Robot vacuums have become increasingly capable, but also less affordable. Some options, like the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra and the Dreame X30 Ultra, feature the latest advancements in cleaning technology, but cost up to $1,800. Thankfully, there are cheaper models with great cleaning results, like the Roborock Qrevo MaxV and the new Ecovacs Deebot T30 Omni.

Ecovacs’ new robovac comes with plenty of options, despite its slightly more affordable €900 price tag. It boasts hot water mop washing, and an extending mop to clean along baseboards. Most importantly, it features a miniature base station that looks sleeker compared to other massive docks. The Deebot T30 Omni is also available in a Pro variant, which comes with a few more features, for an extra €100.

Let’s see what this smaller and more affordable robot vacuum has to offer, and how it compares to higher-end robovacs.

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Compact and futuristic design

The Deebot T30 Omni is exclusively available in black, while the T30 Pro Omni comes in pink and silver.

The base station is particularly small, measuring 480x490x409mm. Like most robot vacuums, a removable front panel hides the dust bag. The two water tanks are located at the top, with directly accessible handles. They come in a horizontal layout, with the clean one at the front and the dirty water tank at the back. The tanks are unusually wide, making them harder to carry as water moves from side to side. They’re also tricky to fill and empty, because the top cover opens in full, increasing the risk of spillage. The lower part is the most interesting, as it’s now a fully detachable baseplate, making it much easier to clean.

The robot comes in a bespoke design, albeit in a round shape, unlike the X2 Omni. It has a LiDAR dome at the top, together with three buttons. They blend seamlessly with removable panel that hides the HEPA filter and WiFi reset button. To detect obstacles, the Deebot T30 Omni uses an infrared TrueDetect 3D sensor at the front. On the underside, it comes with two rotating mops, one of which boasts TruEdge mopping. This allows it to extend and clean edges and baseboards. What’s more, the robovac uses a bristled roller brush. These usually clean better, but are also notorious for hair entanglements. The one on the T30 Omni comes with ZeroTangle technology, supposed to prevent tangles thanks to a comb with specific teeth.

Overall, the robot, dock, and water tanks use good quality materials. The build quality is notably superior to some other mid-range products, such as the Roborock Qrevo MaxV. The Ecovacs Deebot T30 Omni looks and feels durable, and doesn’t feel like a lower-end product.

Basic app with missing features

Compared to the competition, Ecovacs’ app isn’t as good. The map design is a bit dated, and can’t even show obstacles. It is quite accurate, though, with the option to edit it according to your preferences. You can add furniture and merge or separate rooms, as well as adjust the floor type, despite requiring some fiddling. Similarly, you can define scenarios with specific cleaning settings per room, with stronger vacuuming in the kitchen, for example.

The cleaning parameters are adjustable, including the suction power, water flow, and cleaning speed. The slower the latter, the more the robot will focus on cleaning stains and dirt. The robot can also work in different modes. These include vacuuming or mopping only, or doing both simultaneously, or one after the other. To make things easier, it comes with an Intelligent hosting mode to automatically adjust settings based on dirt levels.

Other settings include the mop wash and auto-empty frequency, obstacle detection sensitivity, and mop extension modes. By default, the robot constantly extends the right mop to reach deeper into crevices and corners. It can also detect carpets and automatically adjust its behavior. According to your settings, it can lift its mops, ignore the carpet, or mop it. Lastly, you can decide between standard and deep mop washing, and whether to use hot water or not.

The robovac is also compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant. In addition, the Pro versions come with a built-in Yiko voice assistant, which is helpful if you want to control it directly without smart speakers.

Effective vacuuming, even on low settings

The Ecovacs Deebot T30 Omni has an 11,000Pa suction power, which is impressively high, especially for a sub-flagship product. This allows it to suck up dirt from carpets and hard floors, effectively reaching intro fibers and grouts for optimal results. In addition, its bristled roller brush is designed to lift and sweep debris, promising better results.

As usual, I’ve tested the robot under harsh conditions, with dirt, sand, mud, leaves, and pet hair covering the floors. It’s no surprise that given its specs, the Deebot T30 Omni performed really well, vacuuming and removing all visible dust, dirt, and debris. However, it’s best to use it on low settings on hard floors, or let it pick the suction power intelligently. Indeed, using a high parameter often results in dirt being blown away by the ventilation on the side, often requiring a second pass to be entirely vacuumed.

The strong suction power is particularly effective on rugs, reaching deeply into thick carpet hair. However, the bristled brush might not necessarily be the best option for such rugs, and it might be a better idea to favor a model with two roller brushes, like the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra.

Thorough mopping

The Ecovacs Deebot T30 Omni comes with two rotating and liftable mop pads. These are washed with 70ºC hot water before, during, and after each cleaning session. The dock also refills the robot’s built-in water tank, ensuring it continuously dampens the mops while cleaning. While the T30 Omni doesn’t come with a built-in cleaning solution tank, you can add some detergent to the clean water tank for best results.

I’ve given the T30 Omni a hard time, forcing it to clean floors stained with dried coffee, sauce, juice, and mud. No matter the stain, it’s been able to remove it, despite sometimes requiring a second pass. I have to admit it’s best to choose the slower cleaning mode with the highest water flow settings, but the stains have been removed flawlessly. However, it’s important to keep in mind we don’t ask robot vacuums to clean up a bowl of spilled cereal and milk, since this is not what they’re designed to clean.

The TruEdge system is quite interesting, as the robot cleans with the mop constantly extended and retracts it when needed. It also adjusts its cleaning path to ensure it doesn’t leave an uncleaned band like some other products.

Overall, the Ecovacs Deebot T30 Omni provides impressive mopping results, and is almost as good as the more expensive Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra’s vibrating mop.

Questionable navigation and obstacle detection

The Ecovacs Deebot T30 Omni uses LiDAR technology for mapping and navigating, combined with IR and 3D structured light to identify and avoid obstacles. Unfortunately, it’s not as good as Dreame and Roborock, and often acts strangely. For instance, while it’s relatively good at going to specific rooms, it often follows an unusual path, missing some spots while passing twice over some others. It also tends to struggle with close doors, bumping into them for several minutes before giving up and skipping to other rooms.

Worse, its obstacle detection technology is very inconsistent, completely missing some objects while avoiding others. It does a decent job at sensing shoes, large toys, and boxes, but completely misses cables, rags, and even some table legs. I’ve had unpleasant surprises returning home to find the robot stuck in phone chargers and tea towels. The T30 Omni also seemed to enjoy bumping into my dog’s bed, while competing robots proficiently avoid it.

This isn’t something necessarily new with Ecovacs robots, which tend to be erratic navigators. It’s particularly an issue if you have a large house with kids and pets, as they might leave objects on the floor. However, it can also be true with adults who might forget a cable hanging.

Decent noise levels and battery life

The Ecovacs T30 Omni isn’t too loud, especially on the lowest settings. Its wheels are a bit noisy, though, so you can still hear it while it’s working, without it being annoying. The strongest settings are a bit more noticeable, but don’t prevent having a conversation.

As for the dock, it does make a bit of noise when emptying the dust bin, which can be de-activated using Do Not Disturb mode. As for drying, it’s not too noisy, which makes it easier to place the dock in the living room.

Battery life is decent, with up to 200 minutes of runtime on the lowest settings. On average cleaning parameters, the robot can clean about 100 square meters on a single charge, with the option to return to the dock to fill up when the battery runs low.

Easy maintenance, but beware of hair

The Ecovacs Deebot T30 Omni is designed to minimize maintenance. While the baseplate tends to get dirty after a few cleaning cycles, it’s easy to clean. To do so, you can trigger a cleaning mode that fills it with water to scrub it. Then, the robot drains it into the dirty water tank. Alternatively, you can entirely remove the baseplate and clean it in the sink or even under the hose, which makes cleaning it a breeze.

However, while Ecovacs prides itself on the robot’s anti-tangle design, it’s not necessarily accurate. Indeed, some hair and debris still end up being trapped in the bristled roller brush and need to be cleared frequently. Although the comb minimizes tangles, it doesn’t entirely prevent them, and failing to manually remove hair ends up in tangles. Unlike a silicone one that minimizes maintenance, a bristled one means you have to cut the hair, making it particularly more annoying.

As for the water tanks, they’re particularly large, allowing for hands-free cleaning for about 170 square meters. The dust bag is also big enough, and should last for several weeks or months without needing to be replaced.

Is the Ecovacs Deebot T30 Omni the right robovac for you?

Together with the Roborock Qrevo MaxV, the Ecovacs Deebot T30 Omni stands out as an affordable yet capable robot cleaner. It strikes a fine balance between performance and price, offering flawless cleaning results. The compact dock design, despite large tanks, is a great feature that makes it stand out from other models.

It’s a great choice if you’re looking for a slightly more affordable robot cleaner that provides great cleaning results, both on hard floors and carpets. Its dock comes with nicer aesthetics and a smaller form factor compared to the Qrevo MaxV, making it a better option if want to place in your living room.

However, it’s not the best option if you tend to leave cables or objects on the floor, as it struggles with smaller obstacles. Also, despite the claims for a tangle-free experience, a bristleless option is probably better if you have long hair or pets.

Pros	Cons
Cleaning results	Basic app
Compact dock design	Navigation and obstacle detection
Easy maintenance, with detachable baseplate	Improvable anti-tangle system

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