REVIEW – Getting started with home automation can start as simply as adding a remote-controlled light bulb. But if you have the budget for it, my suggestion for getting started with home automation is to invest in a robot vacuum cleaner. Once you get a robo vac, you’ll wonder how you ever got along without one. Trust me. Today I want to show you the ECOVACS DEEBOT OZMO 950. Let’s get to it!
What is it?
The ECOVACS DEEBOT OZMO 950 is a vacuum and mopping robot that will clean the floors of your home while you do other things.
What’s in the box?
- ECOVACS DEEBOT OZMO 950
- Docking station
- Power cord
- 2 Filters
- Washable\reusable mopping pad
- Disposable mopping pads
- 4 side brushes
- Direct suction option
- User manual and quick start guide
Design and features
As far as style, the DEEBOT OZMO 950 looks similar to most robot vacs that are on the market. It has a circular shape, a plastic housing with a laser “head” sensor protruding from the top, and an auto mode button/LED battery charging indicator.
The lid opens to reveal a main power switch, reset switch, and WiFi indicator.
The dirt receptacle with the filter lifts out of the center of the vacuum for easy emptying.
There’s also a magnetic holder for the included multi-function cleaning tool that is used to cut any strings that might become wrapped around the cleaning brush.
If you flip the OZMO 950 over on it’s back, you’ll see the wheels and cleaning brush.
The side brushes (there are 2 extras included in the box) snap onto posts on the bottom of the vacuum.
A cover over the brush lifts out to provide access to the brush.
The cleaning brush has soft bristles and wide rubber flaps that help to vacuum hard surfaces.
There are bumpers on the front that protect your furniture when the vac bangs into them.
On the back is a water tank that can be removed from the vacuum.
You lift up the plug and fill the tank with plain water. You do not want to add any type of cleaner to the water as it can clog up the feeder tube.
The OZMO 950 comes with two types of mopping pads. There are the white disposable pads and the reusable/washable one shown here which attaches to the plastic mopping pad with Velcro.
Then the pad clips to the bottom of the water tank. The instructions do say that you can spray some cleaner on the pad itself, but I can’t really see how beneficial it would be unless you’re cleaning a very small space.
Note that you don’t want to leave the mopping pad or the water tank full of water while the vacuum is on the charging base as the pad will be wet.
ECOVACS app
You can manually start a cleaning session by just pressing the Auto / power button on the top of the vacuum, but if you want to customize settings and set schedules, you will need to install the ECOVACS app.
The app will let you set do not disturb times and set cleaning times with repeating days.
The really cool thing about this vacuum and the app is that you can watch a live view of the robot in action as it travels around the room cleaning. As it does this, it builds a map that you can then customize by adding no-go zones.
In the app, you can set virtual boundaries and no-mop zones. You can also clean based on areas as the vacuum automatically breaks up large rooms into individual areas that you can select to clean. Unfortunately, as far as I can tell, there’s no way to schedule a specific area to be cleaned. You have to manually go to the area tab in the app and check off the areas to clean and then press the clean button to start the session.
You can also control the Deebot with your voice because it has Alexa and Google Assistant functionality.
Let’s clean!
It tested the OZMO 950 on hard surfaces and carpet. I noticed that the vacuum adjusts the sucking power when it moves between hard flooring and carpet. You can hear it get stronger when it switches to carpet.
The first thing the robot vac does is go around the perimeter of the room. The edge cleaning did miss a couple of things like this piece of cat Kibble.
And some dried house plant leaves in the carpet.
The OZMO 950 did a great job cleaning my carpets and hard floors. I have a long-haired cat and other vacuums struggle to pick up the fur or the fur wraps around the brush. I didn’t have these issues with the Deebot.
I also appreciated the long battery life of this robot vacuum. I was able to clean both levels of my house and still had power left to spare.
Once the cleaning session has completed, you just lift out the dirt bin, hold it over the trashcan, press a button on the side of the bin, and the bottom of the bin falls open (it’s hinged) and the dirt comes with it.
I also tested the mopping function which requires that you fill the water tank with plain water. You just have to be sure not to add any cleaning liquids to the water tank as it can damage the internal tubing.
I found that the mopping function is fine for cleaning up dust and fresh spills, but you can’t rely on it to clean up dried dirt and grime. The picture above is after a mopping session. You can see the dried-on stain of protein shake drip. It didn’t budge it. I had the same problem with it cleaning up dried on tea stains. So I would suggest not putting too much faith in the mopping function.
What I like
- Great suction on hard surfaces and carpet
- Long battery life
- Ability to clean specific areas instead of whole room
- Washable filter and mopping pad
What I’d change
- Price – very expensive
- Improve mopping feature and/or allow cleaning solutions to be used
Final thoughts
Robot vacuums may be expensive appliances, but boy are they wonderful to have. Once you have one, you’ll never want to go back to manually pushing a vacuum around your house. The ECOVACS Deebot OZMO 950 is an impressive robot vacuum. With the exception of a couple of pieces of dirt that it missed on the edges of the room, it did a fantastic job cleaning my floors. It has great suction and cleaned up my cat fur tumbleweeds without any issues. If you have the budget for a robot vacuum, I can definitely recommend the ECOVACS Deebot OZMO 950.
Price: $799.99
Where to buy: Amazon
Source: The sample for this review was provided by ECOVACS.
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My Ecovas Deebot 950 has stopped charging. It starts charging light comes but after few seconds only it says ‘my battery is low and power is off’, again on putting on duck again may start charging after giving sound and after few seconds only it repeats the same ‘my battery is low and power is off’,
I am greatly satisfied with the working of it since last two years.
SHOULD I CHANGE THE CHARGING DOCK?