When Ecovacs launched the new Deebot T20e Omni of 2024, I was surprised. This is not a new upgrade of the Deebot T20 Omni released in 2023 as usual, but is a cheaper version than the T20. I have noticed that in the past few years, Ecovacs has not released a version like this in the T series.
In particular, the T20e is cheaper than the T20, but the cuts are as thin as a piece of American beef at hot pot restaurants. This robot still has almost everything we need in a multi-purpose robot. Specifically, the T20e has a rotating pressure mop, automatically washes rags, automatically dries rags with hot air, automatically sucks trash to the station, automatically lifts rags when encountering carpets and the ability to avoid obstacles during the cleaning process.
Compared to the T20, this robot only loses in two significant details: washing rags with cold water, not 55 degrees Celsius hot water, and not having YIKO virtual assistant to control the robot by voice (English). In addition, the main brush of the T20e is a rubber brush combined with bristles, while the T20 is a pure rubber brush. But the T20e also has an advantage: the suction force is 7,100 Pa, stronger than the 6000 Pa suction force of the T20.
During two weeks of actual use in the apartment, I found that the T20e’s effectiveness was no different from the T20 I experienced in the middle of last year.
The T20e has two rotating brushes that combine pressure to scrub the floor
In the cleaning function , the T20e uses a rotating cleaning mechanism similar to the T20 and many other Ecovacs robots. During the cleaning process, the two mop brushes will rotate 180 rpm combined with scrubbing pressure on the floor, so the cleaning effect is really good. When evaluating the robot’s cleaning effectiveness, I only look at the clean and dry floor surface. At this point, I think T20e does well. In addition, when I empty the dirty water tray, I see that there is always a thin layer of mud underneath the tray, a clear sign of the robot’s cleaning effectiveness.
T20e cleans floors effectively
Not only the floor, the two mops were also washed and dried, with no odor after 2 weeks of use. T20e washes rags with cold water but dries them with hot air similar to other high-end Ecovacs robots . During the cleaning process, the robot will automatically return to wash the rag after cleaning after about 6, 10 or 15 minutes depending on the user’s choice. The drying function can also optionally dry for 2, 3 or 4 hours. I usually let it dry for 2 hours but found that both rags were very dry.
During the cleaning process, the robot has the feature of automatically lifting the broom when it encounters the carpet, avoiding wetting the carpet. The broom lifting distance when meeting the carpet of this robot is 9mm, similar to the T20.
In the cleaning function, the T20e provides users with many options on the application such as thorough cleaning, quick cleaning, cleaning by room or cleaning in corners. In cleaning mode in the corners, I noticed that the robot will “gently shake its butt” so that the cleaning brush goes a little closer to the edges and corners of the wall.
The robot has many cleaning-related options on the app.
The rag can also flexibly adjust the wetness level with 3 levels: low, standard and high. When cleaning wooden floor surfaces, I find the low wet setting is most suitable, the floor will dry within a few minutes. However, on humid days, I set the rag to the lowest wet level but the floor still had a bit of excess water. With weather like this, I think it would be better if the T20e had a slightly drier rag option.
Regarding the vacuuming function , the T20e has a suction force of 7,100 Pa, belonging to the group of robots with the strongest suction force today, stronger than the 6000 Pa suction force of the T20 and only lower than the 8000 Pa terrible suction force of the high-end Deebot X2 Omni model. With such suction power, it’s not surprising that the T20e can clean even large amounts of dirt such as snack debris, sunflower seeds, and deodorant seeds for dogs and cats that I placed on the floor to challenge the robot on the surface. wood floor.
The floor is clean and dust free
It’s a bit unfortunate that I currently don’t have the opportunity to test the T20e’s dust-absorbing ability on carpet surfaces. Previously, I tested the T10 Omni and T20 Omni, both of which were very good at absorbing dirt and even dog and cat hair on the carpet surface, so I think with stronger force, the T20e will also do well on this surface. I will update the suction ability on carpets in the review in the near future after I have the opportunity to experience it.
As mentioned, the T20e uses a rubber brush with bristles like the T10 Omni, not a pure rubber brush like the T20. Compared to pure rubber brooms, rubber mops combined with bristles are very effective at cleaning fine dust and cotton dust but are more susceptible to hair. You need to regularly pay attention to the broom to remove stuck hair.
Bristle brooms clean fine dust and cotton dust very well, but are more likely to get hair stuck than pure rubber brooms.
The T20e also has a trash bag on the dock. After each suction is completed, dirt will be automatically sucked onto the trash bag on the dock. The dust bag on the dock of the T20e has a capacity of 3 liters, enough to hold dust for about 1.5-2 months for apartments. In the trash bag tray, I saw that Ecovacs also installed a cotton pad containing activated carbon to deodorize.
The dust bag tray on the station has a cotton layer containing activated carbon to deodorize.
It can be said that the two main functions of the T20e, mopping and vacuuming, are both very good. Adjusting the cleaning and suction functions is also very flexible. The robot has the option to mop only, suction only, or both mop and suction simultaneously.
T20e effectively avoids obstacles with TrueDetect technology using infrared sensors.
During the cleaning process, the T20e is able to avoid obstacles quite effectively. This robot uses Ecovacs technology called Truedetect 3D with 2 infrared sensors that scan objects around the robot to avoid collisions. Many Ecovacs robots are using Truedetect 3D technology to avoid obstacles. I deliberately placed some obstacles such as sandals, water cups, charging cords and shoelaces on the floor surface and saw that the robot avoided all the obstacles.
The robot avoids obstacles well placed on the floor
However, for effective cleaning, we should reduce the chargers on the floor so that the robot can clean the whole house, leaving no areas around obstacles. Furthermore, after a lot of experience, I found that no robot can completely avoid wires, sometimes they can still get stuck.
The remaining elements of the T20e such as navigation efficiency, battery life, operating noise and software have nothing to complain about. The basic hardware of the T20e such as laser sensors for mapping and navigation, Truedetect 3D obstacle avoidance, pressure rotating cleaning technology, self-washing and drying rag mechanism… are all things that Ecovacs has used on Some product lines have been running for several years now, so they operate very stably, draw maps quickly and accurately, and navigate effectively.
T20e operates stably thanks to the use of mature technologies.
The 5200 mAh battery comfortably cleans large houses without worrying about running out of battery in the middle of the task. When I clean a 70 square meter apartment with an actual cleaning area of more than 30 square meters, I usually only use about 1/4 of the battery capacity each time I run both cleaning and vacuuming.
The Ecovacs Home application offers many flexible customization features for cleaning. You can schedule cleaning timers, clean each room, set up virtual walls and no-vacuum areas. In terms of software, the T20e does not currently support many languages and lacks the YIKO virtual assistant to command the robot like on the T20 version and Ecovacs’ X-series robots. If you often use this virtual assistant, this will be a point to consider.
As for noise level, I find the T20e runs a bit quieter than the T20. The cause probably lies in the main brush. The T20e’s bristles brush the floor surface with less noise than the T20’s pure rubber broom.
In terms of design, the T20e has a similar design to the previous generations of T20 and T10. Both the robot and the station are well finished, equipped with many sensors to prevent falling from stairs and collisions, along with two long brushes to sweep the edges and two large wheels to overcome ledges over 2cm high.
The washing compartment at the charging station is designed to be seamless, making it inconvenient to clean
However, the design of this robot also has a minus point located at the charging station. The washing compartment at the charging station is designed in one piece, not removable for easy cleaning like many other robots. Therefore, cleaning the washing area will be a bit more difficult. I see that Ecovacs has recognized this limitation, so it provides the robot with a fairly large brush to clean the washing compartment.
To summarize, I evaluate the T20e as a very thinly cut T20. Cutting details such as the YIKO virtual assistant and washing towels in cold water do not affect the actual experience too much. Meanwhile, the price has been greatly reduced.
This is a very good price for a product that does not lack any necessary functions in today’s flagship robots. I believe this will be a star in the robot market in 2024.
Advantage:
+) Both mopping and vacuuming are very effective
+) The cleaning brush is washed and dried with hot air.
+) Avoid obstacles effectively, avoid cables and shoelaces.
+) Laser sensor guides and maps accurately.
+) Software with many flexible control functions.
+) Smooth operation
+) Good price compared to the performance
Defect
+) The washing compartment cannot be removed for convenient cleaning.
+) The mop is still a bit wet on a humid day
+) The main brush has bristles that easily grip hair
+) Lack of YIKO virtual assistant, the software does not support many languages yet.