ECOVACS DEEBOT T20 OMNI Review: The almost perfect cleaning aid

Review: ECOVAC'S DEEBOT T20 OMNI

Manufacturers of intelligent robot vacuums are constantly inventing new features to make cleaning more efficient and convenient. With the DEEBOT T20 OMNI, a mid-range model of the ECOVACS T-Series, two major improvements stand out.

First, it can automatically raise the mops when sweeping across carpets, allowing for simultaneous vacuuming and mopping. Second, it can clean the mops with 55°C hot water, which deeply cleans the mops and reduces the need for machine washing.

An unmistakable similarity with the other models of the ECOVACS family.

Interestingly, the DEEBOT T20 OMNI even surpasses the current premium model DEEBOT X1 OMNI, but it does without the AIVI camera, which turns the vacuum cleaner robot into a rolling surveillance camera, and the built-in water tank, which supplies the mops with water during operation.

ECOVACS DEEBOT T20 OMNI: design and finish

Continuity and consistency in the design of the DEEBOT T20 OMNI underscore its membership in the ECOVACS family. Both the vacuum robot and the all-in-one cleaning station share distinctive similarities with the DEEBOT X1 OMNI (to the test) and its predecessor, the DEEBOT T10 OMNI (to the test).

Although the cleaning station is quite large (58 x 45 x 43 centimeters), the DEEBOT T20 OMNI, which is currently only available in white, integrates seamlessly into different interior styles.

Cleaning station

The cleaning station is a huge affair for a reason. If you fold up the silver cover of the station, a removable 4-litre fresh water tank and a 4-litre dirty water tank appear. Both are optically well separated from each other.

The silver lid is simply folded up.

There is enough space between these tanks to store the included cleaning brush, for example. The DEEBOT X1 OMNI made better use of this space and included a suitable storage box for accessories.

In general, ECOVACS has saved on the accessories supplied. Instead of the usual delivery of two dust bags, only one bag is included and the mops are also only available in a simple version.

The accessories can be stowed between the water tanks.

Separate from the water tanks, there is a 3-liter dust bag in a drawer underneath, into which the vacuum robot empties its dust container after each cleaning run. The drawer can be opened by pressing a hidden switch from below.

The full dust bag can be disposed of in the residual waste like a conventional vacuum cleaner bag. Replacement bags can be found inexpensively Amazon or im Shop by ECOVACS reorder.

The dust bag is easy to remove.

The vacuum robot can be put into action with a control button on the lid of the cleaning station. Compared to the DEEBOT X1 OMNI, which offers additional functions such as calling the vacuum robot back to the station or starting the mop cleaning, the DEEBOT T20 OMNI does without these features.

The power cord plugs into the back of the cleaning station. There is also a practical carrying handle and a device for winding up the power cable.

This is what the cleaning station looks like from behind.

The cleaning station ends at the bottom with an angled bottom plate. The vacuum robot parks backwards in the station so that the mops protrude into the cleaning basin. You don't have to worry about puddles of water. The cleaning basin is constructed in such a way that nothing can leak out. Scalding from the 55°C hot water is also not possible, since the mops are cleaned in the inaccessible rear area of ​​the station.

Here the mops are thoroughly cleaned.

Robotic vacuum

The vacuum robot itself has the classic round shape. With a diameter of 36,2 centimeters and a height of 10,35 centimeters, it's not one of the most compact devices on the market, but it should be able to fit under most beds and sofas. The height is due to the laser turret that visibly protrudes from the top and gives the DEEBOT T20 OMNI its navigational capabilities.

The DEEBOT T20 OMNI reverses into the station.

The silver lid of the vacuum robot is magnetically attached and completely removable. Whether you prefer a hinged or removable lid is a matter of taste. Personally, I like this construction better because it makes it easier to access the buttons underneath and the dust container.

The lid is made of plastic.

As usual for ECOVACS, there is an on/off switch and a WiFi button.

To access the buttons, simply lift the lid.

The dust container has a capacity of 300 ml. This is 100 ml smaller than the DEEBOT X1 OMNI dust container, but that doesn't matter because as soon as the container is full, it is automatically emptied in the station.

A new feature is the improved particle filter in the dust container, which has been supplemented with an additional layer of activated carbon. The activated carbon filter helps to bind odors and dust particles even more effectively.

The activated carbon filter is an extra layer of protection against odors and particles.

On the front of the DEEBOT T20 OMNI is the bumper that protects the vacuum robot from collisions. In order to avoid such situations from the outset, the vacuum robot is equipped with several sensors on both the sides and the bottom.

The TrueDetect 3D 3.0 recognition system, which is basically a cross-array camera, detects obstacles and ensures that the vacuum robot does not touch them. We'll get to how effectively this works later.

The TrueDetect 3D 3.0 detection system detects objects and obstacles ahead.

What ECOVACS left out this time is the AIVI camera, which can be used to plan surveillance trips. This function can be helpful for monitoring your own four walls, but it also carries the risk of unwanted surveillance. At this point, everyone should decide for themselves how useful this feature is for them.

The bottom of the DEEBOT T20 OMNI houses the two rotating mops and the side brushes that snap firmly into place. The vacuum robot regulates the lifting and lowering of the mops by automatically turning them out or in. This achieves a height difference of 9 millimeters. The mops themselves are made of a particularly absorbent material that stores water for a long time. A good decision, because the DEEBOT T20 OMNI does not have an integrated water tank.

The mops are made of a particularly absorbent material.

To the delight of long-haired people and pet owners, the main brush made of bristles has been replaced by a pure rubber roller, in which hair is much less likely to get caught. At the same time, the ends of the brushes have been improved so that hair there is less likely to wind up and can be removed more easily.

ECOVACS has replaced the brush roller with a rubber roller.

ECOVACS DEEBOT T20 OMNI: Setup

The setup of the DEEBOT T20 OMNI should be easy to implement even for technical laypeople. The first requirement is to download the ECOVACS Home App, which is available in the official stores for Android and iOS devices.

The app then guides you through the individual setup steps with pictures and in a way that is easy to understand. In the course of the setup, the vacuum robot requires the access data for the home WLAN. Make sure that there is a 2,4 GHz network. Connection to a 5 GHz network is not supported.

The app is clearly structured and thanks to regular updates, ECOVACS shows its commitment to continuously improve the app.

mapping

When setting up for the first time, there is the option of quick mapping, which creates a room map in just a few minutes without vacuuming and wiping. A distinction is made between the classic 2D room map and a 3D room map, which also shows objects such as pieces of furniture and carpets.

The room map allows you to keep an eye on where the vacuum robot is at the moment and what progress it has made during the cleaning process. Adjustments, such as naming rooms, separating rooms or merging them, are made via the map settings. In the settings, restricted zones can also be defined that the vacuum robot should not enter when vacuuming and wiping or only when wiping. It is possible to create up to three different cards. The accuracy of the map display is good.

cleaning mode

There are a total of five cleaning modes to choose from. In “Area” mode it is possible to specifically designate individual rooms for cleaning. The "AUTO" mode carries out automatic cleaning of the entire area. There are also three more special modes.

The special "Home" mode, available only in 3D map view, cleans the area around furniture and carpets. In contrast, the “Custom” mode in the 2D display allows cleaning areas to be drawn on the map.

Newly added is “Household” mode 2.0. In this mode, the vacuum robot remembers, among other things, how long it has been inactive or analyzes which rooms are more often heavily dirty. It automatically adjusts its cleaning behavior based on these parameters.

Settings

To access the settings you have to swipe up from the bottom of the main screen. ECOVACS has introduced a new structure for the settings, which are now divided into the categories of cleaning settings, station functions and other settings.

Previous versions had all the settings in one place. With this new subdivision, the clarity has suffered somewhat. Here are the available setting options:

 Cleaning Settings: 

•  Cleaning settings: "Standard", "Mop", "Vacuum and mop"
•  Clean: Once or Twice
•  Suction power: adjustable in the levels "quiet", "standard", "maximum" and "maximum+"

 Station features: 

• Clean wipes
• empty dust
• Air drying

 Other cleaning settings: 

•  Cleaning efficiency: "Standard", "Deep" and "Fast"
•  Corner deep cleaning: edge deep cleaning
•  Carpet Cleaning Strategy: Auto Suction Boost, Carpet Detection, Carpet Bypass, Ignore Carpet
•  Cleaning sequence: Determines the order in which cleaning takes place.
•  Intelligent cleaning: Mopping pad wetness (Low, Standard, High), Cleaning interval (Deep, Daily, Efficient), Hot air drying time (2 hours, 3 hours, 4 hours), Self-drain (Auto, Intelligent), Continuous cleaning, 3D obstacle avoidance TrueDetect, unit of area
•  Cleaning schedule: schedule by days of the week and time
•  Language 

There are also general settings, including child lock, cleaning log, YIKO voice assistant and parts wear report.

YIKO voice assistant

One of the main features of the DEEBOT T20 OMNI and the ECOVACS Home App is the YIKO voice assistant. Here, too, a lot has happened and ECOVACS shows that the voice assistant is slowly getting under control.

The language assistant now understands more than 20 voice commands in different languages, which cover almost all functions of the vacuum robot. For example, you can start, pause and end different cleaning modes by voice command, send the vacuum robot to the station or query information such as the battery level, the location and the current task.

The LED lights up to tell whether YIKO is active.

During the test, I consciously decided not to look at speech errors in advance, but rather to communicate freely with YIKO. 90 percent of the time, YIKO understood what I wanted from him. However, I had to slowly repeat the initial command "Okay YIKO" several times because it was not understood when spoken quickly. Another problem is the sensitivity of the microphone. While the vacuum robot is working, you have to literally shout at it from close range so that it reacts.

If you don't want to use YIKO, you can easily disable it in the app. Whether the voice assistant is active or not can be seen from the vacuum robot's status LED: A glowing orange LED means that the voice assistant has been deactivated, while a blue LED indicates that the voice assistant is accepting commands.

ECOVACS DEEBOT T20 OMNI: practical test

Auto mop lift function

A major shortcoming of the DEEBOT X1 OMNI was that you had to remove the mops to vacuum carpets every time. In the long run, this is quite annoying and leads to considerable limitations, especially in rooms with a lot of carpets or even carpeting.

Please fill up the water tank once for wiping.

ECOVACS has reacted to this and has given the DEEBOT T20 OMNI an auto-mop lifting function, which means that it can vacuum and wipe all floor coverings at the same time. If the vacuum robot approaches a carpet edge, it automatically lifts the mops by 9 millimeters so that they hover just above the floor.

The raised mops hover just above the ground.

ECOVACS has implemented the auto mop lift function well. Only when the vacuum robot is about halfway on the carpet are the mops raised at lightning speed, so that wiping up to the edge of the carpet is possible.

This even works with high-pile carpets, where the mops are partially pulled over the pile, which can lead to water residue. Even if the vacuum robot is on the carpet with a mop, it can happen that the mops continue to turn and the carpet gets a little wet.

wipe result

The cleaning result is impressive. Thanks to the high contact pressure, the mops easily scrub even dried coffee stains off the floor. For stubborn stains, however, the vacuum robot has to go over it several times, which means that you are ultimately faster with a manual mop.

Wipes thoroughly and free of streaks.

edge cleaning

The edge cleaning, which becomes active every seven days in AUTO or household mode, has proven to be useful. The DEEBOT T20 OMNI pushes its mops to the edge of the room for a short time.

However, this function is not XNUMX% guaranteed, so dirt remains in corners and hard-to-reach places. But at least - ECOVACS has thought of a function that is currently missing from many other manufacturers.

Missing water tank

 The missing water tank is not a disadvantage. Even if the vacuum robot only drives to the station every 10 minutes to refresh its mops, they stay wet until the end. However, you can see how the moisture distribution gradually decreases.

For less dirty floors, it is sufficient to set the moisture of the mop pad to low in the settings. The wiping leaves no streaks, and so the vacuum robot leaves a clean line of moisture. Around 70 liters of fresh water are required for an area of ​​around 4 square meters.

Hot water mop washing technology

The mops are cleaned in the cleaning station. The advantages of using hot water (55°C) for this are obvious. Greasy dirt is better dissolved with hot water and bacteria are killed at the same time.

The test quickly showed that the mops get better cleaned by cleaning with hot water. Pet owners in particular are familiar with the problem that dirt quickly gets caught on the mop when wiping. However, I would still recommend washing the mops regularly in the washing machine to get the remaining dirt particles out of the mops.

The thermal imaging camera clearly shows that there is no danger from the hot water.

 According to ECOVACS, the heating system is secured at several levels. The water supply and the electronics have been separated from each other so that no major damage can occur in the event of a leak. A temperature sensor monitors the water temperature. If this rises above 3°C for more than 55 seconds, the heating is automatically stopped.

This is what the dirty water tank looks like after cleaning in the animal household.

The dirty water produced during cleaning ends up in the 4-litre dirty water tank. It is advisable to dispose of the gray liquid right away in the toilet and to flush the tank thoroughly so that unpleasant odors cannot develop in the first place.

Saugen

The suction power of the DEEBOT T20 OMNI reaches an impressive 6000 Pascal (Pa). This makes it one of the most powerful vacuum robots currently on the market. Despite the high suction power, the volume is at an appropriate level. The vacuum robot picks up dirt on hard floors very well. Of the 100 grams of house dirt distributed on the test area, 95 grams were vacuumed up.

The result was slightly worse on carpets. At least 91 grams were sucked away there. The vacuum robot runs over carpet edges up to a maximum of 2 centimeters in height. Hair rarely gets caught in the rubber roller. On the rotating side brushes, on the other hand, it is a bit more common. The hair can be cut loose with the supplied cleaning tool.

The vacuum robot empties the full dust chamber into the 3-liter dust bag at the end of a cleaning cycle. The bag has several filter layers and keeps the dirt safely trapped. It should be replaced after three months at the latest.

Navigate

There is room for improvement in the navigation. On the whole, the DEEBOT T20 OMNI navigates safely through the premises, but sometimes it also seems a bit disoriented. This is shown by the fact that the vacuum robot stays in the same place for a while, turns more frequently in circles or drives off areas that have already been cleaned. ECOVACS should get the problem under control with future updates.

Objects lying around are usually recognized.

In most cases you can rely on the TrueDetect 3D 3.0 obstacle detection. Compared to the DEEBOT X1 OMNI, the function has been noticeably improved. The DEEBOT T20 OMNI almost always recognizes cat toys lying around and black charging cables as obstacles and reliably avoids them.

It becomes more difficult with white cables or shoelaces that lay too flat on the ground for his detection radius. The vacuum robot likes to drive over it. However, most other vacuum robot brands also fail on these objects.

Battery

The vacuum robot uses a typical 5200 mAh battery, which according to ECOVACS should last up to 240 minutes at a time. In the test, the battery lasted about 150 minutes before the vacuum robot had to go to the station. It drives there automatically as soon as the battery level drops to 15 percent.

Converted into square meters, the vacuum robot can clean around 120 square meters of area at a time. There is a bitter aftertaste when it comes to the charging time, which takes almost 6 hours. If you want to clean several floors with a large area in one go, you will quickly get into trouble in terms of time.