Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo 950
Vacuum mopping robot
Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo 950 tested: In love-hate relationship with the robot hoover
11.2.2020
Translation: machine translated
Cleaning robots take an incredible amount of work out of the household. The Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo 950 even works on two floors and vacuums and mops the home simultaneously according to a schedule or by voice command - whenever I want. However, the system isn't quite perfect yet.
Before the cleaning robot can get started, you need to take action. In order for the Ozmo 950 to be able to clean unhindered, the home must be tidy, as with any other robot hoover Nothing should stand in its way. You can find out why this is particularly important for this model further down in the test.
Design and dimensions
The Deebot Ozmo 950 is round and has a diameter of 35 centimetres. This is similar to competitor products. However, it is only 9.3 centimetres high, which means it fits well under cupboards, sofas and beds and even ensures cleanliness in these hidden areas without you having to move your furniture.
The battery has a capacity of 5200 mAh and lasts for around 3:20 hours of operation. It is fully charged again after five hours. This large battery also means that it weighs a little more than other models: the Ozmo 950 weighs just under 4.5 kilograms.
The dust container has a capacity of 430 millilitres and the water tank holds 240 millilitres. Everything you need to get started right away is included in the scope of delivery. The package also includes replacement brushes, filters and cleaning cloths. There is even an additional suction module for direct suction without a brush. This is particularly suitable for hair, as it can otherwise easily get tangled up in the brush.
Set-up and functions
To set up the robot, you need the free Ecovacs app for your smartphone or tablet. Connect the supplied charging station to the power supply in your home. Now place the robot on the contacts of the charging station and switch it on using the slider under the lid. Select the model in the app and follow the set-up instructions. The robot connects to the app and to the internet via Wi-Fi. Unfortunately, the app and robot are only compatible with a 2.4 GHz network - which most home Wi-Fi routers are capable of. If your Wi-Fi only works at 5 GHz, you won't be able to connect the robot to it.
Then activate the "advanced mode" so that the app saves the floor map and gives it a name after the first complete vacuuming process. If you also want to use the Ozmo 950 on a second floor, take the charging station and robot upstairs, for example, and repeat the process there.
Now you can access all kinds of different cleaning modes and clean individual rooms or specific areas. Unfortunately, the rooms are created automatically and cannot be changed manually. For example, if you have a living room/kitchen, you cannot specify the dining area as a separate room. If you don't want the robot to clean there, you can only create exclusion zones in the app. Unfortunately, these virtual lines are only possible horizontally or vertically.
Creating a schedule for automatic cleaning is very practical. This allows the robot to always start the vacuuming process at the same time. Normally, the suction power and the amount of mop water dispensed can be adjusted as required, but this is not possible for the scheduled cleaning processes - only the medium suction power is available. The robot is compatible with the Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant voice control systems. For example, if you have installed the "Ecovacs Deebot" skill on Alexa, you can start cleaning by saying "Alexa, start cleaning with Deebot".
Vacuuming and mopping on two floors
The Ozmo 950 can overcome door thresholds up to two centimetres high. This was particularly important to me personally, as this is where most robot hoovers fail. Unfortunately, my thresholds in my old building are still a few millimetres too high, so the Deebot regularly gets stuck or doesn't make it back. What's more, the robot only manages the promised two centimetres when the mopping module is not plugged in.
The fact that the robot works on two levels is particularly exciting. Normally, we differentiate between robots that don't follow any logic and simply criss-cross through the room and those that use intelligent technologies to record a map of the floor or room and then move through it according to logical specifications. However, the latter only ever work on the same floor, as they can only save one map and the charging station serves as a guide. The Ozmo 950 now has space for two maps. In my house, the robot is on the ground floor and cleans according to a schedule whenever I'm not at home. But every other day I simply carry it to the second floor and send it out manually to vacuum the bedroom, office and bathroom. That works perfectly.
Cleaning results
The Ozmo 950 is really fast. It vacuums the floor in no time at all, following a logical pattern through the scanned area so that everything is nice and clean. The robot automatically recognises carpets and increases the suction power for them. During operation, it reaches a noise level of up to 66 dB. Although this is not pleasant, it is significantly quieter than other hoovers. When the combi brush is used as a suction module, the Ozmo 950 does its job really well. I was not convinced by the alternative direct suction insert, which is particularly suitable for hair as it does not wrap itself around the brush, as the robot left a lot of dust bunnies lying around. Cleaning the robot takes a little more effort if you have long hair or pets with long hair. Unfortunately, these also get wrapped around the Deebot's wheels, so I have to cut them free every day with the tool provided. This often turns out to be quite fiddly.
Emptying the dust container is unfortunately still a very annoying task. Although it is very easy to remove from the appliance using a handle, the mechanical storage flap does not close properly, so you should never tip the container. In addition, dust and dirt also cling to the flap where the filter is located when it is opened. It is almost impossible to prevent dust and dirt from falling out when opening the bin - unless you open it in a bin or bag. Handling could be significantly improved here.
When the Ozmo 950 is in mopping mode, it recognises carpets and automatically moves around them. However, this logically ensures that it does not even enter rooms with a carpet in the doorway. No cleaning agent may be added to the robot's water tank. This is not a problem in rooms with laminate flooring, for example, as damp mopping with water reliably removes the last of the dust. However, tiles or linoleum in the kitchen and entrance area do not get really clean. For these mopping tasks, I use a proper robot mop such as the iRobot Braava Jet 240.
An aggressive contemporary
The robot takes a lot of work off my hands because I really don't feel like hoovering and mopping. And I want to love it, but it makes it very difficult for me. It's really great that it moves quickly and can also lift up steps of up to two centimetres. But he needs a certain amount of power for that, which turns him into a bit of a troublemaker.
I play instruments and therefore often have a music stand with loose sheet music in the living room. The three legs are quite narrow and reflective, so the robot doesn't recognise them and runs into them at full speed. The result: the music stand falls over and my sheet music is scattered all over the floor. Now the Ozmo 950 continues on its merry way and nibbles at my sheets of paper.
My wooden easel and my dressmaker's dummy (both also tripods) are also among its victims. I got curious and watched him cleaning for a while. He usually slows down when he approaches an object, but for some inexplicable reason he occasionally rams into furniture. If you have delicate furniture, you should be particularly careful here, as the force is greater than you would imagine for a small robot.
It is also particularly important that you have put all cables in cable ducts. Because if the robot gets tangled up in one, it doesn't stop the cleaning process immediately, but tries to free itself with jerky, fast movements - which only makes things worse. For example, it pulled the LAN cable out of my computer. With his strength, I'm sure he can also pull a small device off the table.
If you have several rooms cleaned at once, you should also fix the doors with a stopper. During testing, it happened to me that the robot slammed a door shut and blocked its way back.
Conclusion: it's complicated
The cleaning results of the Deebot Ozmo 950 make it the best robot hoover I have ever had in my home. The many setting options for the cleaning mode prove to be very practical in everyday life. The fact that it reliably vacuums and mops at the same time is great, especially on parquet or laminate flooring, but it can't remove stubborn dirt in the kitchen or entrance area.
However, its power and speed are both a blessing and a curse. It manages to knock objects over, pulls on cables and sometimes rams into furniture. You should take appropriate precautions when the robot is doing its rounds.
Stefanie Enge
Autorin
Most of the time I'm living between bits and bytes, testing alternative Android operating systems and trying to make my life smarter with Open Source technology - always with a focus on privacy and data protection. When I'm not testing cool gadgets, I'm developing video games, writing stories and playing the accordion.