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Jun 09, 2023

Eufy X9 Pro robot vacuum and mop

The Eufy X9 Pro robot vacuum and mop has great features that suit mixed hard and soft floor types, like carpet detection (no mop) and heated mop pad drying. It is close to a one-pass solution.

We reviewed the Eufy X8 Twin-Turbine Hybrid robovac/mop – a powerful little sucker and found it well made and fit for purpose for vacuuming hard or soft floors. The twin motors, each producing 2,200Pa, made for impressive carpet cleaning. The mopping attachment was a static platen and lost points there.

So when we were offered the Eufy X9 Pro with 5400Pa, carpet detection, hot air mop cleaning and one of the smartest AI navigation systems we have seen, we were keen to put it through its paces.

It is not quite perfect (lacking a dustbin empty function), but it is one of the best robot vacuums and mops for one-pass cleaning on mixed floors. But the real question is whether it is good value at the $1499 price.

Before you read the review, check out Five Tips for Choosing a robovac/mop (2023 update cleaning guide), especially the part on house preparation.

We use Fail (below expectations), Passable (meets low expectations), Pass (meets expectations), Pass+ (near Exceed but not class-leading) and Exceed (surpasses expectations or is the class leader) against many of the items below. You can click on most images for an enlargement.

A cleaning station, by definition, needs to be big, and this is at 443 (H – lid open 730) x 412 (W) x 308 (D) plus ramp totalling 416mm (Deep). Add a metre clear in front and 50cm at each side for the robot to manoeuvre.

The robot is also larger and heavier than expected at 352 (W) x 326 (D) x 94mm. It all looks quite serious. Eufy needs to look at more fashionable colours and finishes to capture Gen Z and Millennials, who often buy on looks, not specs.

Robovacs generally present minor privacy concerns, unlike, say, security cameras. The privacy provisions are typical and benign, and the camera is not used for surveillance.

Download the Eufy Home App, register for an account, connect to 2.4GHz Wi-Fi (which also supports Mesh routers/satellites), and that is it.

The Quick map feature is fast (<10 minutes) and fantastic (accurate). It does the edges first, then a U-shaped clean with different rooms defined by colours that you can rename. It improves on the map on subsequent cleaning runs. It can store five maps.

Once you are happy with the map, you can edit it to split/merge rooms, add no-go boundaries and more. This allows you to select rooms to clean and set a cleaning order. You can set schedules, tap and go (cleans the room you tap), manually control, show cleaning history, voice assistant settings, and update the firmware.

As it has carpet detection and no mop, you don’t have to shut doors or set no-go zones unless there are areas you don’t want to be cleaned.

This is an ultra-brainy-bot. It has:

It also has a forward/side bumper, but we have yet to see it run into furniture. The sensors do an excellent job.

We try to trick robot vacuums/mops with everything from electric cables, USB charging cords, shoelaces, shoes, toys and Leggo bricks. Gen 3 robots usually have a few issues. Over four weeks, this Gen 4 ultra-brainy bot did not get stuck anywhere or try to eat shoelaces.

This means that you can confidently leave it unattended for cleaning, and it should avoid any obstacles etc.

In one pass mode (vacuum and mop), it covers about 1m2 per minute.

The claim is 5500Pa suction. That is impressive, but the reality is the Max mode only. It has Turbo (about 3800Pa), Standard – default (about 2800Pa) and Quiet (about 2000Pa). The more suction, the shorter the battery life.

We found that on short sisal pile carpet, standard mode left too much of our test sample (70% efficiency). Switching to Turbo (set as the new default) improved the detritus collection to 85%. Then we discovered a new function – see below.

The App allows you to set power-on defaults for mopping and vacuum strength. But the BoostIQ feature automatically varies suction power if it detects thicker carpets and hard-to-sweep messes. This improved detritus collection on sisal carpet to 87%.

Hard floors only need standard mode, recovering 92% of the test sample. Turbo mode increased this to 93%.

As with all robot vacuums, it does not do edges or stairs.

You need to understand a few issues first.

It has no inbuilt water tank. Every 10 minutes (about 10m2 but user-definable), it returns to the base for a mop pad wash and clean. The mop pads are two parts – a microfibre mop and an absorbent pad under. It mops using only that water every 10m2 it is back to base for ‘rinse and repeat’.

The advantage is that there is no leaky water or dragging an increasingly dirty static platen over the floor.

The disadvantage is that in multi-level mapping – you can’t mop, or it tries to return to the station on another floor.

Mopping efficiency is good – Pass+ because of the frequent mop cleaning. Combining 180 RPM and 1 kg downward pressure means it can remove much more than a static platen mop.

We found it struggled on the claimed 20mm sills negotiation when coming from the carpet to hard floors. It was fine on 15mm.

It ranges from 55 to 75 dB, depending on the mode. On default settings, it is about 65 dB.

It uses a single left-side whisker but cleans the edges first, then performs a U-pattern between the edges. Like any robot vacuum/mop, it cannot do edges like a stick vac can.

At 93mm high, it can get under most cupboard and furniture overhangs.

It uses a 14.4V/5.2A/75W LiPo battery. LiPo (lithium-poly) is considered safer than Li-ion using a gel-like (Silicon-Graphene) material (less combustible, lower chance of leakage). The downside is they are larger (less energy dense), more costly to make, don’t last as long (300-500 maximum charge cycles) and take longer to charge – about 5 hours in this case.

But given the terrible publicity about Lithium-ion batteries and their runaway fire issues, I will take safety any day.

The charge station provides 20V/1.2A/24W, which is extremely safe. You can leave a LiPo battery on the charger without issue.

The station uses 60W when cleaning and hot air drying.

You can halve these figures if you use Turbo or Max vacuum constantly.

Not on the Eufy AU website. Prices from the US website – at least double for an indicative price

While it offers voice control, the range of commands is limited.

Once you get over the $1499 price tag, you will understand that this is necessary for one of the best AI navigation systems we have yet seen.

The auto-lift rotating mop is important where you have a mix of soft and hard floors, as you can let it go and do its job unattended.

It would have been perfect if it emptied the dustbin (yes, we are lazy).

An ultra-brainy botwhich also supports Mesh routers/satellites)Gen 4 ultra-brainy botNot on the Eufy AU website. Prices from the US website – at least double for an indicative price
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