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We lab-tested Ecovac's next-gen robot mop - here's where it shines (and struggles)
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Ecovacs has been hard at work improving the navigation and maintenance on their robot vacuums -- and it's been successful. So much so, that after releasing the Deebot X11 OmniCyclone, I was a bit stumped on what the company could do to upgrade its next robot.
The X11 OmniCyclone was already a flagship robot with great features: a bagless self-emptying system, roller mop, great suction, and good navigation. But Ecovacs optimized its successor, the Deebot X12 OmniCyclone, to make it an even more powerful robot mop with advanced obstacle avoidance.
The successor to the X11 OmniCyclone does almost everything right, making it stand out.
As a premium robot vacuum and mop, Ecovacs puts a lot of emphasis on the X12 OmniCyclone's hands-free experience. This robot vacuum automatically empties its contents into a bagless canister similar to the dustbin on a traditional upright vacuum. Once the canister at the dock is full, you empty it into the trash can and return the canister to the dock without needing to replace dust bags.
The Deebot X12 also features 22,000Pa of suction power. While this isn't the highest on the market right now (that'd be the Dreame X60 Max Ultra Complete with 35,000Pa), it's still quite powerful.
The robot mop feature on the X12 performs exceedingly well in real-world scenarios, thanks to its self-cleaning roller mop that uses clean water. The X12 features an AI Jet Mop, an unprecedented feature in robot vacuum-and-mop combinations. It uses AI to detect stains on the floor as it navigates, then sprays water from its clean-water tank to loosen them and aid in deep cleaning.