Looking for a robot vacuum. Any Recommendations and Deals? Budget around $1000-$1200

BamOz on 23/11/2021 - 10:29
Last edited 23/11/2021 - 10:31

Hi Peeps,

I am planning to buy a Robot Vacuum for my 2 Bed home. Could you please suggest some good options and any related good deals (Black Friday or in general) ?

After doing a bit of homework and looking through previous OzB posts, have Roborock S7 on top of my mind but seems little expensive(esp. when bundled with the auto empty dock) given when there are so many cheaper options around.
Also not sure if I should be waiting for S7 plus or just consider the S7 w/ or w/o auto empty bin.

Of late, one of colleague bought ECOVACS DEEBOT N79T for $200 and mentioned it works well.

Since there is a big price difference and too many options, need your 2 cents before I take a plunge.

Details :

  • Brand - Any. Preferably - Roborock, Roomba, ECOVACS
  • Budget - $1000 - $1200. Any lower budget ones with good suction and long lasting should do.
  • Usage - 2 bed unit (Mostly carpeted), only kitchen island and winter balcony (small) needs mopping. Also, I have a 1 year kid at home, so fair bit of tidying up required.
  • Frequency of use - One complete round every alternate day
  • Plus feature - Auto empty bins - Are they worth it ? Are the in built bins small for 1-2 complete rounds ?? & Mopping

Features -
1. Strong suction power (Good cleaning like Dyson or near equivalent) but less noisy. This is important to me.
2. Auto empty bin
3. Neat navigation with No Go zones
4. App connectivity
5. Mopping (need this but since mostly carpeted may not be much in use)
6. Long lasting. Should last at least 3-4 years (Minor maintenance should be good but w/o major breakdowns)
7. Easy availability of accessories.

Please suggest few different models from brands to choose from.

Home & Garden Robotic Vacuum Cleaner

Comments

  • MS Paint on 23/11/2021 - 10:31
    -7

    Can't people spend 20 minutes a week vacuuming their house anymore?

    • BamOz on 23/11/2021 - 10:33
      +4

      That was my initial thought, but given I have a kid its not 20 mins. Tidying up takes 20 mins (which I still have to do) and then it taken 45 mins+. And do that every other day, you are spending 3hrs a week which could be used for other tasks.

      Thats just my opinion.

      • MS Paint on 23/11/2021 - 10:34
        +1

        Fair enough. Valid excuse ✅

    • rhimes on 23/11/2021 - 10:51
      +1

      We used to try for weekly, but sometimes only get it done fortnightly. 3 kids, time hard to come by.

      Got an ecovacs from aldi around the $500 mark this year, and frankly, it's amazing how much it picks up every single day. Two internal containers worth, almost daily.

    • Boioioioi on 23/11/2021 - 10:52
      +1

      It depends on the size of your house. My house takes a couple of hours to vacuum. Maybe I just suck at vacuuming? But it means I am lazy and never got around to it. Buying a robot vacuum was the best investment ever!

    • iDroid on 23/11/2021 - 10:59
      +3

      It's not really a replacement for vacuuming, they are fantastic for keeping the dirt/dust level down enough that you can vacuum less frequently.

      You still need a vacuum as there are other surfaces that the robot vacs don't get to (or don't do well) - top of skirting, some rugs/carpet/etc.

      Also, some houses may only take 20min, but vacuuming my place takes more like an hour, and with kids this needs doing way too often.

      Robot vacs keep the place cleaner between vacuums (for myself anyway) .

    • cainen on 23/11/2021 - 12:03
      +1

      When you've got pets it's pretty much a daily thing. Having kids is probably no better I imagine. My robovac is one of the best purchases I've ever made - can highly recommend the Roborock S7 though pretty expensive.

  • kumquat on 23/11/2021 - 10:53

    I’m looking for the same thing. If you have an AMEX they have 15% back at Godfreys. They match prices to physical stores, so hopefully they have a sale. Spoke to the lady and they were able to do it for $1100 then the extra 15% with AMEX bringing it to $935

    • BamOz on 23/11/2021 - 11:03

      Thanks. Don't have an Amex though !

  • LowAims on 23/11/2021 - 10:58

    I've been doing some research on the different options around recently, two major things I've found:

    • Some of the more expensive units have some sort of camera with object recognition and avoidance (eg Roborock S6/7), which would be a must if you have indoor pets (so you're not coming home to dog-doo smeared all over the house)

    • If you live in a multi-story house, or have areas that the robot would need to be moved into manually then an auto-empty dock probably wouldn't be worth the price, since you're going to be picking up the robot periodically anyway. Same goes for units with mopping functions, since you will have to pick it up to refill the water tank and might as well empty it regardless.

    • BamOz on 23/11/2021 - 11:18

      Good points. 2nd one is valid. If we need to switch between rounds, then its a problem else auto empty bin is an overkill

  • Haplo on 23/11/2021 - 11:09

    The Ecovac t9+ ticks pretty much all of your boxes and is on sale at JB HIFI at the moment https://www.ozbargain.com.au/node/665480. Mine trundles around a large house, with two dogs, everyday and hasn't missed a beat. 3rd party accessories are easy to source.

    Like most robot vacs the mopping isn't anything special but is beter than nothing.

    • BamOz on 23/11/2021 - 11:19

      Thanks

    • BamOz on 29/11/2021 - 16:31

      Hi,
      The dust bags listed in JB are priced at 30$ for 3, that essentially 10$ each.

      a) Can we buy from eBay or amazon for cheap? any deal links pls.
      b) What about after warranty cover support ? Do they have service center in Sydney

  • foxpants on 23/11/2021 - 11:14
    +1

    Very happy with our Roborock S6 Pure which we've mad about 6 months now, got it on special for ~$650, I think the new S7 is out and I'd have no reason to doubt how good it is, just a fair bit pricier.

    • BamOz on 23/11/2021 - 11:20
      +1

      Thanks, will look at the S6 Max V option as well just that it won't be future proof (w/ auto empty dock)

      • foxpants on 24/11/2021 - 12:20

        My sister just hit me up, the S6 Pure is $599 on amazon down from $799, if you're considering it.

  • skid on 23/11/2021 - 12:17

    Roborock is a good choice.

    The auto empty bin is for houses > 200sqm (excluding the area taken up by furniture) so that the robot can empty the bin and resume vacuuming. You won't need it for a 2BR. Depending on how dusty your place gets, you might get away with emptying the robot bin twice a week. The robot will still start a new round as long as the bin isn't full.

    • BamOz on 24/11/2021 - 11:22

      Thanks, good point to consider. Now I am thinking of dropping the idea to buy the auto empty bin ! Not wort it at 700$!!

  • WreckTangle on 23/11/2021 - 12:20
    +2

    For $1200 a year you could get a cleaning lady

    • morse on 23/11/2021 - 23:03

      Or cleaning man…

      Presumably OP is thinking robovac will last longer than one year.

  • Drakesy on 23/11/2021 - 12:25
    +1

    Viomi s9 with the auto emptier when on special for $499
    or the new roidmi eve plus for ~$550

    Trickle down technology means you don't have to spend a fortune on vacuums these days, $600 is plenty enough to get one with auto emptying ability.

    • isaw on 24/11/2021 - 10:42

      any idea on where to find the roidmi eve + ? my googlefu is failing me.
      the Viomi s9 UV for $500 would be a ripper buy as well if I could find it.

      • Drakesy on 24/11/2021 - 12:21

        The cheapest place that i could find it was kogan *groan
        But I have $400 in kogan credit so will likely be using that come black Friday

  • wizzy on 23/11/2021 - 13:00
    +1

    I have a roomba 780 (an old model now), which I bought second hand on gumtree for about half price back in 2013 when that was the current model.

    It has been great. I've need to replace the battery a couple of times plus the brushes and filters. I just buy the cheap brushes and filters in bulk on amazon. I don't buy the brand name battery either.

    It has been a massive time saver for me with the kids. It vacuums for me many times per week. It has an edge detector which stops it falling off the edge of things, so I even use it to vacuum the veranda.

    I don't know about the newer models.

  • pressdarling on 23/11/2021 - 14:15

    I have an old/discontinued Xiaomi Mi Robot - hard to find this old model at this price now, but it's been going strong for 3 years, running and emptying daily. Makes a big difference with 2 cats both with and without carpet, although you still want to do a proper vacuum quarterly. There's another one second-hand on eBay with a current bid of $100…

    Taking a peek through the Choice reviews, the only recommended model under $1200 is the iRobot Roomba e5 e5150 ($999 RRP), but a couple of others come close and are much cheaper: iRobot Roomba 670 @ $649 RRP, Ecovacs Deebot 600 DO3G @ $399 RRP, Eufy RoboVac 11S T2108 @ $379…

    I probably wouldn't spend >$500 to start with, as long as you can schedule it to run daily and remember to empty it daily (manually) it will do something useful. I also wouldn't rule out second-hand, if you've got a decent model to start with there are a few different places that service them for a decent price.

  • kogi on 26/11/2021 - 09:24

    I am also in the market for a robovac

    undecided between the ecovac T8 & N8

    T8 aivi has avoidance but N8 has higher suction power

  • BamOz on 29/11/2021 - 15:57

    Guys, finally should I go for Ecovacs T9+ (999$) or Roborock S7+(1799) ? Your thoughts please

    Note - Roborock's price does not seem to go down in near future

  • BamOz on 30/11/2021 - 10:49
    +1

    Hi All,
    Finally, after bit of research and some valuable insights in this forum, got the Ecovacs Deebot T9+ (With auto empty bin) from JB HI-FI.

    It was discounted at $999 ($1299 RRP) and after a bit of haggling managed to get it for $963+Shipping (Total - $970)

    Thanks everyone for your valuable inputs.

    • kley78 on 27/12/2021 - 19:47

      can you share your experience plz?

      • BamOz on 28/12/2021 - 17:29
        +1

        Hey, I returned the T9 plus as I have mixed floors( no room to keep device in tiled area) so it was not returning to dock after mopping. Also you cannot do mopping and vacuuming in one go with this one. Everything else was good like 2 sweep brushes, excellent obstacle detection, auto empty bin included at this price point.

        If you don’t have mixed floors and only need vacuuming ( carpet only house types) or only mopping ( vacuum + mop for wooden floors or tiles) this is better than Roborock

        But if you have mixed floors Roborock S7 is preferable. Also the S7’s navigation is much better than T9 plus.

        Hope this helps.

        • kley78 on 06/01/2022 - 21:12

          thank you so much. my floors are tiles only and 2 rugs. I currently have the 1st gen xiaomi robrock which only vacuums. it is still going fine except the battery is not enough to do the whole house. I was thinking of keeping mine and get a mop only robot or hybrid machine. I still dont know what to do :))

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