“Hey, Google, start the DEEBOT.”
There’s something really cool about having a virtual assistant paired with a physical one. Home life is fun and interesting when you can use your voice to have a vacuum cleaner get started on sweeping and mopping rooms.
That’s exactly the scenario we’ve come to appreciate about the ECOVACS DEEBOT OZMO 930. We use it daily and we love it.
Design
The OZMO 930 doesn’t look much different from the other robotic vacuum cleaners and could largely be described as a black puck. It has a run-of-the-mill charging dock and comes with accessories for both vacuum and mopping. You’ve seen this design plenty of times.
At a casual glance you wouldn’t see the OZMO 930 as being all that different from other models on the market. Factor in the high price tag and you might assume it to be just like everything else. That’s definitely not the case.
Setup
Upon taking the OZMO 930 out of the box and setting it up, you’ll find the process very simple. Everything is handled by the app and it takes just but a few minutes – at least in theory.
On the physical side you’ll need to charge up the vacuum before the first run. This can take a few hours, depending on how much charge is in the battery. You’ll also want to ensure there’s 1-2 feet of space around the dock in each direction.
We found it prefers being on a hard surface as opposed to (thicker) carpet. The vacuum doesn’t care so much once it’s running but that initial bump off of the dock works better on tile or hard wood than carpet.
As for the app and network configuration, we ran in to some hiccups. At first we thought it was because we were using a mesh network (Amplifi Instant).
We followed the steps, pressing the reset button, holding it down, and just doing what we thought would work. All of this, of course, after doing what the app told us to do in the first place. After about ten minutes of trial and error we were able to connect it.
A quick note if you have your network set up so that you have to manually approve new connections, you might want to disable that temporarily. Also, try quick pressing the rest button on the unit.
Our home is a Google Home which means we have speakers and automation throughout. As such, it was very easy to add the ECOVACS device to our network. Doing so gave us the ability to use our voice to start, pause, and end the vacuum process.
Usage
The DEEBOT OZMO 930 is a chatty little robot that provides status updates. You’ll get an audible alert upon starting, pausing, and completion and she’ll even tell you when she’s suspended, relocating, and charging.
The first few times that the vacuum runs it will be actively feeling out the environment, reading the room, so to speak. You’ll see it slow as it approaches walls and obstacles and you can monitor its progress in the app.
After a few times of running the OZMO 930 will give you a great top-down perspective of the floor. You get one immediately, of course, but the more it runs, the more precise the lines get.
You’ll not only see the shape and layout of your home, but also the difference in floor types. It’s easy to discern the difference between carpet and hard floors and the map can pinpoint rugs.
The OZMO 930 is quiet as it goes about its business; there are slightly different hums and noise based on floor type. Our setup is one that splits the floor about 50/50 with carpet and tile. The robot has no problems adapting and going from essentially flat to medium-pile carpet.
There are two sets of side brushes to help fluff the carpet and/or sweep items into the center of the vacuum. We’re not sure how long each pair will last but in the six weeks we’ve used ours they do not show any signs of wear. For what it’s worth, we run it about six days out of the week.
As nice as the brushes are, they don’t pull things in from corners. Because of its circular shape it’s unable to reach the hard edges where walls and obstacles meet. It’s not the fault of this model, but just one that plagues all devices of this type.
Our house has its share of vacuum cleaners, including Dyson and Shark. Over the years we’ve learned a thing or two about them and what works best with the carpet we have. Moreover, we also understand that using some models might not be good enough to safeguard your warranty.
Having gone through, and continuing to go through, different models we’ve learned which have stronger suction. As a house with two dogs and a cat, there’s a fair amount of dander and hair that can be found. And, when they can come and go a few times each day, they track in grass clippings, dirt, and debris.
We pride ourselves on keep the house clean and running the sweeper manually each day. When we were first introduced to robotic vacuum cleaners we approached them with skepticism. “There’s no way it can be strong enough to use this as a replacement.”
The first couple of times we used the OZMO 930, or Rosie as we affectionately named her, we did so immediately after running the Shark. We were pleasantly and not-so-pleasantly, surprised by what it picked up. There was more hair, debris, and dander than we expected. Far more, really.
We still use the standard upright vacuum when it comes to cleaning the house. Those Saturday mornings where mom is up nice and early with the music on, wiping things down and sprucing the place up? We default to the Shark. And then we let the OZMO 930 come in for a second pass.
Where we love the OZMO 930 is that it runs on its own and can be scheduled. As long as we have things picked up, it moves about the house effortlessly and quietly. Dog toys, shoes, cables, and other items are subject to being sucked up and causing a problem.
We don’t schedule our robot; ours is started by voice as walk around the house tidying up the floor. Picking up food and water bowls and anything else that might get in the way is often done just as the vacuum makes its second line through the room.
We love that we can start the cleaning process via the app anytime we want. Out to dinner with friends and inviting them to come back for coffee and games? Have it run as you pay your bill and the house will look nice.
The app gives users a fairly good level of control of rooms and the map. Have a couch where the vacuum tends to get stuck, or an area that you want to keep off limits? Draw a line or a box around the area and the OZMO 930 will avoid it.
After the vacuum understands its layout it will create rooms and label them by letter. This is extremely handy if you want to focus on one area and not worry about the whole house. Simply pick it and the vacuum will head there, clean up, and finish up.
Included in the box is a direct suction option which can be used in place of the main brush. This is good for those times where you might want to pick up spilled cereal, toddler snacks, loose pet food, and the like. These are easy to snap into place and can come in handy when you need to clean a small area instead of a whole floor.
We’ve not spent enough time with other models to compare them in a head-to-head but we do notice a few things that the DEEBOT does that our $300 Samsung doesn’t.
Key among the differences, and this may be standard at pricier models, is that the OZMO 930 will not go tumbling downstairs. Its sensors can detect when it nears the edge of steps and will stop to turn around. This was welcome in our house as we keep the doorway open to the basement.
The OZMO 930 seems to move with more precision and focus than our Samsung unit. Whereas the Samsung moved about in seemingly random and haphazard fashion, the DEEBOT unit moves in straight lines, up and down a room, and side to side. This is evident both when you watch it in action and from nice lines in the carpet.
Mopping
The OZMO 930 comes with a reservoir, cleaning cloth plate, and two washable microfiber cloths. These can be added to the robot for mopping tile and hard floors.
While we do appreciate having this option, it’s not one we use that often. Similar to how the vacuum aspect isn’t a full-on replacement for your high quality upright units, this isn’t here to keep you from mopping.
If there’s some surface scum, maybe a few drops of coffee or juice, or something that doesn’t require much elbow grease, it works fine. But, caked on or deeper things will prove to be a challenge.
If you tend to keep a tidy house and want to stay on top of things, we think the mopping would be nice to schedule for regular cleans. But, in a house of pets and children, you will likely come away disappointed.
Conclusion
There’s no way around it, the DEEBOT OZMO 930 is expensive. On a typical day it runs $700 at places like Target, Kohl’s, and Bed Bath & Beyond. That’s a lot of money no matter how you slice it. And, when feel it’s not designed to replace your current setup, it’s a tough sell.
In the time we’ve had our review unit we have seen the device go for as low as $500 (currently at The Home Depot), or a much more reasonable price. It’s still rather costly here, but it starts to make sense.
How much is automatic cleaning worth to you? What about scheduling? Google Assistant or Amazon Alexa? Mopping? App control? There’s a lot of peace of mind that can be had with a product like this.
We looked around to compare other brands and models and it seems the OZMO 930 is right in line price-wise. It’s pricey, yes, but not in an unreasonable manner.
If you can find one on sale, and possibly where you can split payments up over six months or longer, it’s a no-brainer. These are the sort of products that can last years and save countless hours in the process.