Arnagar S9: navigation camera, self-cleaning station, dry and wet cleaning

This review examines the budget-friendly Arnagar S9 robot vacuum cleaner. At the time of writing, it retails for approximately $150. For this price, the manufacturer offers a robot with a self-cleaning station, a navigation camera, dry and wet cleaning functions, and suction power of up to 3500 Pa. Overall, it offers a reasonable set of features for the price. Below, I'll thoroughly test the Arnagar S9, highlight its pros and cons based on the test results, and then share my personal opinion. Let's get started!

Equipment

The robot vacuum cleaner arrived in a branded box like this:

The package includes:

1. The robot itself with the station.
2. Holder with napkin.
3. Spare napkin.
4. Spare bag.
5. Two spare side brushes.
6. Spare filters.
7. The operating instructions are in several languages. There is no Russian language.

Overall, the kit is good, with all the necessary spare parts for the first time using the robot!

Appearance

Now let's take a look at the Arnagar S9's design. Let's start with the robot vacuum itself. It's round, made of glossy plastic, and not very practical.

There is no external wall sensor. The housing height is 78 mm from the floor.

A camera is located on the top of the robot's body, serving as the robot's primary navigation device. Using the camera, the Arnagar S9 builds a map of the room and stores it in its memory. Next to the camera is a Wi-Fi connection status indicator and a single control button.

The combined water and waste container is removable from the rear. The waste container holds approximately 300 ml. The dust collector features a mesh filter, foam, and HEPA filtration. The water tank holds approximately 250 ml. A pump is installed inside for electronically controlling the water flow.

A self-cleaning dust collector curtain is located at the rear of the combined container. A holder with a cleaning cloth is attached to the bottom. The cleaning cloth itself is secured to the holder via a groove and Velcro.

The robot has three anti-fall sensors on the bottom. There's no carpet sensor, but it does have two side brushes. The power switch is located under the wheel.

The central brush unit is non-floating. The turbo brush cover is uniquely designed. It features a lint brush to collect hair and fur behind the brush if it misses anything. The central brush has lint inserts and can be removed from one side to remove tangled hair and fur.

Speaking of the station, the Arnagar S9 charges and self-empties itself. The dust bag is located under the top cover. It's a standard design. Next to it is the cleaning tool.

Overall, the robot's design is extremely simplified, which is perfectly in line with its price. Let's move on!

Technical specifications

The main characteristics of Arnagar S9, as declared by the manufacturer:

• Li-Ion battery 2600 mAh.
• Suction power 3500 Pa.
• Operating time up to 120 min.
• Dust collector in the station: 3.5 liters.
• Dust collector in the robot 300 ml.
• Water tank 250 ml.
• Robot dimensions: 325*78 mm.
• Station dimensions: 256*200*350 mm.

The specifications are quite standard, considering the price range. It's only important to check the suction power, which appears to be enhanced on paper.

Functional capabilities

Speaking of features, the Arnagar S9 robot vacuum cleaner is controlled via the popular Smar Life app. The instructions explain how to connect the robot to the power supply, which is quite simple. The settings aren't translated into Russian, so keep this in mind. Incidentally, the robot also speaks English.

The functionality is very limited, even though the camera is responsible for navigation. You can adjust the power and water flow level, set up a cleaning schedule, view the cleaning log, adjust the voice prompt volume, switch to manual control, enable the robot's search function based on an audible signal, enable the robot to resume cleaning after recharging at the base, and reset the map if necessary. Only one current map is stored in the memory, which is also worth considering.

One important feature missing is the ability to select rooms and zones for cleaning, given the map saving feature. Conversely, there's no way to set no-go zones or virtual walls. I also couldn't connect the robot vacuum to Yandex.Alice, even though the promotional materials claim it can be controlled via voice assistants.

Testing

A detailed video review with all tests has already been prepared and published on the channel:

Navigation

And finally, let's move on to the tests. First, we'll test the robot's navigation in a room with obstacles. Upon leaving the Arnagar station, the S9 begins cleaning the entire accessible area in a serpentine pattern. It doesn't clean around a box or chair legs, and its touch isn't as gentle as that of lidar robots. And to top it all off, the robot got stuck on the legs of a dryer and couldn't free itself. This test failed.

Speaking of navigating within the house, things aren't exactly smooth sailing either. The first step is to launch the mapping mode. In this mode, the robot moves in a serpentine pattern across the entire space, marking room boundaries. The process took about 50 minutes, just like a regular cleaning. Fortunately, the room geometry matches the real one. For some reason, the map was saved in a different geometry.

And here we see different situations. The most successful case was when the robot actually covered the entire accessible area, but even at minimum power, its battery life was insufficient and it cleaned the apartment in two passes, thanks to the recharging function at the base. But we see that, although the map is skewed, the geometry matches the actual area and the entire area was covered.

There was a situation where the map shifted slightly, but for some reason the robot decided not to clean the last room. There were also times when it cleaned everything but couldn't find the station afterward. Overall, this model's navigation is weak.

But there's an important observation: the Arnagar S9 robot vacuum cleaner can clean behind curtains and drapes by moving them. For many, this may be a significant advantage.

Suction power

In terms of suction power, the Arnagar S9 achieved a 2 mm and partial 4 mm cleaning in Quiet and Standard modes. In Powerful and Maximum modes, it managed to clean a 4 mm gap better, but not completely. The robot's power is slightly increased, but still close to standard.

Dry cleaning

Cleaning performance on laminate floors is on par with similar products—it removed almost all debris, with the exception of small remnants in corners that are difficult for round robots to reach. The center brush picked up pet hair and fur, passing the test.

Carpet cleaning

As for cleaning carpets, a robot vacuum cleaner can clean low-pile carpets, albeit not thoroughly. However, it's completely unable to clean medium-pile carpets. This is worth keeping in mind.

Self-cleaning

Immediately after the "dirty tests," I checked the robot vacuum's self-cleaning performance. Before returning to the station, we saw that the dust container was full. After the self-cleaning, most of the dust had been emptied. But it wasn't perfect. In other words, the robot's self-cleaning performance is average.

Wet cleaning and carpets

There's a caveat when wet cleaning carpeted floors. The robot doesn't recognize carpets and may wet them. There's no way to prevent this, as there are no off-limits zones in the app. Therefore, we either run the robot with or without the wet cleaning attachment.

Wet cleaning

The Arnagar S9's wet cleaning performance is quite acceptable for its price. The robot handles light dirt. The water flow is generous in maximum mode. The blind spot between the edge of the cloth and the baseboard is approximately 25 mm. In a domestic environment, the cloth is capable of picking up dust and debris that the turbo brush might not reach.

Passability

The robot vacuum cleaner is unable to cross thresholds that are 2 cm high. This is important to keep in mind.

Driving on black surfaces

But he's not afraid of black surfaces and drives across them without any problem. That's a plus!

Noise level

Finally, we measured the Arnagar S9's noise level in different modes. It ranged from 59 to 69 dB, which is quite standard. The station's noise level reaches 87 dB, which is already quite high.

Personal opinion

The Arnagar S9 robot vacuum cleaner has been thoroughly reviewed and tested. our evaluation system he managed to gain 81 pointsThe result isn't as high due to a number of issues that will be discussed below. But the price is only $150, so that's also something to consider.

Overall rating of tested robots: https://robovac.washerhouse.com/en/rejtingi/robovac-obshhij-rejting-robotov-pylesosov-robo.html.

I'll highlight the pros and cons of this robot vacuum cleaner, then share my personal opinion. I liked the following:

1. Availability of a self-cleaning station.
2. Good quality dry and wet cleaning on hard surfaces.
3. Slightly increased suction power.
4. Good equipment.
5. Capable of cleaning behind curtains and drapes.
6. The thin body allows the robot to clean under low furniture.
7. Not afraid of black floor coverings.
8. Budget price.

As for the disadvantages, the main ones I considered were:

1. The settings in the application are not translated into Russian.
2. Overall, the camera's capabilities are very limited. There are no restricted areas, no ability to select areas or rooms to clean, and no voice assistant control. And the app itself isn't proprietary, but a third-party one.
3. Poor navigation.
4. Weak battery.
5. Poor cross-country ability.
6. Not capable of thoroughly cleaning medium pile carpets.
7. Increased noise level of the station during self-cleaning.

Ultimately, I can say that most of the criticisms are related to the robot's price range. Therefore, in this price range, I would recommend the Arnagar S9 for cleaning hard floors, especially in small areas. In these conditions, it can handle the job well. Moreover, the inclusion of a self-cleaning station for $150 is a very good argument in favor of this robot for those who aren't afraid of its shortcomings.

On that note, I'd like to end this review. If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments. Happy shopping, everyone. Bye!