A unique cleaning device that will help keep your home dust-free.
When robot vacuums started appearing I thought that was a trend I would never hop on. Now here I am several years later and we have several of them in our home. Each vacuum has its own personality and its own set of features. And while I love having our own droid cleaning army, I still haven’t found that one perfect solution for automated cleaning. That’s what led me to the 360 S9 Robot Vacuum Cleaner. It has one function that the other vacuums don’t have. It mops.
DETAILS
The 360 S9 Robot Vacuum is a vacuum and a mop in one device. It features ultrasonic and LiDAR dual-eye laser mapping and has an intelligent water tank that allows for up to 100 minutes of mopping. The device is compatible with Alexa and allows users to map no-go zones to avoid problem areas for the vacuum. The vacuum and mop functions can work simultaneously and has a 3-stage water adjustment so that the robot vacuums and mops in one trip around your house. The robot has a large 5200mAh battery that will last for up to 3 hours of cleaning time. The device also has a dual—noise reduction duct that keeps noise below 55dB. The S9 incorporates that 360º Cleaning System 5.0, a 5-stage powerful cleaning-sweeping, rolling, suction, filtering, and mopping system that ensures you have a clean floor no matter what the surface is. The map management system provides users with the ability to complete automatic cleaning, individual room cleaning, spot cleaning, scheduled cleaning, save off-limit areas, and even manage multiple floor maps. In addition to the RF omnidirectional remote control that is included with the robot, users can also control it using the RC function in the companion app.
USER EXPERIENCE
As I mentioned above, I’ve used my fair share of robot vacuums. That said, the set-up of the vacuum was pretty standard. You get the charging base out and plugged in (make sure it’s on a flat surface). Then you pull the vacuum unit out and charge it so that when you run it for the first time, it has a full battery. You will want to make sure that you have the app loaded on your phone and that the vacuum is connected to it. You will need to create a 360 account before you add a device. The robot connects to WiFi networks and needs a 2.4Ghz network to function. Once you enter your WiFi information, the app will ‘bind’ the device, which I assume is a different term for ‘pair.’ After the vacuum is connected you can start working with it. The first time you run the unit, it will create a map of your home. At that point, you can use the functions of the app to enter no-go zones, edit the map, or schedule cleanings. One tip I have though is to make sure you are available for the vacuum in case it needs help. The unit will periodically get stuck in certain places or it will need its bin changed. As a rule around our house, we never run the vacuums overnight just in case something happens while we are sleeping.
So how did the S9 360 robot fare against other robot vacuums I’ve used? I would say it’s a close second in our home. The S9 has a lot of features, but I found in testing it that it tends to need more assistance from a human than other robots in our house. And while it does a decent job of picking up surface dirt and particles, other robots in our house do much deeper cleaning jobs. The first time I ran the S9 it took approximately 77 minutes to complete a full run of our home. It did a decent job of vacuuming (I didn’t mop at this point in time) and it covered all the major areas of the house. I did notice that the map avoided a couple of places automatically that it really shouldn’t have. This issue is remedied easily enough thanks to the app’s map editing options, but I was surprised that the area was avoided in the first place.
After the first cleaning was completed, I emptied the dust bin and let it charge so that it was ready the next time I wanted to use it. A couple of days later, I went to start it and the battery level was at 84% – only 22% higher than the level it was after its first run. I’m not sure why it didn’t charge because it looked as though it had been on the charging base correctly. I let the vacuum continue its run and after 2 minutes, the vacuum had gotten caught on something that didn’t cause it problems the first time. I adjusted the robot onto a flat surface and continued its cleaning run. It got caught a second time so I picked it up and placed it on its charger discontinuing its cleaning cycle for the night. The next time I ran it, the vacuum threw an error saying its side brush was stuck. I went to check on it and the vacuum looked as though it was paused next to a door. This is one place I want to make a note – the side brushes are very long. They stick out quite a bit and I noticed it even gets caught on the vacuum’s own casters. This was frustrating as I had to ‘help’ the vacuum several times rather than be able to let it do its job while I did a different household task.
As for the mopping function, I found it to be useful, but really more for ‘in-between’ real mopping jobs. To test the mopping function, I moved the vacuum to our kitchen which has a linoleum floor, put the mopping cloth on it, and filled the water tank. Then I set some no-go zones around the kitchen so that the robot didn’t try to mop onto a carpeted area. I watched as the robot moved around the kitchen and ‘mopped’ the area. Because you only fill the water tank with water and no detergent, you are really just cleaning off the top layer of settled dust or dirt on the floor and not disinfecting the surface as you would with a cleaning solution. It might be possible that you can use a detergent, but everything I found in the manual suggests that you are only supposed to use water in the water tank. I will say that the mopping was helpful and it did clean up the floor, but I think it should be used in between soap-based cleanings.
CONCLUSION
The S9 robot cleaner is a nice option for automated cleaning in a home. It’s moderately priced (in relation to other robot cleaners) and it gives users the flexibility to use either the vacuum or mop function. The app works pretty well most of the time. The only issue I had was when I was controlling the robot in RC mode. The WiFi connection got a little spotty between the phone app and the robot. The actual remote control that comes with the robot though works beautifully and it’s very handy when you need to go over a spot more than once. I really did enjoy getting to know the S9 robot. I just wish it was a stronger cleaner.
For more information, visit 360 Smart Life and Facebook.
1 Comment
4.5