Happy hands-free cleaning!

ROBOROCK S8 PRO ULTRA

Looking for the ultimate robot vac and mop in one highly effective package? Meet the 2-in-1 Roborock S8 Pro Ultra. Why? Simple, aside from its ace vacuuming skills it has a vibrating rear-mounted mopping pad that automatically lifts five millimetres off the ground the moment its ultrasonic sensor detects carpet or rugs. If you are someone who adores areas strewn with rugs and – especially ones with tassels – are the absolute number one enemy of most robot vacs and mops. But thankfully the S8 has proved to be one of the best rug negotiators.

Another great thing about this vac’s mopping action is that the wet pad vibrates 3,000 times a minute, so instead of just being dragged across the floor, it does some scrubbing, too. And once it’s finished mopping, it heads back to the base where the mop is given a thoroughly good clean before being gently dried using a warm fan.

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Like all the best hybrid and vacuum-only models, the S8 Pro Ultra returns to its dock to automatically empty the contents of its small onboard bin into a large dust bag which won’t need discarding for at least a month, even if you have a hundred hairy pets. The Roborock S8 Pro Ultra is the first robot mop that can be completely left alone safe in the knowledge that it will vacuum all the floors – hard and carpet – and mop just the hard floors and not the rugs.

Normally the act of avoiding rugs would be a good thing because you don’t want a robot mop running slipshod over any carpets or rugs.

Eufy Clean X9 Pro

Eufy enters the hybrid bot fray with a cracking product that mops hard floors. Just be aware that, although it will also vacuum the floor and deposit the detritus into a small 410ml bin, the recharging dock isn’t equipped with a self-emptying mechanism so you will need to empty the robot’s bin yourself – and that’s no fun if you have a lot of hairy pets in the home.

On the plus side, the Eufy Clean X9 Pro’s dock comes with two huge water containers – a 4-litre clean water reservoir and a 3.6-litre dirty water tank. The extra-large size of these containers means you won’t need to empty or fill them too often and that’s a major bonus. As is the mopping system which comprises two circular towelling mops that spin at 180rpm while being forced into the floor using the weight of the robot. The mops also automatically raise by 12mm whenever the X9 Pro’s sensor and front-facing camera detect carpet or rugs.

The X9 pro is a sterling operator and the best choice for hard-floor mopping. Just be mindful that you will need to empty the robot’s small bin manually and on a regular basis, especially if you have pets.

iRobot® Braava jet® m6

The Braava Jet M6 is an actual mop with a front spray jet that can be adjusted for different levels of cleanliness. It is said to use the same mapping software as its vacuuming stablemate since it takes a long time to map.

But it refuses to cross over a large rug which meant it had to create two separate maps which in turn meant having to manually place it. Normally the act of avoiding rugs would be a good thing because you don’t want a robot mop running slipshod over any carpets or rugs. The moral here is that you will likely need to pick up any connecting rugs so the robot can get on with performing the full task you paid for it to do.

The Braava Jet M6 comes with a 440ml water tank so it has plenty of ammo for even the largest of rooms. Like most robot mops, this one uses an interchangeable pad system – it ships with two reusable wet pads, a disposable wet mop pad and a disposable dry pad for general swiffing – and it works remarkably well. For wooden floors, we would suggest lowering the spray power in the iRobot app so that it doesn’t leave too much moisture in its wake. But for all other types of hard floor, it’s safe to opt for the deep-clean option which really does do a thorough job of cleaning up muddy paw prints and other recent stains. If you have a lot of hard flooring plus muddy kids and filthy pets, the iRobot Braava Jet M6 is worth the investment.

Roidmi Eve Plus

The Roidmi Eve Plus is a vacuum and mop in one with an automatic bin emptying system that is one of the best we’ve seen because it features a touch-sensitive LED display that lets the user know when the large 3-litre dust bag is full. Robot itself is also equipped with two side brushes which do a grand job of flinging debris into the path of its ribbed rubber roller.

Well, the Eve uses a simple mop on its rear that removes most marks and stains like recently spilt liquids and muddy shoe prints while the front end does the vacuuming. You can also adjust the amount of water dispensed from its ample 250ml water tank using the excellent Roidmi app.

This 2-in-1 vac-mop has an expert mapping system that uses LiDAR to map all rooms really accurately and fully. In fact, you can actually watch it map the room in real-time on the app. LiDAR is one of the best systems for room mapping but it invariably won’t allow the robot to venture under sofas or beds if there’s a valance or bedspread dropped over the edge. To get around this, lift the valance to fully clean under beds and sofas.

Granted, the Eve does snag itself on rugs but that is often the norm with robot-vacs, especially if the rugs have tassels. Solution? Lift all the rugs off the floor. If you’re in the market for a very effective robot vac that mops as well as automatically empties the contents of its bin, we urge you to put this one on the list.

From the May 2024 issue of FHM India.