REVIEW – Wet dry vacuums are moving out of the shop, and into our living space – though these are a far cry from the canisters we use to clean up sawdust and sheetrock. If you have hardwood, tile, or any type of flooring that you would normally mop, the OSOTEK Horizon wet-dry vacuum is an all-in-one vacuum that is worth a look to streamline your cleaning regimen.
What is it?
The OSOTEK Horizon (H200) wet dry vacuum is, as the name implies, a mop and vacuum rolled into one device. Designed to work only on hard flooring surfaces, these all-in-one vacuums take the prep work out of cleaning by handling both the vacuuming and mopping at the same time. The Horizon line falls below the OSOTEK HotWave, which offers heated water output and a more feature-rich base station.
OSOTEK was established in 2019 in partnership with Xiaomi (China), and has been exclusively producing floor care products. Along with the HotWave and Horizon, OSOTEK also offers a traditional stick vacuum.
What’s in the box?
- OSOTEK Horizon H200 Wet Dry Vacuum
- Base station for cleaning and charging
- Floor cleaning solution
- Cleaning brush
- Manual
Hardware specs
| Form Factor | Stick, cordless |
| Surface | Hardwood, vinyl, tile |
| Product Dimensions | 9.85″L x 9.85″W x 43.3″H |
| Voltage | 120 Volts |
| Wattage | 700 watts |
| Weight | 13.6lb w/full water tank |
| Cleaning coverage | 35 minutes/200 m² |
Design and features
The OSOTEK Horizon wet dry vacuum has a very familiar format as it could easily be mistaken for a conventional upright vacuum. Out of the box, the OSOTEK Horizon H200 wet dry vacuum impresses with a premium feel and finish. The weight of the assembled vacuum is worth a call out here. My scale put it at 12.3lb empty, and 13.6lb with a full water tank. For comparison, the comparably priced Dyson V10 Animal stick vacuum is advertised at 5.71lb. To be clear, the Dyson is just a vacuum so this isn’t entirely apples to apples, but they are a similar format (stick) and are operated in much the same way.
Starting at the top, the OSOTEK Horizon H200 is controlled by three buttons on the handle – power, mode, and self-clean. The handle is comfortable and offers confident control of the vacuum. At the top of the vacuum body and easily visible while in use is a HUD which prominently displays battery life, and identifies which mode the vacuum is operating in. The HUD orientation changes depending on if the vacuum is charging, or in use.
In addition to the HUD, the vacuum will also produce audio cues when it’s turned on, as well as it’s cleaning mode, and when it begins charging on the base station.
In the front of the vacuum is the clean water tank, opposite the dirty water tank. Everything is easily accessible when needed and secured to the vacuum body when in use. The pivot between the vacuum body and cleaning head allows it to go fully flat for those tough to reach places.
The OSOTEK Horizon H200’s roller brush is secured with a locking mechanism over two rollers, which stretches the brush into a wider-than-usual footprint. According to OSOTEK, this puts 4x the amount of the roller brush in contact with the floor in comparison to the typical roller implementation. There is a removable cover atop the roller brush for easy cleaning access, and an LED light for when you need to clean in dark spaces.
Lastly, the docking/cleaning base is relatively spartan. The shape of the base station helps ensure debris doesn’t go flying during the self-cleaning cycle, while making it easy to dock the OSOTEK Horizon H200 vacuum for charging. Attached to the base station is a caddy to hold the roller brush, and the included cleaning brush. Annoyingly, from the side, the Horizon does not stand upright in the base station which I found bothersome enough to move to another part of the room.
Setup
Setup was really easy! In just a few minutes the vacuum was assembled and ready to go. Drop in the handle, secure the roller brush over the rollers, and attach the top cover over the roller. Add water and cleaning solution (optional) to the front tank, and you’re good to go.
Performance
The OSOTEK Horizon H200 wet dry vacuum is good – but it’s not perfect. Its performance in cleaning the floors is solid, and it’s a treat to use. The shortcomings of the self-cleaning feature though leave a bit to be desired, and so I’ve broken this up into two sections.
Floor Cleaning
We have a dog and cat in our house, so pet hair is just part of the ambiance. It felt very wrong to forgo the vacuum before turning the OSOTEK Horizon H200 vacuum loose on the floors, but it was up to the task – the waste bin and water tank speak for themselves. At the top of the wastewater tank is a sieve of sorts to catch any of the solid material vacuumed up while cleaning. This worked quite well and made disposal just a matter of tapping into the garbage can. The wastewater then goes easily down the drain.
While the Horizon does a splendid job with normal, day-to-day clean up, I’ve found that it struggles with anything stuck on the floor. This is typical for microfiber mops that rely on spinning or otherwise light agitation without heat, and perhaps why steam mops have been so popular. That being said, with the relatively low effort of using the OSOTEK Horizon wet dry vacuum, it’s less of a chore to prevent some of those messes from getting stuck on to begin with.
The OSOTEK Horizon H200 offers three modes: automatic, turbo, and vacuum-only which can be easily toggled from the handle while in use. While in auto mode, the vacuum will automatically adjust the suction based on the amount of dirt detected. Aside from testing, I never really found a need to manually toggle into turbo mode, as auto worked quite well at adapting on the fly. As the Horizon doesn’t dump a bunch of water on the ground I never found much use for the vacuum-only mode either, but it’s nice to have the ability to turn off the water if needed during cleaning.
Water efficiency is impressive. The floor is left damp, but I would put this on par with a steam mop – the water is minimal and dries quickly. If you leave the vacuum in one area for a while, such as trying to clear a stubborn spot, some water will pool up – but a couple passes over that area cleans it up well.
In the following video, we demonstrate a cleanup of coffee grounds – a small streak is left behind on the first pass, but easily captured on the return pass.
Self Cleaning
When a product declares that it has a self-cleaning feature, my assumption and expectation is that it’s hands-off. The self-clean feature in the Horizon is essentially the vacuum running by itself in the base station, but to properly clean it, you need to take it apart after the self-clean runs. The self-clean does an OK job, but it lacks the ability to actively dry the roller head. I’ve found this is the full workflow for cleaning the vacuum after use:
- Place the Horizon on the base station and run the self-clean.
- Remove the top cover and set aside. Remove the roller brush and double-check it’s clean. Occasionally I’ve found clumps of dog hair that can be pulled off. Set the roller brush upright to air dry.
- Take the top cover to the sink and rinse. Return to the base station with a paper towel.
- Wipe down the bottom of the base station to get any dirt that wasn’t vacuumed up.
- Remove the dirty water tank and empty as usual. Give it a pass with the included tank brush, rinse and reinstall.
What I like
- Floor cleaning is easy and intuitive.
- Effective wet dry vacuum capability to minimize cleaning steps.
- Base station makes charging easy, and does take some of the work out of cleaning the brush head.
- Aesthetic and build quality.
- The roller brush is the only component that may require replacement that I can foresee from normal use.
What I’d change
- Expensive – this feels like a better value around the $399.99 mark.
- Self cleaning isn’t as hands off as you might expect.
- Vacuum does not sit upright in the base station when viewed from the side.
- The Horizon product page is mostly empty on the OSOTEK website, and they do not appear to sell additional roller brushes. This may just be a matter of timing as of this review, but I always like to see products that are well-supported by the manufacturer.
Final thoughts
There is a lot to like about the OSOTEK Horizon wet dry vacuum, and it’s hard to argue its effectiveness at keeping up with the day-to-day demands of maintaining clean floors. Where it struggles is with stuck-on messes, and the self-cleaning feature. These issues appear to be addressed with the OSOTEK HotWave, but the Horizon price point seems a bit high considering those issues. I do appreciate the design and build quality that OSOTEK brings to the table, and if you can score this at a discount it’s absolutely worth it.
Price: $499.99
Where to buy: Amazon (currently has an instant $150 off coupon)
Source: The sample of this product was provided by OSOTEK.
