Robotic vacuums seem to be everywhere these days. In a world where we seem to have ever more to do with ever less time, it’s no surprise families and young professionals alike are looking for ways to get cleaning done while we “do life.” But with so many options out there, choosing the right robotic cleaner isn’t as easy as it once was.
At first Roomba owned the market, and to some extent, they still do, with offerings like the 690 and 614 at the low end and 960 and 890 at the high end. However, they’ve got more and more competition each year. Today we’re going to look at yet another offering in the sub-$300 field: the Power Boost Tech Eufy RoboVac 11+ Robotic Vacuum Cleaner. Despite coming from a relatively unknown company, it has a huge online following and, quite frankly, is one of the best deals in robot vacuums today. We review it fully below, and you can buy it here.
Pros, cons, and key features of the Eufy RoboVac 11+ robot vacuum
The Eufy RoboVac 11+ is one of a handful of robotic vacuums currently sold by Eufy, along with the RoboVac 11 and 11c. The RoboVac 11 is only a few dollars cheaper than the 11+ and skips out on the “Power Boost technology”, which is Eufy’s version of a self-activating turbo to provide a bit of extra cleaning power (they claim up to 1,000 Pa) when working on rugs and carpeting. Other than that, both machines are almost identical. For the price, we recommend going straight to the 11+.
Other key features in the 11+ include a 100-minute battery life thanks to its Li-on battery, a large-capacity .55L dust bin, a range of sensors for collision and fall prevention, automatic return-to-charging base functionality, and a remote control for programming and manual steering. Per Eufy, it can traverse ledges of up to .67 inches in height and clean medium-pile carpets up to .87 inches thick. The RoboVac 11+ requires 2-3 hours to fully charge a dead battery and can travel under bedding and furniture at least 3 inches tall. It weighs 10.5 pounds and has a cleaning radius of 13 inches.
How do you set up / program the RoboVac 11+, and is it Wi-Fi, Alexa, or smartphone compatible?
The RoboVac 11+ is rather straightforward to set up. Out of the box, you get the 11+, a remote with 2 AAA batteries included, a charging base and AC adapter, a cleaning tool for the vacuum, additional filters and side brushes, the instruction manual (called a “welcome guide”…we love it), and the standard 12-month warranty we wish we were longer in every robotic vacuum.
To set up the RoboVac 11+, simply follow the one page setup guide; you essentially charge up the vacuum, sync it to the remote, and you can start programming cleaning routines. It’s important to note that the 11+ isn’t Wi-Fi, smart phone, bluetooth, or Echo compatible. It’s smart, but unfortunately not that smart. That said, you can get pretty much everything you need to do done with the remote.
How well does the RoboVac 11+ clean carpets, hardwood floors, and homes with pets?
One of the more unique elements of the RoboVac 11+ is Eufy’s claim that it can clean carpets up to .87 inches thick. If true, this would distinguish it from the vast majority of robotic vacuums, which top out with low-pile carpets and are powerless with medium- or high-pile carpets. So is it true?
Sort of. The RoboVac can push through medium-pile carpeting surprisingly well, but it drains the battery life terribly if you do; we noted a 75% drop when trying anything over low-pile carpeting, which essentially means a 25 minute battery life instead of a 100 minute runtime, such as when cleaning hardwood floors. So while you can use the 11+ with medium-pile carpets, we wouldn’t.
That said, the RoboVac 11+ cleaned at least as well as other vacuums in its price range when it came to hardwood floors, tile, concrete, laminate, and area rugs and low-pile carpets. We noticed a significant battery life drop when moving to low-pile carpets from bare floors (from 100 minutes to 60), but it wasn’t enough of one to keep us from using it on both environments without worry.
In terms of general navigation, the RoboVac 11+ has a decently smart brain packed into it. It wandered around a room with a mixture of seemingly random and planned movements but generally cleaned without our feeling like it was dawdling or missing spots.
We were also thrilled to see multi-room functionality; as long as we kept the doors open, it was capable of moving from one room to the next and cleaning with equal ease. When battery charge dropped, it bee-lined back to home base to recharge. Something to keep in mind is that the 11+ did have trouble with very dark (e.g., black or deep brown) colored flooring; it treated them like stairs and refused to clean them. Besides that, its navigational and safety systems worked well enough to impress us for the price.
How does the RoboVac 11+ compare to the Roomba 690 and 890?
One of the most frequently noted advantages of the 11+ compared to the 690 is how much quieter it is. It’s not that the 690 is particularly loud; it’s just that using the RoboVac reminds you of how quiet your home can be. We appreciated it. We also noted it was able to fit under lower obstacles (e.g., beneath sofas, low bed frames, cabinetry) than the 690 due to its lower height. Cleaning abilities are approximately equal, but the 11+ has a significantly better battery life. A significant advantage of the 690 is Wi-Fi and smart phone compatibility; if you’re used to controlling things with your phone and don’t want a separate remote, you’ll want the 690 instead.
Compared to the 890, the 11+ showed its limitations. The 890 cleaned more quickly and efficiently, choosing more effective routes to move through rooms without repeating itself. The 890 was of course Wi-Fi and smart phone compatible as well as compatible with Google Assistant and Amazon Echo / Alexa-type services. If we had to choose between the two, we’d take the 890 every time. The main disadvantage of the 890 was its price; at $500, it’s more than $200 more expensive than the 11+.
Why buy the RoboVac 11+?
In conclusion, the RoboVac 11+, while not the best robotic vacuum on the market by any stretch of the imagination (that would probably be the Roomba 980), is definitely a strong contender in the under-$300 price range. It cleans well and offers a better realistic battery life than anything you’ll find in the competition without spending hundreds more. The biggest flaws in it are the lack of Wi-Fi and smart phone compatibility, which you get in the similarly-priced Roomba 690, and the one year warranty and difficult-to-replace battery, which you unfortunately find in just about all robotic vacuums currently on the market.
That said, overlooking these flaws, for around $250, you get a fully capable robotic vacuum that can find its way around multiple rooms in your household while maintaining a charge long enough to get the job done. We like it. For a significant upgrade, we’d recommend the Roomba 890.
You can buy the Eufy RoboVac 11+ here on Amazon. Alternatively, you can buy the Roomba 690 here. We’d consider the Roomba 890, available here, a meaningful upgrade.
Canadians can buy the RoboVac 11+ here, the Roomba 690 here, or the Roomba 890 here.
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