I’m a total convert to Robot Vacuums. Earlier this year I reviewed Kogan’s LX10 and we loved it so much we ended up buying the same model and most days it potters around the house doing it’s thing.
A few days ago Trev launched a Viomi V3 at my front door like he was part of the Australian cricket teams bowling line up. So the last few days I’ve been putting it through it’s paces.
Out of the box it was really easy to set up using the on screen prompts in the Mi home app and installing the waste bin and side brush.
The mapping in this unit far more refined than that of my LX10. It even auto detects different rooms and makes them a different colour on the map. You can tap on rooms and rename them too. But the biggest mapping feature is that it can store multiple maps. So for instance you could have a downstairs map and an upstairs map, simply carry the unit upstairs and select the right map!
Cleaning the same area of our house as our current robo this one takes about 5 minutes longer, but really who cares. The whole point of these things is that they do the cleaning not me.
The V3 can also mop, in fact it comes with 3 tanks so you can choose how to use it. The first tanks is just a waste bin for vacuuming. The second is just a water tank for mopping and the third tank is half half so it can vacuum and mop at the same time.
I found mopping to be a bit of a gimmick on the Kogan vac and just kind of wets the floor.
I was sceptical that this one would be any better. I also don’t understand mopping with just water? Who does that??? Being a bit of a rebel I added some floor cleaner and water to the mopping tank.
Attaching the removable mop head and cloth was effortless, the unit automatically knows which tank you have inserted and lets you know with a verbal notification, but in the app you need to select mopping if you want the unit to mop. At first it looked like nothing was happening just a teeny tiny smear of water on the floor but after a few minutes it was noticeably mopping. Quote impressive really.
On the whole this is a great robovac with 12 different types of sensors it navigates around obstacles with ease and the app is quite intuitive. I added a new virtual wall yesterday to stop it nibbling at the presents under the tree.
The only feature it doesn’t seem to have which I like with the Kogan model is auto detecting when it’s on carpet. My kogan vac increases suction when it’s going across our rug which I think is great.
Very impressed.
Retailing for $900 but currently on sale from Mi’s online store for $549. Some keen eyes from The Man Cave have also spotted it on Catch for $547, so if saving $2 is your version of winning then go for it.
