My life with a robot: an Eufy RoboVac 11+ review

For the last five years most of the vacuuming in my home has been delegated to a robot, an iRobot Roomba 511. It was the simplest and cheapest model available at the time, and I bought it second-hand - though only slightly used. It changed our lives. Being able to just raise a few furniture and let the robot do its thing while we are away feels very much like living in the future. We couldn’t go back.

So, when it started acting out - first the battery started dying early on the cleaning cycle, then it would be stuck circling itself when the front bumper got stuck, then the front wheel just started dropping off - we begin looking for a replacement. Between the time we acquired the 511 and the time to buy a new one, I was lucky enough to learn about a small brand called Anker, and its sister brands. I knew it produced quality at affordable price. So, when the RoboVac 11+ got a heavy discount at the last Cyber Monday, I went for it.

The RoboVac checked all the boxes I wanted, but it came with a few unexpected shortcomings. Scheduling, charging base, large bin, all that was a must, and all that was fully delivered. I was quite impressed with the suction power and the way the little robot works silently. And, of course, it will vacuum for a long time, thanks to the great Anker battery tech. It does the work for hours.

Which can turn into a problem. If you lock the RoboVac in a room where its charging base is not, it will vacuum the room until the battery dies. I was hoping it would be satisfied after a few passes over and just turn off since it wouldn’t be able to find the charging base, when I would gently point it to the base using the remote control. But it went dead, and I had to carry it. I realize, as I write this sentence, that this looks like the ultimate first world problem… But it must be said.

Then, there’s the biggest problem of all: wires. Bear in mind that my wire management is better than most - and I don’t mean that is exists, which is already better than most; I’m careful with hiding them and making sure they are safely concealed. But, as most people today, there are a lot of wires in my home, specially in the living room. It’s where both my wife and my computer are, our TV and our home theater set, and since it has no ceiling light, also a couple of standing light sources. Still, you won’t see many wires when looking at my living room. The home theater speakers on the side of the couch have wires literally running in the middle of the room, but concealed under a rug and tucked under the couch. My old Roomba 511 never had any trouble navigating the wires. It went over them and left them behind. But the RoboVac will get tangled easily. I went so far as upping my wire management game, to the point where there’s virtually no wire unprotected anywhere on the floor where the robot can pass, but it’s still able to unlock the wires from the hooks under the couch and get tangled. So, before putting the robot to run I must do a check-up, and there’s always something to unplug and put the wires up, like the three light stands. It might seem like a small annoyance, but this ultimately nullifies one benefit of the RoboVac 11+: the possibility of scheduling. The whole point of scheduling is to have it clean every day, but it’s pointless if it will get tangled in a wire and stop mid-cycle - which happened to me a few times.

I know it says in the manual that the robot might get tangled and we should remove wires from the floor. But even then I thought about the entry-level five-year-old Roomba which had it sorted out and though it wouldn’t be such an issue. I was wrong. It’s almost a dealbreaker.

That’s the level of cable management in my home in one of the hardest spots to manage. The RoboVac got tangled.

But the little robot cleans well when it’s not interrupted by its own issues. Really well. The three cleaning modes - spot, edges and single-room - are all useful, and it will find the charging base even if I didn’t follow the manual when placing it. My charging base is hidden from human eyes under a furniture with less than a meter from each side, but the RoboVac will still find it.

Can you see the charging base? Well, the RoboVac can.

So, even if the RoboVac 11+ saves me the work of frequent vacuuming myself, it still makes me do some work before I can put it to clean.

Like

  • Large bin. Like, way bigger than on the Roomba 511, so I can spend many more vacuuming cycles without emptying it.
  • Remote control. I thought it wouldn’t be that useful. It is.
  • Silent. Like, really silent, to the point where I can watch something on the TV with the robot working. It’s no louder than a fan.
  • Suction power. I’ll refrain from making the same old joke. But it’s great.
  • Charging base. This one I knew I would like. In fact, it’s one of the reasons to pick a new robot. And the robot find it even when "hidden ».
  • Battery life. I mean, it’s an Anker product. Batteries are their thing.

Dislike

  • Lacks some intelligence. When locked in a room, will clean until the battery dies, instead of when it detects the room is clean.
  • Hungry for wires. If there’s any wire with a minimal possibility of getting in the way, the RoboVac will find it, and will eat it, and get stuck.

Annoyance

  • The material on the RoboVac will attract floating dust unlike anything I’ve ever seen. Which is… kind of good? I mean, it’s keeping all that floating dust from settling on my furniture, I guess. Still, it was covered in dust about 15 seconds after I pulled it from the box.

Am I satisfied? Yes. Could I be more satisfied? Yes, and it would only take tech that’s was available to my entry-level Roomba from five years ago. It’s something I will have to point out when suggesting this product to someone else.

16 Likes

Awesome review @tiagomota
Love this robot (Jack) in our house.

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Do you know the story from Robert Silverberg: “The iron chancellor”?

It is about a robot! If you don’t know it! Read it! :smiling_imp:

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Great review :clap:t2:

Silly question would this detect stairs? (To stop it falling down them)

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According to the manual, yes. But, since I live in only one floor, I can’t tell you how well or not it works.

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This is one of the most awesome and interesting reviews I have ever seen. Good work @tiagomota

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Great, thorough review!

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Mr Dave West has it in one of his videos on you tube (best of 2017) and it’s on a table and turns so it doesn’t fall off :thumbsup:

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Awesome review. :slight_smile: I don’t own one but have always been curious about them.

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Great review. I keep putting my review off of this little robovac. But I love mine. It has its issues but for the price you can’t beat it.

The unit is kind of dumb. It gets lost a lot and confused when its trying to go back to the base.

AWESOME Review!!! Seriously, this is going to be so beneficial to the community.

I have Robovac 11 and I agree with all the points you mentioned. I might add that I wish it came with a sonic wall so you could block off certain parts (not some tacky magnetic strip either) and I wish it had smarter navigation. Sometimes it just needs to go BACKWARDS but it refuses to.

Also as @Element321 mentions it’s really a shame that it can’t return to the charging base. Shouldn’t even be advertised to be honest. I can’t believe it passed Eufy’s own tests!

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Well done review!
This RoboVac still has lots of space for improvement.
Your suggestions will be delivered to our product innovation team, hope we can repair some features in the future.:grin:

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Yes, can the next model come with these robots like a little robot family to help it out when stuck in another room :joy:

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I generally drag a rolled up beach towel or move a bench in front of the open doorways (entrances that don’t have a door). If you set it to edge and leave the doors open it will do your entire house!

As to its returns. It generally find the base if it decides to return home with enough power that it could go another 20 minutes looking for the base.

I don’t have the patience to wait so I pick it up and place it on its charging pad and give a there, there pad and wait for to charge up to do another room.

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I wedge my doors too and pick it up and put it in the charger. Sometimes I grab the remote and drive it home too :joy:

Superb review @tiagomota !

The robot looks a little scary…:joy:

Positively evil :smiling_imp:

Yes, and I bought mine on Cyber Monday with a 30% discount!