In our house, vacuuming in one of the chores that never gets done as much as we’d like. The dirt and hair slowly build up over time until BAM! We finally notice just how dirty it is, vacuum, and let the process repeat itself. I knew there had to be a better way, so we decided to give the Eufy Robovac 11+ a try.
In the realm of robotic vacuum cleaners, the Robovac 11+ comes in on the low end of the price scale at a newly marked down price of only $179 (until March 25th). Compared to some of the higher priced competitors in the $300 – $900 range, it’s a steal. Unlike some of the other relatively unknown brands, you’ve likely heard good things about Eufy’s parent company Anker, who’s known for their powerbanks and charging cables. With so many companies jumping into the Smart Home space, there’s some assurance buying from a company that has strong backing.
So, how did it clean? Really well actually. Right out of the box it was super simple to set up. Unlike some of the more expensive models, this one is controlled exclusively by a remote control instead of WiFi. I though I was going to miss that feature, but as of yet I haven’t even noticed.
The first few times it ran, it ended up filling the dust bin pretty quickly, but that’s likely more a statement about us than the vacuum. Once it got the initial dust and hair off our carpets and floor, we never had that issue again. Unlike our normal vacuuming cycle where we only vacuum when we notice the carpet is dirty, we’ve set the Eufy to vacuum every night at 2AM, so we wake up each morning to clean floors. It’s really surprising how much it still picks up each day.
If you plan on doing the same, it’s worth noting that it took us a few cycles to figure out all of the trouble spots where the Eufy could get stuck. Like a normal vacuum, it doesn’t like loose clothing or cables on the ground. As long as you pick up anything that would obviously cause an issue, it will run at is scheduled time and return to it’s charger once it’s low on battery.
Our son loves it too. He chases it around the room when we turn it on in the day and even calls it by it’s name “Eufy,” so if we come down in the morning and Eufy isn’t back on his charging station (i.e. he got stuck), you’ll hear him calling and searching for “Eufy” like he’s his lost dog. It’s really cute.
I haven’t tested other automated vacuums, but I’ll say the Eufy Robovac 11+ runs significantly quieter than a normal vacuum. When we were initially testing it out during the day, we could comfortably watch TV with it running in the same room. Based on other online reviews, it also sounds like it runs quieter than other automated vacuums as well.
So, what did we like?
- Cleans really well
- Cleans every night and recharges itself
- Runs quietly
- Setup and use is intuitive
- The remote control has buttons allowing you to spot clean a specific area, clean the perimeter of a room, clean one room heavily at a time, and allows you to steer it where ever you want (great for chasing your kids around).
- It doens’t scare my toddler son. He likes it so much, I’ve even just turned it on a times so he can chase it around the room when I’m on a call and need 20 minutes.
- It can clean under things that would be a pain to do with a normal vacuum.
- It’s only $179!
What don’t we like?
- It can’t handle shag rugs (most vacuums can’t either)
- Even though I can’t say I’ve missed having WiFi, it would be a nice touch.
- On hard wood it will sometimes send a piece of dirt shoot across the floor instead of picking it up, but it eventually gets it.
- You’ll still need to have another vacuum if you have stairs you want to clean.
All in all, I’d recommend it. It’s definitely pulling it’s weight around here, and we’ve noticed both the cleaner floors and the additional time gained from not vacuuming it. At this price, it’s one of the more sensible pieces of smart home tech that’s actually made our daily life easier.
If you have any questions about something I didn’t cover, let me know below. You can get some more of the official specs here.
