With Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo 920 we made an exception . Because we had already tried this automatic vacuum cleaner last November, speaking favorably for several reasons that you find in our review. We were so impressed that, thanks to an agreement with the manufacturer, we were able to try a second unit, after months, this time for a more in-depth test . And here we are, three months after the robot returned to our home.
This chronicler of automatic vacuum cleaners has tried several over the years. The first attempts in this sector were represented by automata capable of moving in a completely random way and at the same time sweeping and vacuuming the dirt. There are some excellent ones, as you can see for yourself from our different tests that we have told you along the way. The real revolution, however, was with the introduction of the mapping system: there are those who are simply able to “understand” where they are and then move along the surface with a certain criterion, but those like Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo 920 , which make a real floor plan of the house, currently offer something unique and inimitable from any other technology currently in existence.
But, even here, the market is large and varied. At the end of the game, the software makes the difference, which is why we're here again to tell you about this specific unit. Among the many it is in fact the one that struck us most and positively from the first test. And that's why we wanted to try it more thoroughly . To see how it performs in the long run. And here we are: now we will tell you how it went.
Control
This model does not simply map the house thus showing where it is, where it has cleaned and where it still needs to sweep. Having the floor plan of the house within reach of your smartphone becomes particularly useful for example when you want to locate the cleaning . Let's say you have scheduled automatic cleaning at 7:00 AM Monday through Friday and 9:00 AM on the weekend. Then the robot, without any user interaction, automatically starts at predefined times, cleans the floor and returns to base when finished. End. You just have to remember to empty the dirt collection tank at the end of the cleaning, perhaps by scheduling a reminder that is repeated cyclically at a time when we are sure to stay at home. In order to be sure that the next day, he will have enough space to collect what has been deposited on the floor during the previous day.
The point is that the days are not always all the same . Maybe one day you happen to have guests at home, another time it can happen that the bathroom is out of use because a family member is taking a shower, or coffee has been spilled in the kitchen. This, if it happens during that hour and a half (the cleaning time depends on the size of the floor to be swept) that the vacuum cleaner is running, can be a problem. Not for this model, however, because the wide management possibilities are one of its greatest strengths.
For example, at any time we can stop cleaning, send the robot back to the base and have it pick up where it left off at any time. Or, if we have had visitors in the meantime, we can restart it from the beginning. If, on the other hand, you have to avoid a particular room, we can simply close the door or, from the app, set a virtual barrier active only for the cleaning in progress. Press the relevant button, draw the rectangle on the surface to be avoided and that's it. Very convenient if we are keeping doors and windows open to circulate the air on the hottest days.
However, that room will not be completely forgotten . Once the coffee stain has been removed from the floor or at the end of the shower, even if the robot has returned to the base and is recharging, we can still take the smartphone, select the room that remained to be cleaned and start cleaning. The robot will move while emitting the least possible noise because it will neither start the vacuum motor nor the rotation of the blades. This, until it reaches the perimeter of the selected area: at that point the actual cleaning will start and, at the end, will just as silently return to the base by itself, to finish recharging the battery and be ready for the next scheduled cleaning. .
The same goes for example at the end of a meal. Here is a possible scenario . We are in the kitchen and we have finished dinner: we have loaded the dishwasher, all that is left is to shake the tablecloth and put it back in the drawer. Well, we can simply spill the crumbs on the floor and, from the app on the smartphone, send the vacuum cleaner to the kitchen. In the meantime, we can move to the living room to follow our favorite TV program, placing the phone quietly on the wireless charger: at the end of the cleaning, the vacuum cleaner will automatically return to the charging station. And the floor will be perfectly clean.
Another thing you can do is decide the order in which to clean the rooms . It seems nonsense but in reality it allows you to reconcile your routine with cleaning the house especially when, as in our case, you work from home and it can happen to spend a whole day without ever going out. So while we are having breakfast the vacuum cleaner is sweeping the office, while we are washing he is collecting the crumbs we have left in the kitchen and during working hours he can finish cleaning the rest of the rooms. Maybe leaving the rooms last, if the other tenants sleep more than us.
Since there are no limits in the number of programs that can be activated, it is also possible to clean different rooms at different times . For example, if there is a baby in the house who also sleeps during the day, just remove the sleeping room from the cleaning cycle and use the manual system to start cleaning when he is awake and in another room. The same applies, for example, if there is an unexpected guest who is resting on the sofa: the living room will be cleaned later.
Over time we have gone from the simple automatic daily program to the creation and relative customization of different programs, to be activated and deactivated according to the occasion. But there is a function that most of all helps in emergency situations: the Do Not Disturb . The name is not accidental, because it actually does what the smartphone functions of the same name do: it deactivates everything that is active in one fell swoop.
The most common example is when you've had a particularly stressful day. Maybe we have returned from a long business trip, from a particularly turbulent return from holidays. Or we spent a sleepless night. A vacuum cleaner that starts on its own, as scheduled, can interrupt a restful sleep and completely upset the rest of the day. Just activate Do Not Disturb and everything that was programmed is temporarily interrupted. Then we think about waking up, about how to manage the house cleaning.
Dry cleaning
Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo 920 doesn't just clean. Or at least, it doesn't do it in a standard way. Thanks to a series of sensors it is in fact possible to customize this aspect too, effectively maximizing the amount of dirt that the robot is able to collect. First, the power . You can choose between Standard and Maximum. The names of both are quite eloquent: with the first one ensures a good cleaning in the shortest possible time, with the Maximal there is the risk that the robot has to return to the base several times to recover energy, but at the same time there is ensures a deeper clean surface.
The trick is to leave the Standard especially if at least one cleaning a day is started and favor the one at full power only when we are away from home, when we have not started it for a long time, or when we consider the house particularly dirty. It should be taken into account that the noise increases along with the cleaning time. But there is also the option Silent .
This mode must be activated as often as desired, because it is a function that is automatically deactivated at the end of each cleaning. It substantially reduces the suction capacity of the Deebot and is recommended for the Wash mode (we'll get to that in a moment). In short, the engine runs at idle because the goal here is not to clean thoroughly, but to sweep as little as possible, doing it as slowly as possible.
From the point of view of cleaning, the last parameter that can be configured is the intelligence of the robot . It is just a switch that needs to be activated and it would be foolish not to, especially when there is at least one carpet in the house or when a pet is walking around and shedding its fur. Thanks to the sensors on the bottom, the vacuum cleaner is able to recognize the surface and maximize the suction power when it is passing over a carpet or a particularly dirty area. But it does even more: if at the first pass it realizes that it has not cleaned thoroughly enough, then it will not be uncommon to see it go through the same path twice to ensure the best possible cleaning. We have noticed this more than once with the kitchen carpet, probably among the points on which small crumbs settle more easily.
Wet cleaning
During our first rehearsal we had just had a couple of opportunities to try it. But now, at the end of a longer trial period, we can add that you can easily do without it . The central point of the matter is that those who buy an automatic vacuum cleaner generally do so because they want to forget about it. Or at least that's the way it is for this reporter. Wet cleaning, on the other hand, requires the supervision and external intervention of the user, who not only will have to refill the water tank as often as necessary but must also prepare the cloth before use, replace it at the end and maybe even wash it by hand or in the washing machine to have it ready for the next use.
What this cleaning adds is simply a finishing touch to a first cleaning , because through the constantly moistened cloth it will only remove that finer dust that the vacuum cleaner cannot attract inside the tank . With another compromise, however, which is to pay attention to where you put your feet. Although, as we explained earlier, you can program the cleaning of the individual rooms or the order in which the floor is swept, with the wet cleaning the robot leaves behind a strip of water which, in these summer days, evaporates in a few minutes, it is true, but they could still be enough to get someone to step on them creating kicks that in reality we would never want to have to remove by hand.
Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo 920 is not a floor cleaner. There are (few actually) of solutions of this kind, which use much larger detergents and water tanks. We would like to recommend the separate purchase of one of these robot assistants, if you really want to automate the traditional mopping process.
Conclusions
Ultimately, why buy Ecovacs Deebot Oz mo 920 and not another vacuum cleaner that maps the house? The answer is twofold. For the control, we have told you extensively, and for the customization possibilities of cleaning. But also for the price: 450 euros is much less, sometimes even half, compared to what they offer solutions of the same level. Often it can also be found on offer, as in this case where on Amazon, by entering the code ECOVACS15OFF in the cart, you get a 15% discount which, combined with the current discount of 50 euro applicable at the time of purchase (just activate the check box in the purchase form under “Apply coupon 50.00 €”), it allows you to purchase it for only 384.98 euro including shipping. A price that is superimposed on much less efficient and customizable vacuum cleaners.
