The thought of clicking a button and having your floors vacuumed and freshly mopped is something I never thought possible until now, as I got my hands on one of the latest Robot vacuums.
I've heard rave reviews about robot vacuums with many homeowners praising the cleaning tech devices for their convenience and ease. Nowadays the round bots can do almost everything on their own, map out rooms, fit under furniture and use sensors to avoid bumping into objects (or the inquisitive family pet).
Newer devices can even empty contents themselves and are fitted with a floor-mopping feature, which isn't something you get every day with a usual plug-in. Jumping on the cleaning tech bandwagon, I tried the Proscenic X1 Robot Vacuum to see if automated and AI cleaning is for me.
The X1 Robot Vacuum is one of the brand's newer models, ahead of the Proscenic 850T and Proscenic VT. In fact, one of the only differentiating features of the Proscenic X1 is its charging platform station, a key accompanying feature to the robot vac.
Its price point is fairly similar to the cordless vacuums at Dyson and Shark, and normally costs around £500, Amazon currently has a price drop to £399. After making my home spotless after the past week testing out the product I'd go as far as saying it's reasonably priced for what it can do.
The unboxing and set-up
The X1 comes in a box packed with the charging platform, the robot vac itself, and a host of accessories including extra cleaning tools and a remote control. At first glance I have to admit it all looked a bit confusing, with the parts all individually wrapped I didn't know where to start and the instructions were (not the best to be honest).
Thankfully I have a tech-savvy boyfriend who put the charging platform together and connected it to the mobile app, a feature I really wasn't expected to need when cleaning but it is a lifesaver. The Proscenic app connects with the X1 robot to map out your house, and you can create different areas and cleaning zones. It's also the place to go if you want to start vacuuming when in another room or even out, it will clean for you with a click of the app button.
This is very helpful when it comes to using the mop attachment (which we'll get into detail later) as it can't be used on carpeted floors, this way the bot knows which room to go into and where to avoid during mopping mode.
All in all the extras include a dust bag, the mop attachment with an extra pad, a side brush, a HEPA filter and an extra rotating brush which fits on the bottom for vacuuming.
No manpower needed - it vacuums and moves around on its own
The charging platform and pad are so much more than it seems, but it's where the main dust bag is kept. Once a cycle is complete or it returns back the pad for charging the bot will automatically empty the dust collected from vacuuming straight into the bag fitted into the station.
I have to be honest it's not a pretty sound, infact for something so high-tech I couldn't believe how loud this process was (my boyfriend joked it was louder than a flight take-off) but I'd still say the self-emptying feature is worth it. The power of the vacuum is pretty strong and picked up everything that was on the floor, including the bits of stubborn pollen we walk into our porch which is a cleaning nightmare at this time of year.
On the first time around our living room, it knocked into nearly all of the furniture, which is to be expected, but it's quick to realign and set off on a clear course. This is down to the collision sensor and bumpers fitted on the outside to prevent damage. I was impressed with how quickly it mapped the room and the second time around it picked up speed without bumping into any of the skirting boards or furniture.
Once I'd selected a zone in my home to vacuum I also tried out raising the hoovering power on the remote control, which comes in handy if there's a particular spot you want to zone in on. This is always where you can send the vac back to charge by pressing the house icon in the top right corner, no matter where it is it will drive itself back, empty the dust box into the filter and pop on charge.
The robot has a mopping feature - but is it as good as a mop and bucket?
After sending the bot on a whirlwind hoover of our moderate-sized kitchen, I then tried out the mop attachment.
I've never been a fan of the lino in our kitchen as I feel its blend of browny, stone colours make it look slightly dirty, despite vigorously giving it a mop at least once a week. Moan aside and it's obviously not an issue to hold up against the X1 Robot Vacuum but I was intrigued to see how this vacuum-led product cleaned floors too.
Unlike more expensive robot vacuums, like the new Roomba Combo j7, the mop feature on the Proscenic X1 has to be manually fitted. You can do this by pulling out the draw on the front of the robot and filling the water tank, with 'deionised' or 'demineralised' water.
This is the first thing I ran into that just didn't work for me or my home. At first, I thought 'Surely it doesn't mean just to use tap water to mop the floor' but after googling it turns out it did, but filtered.
This is not something I have at home, nor expect the majority of households to have readily available. For me, this just takes the whole efficiency of having a self-mopping robot out of the window, as I ended up spraying Zoflora floor cleaner over the kitchen floor before setting it off to clean.
I contemplated putting Zoflora in the water tank but I couldn't find anywhere if this would damage the machine or not.
Once I'd filled up the tank with water I then fitted the mop attachment, don't be alarmed if it leaks as soon as you turn it over after an initial 'ahh what have I done wrong' I figured out it's an intended design. The water 'leaks' out and attached mop pads on the robot clean the floor.
As cool as the feature sounds I'll be sticking to my usual Flash mop.
Does it work in every home?
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I can't speak for everyone but after using it for a week in our relatively small rented home I can see how the X1 could be an asset in a small flat, open plan home, an old-style cottage and especially a larger home which may be a bigger task to clean.
The only thing I'd say that's a clear no is if your home is fitted with a lot of different stairs or raised rooms, as it would mean you have to map out a lot of different areas. Saying that I found it worked really well identifying where the drop by the stairs, and it's not something you have to map on the app thanks to the cliff sensors.
I wasn't overly pleased with the mop feature at all, as you can see above, but its namesake vacuum function is definitely a game-changer for me.
You can buy the Proscenic X1 Robot Vacuum on both Amazon and similar versions at Currys.