eufy Robot Vacuum 3-in-1 E20 review: A jack of all trades

Smart device maker eufy announced their 3-in-1 E20 multi-function robot vacuum back in February offering a stick vac, handheld and robot all in one device. 

Priced at $999, the eufy 3-in-1 E20 multi-function robot vacuum is available through JB Hifi, and comes with a detachable vacuum module which sits in a robot vacuum body but can easily be removed and used as a handheld vacuum, or stick vacuum with the included attachments. 

There’s a compact self-empty station included, letting the E20 automatically empty the onboard containment of fine dust, debris and irritants into a sealed bag inside. 

We retired Gus, the Dreame X50 for a couple of weeks, and Spencer the eufy e20 3-in-1 took over, and here’s how it went. 

Setup

The eufy 3-in-1 E20 multi-function robot vacuum comes with everything you need to get up and running – including a user manual, which is also available online.

There’s the vacuum module which includes a fan motor, five-stage filtration system, and a large-capacity dust cup, as well as the robot vacuum body which includes anti-tangle comb teeth to prevent entanglement, especially for pet hair and long hair. 

There’s also the attachments which give the versatility including a Floor Brush Cleaner head, adjustable extension tube and 2-in-1 combo brush head. There’s also a Dusting and Crevice Tool which is embedded in the robot vacuum body at the back. 

The dust bag came pre-installed in the auto-empty station, so I simply placed it on the clear plastic dock assist mat which comes with the unit and then plugged it into the wall using the included power cable. 

To install the E20 you’ll need the eufy Clean (EufyHome) app, which is available for Android and iOS. 

It’s a pretty simple setup – you will need a eufy account to get going – but after that, it’s a matter of adding a device and letting the app take you through the process. The e20 does only support 2.4GHz wifi which can make it a little difficult for setup but once it’s connected the Wifi connection remains strong.

A part of the setup is mapping your home. You get some prompts from the eufy app about cleaning up, removing cables and clutter on the floor. Once your house is ready, kick off the mapping and let it rip. 

Once your house is mapped you can edit the layout, adding no-go zones and specifying carpeted areas. The eufy e20 managed to see out of my windows and sliding doors and add part of the yard and patio as rooms, so it may pay to close the blinds if you have floor to ceiling windows – but you can add them as no-go zones to prevent it trying to get to them.

I did have a small issue in the app where it completely lost the map of my house, only to find it again after I’d re-mapped it. This introduced me to the option for multi-maps which was a neat option if you have a double story house to let the e20 do its thing on multiple levels.

Robot, stick and handheld

Using the e20 3-in-1 is actually quite nifty. It quietly does its job every day, kicking off at the scheduled time and roaming the house cleaning the floors. It’s also very handy to quickly release the vacuum motor, attach the handheld, or stick vac attachments and quickly clean up a mess – looking at you and your footy boots Boy!

Robot

The robot has a topmounted LiDAR System for aiding in mapping, and then navigation around your house. It uses dual LASER sensors for real-time obstacle detection – including pet mess detection, with 129° ultra-wide front scanning for smarter edge cleaning. 

The robot vacuum works well as a unit, cleaning up pretty much any dirt and mess around the house.  As it’s a vacuum only it will avoid any wet spills or pet mess (mostly) – but it cleans any dry mess up extremely well. There was a small line around the edges that didn’t seem to be nabbed each time, though it’s easily fixed by switching over to the stick vac mode. 

The robot can smoothly navigate around obstacles over 15mm – however this did present a problem for some raised areas in my home including the bathroom, laundry and ensuite, where Spencer was unable to surmount the 2cm rise. 

There’s a ‘combined rubber and bristle brush along with anti-tangle comb teeth to prevent entanglement, especially for pet hair and long hair homes’ , says eufy. 

I have a doodle dog, so shedding isn’t generally an issue, however I have a wife, and there’s been a few long hairs caught around the roller on both the robot and the extension brush head. It’s fairly easily removed though if you keep up with it.

App

The eufy Clean (EufyHome) app is fairly easy to use. The main app includes your list of eufy compatible devices with a menu at the top left which has all your eufy account options – including the option to share devices.

Once you select your eufy e20, you can simply choose to clean the whole map, a room, or aim it at an adjustable zone you can place on the map to target areas that need extra cleaning or you can also manually control the e20, guiding it to an area manually and then hitting the clean button.

Settings offer a host of options including changing the language or sex of the voice, emptying and carpet cleaning settings, as well as the schedule option which I used for daily cleans – but remember to clean those cables and clutter before letting it go each day. 

It’s a pretty easy app to use from setup to setting the robot off when you need. 

Stick and Handheld

The stick and handheld modes work decently well, with plenty of suction. There are four levels of suction when in use – Eco, Standard, Turbo and Max. 

You activate them by pressing the thumb switch – long pressing to turn on, then short press to cycle through each mode, with the LED bar lighting up accordingly. 

It’s a little odd to have a thumb activated switch and not a trigger – especially with a nice ergonomic trigger guard on the handle, but you get used to it and it works better for cycling through the modes. 

The eco and standard are very light on for suction, however are great if you need to save battery. Where I usually went straight to was the Turbo and Max suction modes – which work well for cleaning up small messes at the end of the day. 

The vacuum can get up to 30,000 kPA of suction power which is a lot when you ramp it up, very good for following the trail of a dog whose had a good day in the dirt outside. 

The attachment system, well, I have feedback. 

While it’s handy to swap in attachments as needed, apart from the Crevice tool in the top of the vacuum, there’s nowhere to store the attachments with the base station. Instead they sort of hung out leaning against the wall around the base station. 

Some sort of clip attachment system for the base would be good to keep it looking less cluttered. 

The other feedback is that the attachments aren’t interchangeable. The vacuum unit has a square fitting hole for attaching the crevice, 2-in-1 brush and adjustable extension tube, but the end of the tube has a round head which doesn’t allow the other tools to attach. 

I tend to attach the thinner attachments like the crevice tool when cleaning the door runners and not being able to attach it is frustrating. 

Battery and Charging

The e20 3-in-1 includes a 4200mAh battery that lasts up to 180 minutes of run time, with support for 40% Faster Flash Charging than other vacuums, says eufy. 

There’s a handy multi-colour LED in the handle of the vacuum unit to show the battery level – or status. When it gets down to red, it’s time to charge the unit and it’s easy to see when it’s docked how much battery you have. 

The vacuum takes 2.5 hours to charge from flat to full, a decent time frame – and it gets through the full house in a single charge. 

Design

While the robot vacuum needs to be quite open to allow the vacuum motor to attach, the top could also benefit from a half-cover to give it a slightly sleeker look.  The open design works well for easily detaching the vacuum and giving easy access to the controls on the top of the unit, however it looks a little more cluttered than it could be. 

The auto-empty station is nicely compact, though as above I’d trade that for places to attach/store the attachments. 

Should you buy it?

The eufy e20 3-in-1 is a fun unit that tries to be a lot. It mostly gets there too with a powerful vacuum that covers 90% of your cleaning as a robot, and simply detaches and transforms into a stick vac to finish off the rest. 

The design is led by the utility of the innovative eufy FlexiONE 3-in-1 system. It’s a very good idea and I loved the ability to just pick it up and spot clean the floor, furniture or anywhere else if needed, even if it doesn’t look super sleek. 

The 30,000pa of suction power is very hard to beat as well, with the robot easily getting to most nooks and crannies around your home. The stick and vac modes let you finish off easily, with a battery that easily lasts for a full home clean.