‘I tried the robot vacuum that will even mop your floors – and it’s less than £225’

The future of housekeeping or an overpriced gimmick? Robot vacuums have increased in popularity since the Roomba burst onto the scene back in 2002. Navigating and mapping out homes with a set of sensors, robovacs can be set to go about your housework while you get on with your day, and many these days come equipped with apps packed with smart features – so you don’t even need to be home to set them.

The Ultenic’s T10 Lite model goes one step beyond the basic vacuuming function – it will even mop your hard floors. Normally retailing at £259.99, and currently 15% off on Amazon, the T10 Lite comes in £80 cheaper than its larger T10 Pro cousin, making it a great option if you’re looking to try out the tech for the first time without splashing £340.

Set up was relatively straightforward with minimal assembly beyond removing stickers and attaching the brush. Setting up the base station, which the T10 Lite returns to for charging and dust collection, it’s important to place it on a hard floor with plenty of space around it – around a 1.5m radius.

The Ultenic T10 Lite is currently down to £221 on Amazon, complete with upgraded LiDAR navigation, 15min quick mapping, app/Alexa/Siri/Google remote controlled, deep cleaning and carpet auto-boost

Pros

Quick to set up and map the house

Set no-mop zones to avoid wetting carpets

Easy to use

Cons

App is a little confusing to navigate at first

Requires dust bags which need replacing periodically

Once charged, it set about mapping the ground floor of the house. There was a lot of bumping into things initially, but the vacuum is equipped with a sensor that slows it down when approaching obstacles and a spring-loaded bumper to avoid damaging or knocking anything over. It’s important to leave the floor clear to avoid any mishaps, so be sure to tuck away any rogue shoelaces or wires.

I found that the vacuum did struggle to navigate the doormat, and tended to drag it around the hallway, so I’ve taken to putting it away before setting up for a clean.

The mop feature is simple to use – just slide off the water tank and fill with warm water, before replacing it on the unit. You can even set ‘no mop’ zones on your map to avoid the risk of soggy carpets as your new helper makes their way around the home. The microfibre mop cloth slides off easily for convenient machine washing, and was supplied with a spare, so they should last a while.

After using the T10 Lite for almost a month, it has become a regular feature of our cleaning routine. It’s such a load off to be able to set it in the morning before work and know you’ll return to clean, freshly vacuumed floors. Having used it for a few weeks, I’d hate to be without it now. However, on the most recent use, I was disappointed to hear an announcement from the base station to alert me that the bag needed changing.

Yes, that’s right – the T10 Lite uses dust bags. While they’re available to buy online, if you have a heavy-traffic house with pets like I do, you could find yourself changing the bag as often as every couple of weeks, with the costs soon adding up. Refill dust bags for designed to fit the T10 Lite are available on Ultenic’s website, and cost £10.99 for a pack of three, or £14.99 for a pack of six – working out at £2.50 per bag in the cheapest pack.

If you’re looking for a robot vacuum with mop function, without the need to change a bag, The Mirror’s Sam Jones rated the Hoover 2-In-1 Robot Vacuum Cleaner & Mop – HG4 Hydro, praising it for being “packed with fabulously intelligent technology for the price”. Elsewhere, Shark’s robot vacuum is popular with shoppers, though it’s on the more expensive end of the scale at £449.99, but does boast a self-emptying feature that holds up to 60 days of dirt and debris.