5 ms·

Are the Chinese knock-offs any good? I just looked up the price of a Roomba. $600 AUD to start for the shittiest model :(

taspeotis 9y ago
There are a few people at my workplace that swear by this guy [1]. Last time I checked you had to jump through some hoops to get the app to render in English, but there are YouTube tutorials to walk you through it. [1] https://www.productreview.com.au/p/xiaomi-mi-robot-vacuum.html https://www.productreview.com.au/p/xiaomi-mi-robot-vacuum.ht...
bigiain 9y ago
I grabbed an iLife brand one from (I think) gearBest on special for ~$176AUD delivered (from memory as an impulse buy while shopping for quadcopter parts...) This one: https://www.gearbest.com/smart-home/pp_187246.html https://www.gearbest.com/smart-home/pp_187246.html Turns out it's a few weeks short of 2 years old now, and it's still going strong. (It's kinda slow to charge, but at least thats kind to the batteries.) It works fine for me - and I've had friends who've got real Roombas who say theirs doesn't work as well. I _think_ you sometimes get lucky with the wheels/traction and your particular carpet - mine does it's least-good job in the most rarely used room (spare bedroom) where the carpet is fluffier. It occasionally gets "trapped" in there. But I probably wouldn't have ever pulled the trigger at a $600 pricepoint.
- sundvor 9y ago
  Had my Roomba 780 for five years and the lifting handle broke a few weeks prior to the 5y warranty expiry. I got it dirt cheap using a price match, included 5y warranty. Will see if they replace or fix it... But overall very happy with my purchase. Replaced the battery once with a higher capacity one; does a great job, can go for hours, always love the result. Bit noisy, so best to run when out. You have to look after it by cleaning the rollers and dust bin etc, but yeah, it's a very solid build. Mate has the new one and it creates a spookily accurate floorplan. Pretty cool to see the advancements made.
- ableal 9y ago
  I'm equally pleased with the iLife A4 I got over a year ago, also from Gearbest. I admire its design - it's a fairly simple machine that gets most everything right, including climbing carpet, being fairly quiet, not bumping hard into furniture, not falling off steps, and even returning to its charging base (on command or when battery is low after a couple hours work). It does not have fancy magnetic barriers to close off areas, but a simple door draft stopper pillow on the floor holds it off well enough.
wirelessest 9y ago
Don't know about the knock-offs. But Ecovacs makes a line of roomba competitors that match up as well or better and cost 75% as much.
Ice_cream_suit 9y ago
I have a couple of Aldi "robotic" vacuum cleaners. They are excellent.
dagw 9y ago
I have a "Eufy robovac" I bought off Amazon and it works pretty great if you can accept a bunch of limitations. It has no app and setting up any sort of non-trivial schedule using the simple remote that comes with it is very hard. It never manages to find its way back to the charging station, so you have to find it and carry it back yourself each time. It has no 'memory' so it has to learn the space it's in each time you start it and it doesn't know what it has and hasn't cleaned. Beyond that it just works. I don't bother with scheduling. I just turn it on when I'm on my way out the door every other day or so and just let it get to work.
- ece 9y ago
  2nd this Eufy robovac. I looked at the others, and since Eufy is Anker, went with them because of better service and battery life. I don't think any of the others, including the 4x priced Roomba are any better at navigating my house. The sensors don't seem to work well on black floors, and there are places you will have to block so you don't have it getting stuck often. Once you've figured those two things out in your house, it's push button vacuuming with the $200 Eufy.
pisarzp 9y ago
I have a first generation Xiaomi vacuum and it's amazing, at 30% of high end Roomba with comparable features
- user5994461 9y ago
  Xiaomi, the phone manufacturer?
  - retox 9y ago
    Have a look on AliExpress or gearbest etc they make a huge range of things. I've always been happy with their stuff too, though they are getting more expensive.
ImSkeptical 9y ago
I'm surprised at the good reviews of the Roomba here. I got one a few years, and found it basically worthless. Everyday I'd come home and find the inventive way my Roomba had discovered to fail. Somedays it would get stuck on a chair leg, other times it would get trapped behind doors, or I'd just discover it dead somewhere without a clear explanation. I had been hoping the Roomba would make my apartment and sweep it intelligently, but as near as I could tell, the Roomba just moved at random. I also found the power of the Roomba was weak. Inspecting my floor afterwards, I'd frequently find the same kind of lint, or detritus that made me want a Roomba in the first place. Maybe I was just unlucky, or had a bad living space for a Roomba, but in my experience they aren't worth it at all.

taspeotis 9y ago

There are a few people at my workplace that swear by this guy [1]. Last time I checked you had to jump through some hoops to get the app to render in English, but there are YouTube tutorials to walk you through it. [1] https://www.productreview.com.au/p/xiaomi-mi-robot-vacuum.html https://www.productreview.com.au/p/xiaomi-mi-robot-vacuum.ht...

bigiain 9y ago

I grabbed an iLife brand one from (I think) gearBest on special for ~$176AUD delivered (from memory as an impulse buy while shopping for quadcopter parts...) This one: https://www.gearbest.com/smart-home/pp_187246.html https://www.gearbest.com/smart-home/pp_187246.html Turns out it's a few weeks short of 2 years old now, and it's still going strong. (It's kinda slow to charge, but at least thats kind to the batteries.) It works fine for me - and I've had friends who've got real Roombas who say theirs doesn't work as well. I _think_ you sometimes get lucky with the wheels/traction and your particular carpet - mine does it's least-good job in the most rarely used room (spare bedroom) where the carpet is fluffier. It occasionally gets "trapped" in there. But I probably wouldn't have ever pulled the trigger at a $600 pricepoint.

sundvor 9y ago
Had my Roomba 780 for five years and the lifting handle broke a few weeks prior to the 5y warranty expiry. I got it dirt cheap using a price match, included 5y warranty. Will see if they replace or fix it... But overall very happy with my purchase. Replaced the battery once with a higher capacity one; does a great job, can go for hours, always love the result. Bit noisy, so best to run when out. You have to look after it by cleaning the rollers and dust bin etc, but yeah, it's a very solid build. Mate has the new one and it creates a spookily accurate floorplan. Pretty cool to see the advancements made.
ableal 9y ago
I'm equally pleased with the iLife A4 I got over a year ago, also from Gearbest. I admire its design - it's a fairly simple machine that gets most everything right, including climbing carpet, being fairly quiet, not bumping hard into furniture, not falling off steps, and even returning to its charging base (on command or when battery is low after a couple hours work). It does not have fancy magnetic barriers to close off areas, but a simple door draft stopper pillow on the floor holds it off well enough.

wirelessest 9y ago

Don't know about the knock-offs. But Ecovacs makes a line of roomba competitors that match up as well or better and cost 75% as much.

Ice_cream_suit 9y ago

I have a couple of Aldi "robotic" vacuum cleaners. They are excellent.

dagw 9y ago

I have a "Eufy robovac" I bought off Amazon and it works pretty great if you can accept a bunch of limitations. It has no app and setting up any sort of non-trivial schedule using the simple remote that comes with it is very hard. It never manages to find its way back to the charging station, so you have to find it and carry it back yourself each time. It has no 'memory' so it has to learn the space it's in each time you start it and it doesn't know what it has and hasn't cleaned. Beyond that it just works. I don't bother with scheduling. I just turn it on when I'm on my way out the door every other day or so and just let it get to work.

ece 9y ago
2nd this Eufy robovac. I looked at the others, and since Eufy is Anker, went with them because of better service and battery life. I don't think any of the others, including the 4x priced Roomba are any better at navigating my house. The sensors don't seem to work well on black floors, and there are places you will have to block so you don't have it getting stuck often. Once you've figured those two things out in your house, it's push button vacuuming with the $200 Eufy.

pisarzp 9y ago

I have a first generation Xiaomi vacuum and it's amazing, at 30% of high end Roomba with comparable features

user5994461 9y ago
Xiaomi, the phone manufacturer?
- retox 9y ago
  Have a look on AliExpress or gearbest etc they make a huge range of things. I've always been happy with their stuff too, though they are getting more expensive.

ImSkeptical 9y ago

I'm surprised at the good reviews of the Roomba here. I got one a few years, and found it basically worthless. Everyday I'd come home and find the inventive way my Roomba had discovered to fail. Somedays it would get stuck on a chair leg, other times it would get trapped behind doors, or I'd just discover it dead somewhere without a clear explanation. I had been hoping the Roomba would make my apartment and sweep it intelligently, but as near as I could tell, the Roomba just moved at random. I also found the power of the Roomba was weak. Inspecting my floor afterwards, I'd frequently find the same kind of lint, or detritus that made me want a Roomba in the first place. Maybe I was just unlucky, or had a bad living space for a Roomba, but in my experience they aren't worth it at all.