So wanted to get a good sufficient test of this unit before I passed judgment as this type of product is a new concept to us"¦we've had Deebot for about 6 months.

So every Christmas we get our house a "Christmas present" (FYI: advice to husbands "“ don't give your wife a vacuum cleaner as a gift"¦or any "household appliance for that matter"). I never thought I would get a "robotic vacuum cleaner" as I previously considered this something that lazy people get, but at the same time we had 2 dogs and my wife complained about how much dog hair was on our floors (they stay in our family room with an electronic doggie door allowing them to go in/out as they please so they track in dirt as well).

As some of you know, last holiday season (2016) there were a lot of advertised sales for these things, but even the "sales price" was close to $300 (no way!). So I saw this Deebot on an Amazon "Lightning Deal" for well under $200 and jokingly texted my friend about this "cheap gift for lazy people""¦she was so enthusiastic about it"¦she bought it right way"¦so got me to thinking as I saw the Lightning deal time ticking away and the % claimed quickly rising (why is it that when we see these things it makes us buy things we may otherwise not consider buying"¦great idea Amazon!)"¦so I took the bait!

So when this "Christmas Present" arrived at the door, I put it aside with the other gifts to wrap, but by the next day, my curiosity got the best of me, so I put it together, charged it up, and let it run. I think it runs (after fully charged") for the better part of 2 hours"¦so although supposedly for "lazy people", we definitely don't sweep more than a fraction of that time. When it was done after the first run"¦I was clearly impressed"¦the waste bin was practically full of hair and dirt - see actual picture of what it picked up on day #1 (yuk, where was all this stuff)! The next day it ran, it picked up less, but seemed that every 2-3 days the bin fills up"¦wow, maybe we "needed" this thing after all?

So after the first week"¦a problem (uh oh)"¦all of a sudden it stopped working, not sure why. So I contacted customer service. They tried to help troubleshoot, but could not get it to work (oh no"¦a bad decision?)...but it did not take long until they agreed to ship out a replacement unit to me"¦only had to box up mine use the UPS label that they sent me (no cost to me) and once UPS accepted the unit, and ECOVACS had proof of UPS acceptance they promptly sent me new unit via UPS"¦great customer service!

So while the replacement was on it's way, I was "robot vacuum-less", so there was another well-named unit that I could get at a "Black Friday" price at a well-known big box store"¦and since I am a "Elite Plus" member (hint-hint) I could get an extended "trial" and compare my Deebot head-to-head with a better known unit. I compared the two units for about a month"¦Deebot was the clear winner:
1) I preferred the lower profile of Deebot, the "other" one could not get as close under the cabinets (and got "stuck" when it tried).
2) Deebot had 2 brushes compared to the 1 brush of the other unit.
3) Deebot was quieter than the other unit
4) The other unit kept getting stuck on our kitchen mats (you know the ones that are a little thick to prevent foot fatigue - see picture)"¦the other unit got stuck every single time"¦Deebot occasionally gets stuck if it hits the mats at the wrong angle"¦bit it does a better job trying to get out (see it going back & forth to free itself and usually succeeds"¦the other unit just gave up).
5) Replacement parts more readily available"¦and inexpensive (the Deebot already had came with a couple of extra brushes, but I bought the accessory kit with 4 more brushes & two more filters, mop, etc. for under $20 on Amazon, but after 6 months, original brushes, etc. are still fine so I guess I'm set for a couple of years).
6) Excellent customer service (see above experience)
7) Found "Home" more (to re-charge) than other unit
8) Most importantly, it simply picked up more dirt/hair.
- Since I got the other unit at a fantastic "Black Friday" price, I gave the other unit as a gift to our son.

Deebot (model N78) is not without its flaws, but before I list them, note that this unit is at a lower cost than units that may overcome these flaws (i.e. you get what you pay for)"¦so here are some of it's "flaws":
1) "Programming" could be better, as it's mostly "Blind Trust" (other unit we got at the big-box store had digital programming to set time)
2) Cleaning pattern "seems" to be random
3) Rubbish Bin could be larger
4) Not the best "mop"
5) Very infrequently does not make it "home"
6) Remote is "simple"
Note that I did not put "getting tangled in wires" as a flaw"¦yes it may occasionally get tangled, but I think that's common on all of these things"¦so if you are considering a robotic vacuum, accept the fact that you will need to keep wires out of the way or put something around them so Deebot can't get to them.

1) Programming is probably my biggest complaint"¦supposedly it goes on the same time everyday if you "program" it that way"¦but I don't know as no way "to see" when it is programmed to start cleaning. I wish it were more intuitive and at least see what time it is scheduled to start, and wish there would be a way to change the run times or have it run multiple times a day if I wanted it too"¦but I have to remember that this is a budget unit so for the price, maybe that programming convenience is too much to expect?

2) One of the things that may cause someone to have concern is that is seems to wander "aimlessly" throughout the house without a clear pattern that at I cannot figure out (compared to going up & down "row by row as I've seen on more costly units). However, for me, I care about results and when it's done, Deebot does a very good job as the floor is clean and the rubbish bin is full every 2-3 days. I don't know the algorithm that it is following to clean"¦I do see it hitting dirty areas multiple times but that may be my imagination rather than built-in intelligence of the unit. So although it may not be efficient in its movement, it does the job very well.

3) So related to #2 above, the good news / bad news is that I have to empty the bin every 2-3 days. So either the rubbish bin is too small or it picks up a heck of a lot (much more than we would get manually). The rubbish bin id 6" x 3.5" x 2", I think the bin of the one from the big box store was a little bigger.

4) So although the "mop" does a "decent" job on light spot mopping, it would not replace "deep cleaning" for a manual "wet mop"; however, I don't know of one of these vacuum's that would do a good job.

5) On very infrequent occasions, it does not make it "home" to recharge. Not sure why, but so infrequent, it's not a big deal.

6) The remote is very simple/basic (could have helped in the programming mentioned in #1 above). You can start/pause the unit [i.e. bypass "program"], return it to home, switch between the 3 cleaning modes, and do some simple "steering" of the unit"¦that's it. I liked the digital display of the other unit we temporarily had from the big box store. Also would be nice to see "power level" on the remote or on the unit itself.

One thing I have not mentioned is performance on "carpet""¦we have vinyl plank floors downstairs where Deebot currently wanders. Upstairs is all carpet. Since Deebot's home is downstairs, we don't regularly use it on carpet"¦but we have occasionally and it does do a good job, but I can't give a comprehensive performance review since we don't regularly use it upstairs (or even if it has than "anti-fall" protection that some units have)"¦so upstairs we clean the "old fashioned" way. Also the unit is "Pet Freindly"...our pets seemed not to care at all...they are not spooked at all with this.

BIGGEST QUESTION: Is this unit good value for the money? As many of you know Amazon's prices can vary from time to time so the answer is that "it's all relative". I have seen this unit going for slightly over $200 to under $200"¦.If you can get this Debot for under $200, this is an excellent buy (in 2017"¦I guess in 2-3 years technology may advance to push prices even lower).
All-in-all we are very happy that we took the chance and bought Deebot, never thought we would buy a "robotic vacuum" but for us the price was right and now I see the value of something like this to the extent that knowing what I know now, maybe I would have been willing to pay a little more for a unit that would overcome the minor deficiencies of this inexpensive, but great valued unit.

I bought two of these- 1 for my mom and 1 for me. Deebot works pretty well and it's pretty fun following Deebot around and watching it. I wouldn't let it loose when I wasn't around though. It requires a fairly cleared place to work- receipts and ticket stubs, socks, and, most importantly, cords must be out of the way. So, it provides a fun impetus to clean up the clutter. The main mechanism for cleaning is a vacuum motor with 3 rubber squeegees along with 2 directional side sweepers. This is different from Neatbot and Roomba which have spinning brushes on the bottom. The sweeping pattern seems to be only somewhat intelligent. It slows down before hitting walls but it will spend a lot of time in particular spots. There is no memory of the location within the room. This is a function cheapest to find in the Neatbot for about $530-599 from my research. For Roomba, I think you need to get the much more expensive model.

This guy really picks up a lot of dust and run on a more regular basis, it keeps getting things cleaner. I ran a test on my bedroom that I don't clean very often, where I let it run for about 1.5 hours (supervised to remove cords and receipts), then I swept with a fresh Swiffer cloth. The result was an almost white cloth, even from under the bed. I was pretty impressed with that.

My place has all hard floors with no carpets. My mom has some area rugs. 1 had fairly low pile and Deebot did a pretty good job but a rug with deeper pile ended up cleaning off the bottom of the robot. Coming from under the sofa, this was a bit of a mess.

Cords are a serious problem- any cords, shoelaces, or backpack straps need to be out of the way. This can create a lot of work. Around my computer and stereo system was a tricky spot as well as the nintendo DS cord. Thin cords are the most vulnerable. So, I'll need to work on removing clutter

I haven't tried the mopping system but it seems fairly well designed with a reservoir and pads for cleaning the floor. It looks like it might work but it looks like more effort than I'm willing to invest.

I LOVE this little machine. This is my first robot vacuum and I am thoroughly impressed. For my LVP flooring I needed one without a rotary brush and this one does not disappoint! I cannot believe how much this little thing picks up when the floor doesn't even look dirty! Doing a kitchen remodel and this handled drywall dust like a champ! It does seem to go in a random pattern but gets my floors clean! The mop feature is nice however the water/soap reservoir does not hold very much and runs out pretty quickly but I would not want to trade suction power or dust bin capacity for that. It does a great job mopping before it runs out though! It has gotten stuck a few times on cords that are around and my rug at the front door but it beeps to let you know! Would recommend over higher priced ones!

This is our second robotic vacuum. Our first, Neato brand, (we named her Rosey like the Jetsen's robot) cleaned in a grid pattern and kept a mental map of the floor and objects in the path. She died (first version- very old- LOVED IT!!! I didn't have enough in savings to buy a new one or I would have! ) So I bought this one to replace "Rosey."
"R2" does a good job cleaning but doesn't have any pattern. She moves in all kinds of diagonals and will miss sections of floor for a day or two. She also has trouble finding 'home' if anything is blocking her beacon(infrared sensor?)
We empty her daily because we have 2 large dogs that shed and she is always full! We have not tried the mop option yet.
Design- she gets stuck under dressers if they have fancy work along the bottom edge. Her robot eye is pointed straight or downward and she misses things that are just barely above her. Her noise level- 2 folks can talk to each other over her volume but she is a bit loud, kind of like talking over the tv with the volume up slightly.
Programming is a pain! If you want her to run at a certain time of day, you must set that time AT THAT TIME. You can't decide at 5 pm that you want her to run at 9 am. You have to wait until
9 am to set the programmed time.
For us, its very helpful in maintaining our floors and reducing allergens. Our dogs are afraid of her.

Bought this on black Friday because it was under $150 and wanted to test out a robot vacuum before I bought an expensive one. Gotta say I am impressed with it's performance. It doesn't have all the bells and whistles like the much more expensive ones but it gets the job done. I live in a large home with two girls, my wife, a three year old son and three cats so the floors are never clean. My wife and I would spend at least 20 mins vacuuming loose dirt each day but now we no longer have to! This won't completely replace the chore of sweeping or vacuuming but it gets pretty close. I was pleasantly surprised with how much dirt and cat hair it picks up, and picked up things I didn't even see like dead crickets the cats killed!! It is not high end and will bump into things occasionally. The only complaint I have is that if the couch recliners are not pulled up it tends to get stuck. Overall it is a great tool and has made the whole family much cleaner because the kids enjoy it work and the 3 year old actually picks up all his lego bricks and hot wheels so the Robot can work. I would recommend this to anyone who has pets, kids, hard floors and area rugs. The included remote is also great for directing the bot. It's Easy to use and maintain. The only major Con with this product is its Manual, its pretty useless.