“The Ecovacs X2 Omni is among the best robot vacuums on the market, though it isn't revolutionary.”
- Impressive suction and vacuuming
- Retractable mopping pads
- Self-emptying and cleaning
- Sleek, square design
- Minimal improvements over T20 Omni
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Ecovacs has been churning out robot vacuums at a breakneck pace. The company released three different products in the past nine months, starting with the T10 Omni in March, rolling into the upgraded T20 Omni in June, and now the top-of-the-line X2 Omni in October. And, as you’d expect, it’s the most compelling robot vacuum and mop combo in the Ecovacs lineup.
Featuring a self-emptying dustbin, a dock that automatically cleans (and dries) its mops, and a gorgeous new square design, the Ecovacs Deebot X2 Omni is among the best robot vacuums money can buy. However, it seems as if Ecovacs is running out of ways to innovate – if you already own the T10 or T20 Omni, there isn’t a whole lot of new functionality to get excited about with the X2 Omni. But if you’re a newcomer to the world of robot vacuums and want the best product money can buy, you’ll find it to be the complete package.
Ready to rock, right out of the box
Despite all its advanced features, the Ecovacs Deebot X2 Omni is a plug-and-play device. After taking the dock and robot out of their packaging, setup is as simple as plugging in the dock, snapping the edge-sweeping brush into position, turning on the robot vacuum, then syncing it to your smartphone app. From start to finish, it took about 15 minutes to get the X2 Omni mapping my floors.
Once the mapping process is complete, you’re able to dive into your settings and make any necessary adjustments to the layout. This includes creating restricted areas for mopping and vacuuming, reworking the position of walls and other boundaries, and editing which locations have carpets.
If you don’t want to use the X2 Omni as a mop, you can easily uninstall the two mopping plates by pulling them off. But beyond that, the setup process is about as streamlined as it gets.
What more could you ask for?
Ecovacs left no stone unturned when developing the X2 Omni. The expensive ($1,500) device is built to offer a hands-free way to keep your floors clean — and it largely succeeds, thanks to its bevy of features.
Its vacuuming skills are at the top of its class, thanks to 8,000 Pa of suction. Its two rotating mop plates do a great job of tackling spills and stains in the kitchen. Its compact, square design allowed it to clean edges and sneak into crevices throughout my home that were missed by other robot vacuums.
Other useful features include a powertrain that can climb thresholds up to 22mm tall, the ability to raise its mops 15mm when traveling on carpet, and a docking station that uses hot water to clean its mops before using hot air to dry them. Toss in an onboard AI system that avoids obstacles and improves its performance the more it cleans your home, and the X2 Omni becomes one of the most feature-complete robot vacuums on the market.
All these features make it possible to go weeks without interacting with the robot vacuum. You’ll only need to fill the clean water reservoir and empty the dirty water reservoir every so often (this varies widely based on the size of your home) and empty its dustbin every few months (it’ll last up to 90 days, but homes with pets should expect to change it much earlier).
Hitting the ceiling
There’s no denying the X2 Omni is among the best robot vacuums, but it also seems as if Ecovacs is finally running out of ways to innovate. The T20 Omni arrived earlier this summer, and now just a few months later we’re getting the X2 Omni — and it feels eerily similar. It obviously looks different, thanks to its square design and compact docking station — but much of its functionality can already be found elsewhere in the Ecovacs lineup.
Hot water mop cleaning isn’t new. Hot air drying isn’t new. Its robust smartphone app isn’t new. Truth be told, there’s not a whole lot of new features on the X2 Omni. Instead, Ecovacs made a few minor improvements to existing content (such as a mop that lifts 15mm instead of 9mm, a dustbin that holds 90 days instead of 75 days, and 8,000Pa of suction instead of 6,000), gave the robot a shiny new look, and launched it to the masses.
I also found that, despite looking great, the faceplate had a tendency to shift when the robot bumped into furniture at certain angles. This typically isn’t an issue, but I did have to rescue the device once as the faceplate had shifted so much that it was preventing the front bumper from working properly (the only instance I’ve seen of Ecovacs putting form over function).
That’s not to say this isn’t a great product — the Ecovacs Deebot X2 Omni is easy to recommend to anyone seeking an autonomous floor cleaning experience. For folks seeking their first robot vacuum or looking to upgrade from an older model, there’s a lot to love about this high-end product.
But if you already own a robot vacuum and mop combo, there’s little here that’ll excite you.
