Robotic vacuums are getting a whole lot smarter and a whole lot more capable, and it’s happening at breakneck speed. Just a few years ago, the concept of a robotic vacuum that could wash its own mop was a novelty, but these days, all high-end robot vacuums have that function. The innovation for this year is a roller mop pad that allows the vacuum to apply more pressure to the floor while cleaning the mop as it goes, delivering better cleaning performance overall. One of the headline models to offer this feature is the new Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni.
The Deebot X8 Pro Omni has more going for it than just the roller mop pad, though. It’s also one of the first robotic vacuums to offer Matter support, allowing it to integrate with all major smart home ecosystems, and, of course, it offers all the other latest and greatest features you would expect from a flagship model.
But, do all these new features come together into a product that actually delivers? Or should you wait for the second-generation roller mop models?
Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni
| Pros | Cons |
| Excellent cleaning performance. Matter support. Solid design. App works well. | Expensive |
Specs
- Dock dimensions: 13.8 inches long x 18.8 inches wide x 21 inches tall.
- Weight: 26.9 pounds.
- Battery life: Up to 228 minutes.
- Dock dust bin capacity: 3 liters.
- Clean water tank capacity: 4 liters.
- Dirty water tank capacity: 4 liters.
- Suction power: 18,000Pa.
- Price: $1,299.99.
A Standard But Solid Design
The overall design of the Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni is similar to previous-generation models. It’s not necessarily the most incredible-looking product out there, but it’s certainly not ugly, and as far as robotic vacuums go, it should fit into most homes. Both the docking station and the vacuum itself have a black and gold color scheme, which I quite like.
I also like the overall design of the docking station, considering it tends towards being taller rather than wider. I prefer this as it makes it easier to fit between furniture and in other corners. Ecovacs recommends giving at least 50 cm or so on each side of the docking station when setting it up, but I placed it tightly between a shelf and the wall and never had an issue with the vacuum being unable to dock or undock. Of course, if you decide not to follow the instructions, your mileage may vary.
Other aspects of the design are more or less what you would expect. The docking station has a tank for clean water that you’ll need to fill up, and one for dirty water that it will fill up as it washes the mop pad. There’s also a small tank for cleaning solution, which isn’t required, but is recommended. Keep in mind that you’ll have to buy Ecovacs’ specific cleaning solution, as using something else could damage internal components or leave sticky residue on your floor.
One new design element is the inclusion of a new LiDAR sensor that doesn’t involve needing a node on top of the vacuum itself. This allows it to fit better underneath furniture, which could help in overall cleaning. On the bottom of the vacuum can be found the brush, fizz, and mop pad. The roller mop pad is obviously the headline new feature, and the brushes are more or less standard. If you’ve used many robot vacuums before, like I have, you’ll notice that the vacuum does not have a dual brush system like many other flagship models. I’ll get into how that impacts cleaning performance down the line.
Overall, the Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni is well-designed and premium-looking for a robot vacuum. It’s not necessarily a work of art, but it’ll look fine in most environments.
Matter Support And A Feature-Rich App
For the most part, the Ecovacs Home app is relatively easy to use. After you first set up the vacuum, it will roam around your house and create a map, after which you’ll be able to edit the map to identify the right rooms, split things up properly, and so on. The automatic map that was created after the mapping process was fine, but I did have to spend some time editing it to fix errors like an additional space outside of the home, and random room joinings that didn’t really make sense. Thankfully, as mentioned, it was decently easy to edit.
After the map is completed, you’ll be able to set the vacuum to clean based on room, zone, or the whole home. You can choose cleaning modes, including having it only vacuum, only mop, or do both. You can also choose for it to vacuum first and then mop, and you can have it clean twice for deeper cleaning. On top of that, you can choose vacuum power and the amount of water that’s used during mopping. There are tons of options to choose from, though if you’re anything like me, you’ll settle on your preferred modes and stick with them. I typically have the vacuum run on the second-highest power level, and the mop run on the middle water level.
Other expected features are here, too. For example, you can set up schedules to have the vacuum run automatically, which I’ve always found to be a handy feature, especially if you have a time during the week that you know you’ll be away from home.
One helpful new feature is support for the Matter smart home standard. This allows you to add the vacuum to your preferred smart home. While Matter doesn’t include advanced robotic vacuum features like editing maps, you can have it clean rooms and select between basic vacuuming, or vacuuming and mopping. It works well for basic use, and means I don’t have to ask my wife to download a new app just to use the vacuum cleaner.
Great Cleaning Performance
So, is the roller mop pad really all that? Well, the Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni does indeed mop very well. While it’s still not designed for cleaning big, messy spills, it does get day-to-day cleaning done thoroughly. It did seem as though the vacuum was able to mop slightly better than the spinning mop pad on the Roborock Qrevo Curv that I had been using before, but the difference was actually fairly minimal. That’s not a bad thing: The Roborock Qrevo Curv was pretty good at mopping, and the X8 Pro Omni is, too. Just don’t expect a day and night difference.
One thing I do really appreciate about the mopping system is the fact that the vacuum can extend the roller mop pad out to the side, meaning that it’s much better at getting into corners and edges than most other systems.
I do wish that Ecovacs included higher-tech vacuuming, though. The single main brush on the vacuum is pretty good at picking up dust, hair, and other debris, but hair in particular gets tangled more easily than it would with a dual brush system. Again, it performed well and easily picked up the vast majority of debris, but I did find that I had to clean the main brush every now and then. The side brush performed well, thoroughly pushing debris toward the main brush at the bottom of the vacuum, without flinging debris out of the way.
I’m kind of nitpicking, though, as the Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni cleans excellently. While its vacuuming performance isn’t necessarily the pinnacle of robot vacuum tech, it’s still very good, and the mopping performance is amongst the best out there.
Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni
Verdict
The Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni is an excellent robot vacuum with a range of helpful features. Its cleaning performance is very good, its app is easy to use, its design is sleek and stylish, and the added support for modern smart homes is a helpful addition. It is expensive, but it’s not as expensive as some other flagship models from the likes of Roborock, while delivering similar cleaning performance overall.
The downsides to this vacuum are minimal and easy to get around. The automatic mapping leaves a little to be desired, but if you’re willing to spend a few minutes editing the map, you’ll move past this issue after the first time you use the vacuum.
Generally speaking, if you want a high-tech robotic vacuum that steps up the game when it comes to mopping performance, the Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni is the way to go.
