That said, I'm still quite impressed with how well it gets around, and how little it gets stuck. The Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo T8 AIVI isn't quite as incredible as its splashy marketing would have you to believe. And there's always the security risk of adding yet another connected sensor inside your house. With so many people stuck at home right now, the demand to monitor your pets remotely is pretty low. The company plans to address the shortcoming via an upcoming software update.

I could never get it to work, and the video connection always timed out.Įcovacs said it is aware of the issue and that some units suffer from the glitch. This function supposedly lets you drive the robot to locations in your home while it provides an HD video stream. The biggest problem was 'visual butler' mode. I was always successful on the second attempt, but it was annoying. Every time I cold-launched the app (not running in the background), it failed to open. I used the app on my Pixel 3 XL running Android 10. Read more: The best cordless vacuum for 2020įor all the Ozmo T8's slick capabilities, its mobile app needs work. The latter in particular can be a challenge for even the most robust vacuum cleaners. I'm also fond of hardwood floors, as well as high-pile shag area rugs (don't judge). At any given moment there are piles of kids' sneakers, toys, books, paper, you name it, it's scattered everywhere. And at the moment, my house is chock-full of these pitfalls. This high resolution lets the robot actually see and avoid obstacles. They snap pictures to navigate as they move, and use algorithms to tag walls, the ceiling and other reference points. Their primary purpose isn't to capture realistic images. Those products technically have what's better described as optical sensors, not cameras. Many models have had them for years, including iRobot Roombas and earlier Ecovac Deebots. Here's a view of the Neato Botvac D6 Connected using its lidar mapping system in our test room. And I have to say, right now, a brainy cleaning robot sure sounds tempting. The same goes for shoes, wires and cords, area rugs and oddly designed chairs. So if there's a pile of dirty clothes on the floor, the T8 will circumvent it. More importantly, the robot has the intelligence to tie all this data together, then interpret what it sees. It relies on information collected from lasers and collision and cliff sensors, plus an onboard HD video camera.

That, according to Ecovacs, is possible because of the T8's sophisticated navigation system. This $800 machine is smart enough to identify potential obstacles and avoid them.

The new Deebot Ozmo T8 AIVI from Ecovacs, however, is different. And that forces you to get off the couch and investigate - unacceptable. But they often get stuck or trapped by common household objects. Robot vacuums are handy tools for keeping your home tidy without much effort. The Deebot Ozmo T8 AIVI from Ecovacs is quite a sophisticated robot vacuum.

Go hard or go home clean