ECOVACS DEEBOT X8 Pro Plus: DISAPPOINTMENT of the year or the BEST robotic vacuum cleaner of 2025?!

The latest new product to review is the ECOVACS DEEBOT X8 Pro Plus AI robot vacuum cleaner. This robot's main feature is a floor-washing roller that extends to the edge of the unit and can lift up when driving onto carpets. Additionally, the X8 boasts a retractable side brush for sweeping debris from corners, an object avoidance system with remote home monitoring, suction power reaching 13,000 Pa, and an updated station that enables fully self-cleaning and even automatically mixes in detergent. For such a complete package, you'll expect to pay between $700 and $1,000. Below, I'll thoroughly test this new product, highlight its pros and cons based on my test results, and then share my personal opinion. Let's get started!

Regionalism

The first thing I'd like to point out is that the ECOVACS DEEBOT X8 Pro Plus AI version is intended for the Chinese market. The robot isn't blocked and shouldn't be, as even the official website states that Chinese Ecovax products can be used outside of China. The main thing is to register an account with a Chinese phone number. This is important to keep in mind. When I ordered, I asked the seller to provide an account to control the robot. Thanks to Artem Belik for his assistance.

You should also know that the Chinese version of this robot speaks both Chinese and English, while the built-in voice assistant also understands phrases in Chinese and English, and the app interface is also bilingual. This may be an inconvenience for some, as is the lack of a full warranty and service support from the brand's representatives, but the Chinese version is also more reasonably priced. The ECOVACS DEEBOT X8 Pro Plus can be ordered for $700-$1,000, while the global version, called the ECOVACS DEEBOT X8 PRO OMNI, will cost between $1,000 and $1,300.

Whether it's worth saving money and ordering the version for the Chinese market is up to you. I've outlined all the nuances, and I'll cover the differences in more detail in the summary. Now, let's get to the review!

Equipment

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

The package includes the robot itself with a station, a power adapter with a Chinese plug, an instruction manual in Chinese, and a 260 ml bottle of branded detergent.

Appearance

Now let's look at how it all works. Let's start with the robot vacuum cleaner itself. It's round and black. A wall sensor is mounted on the right side of the bumper. The height of the body is 98 mm from the floor.

We can see that the robot lacks the usual lidar tower. Navigation is based on a lidar unit concealed within the body, above which is a system of sensors and cameras to detect and accurately navigate objects on the floor. This technology is called AIVI 3D.

On the top of the body there is a touch control button, as well as three speakers for the YIKO proprietary voice assistant.

The top cover is held in place with magnets. Beneath it are the power switch, the Wi-Fi reset button, a QR code for connecting the robot, and a 220 ml dust container. The container and filtration system are washable, which is a plus. The dust container houses a HEPA filter. It's an interesting design—impregnated with a layer of activated carbon, which acts as both an antibacterial barrier and a sorbent. There's also a mesh to trap larger debris. The additional foam insert was omitted.

The water tank is hidden inside the body. It holds 110 ml. Water is pumped automatically through the station. A dirty water tank, containing a coarse mesh filter, is removable from the rear. The operating principle is as follows: clean water is supplied to the roller during floor cleaning, after which dirty water is scraped off the roller into a dedicated tank. This allows the roller to self-clean while cleaning. The station also rinses the roller, pumps out dirty water, and refills the clean water tank. This is currently the most efficient floor cleaning solution available. We will test the design's effectiveness.

The robot's underside is equipped with five anti-fall sensors and a carpet sensor. The side brush is retractable, three-beam, and quick-release.

A side brush extends into corners for more effective sweeping of debris.

The central brush unit is floating. The turbo brush has been redesigned. It still has bristle and petal brushes, but the edges of the petals are now beveled to remove tangled hair and pet hair. One side of the brush can be removed for cleaning. Behind the turbo brush are combs for detangling. I'll note that the suction opening has been enlarged, which is a good thing, as it will prevent large debris from getting stuck behind the brush, as with the previously tested T30 model.

Let's move on to a review of the floor cleaning roller. You can force the roller to extend to the edge of the robot by double-clicking the touch button on top of the robot or by tapping this function in the app.

The roller is removed from the robot just after it reaches the edge. The roller itself is designed like cordless wet/dry vacuum cleaners: soft, fluffy bristles. The side cap is removable. The roller is held in place by the same mechanism as the new upright wet/dry vacuums. An additional compartment for collecting debris is also included.

Once again, the roller can automatically lift up 10 mm on carpets, allowing the robot to simultaneously vacuum and mop, leaving carpets dry and clean. The roller's edge extension allows for mopping right up to baseboards and furniture, minimizing blind spots, the width of which will be verified in tests. The robot also features a corner-retracting feature to minimize blind spots in corners.

At the station, the ECOVACS DEEBOT X8 Pro Plus self-cleans, washes the roller with hot water heated to 75 degrees Celsius, automatically mixes detergent with clean water from a separate tank, dries the roller with warm air heated to 63 degrees Celsius, refills the robot's tank with clean water, and pumps out dirty water from the dirty water tank.

There's a separate version of the station for connecting to sewer and water systems. You can't simply replace the water tanks with a module, like with previously released Ecowax units. And in my opinion, that's not a very smart solution. But at least a station for connecting to sewer and water systems is available for purchase.

The robot's ramp is removable. The roller's self-cleaning tray is also removable. This makes it convenient for station maintenance.

A 3-liter waste bag and a reservoir for automatically mixing detergent are located under the lid in the center of the station. A layer of black activated carbon is visible in the bag, providing antibacterial protection. The detergent reservoir holds approximately 500 ml.

The station's top floor houses tanks for dirty and clean water. They are capacious, each holding 4 liters.

The pros and cons of this design will be discussed during the final review. Let's move on!

Technical specifications

The main characteristics of the ECOVACS DEEBOT X8 Pro Plus, as stated by the manufacturer:

• Navigation: Lidar + AIVI 3D
• Li-Ion battery 5200 mAh
• Suction power (dirt collection): up to 13000 Pa
• Dust collector 220 ml
• Water tank 110 ml
• Bag in the station: 3 l
• Water tanks in the station: 4 + 4 l.
• Obstacle clearance up to 20 mm
• Robot dimensions: 353*98 mm
• Station dimensions (W*H*D): 352*533*477 mm

It's worth highlighting the increased suction power, which will definitely be confirmed in tests. I'd also like to point out that the global version has increased suction power to 18,000 Pa compared to the Chinese version. The global version's battery capacity has also been increased to 6,400 mAh.

Functional capabilities

Speaking of the ECOVACS DEEBOT X8 Pro Plus's features, the robot vacuum is controlled via the proprietary Ecovacs Home mobile app. Since this version is for the Chinese market, a Chinese phone number is required to log in. The seller is responsible for providing all access rights. Connecting the robot to the app was straightforward.

The main functions of the robot are displayed on the screen:

• Rinsing the roller with hot water at the station (75 °C)
• Roller approach to the baseboard (TruEdge)
• Improved floor cleaning in corners
• Automatic detection of cleaning settings (intelligent hosting)
• Self-cleaning of the dust container
• Drying the roller with warm air (63°C)
• Identifying objects on the floor
• Remote home monitoring via smartphone
• Saving multiple cleaning maps in memory
• 3D map of the room
• Automatic zoning of a room into rooms
• Selecting areas and rooms for cleaning
• Virtual walls and no-go zones (and for wet cleaning mode)
• Suction power adjustment
• Adjustable water flow to the roller (50 levels)
• Setting the frequency of roller cleaning (by room/by time/smart mode).
• Cleaning log
• Setting up a cleaning schedule
• User mode
• Automatic power increase on carpet
• Automatic roller lift when entering carpets
• Control via YIKO voice assistant.

It's worth noting that they've implemented a very smooth adjustment of the roller's wetting level, with 50 water flow levels. However, what I didn't like was the lack of a separate floor cleaning mode. There are dry cleaning, dry and wet cleaning, and wet after dry cleaning. However, there's no option for the robot to clean the entire floor area. There's an option to select a smaller area in the zone cleaning mode, but this isn't a complete solution. There may be situations where you need to clean a large area without the robot vacuuming or rotating its brushes. This feature is only partially implemented with the ECOVACS DEEBOT X8 Pro Plus.

As for the integrated YIKO voice assistant, it allows voice control without third-party apps. The idea is brilliant, and the Chinese version even incorporates neural networks and YIKO's proprietary GPT, which allows for more complex commands. For example, "Clean the kitchen counter area" or "Vacuum under the bed in the bedroom and mop the floor near the counter." In my case, the robot didn't recognize these complex commands. This could be due to pronunciation issues or the algorithms being refined. But at least the progress in this area is encouraging.

Here's how the remote home monitoring feature works via smartphone:

A very useful feature for many users!

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 ECOVACS DEEBOT X8 Pro Plus's navigation in a room with obstacles. The robot vacuum first moves around the perimeter of the room, then cleans the entire accessible area in a serpentine pattern. The dryer's legs presented a challenge, but it was able to escape the trap. The robot also swept around the legs of a chair and a box, then returned to the station. Test passed.

Speaking of navigation within the home, the robot vacuum cleans room by room, following the perimeter, then in a serpentine pattern. Several times during the cleaning process, depending on the selected settings, it returns to the station and self-cleans, after which it resumes cleaning from where it left off. There are no uncleaned areas; this model has excellent navigation!

Passing under low furniture

The minimum clearance height of the ECOVACS DEEBOT X8 Pro Plus was also tested. While it can drive up to 10 cm of clearance and clean underneath, there's a caveat that was discovered in a domestic setting.

For example, using the clearance under a kitchen cabinet, which is also 10 cm high, if the flooring is uneven and the height is reduced slightly, the robot will simply get stuck and make an error, scratching its top cover. A conventional tower-type lidar has a spring-loaded cover designed to prevent it from getting stuck. This is missing here, just as there's no advantage to a hidden lidar because the height hasn't been reduced, as is the case with, for example, the Roborock Saros 10R. So, the robot vacuum cleaner can get stuck under furniture, and this is clearly a drawback of its design.

Autonomy

I also tested the battery life when running the robot at maximum power with wet cleaning enabled. It only lasted 65 minutes, cleaning 46 square meters of usable space. In reality, that's enough for one full cleaning of a two-bedroom apartment of 70 square meters plus another room. However, I should note that there's a recharge mode that resumes cleaning after recharging at the base, so this model can clean twice as much. In any case, compared to similar models, this robot vacuum's battery life is weak. Apparently, this is why they increased the battery capacity in the global version.

Identifying objects on the floor

Regarding the object avoidance system, in good lighting, the robot was able to identify and accurately avoid four of six objects on the floor. It moved a scale and brushed a simulated pet surprise. It also avoided three of three socks, slightly snagging two of them, four of four wires, slightly snagging one, and two of the six simulated pet surprises. It either moved or ran over the rest.

In complete darkness, the situation was roughly the same. The robot vacuum avoided four of six household items, dislodging a toy and chewing a cord. It avoided three of three socks and two of four cords, chewing the other two and causing an error. It also avoided four of six simulated pet surprises.

It's also important to note that the camera and sensor system installed in the ECOVACS DEEBOT X8 Pro Plus can automatically detect dirt and stains on the floor and adjust its cleaning algorithm. Here's a clear example. The robot detected a stain on the floor while traversing the perimeter, so it made a localized double pass over the stained area, then returned to the base, self-cleaned its roller, made two more passes over the stain, then returned to the base, and on the next pass, wiped the stain clean before continuing to clean the entire available area in a zigzag pattern. This is a very useful feature and a clear advantage of the robot compared to many similar robots!

I'll note that the implemented object avoidance system doesn't recognize what's on the floor. At the very least, it doesn't display these objects with corresponding icons on the map, as is the case with competitors. While the robot does clean more thoroughly than similar robots without this system, the technology clearly requires significant algorithmic refinement.

Cleaning behind the curtains

I also tested whether the new navigation system can clean behind curtains and drapes, something most lidar robots can't do. No, this robot, like many other robots, doesn't clean behind curtains.

Suction power

Power isn't great either. In Quiet mode, the robot managed to clean debris from a 2 mm-deep crevice. On Standard power, it did better at 2 mm and partially cleaned the 4 mm mark. In Strong mode, the 4 mm crevice was cleaned even better, and in Maximum mode, the robot vacuum partially cleaned a 6 mm crevice. So, the actual suction power is slightly increased, but it's nowhere near the 13,000 Pa you'd expect. Again, the brand likely realized this and increased the suction power to 18,000 Pa in the global version. It's possible that the global version is actually significantly more powerful than the Chinese version.

Dry cleaning

The collection performance of various types of debris on laminate floors is good. Various types of debris were collected from the rack, including cat litter pellets, which often clog the turbo brush. Moreover, the side brush extension improves the robot's ability to sweep debris into corners. However, in wet and dry cleaning mode, the robot reverses in corners without disabling the side brush rotation, which can result in some debris being pushed back into the corner, reducing the effectiveness of this solution.

I'll note that the robot doesn't completely sweep the outer corners either, leaving some small blind spots. This would be a good issue to address. Otherwise, the turbo brush and side brush are clean after testing, and all debris is collected in the dust bin, so the test passes!

Anti-tangle Hair Protection

I also tested how the updated turbo brush handles self-cleaning of hair and pet hair thanks to its new design. I laid hair of varying lengths on the floor. The robot picked it up, and we saw that the turbo brush was heavily tangled, and neither the beveled edge nor the comb behind the brush saved it. Therefore, I can't confirm the effectiveness of the anti-tangle feature. In the next review, see how the new Roborock S9 MaxV Ultra performed in this test to compare the approaches.

But I can say that after normal household conditions, the brush actually practically does not tangle up wool and hair, so under simple operating conditions you will not notice the problem.

Carpet cleaning

Various types of debris were scattered across the low-pile carpet. And I can say that the Ecovacs Deebot T30 Pro thoroughly cleaned the carpet. It's also capable of thoroughly cleaning medium-pile carpet. That's a plus!

Self-cleaning

Immediately after the "dirty tests," I checked how well the robot vacuum cleaner self-cleans. Before returning to the station, the dust bin was completely full of dirt. After the self-cleaning test, the dust bin was empty, so this robot's self-cleaning is well-implemented! The results are excellent.

Wet cleaning

The cleaning performance for light stains is also excellent. The roller picks up dirt effectively, self-cleansing during cleaning and leaving no streaks or marks.

In reality, under ideal conditions, the blind spot between the roller edge and the baseboard is a few millimeters, but it exists. In this case, the cleaning algorithm along the baseboard is strange. The robot maintains a distance from walls and furniture, resulting in a blind spot of up to 4 cm. I really didn't like this, and I hope it will be fixed in a firmware update. Sometimes, the ECOVACS DEEBOT X8 Pro Plus appears to clean well alongside walls and furniture, but it's unclear what determines this.

In everyday use, I can say the floor cleaning performance is excellent. It leaves an even mark on the floor, provides ample watering when needed, and most importantly, the roller is always wet and clean, as water is constantly applied to its surface, and all dirt is scraped off into a separate tank. This is a clear advantage over cleaning modules such as a vibrating cloth or two round rotating cloths. As you can see, the dirty water is collected in a separate tank, from where it is then pumped into the station:

Removing difficult stains

As for removing tough stains, I was completely disappointed. The ECOVACS DEEBOT X8 Pro Plus couldn't completely remove dried-on coffee and sauce stains even after 16 attempts. While noticeable results were visible after 12-13 attempts, the robot still couldn't completely clean the stand. I should note that I selected the tight serpentine floor cleaning mode and used the brand's cleaning solution. By comparison, similar machines can remove similar stains in 6-10 attempts. This is likely due to the fact that the roller doesn't press as hard on the floor, while the robot itself moves quickly. Overall, it unfortunately failed this test.

Wet cleaning and carpets

When it comes to wet cleaning on carpeted floors, the robot offers several different options. It can avoid wetting them, which is especially useful for medium- and high-pile carpets. It can also simply drive over them without cleaning. But the best option is for the robot to automatically raise its roller 10 mm when it detects carpet. This allows the ECOVACS DEEBOT X8 Pro Plus to vacuum and mop hard floors, and when it enters carpeted floors, it can stop mopping without the roller coming into contact with the pile.

Self-cleaning and drying quality of the roller

Let me show you how effectively the roller self-cleans. Here's how it looks after cleaning the floor of sauce and coffee stains:

And here's what happened after rinsing at the station with detergent and hot water in the deepest self-cleaning mode. Honestly, in my opinion, the result isn't very good. I think it's missing a comb scraper that would comb the roller surface more vigorously, removing dirt. In everyday use, the self-cleaning performance is generally acceptable; no visible dirt was detected after several full runs of the robot over the entire surface.

Hot air drying of the roller is truly effective. The station completely dries the roller, no complaints there.

The station itself is very easy to clean. We remove the drain and tray, rinse them in the sink, and then return them.

Obstacle clearance

The robot has excellent maneuverability. It can easily cross a 2 cm threshold!

Driving on black surfaces

Driving over black carpets is no problem. The robot glides over the black carpet as if nothing had happened.

Noise level

As for noise levels, they range from 56 to 72.8 dB, depending on the selected operating mode. The robot has a higher noise level. The station's noise level during self-cleaning is around 74 dB. This is a typical result.

Personal opinion

The ECOVACS DEEBOT X8 Pro Plus robot vacuum cleaner has been thoroughly reviewed and tested. According to our rating system, it achieved a score of 208 points and enter the TOP-10 tested robotic vacuum cleaners According to the project, at the time of writing this review, it fell well short of the top spot due to a number of issues, which will be discussed below. However, for example, the global version, even with the same test results, would have scored at least 221 points due to its full warranty and service, full localization of the app, voice commands and a proprietary voice assistant, and support for control via Yandex.Alice. This places it fourth overall, a fairly fair position, again considering all the issues. I'll highlight the pros and cons I've identified, and then share my personal opinion of the robot. I liked the following:

1. High-quality floor cleaning over large areas thanks to self-cleaning and even wetting of the roller across its entire surface. The wet mark is clearly visible on the floor at the highest settings. It's comparable to that left by upright vacuum cleaners, and the effectiveness of this solution for everyday floor cleaning in the home is clearly superior to the popular two-rotating pads or vibrating platform.
2. The roller extends to the baseboard. While it requires some improvement, this feature nevertheless sets this model apart from similar models that also feature a similar roller.
3. In fact, the same thing applies to the roller lifting when driving onto carpets, allowing the robot to vacuum and wash the floor simultaneously without wetting the carpets.
4. The robot vacuum cleaner is able to detect stains on the floor and locally clean them during the cleaning process.
5. The object avoidance system allows the ECOVACS DEEBOT X8 Pro Plus to clean more carefully without chewing up socks, wires, and other objects.
6. High-quality waste collection on both hard surfaces and carpets.
7. The turbo brush's anti-hair and pet hair tangling system. While the new turbo brush design was minimally effective in complex tests, it is still capable of removing tangled pet hair and pet hair in everyday households.
8. A fully charged station by 2025 standards, the ECOVACS DEEBOT X8 Pro Plus self-cleans the roller with hot water, mixes in detergent, dries the roller with warm air, automatically detects the roller's soiling level for re-rinsing, and automatically empties the dust container. Furthermore, the station is easy to maintain and equipped with large water tanks.
9. Waste and water disinfection system at the station.
10. A separate version of the station is available for connection to sewer and water supply systems. This is debatable, but it's still better to be able to connect the robot to utility lines than not have the option at all.
11. A large number of functions in the application.
12. Smart automatic cleaning mode, in which the robot independently selects cleaning parameters based on artificial intelligence algorithms.
13. The built-in YIKO GPT voice assistant is supported, which, with modifications, is capable of understanding non-standard commands.
14. Not afraid of black coatings.
15. Good cross-country ability.
16. High quality assembly.

Now about the disadvantages, unfortunately there are quite a few of them:

1. The model is designed for the Chinese market, so the app interface is in English, the built-in voice assistant and voice commands are also supported in English, and the robot connects to the app only via a Chinese phone number.
2. Full service and warranty support from the manufacturers are not provided. Again, this is because this version is for the Chinese market.
3. Does not support popular voice assistants.
4. The robot was unable to completely remove stubborn stains from the floor. This means that in this regard, the roller is clearly inferior to alternative cleaning modules, at least in this implementation.
5. The claimed suction power was not confirmed in tests.
6. The robot's autonomy at maximum settings leaves much to be desired. It can only operate for about an hour, cleaning approximately 50 square meters of usable space.
7. The roller's self-cleaning performance is poor, as it lacks comb-shaped scrapers like those found in upright vacuum cleaners.
8. The algorithm for sweeping debris from corners during combined cleaning requires improvement.
9. The algorithm for cleaning floors along baseboards requires improvement. The robot can move away from walls while cleaning, leaving a blind spot of up to 4 cm.
10. The system for identifying objects requires improvement.
11. The robot can get stuck under furniture because there's no anti-jamming feature. Overall, it's unclear why the lidar tower was removed, leaving a nearly 10 cm (4 in) thick body.
12. Increased noise level when operating at maximum power.
13. Engineers have abandoned the ultra-convenient universal station, which allows you to swap out the water tanks for a module for connecting to the sewer and water supply. Now you'll have to choose which station to order.
14. The robot vacuum cleaner does not clean behind curtains and drapes.

In conclusion, what can I say? Unfortunately, there are a lot of complaints, and this is probably a record-breaking number of negatives. It's likely that many were improved in the global version, as there are also changes to the specifications, namely suction power and battery capacity. Perhaps even this robot has the potential to significantly reduce the number of complaints with software improvements. Nevertheless, at the time of writing, it's still a bit underdeveloped and clearly isn't a contender for the title of best robot vacuum of 2025. There are issues with stain removal, power, maneuverability in tight spaces, and other key robot parameters. Therefore, the brand's engineers still have room for improvement.

Nevertheless, although opinions are mixed, I actually liked the robot vacuum cleaner for its floor cleaning performance. This technology will clearly develop, be refined, and successfully compete with dual-rotating mops, perhaps even displacing them as flagships.

I believe the ECOVACS DEEBOT X8 Pro Plus is one of the best robot vacuums for floor cleaning, and if you're primarily focused on wet cleaning, you can consider it. Choosing between the global and Chinese versions is a difficult decision, however, as the Chinese version's highest price is comparable to the discounted global version. If you're going to buy the ECOVACS DEEBOT X8 Pro Plus, it's probably best to do so if you can save significantly. So, weigh the pros and cons again and also check out reviews of similar products from competing brands.

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