Verdict

With its matt white plastic and futuristic design, the Roidmi X20 is one of the best looking vacuum cleaners that we've tested, so it's a shame that our test model scratched so easily. That issue aside, you get decent mid-range performance from this vacuum, but it's the addition of the mop unit that makes this cleaner so flexible, cleaning floors as well sucking up dirt. If you want a all-in-one to quickly keep hard floors in shape, this is a decent cleaner but it's comparatively expensive.

Pros

• Looks great
• Plenty of accessories
• Mops as it vacuums

Cons

• Test model scratched easily
• Comparatively expensive

I’ve been impressed with the look and feel of Roidmi’s previous vacuum cleaners, and the Roidmi X20 is no different. A rather futuristic-looking vacuum, it has a subtly different look to other cordless stick cleaners.

A tonne of accessories in the box plus a neat mopping head that lets you vacuum and wash your hard floors at the same time make this an intriguing buy, but there are a few issues with the overall build quality that let the side down a little.

Roidmi X20 Design and Features – Looks fantastic but our test model scratched easily

• Attractive lightweight plastic design, though it easily picks up scratches
• Plenty of useful tool attachments are included, but there’s no handy storage compartment

Hats off to Roidmi, as the X20 is one of the best looking cordless vacuum cleaners that I’ve tested. From the right angle, it could be a ray gun, with its curved handle that loops up and over the main vacuum cleaner.

Decked out in white plastic, it looks fantastic. OK, so it’s not the kind of product that you’re going to put on display, but at least when you open the cupboard, the X20 will jump out at you. As nice as it looks, I did have the minor issue that the wand scratched very easily. After testing and vacuuming throughout my house, there were some noticeable scratches on the paintwork, and I didn’t handle the vacuum roughly.

Our test sample scratched quite easily

It’s a shame, as the build quality is otherwise very good, with tough-feeling components that click tightly together. You get a lot in the box, too, including a motorised tool, mattress tool (mini brush), extendible crevice tool, crevice tool, and a soft brush that clips onto either crevice tool.

There are plenty of accessories in the box

The motorised floor brush comes fitted with a standard brush with bristles, designed for carpets, but you can pop it out and fit the soft roller brush for hard floors instead. This is slightly fiddlier than having two separate tools, but it keeps down the amount of plastic you have lying around the house.

For mopping hard floors, there’s a tool that magnetically attaches to the floor brush. This uses gravity to drip water out onto a microfibre cloth, so you vacuum first before following up with a mop. It’s a similar technique used by many robot vacuum cleaners that can mop.

The mop attachment magnetically attaches to the rear of the floor head

It’s a shame that there’s no onboard storage for any of these tools. Nor do you get any storage on the simple wall mount, which sticks into place and then magnetically attaches to the vacuum cleaner, charging it at the same time. Alternatively, you can use the power adaptor plugged directly into the vacuum cleaner.

The wall mount can provide power, although you can connect the power adaptor straight to the vacuum

The 0.4-litre bin pops out the front, and you then twist the top off to empty everything into the bin. I managed to do this pretty cleanly without spreading dust everywhere. Inside the bin lid is the washable filter, and you get a spare one in the box, so you can keep cleaning while the other one is drying.

Pulling apart like this, the bin is easy to empty and clean

With its full dimensions (including wand) at 1070 x 255 x 160mm and a weight of 1.5kg, this is one of the lightest cordless vacuum cleaners, easily letting you carry it around or tackle high-up jobs without too much strain on the arm.  And that mini floor head becomes useful not just for mattresses, but also for tackling stairs in handheld mode.

Technically a mattress tool, the mini floor head is great for stairs

I found that the Roidmi X20 was nimble on the floor, too, with a decent amount of movement on the angled head joint, letting me easily get between my dining chairs.

The X20 is easy to move around

Controls are simple. There’s a power button that you have to hold down to turn the cleaner on or off, and then a power mode button, letting you switch between low, medium and max power modes. You can hear the difference between them, but it’s a shame that there’s no visual indicator to show which power mode you’re in.

Roidmi X20 Performance – A good all-rounder, particularly with the mop attached

• Good performance on hard floors, especially with the ability to vacuum and mop at the same time
• You’ll have to employ maximum power to get rid of the toughest spillages

To test how good the Roidmi X20 is, I put it through a series of tests. I started with my lab testing to see how powerful the suction is on each mode. On low power I measured suction with a water lift of 24-inches, with airflow of 8.7ft3/min; medium power delivered 34-inch water lift with airflow of 12.47ft3/min; and max power returned 58-inch airlift, and airflow of 12.47ft3/min. By my calculations, that’s 24.69-airwatts, 49.89-airwatts, and 119.78-airwatts.

By my measurements, that puts the X20 in a similar league to the new Dyson V7 Absolute. Having three power modes on the X20 (versus two on the V7) gives the Roidmi a bit more flexibility.

Next, I turned to my real world tests and started with carpet. I spread a teaspoon of flour right up to the skirting board, and then gave the vacuum a single pass through on low power. It got most of the surface dirt, but couldn’t quite pull out flour in the carpet’s fibres, and there was a chunk left by the skirting board. Switching to medium power, I got most of the flour out, but edge pick up was still poor with the floor head not getting as close as I’d like, so I had to finish the job with the regular nozzle.

Carpet test: Dirty carpet (left) vs Clean carpet (right) – move slider to compare

Pet hair came next, with cat hair combed into the carpet fibres. This time, on medium power, the X20 managed to get all of the mess out without leaving a trace behind.

Pet hair test: Dirty carpet (left) vs Clean carpet (right) – move slider to compare

Turning to the hard floor test, I sprinkled a teaspoon of flour on the floor and then gave the X20 a pass through on low power using the soft roller brush. The vacuum picked up the grains of rice on a single sweep, but when I turned it off a lot of rice fell out; I had to run it on maximum power to get everything up. I found that low power was good for general dust and hair, though.

Hard floor test: Dirty hard floor (left) vs Clean hard floor (right) – move slider to compare

Finally, I attached the mop and tackled the dirt stains where my four cats had walked in and out. The microfibre cloth soon got wet and having control over where it went meant I could go over some areas multiple times. Surface-level and fresh dirt was removed but more stubborn stains remained, and the Samsung PowerStick Jet does a better job, although you can only mop or vacuum, rather than performing both jobs at the same time.

Mop test: Dirty hard floor (left) vs Clean hard floor (right) – move slider to compare

With its performance, the X20 is a handy tool for tackling a hard floor on a daily basis to keep it looking clean, but you’ll need to swap to a more powerful hard floor cleaner to really get everything up.

Battery life is rated at up to 60 minutes on low power, although this drops rapidly to just 12 minutes on maximum power. Realistically, depending on how much dirt there is in your home, you’ll probably get around 40 minutes of actual use when switching modes. There’s no swappable battery, so you have to wait around 2.5 hours before it’s charged again.

Should I buy the Roidmi X20?

Neat looks, lots of accessories and the handy mop attachment all make the Roidmi X20 an interesting buy, and a versatile cordless vacuum cleaner. If you’re looking for speed of clean to keep your house in order between deeper cleans with a plug-in vacuum cleaner, it’s an interesting choice.

Yet, at this kind of price, the competition is tough. By my measurements, the Vax Blade 4 is more powerful and a lot cheaper, although it doesn’t have a mop. Or, you can go for the Shark ICZ160UKT, which is the most flexible cordless vacuum that I’ve tested. It costs a similar amount to the X20 but has swappable batteries and enough power to replace a plug-in cleaner. If you need something more powerful, then check out my guide to the best cordless vacuum cleaners.

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