Adding a robotic vacuum to your cleaning equipment can be a great way to get some help keeping a floor tidy. We took a look at the popular and budget-friendly Eufy Robovac 30C last year, but today we’re checking out the new Deebot OZMO T8 AIVI from Ecovacs. With laser mapping, vacuuming, mopping, and obstacle recognition, the T8 is a great choice for those with multiple rooms or complex layouts but it comes at a substantial price of $800. Check out the video below to see it in action and get a peek at what all it offers for that price.
Setup
Getting up and running with the Deebot OZMO T8 AIVI is very straight forward. As you get the vacuum out of the box, there are instructions printed under the hinged flap that covers the power button, dust collection bin and cleaning tool. These instructions also include a QR code that you scan from the Ecovacshome app to connect the Deebot T8 to your smartphone.
Cleaning power
After each cleaning, I’m amazed by what all the T8 picks up. Granted, we have a large hairy cat, two kids under five years old and quite a bit of carpet to pull hair and snacks out of. But, with the size and layout of our house, having a cleaning robot that can map out the entire house and sweep back and forth to cover the entire footprint is a huge improvement over robot vacuums without mapping like the Eufy we reviewed last year.
Cleaning/maintenance
Emptying the dust collection bin is important after every cleaning. You can also take off the filter and knock some of the dust off. Compared to my experience with the Eufy Ecovac 30c, I found the roller required much less maintenance. The way the Eufy is designed, I had to frequently cut off cat hair, but with the Deebot, the roller didn’t need nearly as much maintenance.
App and mapping
At the top of the benefits list for me, is the mapping ability of the Deebot T8. The Eufy that I’ve been using is great for a small house with a simple layout, but if you have multiple rooms with doorways, it’s questionable if it will find its way into and out of those rooms. But, being able to set boundaries and label rooms with the Deebot T8 is a huge benefit.
The first couple of cleanings that I did, I just started with the smart clean and didn’t change any settings. It did a great job but didn’t save the map at the end like I thought it would. To save a map and also set different rooms and boundaries, the advanced mode needs to be enabled in settings. After this, the Deebot will save a map or your floor plan. If you have multiple levels, you can also set up the Deebot to map and save multiple floors.
Ecovacs Deebot OZMO T8 AIVI: Video
Once the initial mapping process is finished, the app auto-detects different rooms and creates names for those. You can go in and set specific names for the rooms, or just leave the defaults of alphabetical letters. You can also set virtual borders if there is an area that you want Deebot to avoid.
To me and my house, this is extremely beneficial. The T8 divided the first floor into five different rooms. Being able to tell it, via Alexa, to clean a specific room makes sweeping much more efficient. With the Eufy we had been using, the random bounce pattern can work really well in a small or simple layout, but when it gets more complex, the robot can get stuck in specific rooms and totally miss other areas of the home.
Camera Control
One other interesting feature of the Deebot T8 and the Ecovacs home app is the ability to use it like a remote-controlled camera. When the vacuum isn’t cleaning, you can opt to enter the video manager instead of smart cleaning. Here, you can control the Deebot and watch a live video feed from the front of the robot. I can’t see myself using this feature very often, but if you had a pet that you wanted to check in on, you could remotely connect and pilot the Deebot around your home to figure out what they’re up to. Entering the video manager requires a passcode that you set the first time it is used, and Ecovacs reports that no video is stored online anywhere to aid in privacy.
Mopping
In addition to vacuuming, the OZMO T8 AIVI will also mop. But, using the mopping feature requires a little more interaction than vacuuming. The cleaning plate must be installed with either a reusable or disposable cleaning cloth, and Ecovac suggests filling the water reservoir at the back of the vacuum right before use and emptying it immediately after.
When the cleaning plate is installed, the vacuum won’t move over carpet. So if you’re planning on putting the charging base in a carpeted area, that won’t work well if you want to mop as well.
Obstacle Avoidance
With all of the cameras and sensors, the T8 also senses and avoids obstacles. Just navigating around a room it avoided getting stuck anywhere, but then I also placed a loose cable in the middle of a room to see how it would navigate. The Deebot stopped about 6 inches from the cable and turned off its sweeping brushes, and then tried to find a path around the cable. After having the Eufy get stuck a couple of times because we didn’t properly clean up a room beforehand, I really appreciated the Deebot’s ability to avoid cables and other obstacles.
Battery Life
Ecovacs claims the battery life on the Deebot T8 is over three hours. It never took anywhere near a whole battery to clean the first floor of my home, which is around 1000 Sq. Ft. One of the benefits of it mapping a house is that it is much more intentional and efficient with a battery. It will clean a room by patrolling back and forth and then move on to the next one.
Assistant support
Once everything is mapped and you link the Deebot to a smart assistant like Alexa or Google, you can then ask the vacuum to clean a specific room just with your voice, which is pretty handy.
Wrapping Up
Overall, the Ecovac Deebot OZMO T8 AIVI is great with a lot of desirable features, but it is priced as such. At $800, it is definitely an investment, but with room mapping and impressive vacuuming, it performs really well. Mopping is a little more involved but is still a great feature if you have a space that lacks much carpet. If you have a smaller space and a smaller budget, than be sure to check out our review of the Eufy Robovac 30C, which is a simpler robotic vacuum at a great price.
Buy Ecovacs Deebot OZMO T8 AIVI
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