive and accurate. 

Verdict

The X1 PLUS has a lot going for it. It has a small dock which is easy to place, it’s filled with Ecovacs industry-leading technology like TrueMapping 2.0 and AIVI 3D object detection, it comes with an efficient and useful auto-emptying bin with 21kPA suction power, and it will pick up anything you throw at it. All for $800 less than Ecovacs’ flagship Deebot X1 OMNI.

This is a robot vacuum for someone who lives in a carpet-dominated house. It doesn’t have the water auto-refilling features, the OZMO Turbo dual-mop system and automatic mop cleaning and drying found in the X1 OMNI.

 If you’re looking for a robot vacuum primarily for mopping, the Ecovacs flagship model provides better and more autonomous performance. But if you’re looking for a robot vacuum cleaner then this matches the performance of more expensive, premium robot vacuum cleaners, and doesn’t disappoint. 

Unfortunately, like the X1 OMNI, the PLUS has “advanced” features that have no place being in a robot vacuum. Features like Yiko and the onboard camera are here, and they don’t serve much purpose other than to bump the price up. And this is still an expensive vacuum cleaner, especially considering Dyson’s Gen5Detect only costs $1,599. 

But if you’re in the market for a robot vacuum cleaner that will keep your carpets looking great day in and day out, you’ll love Ecovacs Deebot X1 PLUS. It will handle anything you throw at it, and you won’t have to think about vacuuming again.