There’s a real problem with having access to the very latest technology year on year – and that is you’re blinded by the relatively incremental upgrades to certain gadgets year on year. However, through the lens of a product being your first time using something, or upgrading after several years – you can really see how exciting certain products are. The Ecovacs X2 Omni Robot Vacuum is probably one of the best examples of that quandry.
Ecovacs is a leader in Robot Vacuums, here in Australia they have owned the market, at the top end and even the mass market, with great products and a range of features that filter though their product range year on year.
I think the best lens through which to review this latest flagship product is for someone who already knows how good a robot vacuum is, but wants more. If you bought an Ecovacs Robot Vacuum from Aldi in the last several years – you know they are great, and you’re about to have your mind blown as to how much more they can do.
When making the important distinction about what’s new here, this is though a far bigger leap in a single year than just an incremental improvement in one area. The X2 omni has a radical new design and the base station has reduced in size also.
The Ecovacs X2 Omni is the best example of “hands off” cleaning we’ve seen yet. Thanks to the water tanks and dust bin in the OMNIStation, you could go many days or weeks without ever physically touching the robot.
As a homeowner with 100% hard floors, we’re looking to empty the waste water and fill the fresh water tanks probably just a little longer than every week. That’s because every single day, our X2 Omni (Simon – because he’s square), is out, mopping, scrubbing and vacuuming our floors.
Each time it’s done, it washes the mopping pads, and drys them too. That drying is new for the X2 and makes the whole process more hygenic.
Your robot should be set on a schedule, and make it something you don’t need to think about, then when you come home from work the floors just feel great.
Now, having used many generations of Ecovacs Robots, there are a few observations about the X2 that I was a bit taken aback by. You’ll notice there’s no round Lidar sensor on top of the robot, all the best products from Ecovacs have had that, it created the epic maps I’ve been a fan of. And while they’ve thrown all the sensors into the front of the product, I honestly can’t help but think the mapping is more difficult. It takes longer to produce a map, it really only maps what it’s seeing in close proximity.
Then there’s the getting around, I feel like poor Simon is struggling to get from one room to another when I say “hey, go clean the loungeroom” by selecting the Lounge in the map, and he just wanders around the kitchen as if it’s never seen the two doorways that get it to the lounge. It gets there in the end, but it seems strange to me.
Because of the advanced and powerful mapping, it really does chew through the battery, so not only is it coming back to clean the mopping pads often – if I’m on a deep clean, perhaps a two pass clean it can’t do my whole downstairs in one go.
While there’s zero doubt the X2 is the best in class right now, and the best thing Ecovacs has ever made, some of my experience makes me think that a discounted X1 is strong value right now.
Key to the X2’s feature set is being able to raise those mopping pads when it comes into a carpeted area. If you have hard floors in the kitchen, and carpet in the lounge – as your robot moves area to area it simply lifts up the mop and is able to vacuum away without you having to remove the mopping pads.
This new Square design allows for coverage of the edges of rooms as high as 99.77%, and allows for a 19% increase in overal cleaning efficiency.
Underneath the roller brush is wider and puts it 30mm closer to the corners when cleaning, this reduces it’s overall travel distance too.
Now one of the biggest things about removing that small Lidar Sensor topper that existed on all previous flagships is the is the reduction in height – just 9.5cm – and that means this little fella is going UNDER more things than ever – a set of draws that previous robots couldn’t get under, Simon is slithering under and cleaning. Huge change in look, design but it’s not just for looks.
The way I look at this is the X2 is the ultimate you can get in Robot Vacuum features, and while I don’t think it needs to be your first robot vacuum, for people who have become used to having a robot around, this will be the upgrade you really enjoy.
Ecovacs X2 Omni changes the game, making it possible to forget the cleaning for a while. And isn’t that the whole point of having a Robot Vacuum?
You’ll find the retail price is $2,499 but we’re already seeing sharper prices across retail. Find the Ecovacs X2 Omni at Bing Lee, Godfreys, Harvey Norman, JB HiFi, The Good Guys, Amazon and Ecovacs Online.
