BowAI: A Robot Vacuum Cleaner from AliExpress for Under $20

Hello to all site readers! As promised, I ordered one of the cheapest robot vacuum cleaners in the world from AliExpress. It's called the BowAI. It cost me $19, which is only $25 at the current exchange rate. Shipping from China was free and took three weeks. Obviously, you shouldn't expect anything special from this robot for that price. But the main goal is to see if it's actually capable of anything or if it's just another scam, a toy masquerading as a robot vacuum cleaner. That's what we'll find out now. So, let's get started!

Equipment

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

It comes with a USB power cord. It can be connected to a smartphone adapter. It needs to be charged manually; there's no charging base. There's also a screwdriver in the box, though it's unclear what it's for. Perhaps it's there to disassemble the robot out of curiosity and see how it works inside. Or perhaps it's used to remove the swivel caster for cleaning. The package also includes a cover, the purpose of which I couldn't figure out, and a two-page instruction manual, only one of which is useful.

The robot also comes with a floor cleaning cloth. I've already installed it on the robot and will show you how it works later.

Appearance

Let's take a look at the robot itself. It's very compact. It's 26 cm in diameter and about 7 cm tall. On top is a charging port, a single on/off button, and an indicator light. There's a carrying handle, although given its very light weight, I don't see much point in having one.

The dust container is located on top, under the lid. According to AliExpress, its capacity is 150 ml. However, I believe the actual capacity is no more than 100 ml. There are two openings at the bottom: a longitudinal one for dust suction, and a round one for the motor to create suction. A filter is installed inside the container.

Incidentally, according to AliExpress, the BowAI's suction power is listed as 1200 Pa in some stores, and 1800 Pa in others. Let's test whether this robot actually sucks.

There are no sensors around the robot's perimeter, including a soft-touch mechanical bumper. But I'd be more surprised if there were one.

Below, I see two wheels at the back, two side brushes, a swivel roller, and a suction hole in the center. There's also a compartment that houses the battery. According to stores, it lasts for 60-100 minutes of use, though the numbers vary. The battery has a capacity of 1200 mAh. There are two Velcro fasteners in the center for attaching the cleaning cloth.

And here's what the cleaning cloth the robot uses to wipe the floor looks like. A cleaning cloth for glasses is even larger. This is what the robot looks like with the cleaning cloth installed.

This is what BowAI looks like. It's quite fitting for its $25 price tag.

Testing

The most important thing I'd like to check is whether the robot actually cleans or is just a toy. And what exactly is it capable of? You can watch a detailed review and test of the BowAI robot vacuum cleaner in our video:

Navigation

First, let's test the robot's navigation. How does it even move around the room?

Ultimately, he simply bumps into obstacles and turns around, moving chaotically around the room. The more obstacles there are, the more often he changes direction. There's no logic to his movements, but I didn't expect that.

Suction power

It's much more interesting to test the BowAI's suction power. Surprisingly, it was able to suck up some debris from a 2mm gap. The motor is small, but it does suck. This is a dig at robots that can't even achieve this level of suction, and there are many of them.

Obstacle clearance

Now let's test this robot's cross-country ability. It can't even cross a 10mm threshold. And what's more, it can't even climb onto a dark mat about 5mm high.

Noise level

The noise level produced by this robot does not exceed 60 dB. So, if you give it to a child, the noise will at least not be annoying.

Dry cleaning of laminate flooring

And the most interesting thing was to test whether the Bowai robot vacuum cleaner was capable of picking up debris. And we see that it did pick up some debris.

Some of the dirt from the stand ended up in the dust bin. So, while it's very poor, this robot still vacuums. And it costs $25, remember.

Cleaning the carpet

But even if you move it to a carpet, it still won’t be able to drive on it; it will slip, so no matter how much you want it to, it won’t be able to clean the carpets.

Wet cleaning

Now, let's test how the Bowai cleans the floor with a cleaning cloth attached. This is where the manufacturer has made a major oversight. The side brushes' rotation radius interferes with the cleaning cloth, causing the side brushes to get caught and stop rotating. And that's not all; this prevents the robot from even moving.

Even if I attach the cloth as low as possible, the robot still refuses to move across the floor. So, it won't be able to mop the floor, even though I've tried running it several times.

Let's sum it up

Here we have reviewed one of the cheapest robots from Aliexpress called BowAI. our new rating system he was able to dial 7 out of 100 pointsAnd honorably took the last place in the ranking.

What can I say about this device? It's certainly not a robot vacuum cleaner. It's just a toy that can pick up dirt. Perhaps the Bowai would be a good gift for a child, as an alternative to a washing machine. Then it would at least be useful. It will still pick up some dirt on hard floors, though. So if you think you can save a lot of money and buy the Bowai instead... robot for $80-100If you're looking for a vacuum cleaner that can clean, and very effectively, then this review will serve as a prime example of how cost-cutting isn't practical. It's not capable of wet cleaning or even carpet cleaning.

If anyone has any ideas for what to do with this robot after this review, I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments. It'll likely just sit on my shelf collecting dust. Perhaps you'd be interested in seeing how the Bowai is built internally or doing some crash testing with it.

Thank you all for your attention. Happy shopping!