Ecovacs has made a name for itself by producing some excellent robot cleaners that cover vacuuming and mopping around the house. It isn’t uncommon for a new flagship offering to bring welcome yet iterative changes to the user, but this time is a little different. The Deebot X11 Omnicyclone from Ecovacs ditches one of the most annoying and repetitive parts about robot vacuums, and it makes massive changes in charging that mean it rarely stops running.
The build
At its core, Ecovacs’ X11 Omnicyclone does everything right. It has a nylon air-cushioned roller that extends with the company’s TrueEdge 3.0 tech. In essence, that allows it to extend laterally to mop areas robot cleaners often miss, but more on that later.
The vacuum portion utilizes a tangle-free roller, as is the norm with flagship models like this one. It has a moderately sized dust collection chamber, though that doesn’t seem to matter for how efficient this model is. The side brush doesn’t extend like the X8 Pro Omni, which feels like a loss. It employs a different side brush design that seems to extend a little further.
The robot itself circular. It seems like a lot of manufacturers have returned to the classic design that’s been around since the early Roomba days.
Since it’s an Ecovacs product, it has all of the scanning and detection tech one would expect. That includes AIVI 3D 3.0 scanning for object detection and path planning. Sensors are riddled throughout the side and front of the robot. The back houses a water connection and charging points.
One of the new features that the X11 Omnicyclone brings to the table is an improved climbing system. No, it doesn’t climb stairs. It will, however, take on larger threshold barriers, especially where there is a small step up to a taller floor height. The feature relies on a simple lever mechanism, so it doesn’t seem like it would be another motor that would need attention, if that’s of concern.
I couldn’t test this to the extreme, but I did notice that it never got stuck on any thresholds in my home, and this model was, in particular, better at it than previous versions. As long as they’re mapped properly in the app, the robot knows to look out for them and can cover them with ease. According to Ecovacs, it can handle climbs up to 4cm.
Maintenance
Even with bristles, the X11’s roller is somehow able to roll up and contain pet hair better than I’ve seen with previous models. The brush bearings rarely need to be removed and cleaned. In fact, a lot of this vacuum seems to need attention less often, which cements how I’ve been feeling about this particular model.
It really feels like all of the pain points I’ve experienced in the past with Ecovac’s robot vacuums and mops has come down to consumables. The roller needs to be cleaned, or the edge brush needs to be untangled. Even the X2 Omni, as great as it was, needed to be maintained and cleaned of dog hair regularly to keep it functioning. With Ecovacs’ X11, I haven’t had to coddle it nearly as much.
The mop also takes care of itself pretty well. The base station washes and dries the mop regularly, and a new system cleaning basin that applies pressure to the mop as it gets washed with hot water. That extra mechanical action gets the mop pretty clean. There’s no removing it and throwing it in the washing machine.
You do have to fill/empty the water tanks, and I felt like I did this more frequently than I wanted to. Then again, I set the water slider to 35 out of 50 for most tasks, and ran it throughout the house almost every day. With that, I was refilling the clean water tank about once a week. I guess that isn’t terrible.
The dust container, however, is a different story. Ecovacs finally got rid of bags and has gone with a cylindrical tank. The same sort of chamber you’d see on newer handheld vacuums.
Depending on how big your home is and the cleaning needs, it will need to be emptied a little more often than previous models would need a new dust bag. Still, it’s as simple as pulling it out and opening it above a trash can. There are a couple of filters, but those can be removed and washed after what would probably be a good while.
Emptying a dust chamber instead of replacing bags is a huge win, in my eyes. There’s nothing to buy to keep using the vacuum regularly, unless you really want to grab X11-specific mopping detergent.
Performance
Ecovacs’ X11 brings an updated UI to the app. It really just comes down to better logs and the ability to change the robot’s tasks while it cleans. You can now choose to skip rooms or areas and add sections to clean.
As far as cleaning performance goes, I’ve been happy with how well the X11 Onmicylone covers ground and mops. I’ve never required my robot mop to clean without leaving streaks, but I’m happy to see that it doesn’t with the improved roller mop.
TrueEdge 3.0 does a good job of getting as close to edges as possible. It makes up for that space between the bot and the wall, covering more ground as it mops. The side of the mop has little wheels installed so that it glides along walls without doing damage.
The X11 Omnicyclone has another trick up it’s sleeve too. This is the first vacuum, as far as we’ve seen, that utilizes GaN fast charging.
When the robot heads back to the dock to empty its dust bin or wash the mop, it fast-charges as much as it can before it heads back out to finish the job. As far as I can tell, it’s adding a decent little top-up every time it docks for a pit stop. That 7-10% is enough to ensure that the vacuum really never runs out of charge. As long as it keeps coming back for small stops, it keeps the battery charged enough to finish the entire task.
I’ve run full-home cleans with mopping and vacuuming that last for 2 or 3 hours. I’m used to seeing a notification that the robot has headed back to the station to charge. The X11 never sends me that notification, and the job gets done in what can be seen as one go.
On top of that, Ecovacs has been bragging about a new BLAST feature on the X11 that quiets the motor while keeping the suction high. It maxes out at 19,500Pa, but it genuinely sounds a lot quieter than I’m used to.
It isn’t enough to run it while focusing on a movie, but it’s much less disturbing than normal. If I’m in another room, it’s a little less obvious that a vacuum is roaming my home.
Tidbits
This isn’t the first robot cleaner from the company that offers Matter compatibility, but it’s good to see it stay. The option makes it easy to connect the device to your smart home, no matter the platform. Don’t expect the same detailed control you see in the app, but it’s good for access to the three main modes.
I still prefer using the app to access finer controls. If you’re a little less hands-on, the X11 Omnicyclone has an AI assistant that handles cleaning automatically, based on what it thinks your home needs and your habits. I didn’t test this to a great extent, but it’s certainly a good option for those who don’t want to think about it.
You’ll still need to empty the dust bin at some point, though.
Final thoughts
I’ve been more than pleased with the X11 Omnicyclone from Ecovacs. Its hands-off nature alone makes for a good experience, but the addition of faster charging during cleaning cycles and a quieter suction motor takes it up a notch.
Again, its flagship nature means that it comes at a premium. The X11 Omnicyclone is available for $1,499. That seems to be the going price for the best robot cleaners that don’t have arms. If the hands-off nature is valuable to you, then it might be worth it. It certainly makes a good argument for itself.
One of the worst things about robot vacuums/mops is having to empty and buy new dust bags.
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