Eufy RoboVac X8 Hybrid Review
A powerful robot vacuum cleaner with full mapping, but basic mopping
Verdict
A step up from the company’s previous vacuum cleaners, the Eufy RoboVac X8 Hybrid introduces proper mapping and map control. Power has also seen a boost, with this cleaner doing particularly well on hard floors. Mopping is more basic, but you can buy the standard X8 model for the same price, which swaps out the mop bracket for a larger bin.
Pros
- Full mapping
- Powerful vacuuming
- Good navigation
Cons
- No-go zones were a little buggy
- Basic mopping
Availability
- UKRRP: £499.99
- USARRP: $649.99
- Europeunavailable
- Canadaunavailable
- Australiaunavailable
Key Features
- TypeThis is a robot vacuum cleaner with a gravity-fed mopping system to provide basic wet cleaning on hard floors.
- Battery lifeGet up to 180 minutes from a single charge on the lowest power setting; even on maximum, there’s enough power to clean one or two floors on a single charge.
Introduction
Previous Eufy robots have tended to fit in the good value but slightly basic category. With the Eufy RoboVac X8 Hybrid, the company is back with a much smarter robot that offers proper mapping and a range of control features, so that the robot cleans when and how you want.
It’s largely successful, cleaning well on all surfaces, while the mopping option adds another dimension, even if the results are more basic. If you don’t need the mopping functionality, then the RoboVac X is a little cheaper and has a bigger bin
Design and features
- Fancy finish to the robot’s top
- Improved mapping and no-go zones
- Supports multiple maps
The overall shape of the Eufy RoboVac X8 Hybrid isn’t that different to other robot vacuum cleaners (it’s round and quite shallow at 345 x 345 x 97mm), but at least the company has made an effort on top. Rather than opting for a single colour finish, the swoosh details on top make this robot stand out a little.
The dome on the top surface denotes this robot vacuum cleaner’s laser navigation system, which is both fast and accurate. It allows the RoboVac to generate a map of your home easily, including multiple maps for different floors.
There are three controls on top, too, for starting a clean, returning to dock and performing a spot clean (the robot cleans a small area around it). The latter requires you to move the robot to where you want it; it’s easier and better to use the controls in the app.
For this model, the 400ml bin pulls out from the rear. I like that design, since it’s neater than the flip-up lid you typically get on robot cleaners. Plus, it means you can pull out the bin even if you’ve placed the charging dock under some furniture. The slight downside is that the bin has an open front with no flap, so be careful how you hold it or dust can fall out.
The bin is a little smaller than you’ll find on some cleaners, because here, space is required for the 250ml water tank and microfibre cloth, which clip in beneath the bin. If you buy the standard RoboVac X8, you get a larger 600ml bin.
To prevent the mopping cloth from damaging the floor, Eufy ships a plastic floor protector that sits in front of the charging dock.
Flip the vacuum cleaner over, and it’s standard fare underneath. There’s a main motorised floor brush, plus a single side-sweeper brush, which pushes dirt from the edges into the main suction path.
To get the most out of the robot, you need to hook it up to the Eufy app. When you first launch the robot, the app is rather bare, but after the first clean, the RoboVac X8 Hybrid will generate a map of your home.
Once finished, it will take a guess over the location of rooms, although it’s pretty easy to override the choices that the robot makes. It’s worth getting right, since splitting your home into rooms means that you can instruct the RoboVac X8 Hybrid to clean just one area. That’s great for cleaning up after cooking, or in one room after you’ve had guests around.
It’s good to see that multiple maps are supported, so you can make maps of each floor in your home. Robots that only generate one map can only be reliably used on one floor, limiting their appeal.
There are several ways to use the robot. First, you can adjust the suction power using the four levels, ranging from Pure (very light) to Max. There’s also a BoostIQ switch, which will increase the power automatically, depending on whether the robot is on carpet or hard floor.
There’s no control over the mopping feature, since the tank is purely gravity fed, rather than having a pump, which is what you get with the Roborock S5 Max.
You can start a clean for your whole home, or just pick a room or a zone, where you draw a box on the area you want the RoboVac X8 to go to (see, who needs the spot clean button?).
Scheduling works in a similar way, covering your entire home or particular rooms. That’s neat, as you can schedule the RoboVac X8 to work in the exact way that you want.
Beyond cleaning where you want, you can use the map and zones to prevent the robot from accessing areas you don’t want it go. Virtual barriers stop the cleaner from entering rooms, no-go zones prevent cleaning in the area you select, and no-mop zones stop the robot from going to that area while the mop is attached.
It’s useful to have all of this control, but the latter may limit what the RoboVac X8 Hybrid can do: if a no-mop zone is between it and a hard floor, then there’s no path for the robot to take. There’s also no automatic carpet detection in this mode, to stop the vacuum from running over carpet; the Yeedi Vac Station will back off the carpet automatically and, if it starts mopping on a carpeted area, it will pause and ask you to carry it to a hard floor area.
With the RoboVac X8 Hybrid, I recommend placing the charging station on hard floor, so that there’s a clear path for it to mop as well as vacuum.
I also had an issue where the no-mop zone disappeared from the app, although it was still in force. This meant that I couldn’t edit the zone and had to reset the map instead.
Finally, there are Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant skills, so you can start a clean with the power of your voice.
Performance
- Basic mopping
- Good cleaning, right to the edge
- Decent navigation
For this model, Eufy has introduced twin-turbine technology. The company says that this gives the robot more power, letting it suck dirt more efficiently. To test out the claim, I put the X8 Hybrid through my regular tests, and ran the robot on its Max setting.
First, I spread dust onto the regular carpet. This is a tough test, with more dirt than you can expect to find in a regular home – and the X8 Hybrid did a good job. It picked up most of the surface mess, although you can see that it couldn’t quite get deep into the carpet fibres in all areas.
Hard floor performance was better. I’d sprinkled flour in the centre of the floor, and the RoboVac X8 picked up the vast majority of the mess. If you look closely at the after picture, you can see a some dirt left behind – but it wasn’t much.
Edge performance is better than I’ve seen from previous Eufy vacuum cleaners. Here, the robot managed to get a lot of the dirt, sweeping the flour out from the kitchen’s plinth.
Again, I should point out that the amount of flour I put down is more than the mess you’d see in the average home, so the X8 Hybrid will do a good job of maintaining your house – although you’ll need to get out a regular vacuum cleaner once a week or so to do a sweep of the areas this robot has missed.
Finally, I tested the RoboVax X8’s mopping ability. Unlike vacuum cleaners, such as the Roborock S7, there’s no control over how much water is used. Instead, water free-flows out of the tank onto the microfibre cloth.
Treading mud across my hard floor, the X8 Hybrid managed to clear the looser dirt, but the ground-in mud couldn’t be shifted. Think of this as a basic mop for touching up floors that aren’t too dirty.
If you want a vacuum cleaner that can mop more deeply, then consider an alternative such as the Roborock S7.
The RoboVax X8’s navigation was very good, with the robot managing to get around my furniture – even troublesome office chairs. Thanks to its laser, I also found this robot quite gentle, moving around furniture rather than bashing into it.
Eufy says that that battery will last for up to 180 minutes, although this is on the lowest power setting. On maximum setting, I found that I had enough power to clean my downstairs a couple of times over with a bit of juice left.
At 67.1dB on its maximum power setting, the X8 Hybrid is about average for a robot vacuum cleaner for noise; that is, you can hear that it’s on, but it isn’t too distracting to be in the same room as it.
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Should you buy it?
Want quality mapping for multiple floors and decent suction, right up to the edge of the room? This robot could be for you.
If you want the best mopping performance of a self-emptying robot then you’d be better looking elsewhere.
Final thoughts
At this price, the direct competition is the Yeedi Vac Station. The Vac Station has a self-emptying base and flow control on its mopping system. I found the Yeedi a better cleaner, too, sucking up more dirt.
That said, Yeedi is only available direct through its EU website, its base is very tall, and it can only store a single map. Here, the Eufy RoboVac X8 Hybrid offers better mapping, with support for multiple floors, and cleaning that’s good enough to maintain your home before you have to get out a proper vacuum cleaner.
For the price, you get a lot of features and decent performance from this mid-range vacuum cleaner. If you don’t want the mopping option, then the standard X8 costs the same but comes with a larger bin.
How we test
Unlike other sites, we test every robot vacuum cleaner we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
Used as our main robot vacuum cleaner for the review period
We test for at least a week
Tested with real-world dirt in real-world situations for fair comparisons with other vacuum cleaners
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FAQs
This model uses a tank that uses gravity to drip through onto a microfibre cloth; you can’t control the amount of water that’s used.
You can get up to 180 minutes on the lowest power setting.
Full specs
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
