Xiaomi Smartmi A1: A robot vacuum cleaner that cleans itself while it's cleaning

Hello everyone! You're on the channel! In this video, I'll be looking at a uniquely designed robotic vacuum cleaner, the Xiaomi Smartmi A1 VortexWave. This device's cleaning module isn't unique, but it's extremely rare. It features a soft roller mounted at the front that supplies clean water during cleaning. Meanwhile, dirty water is simultaneously sucked into a separate reservoir, allowing for high-quality cleaning of large floors. Previously, only iLIFE robotic vacuum cleaners, namely the W400, W450, and W455, could boast this feature. Smartmi engineers have made a very successful upgrade, installing lidar for navigation and implementing an automatic return to the charging station, something competitors couldn't achieve. Next, I'll thoroughly test the Smartmi A1 and then express my opinion on whether this robotic vacuum cleaner is worth buying. The price at the time of writing is $600, which isn't exactly budget-friendly. I'd be grateful if you'd appreciate my efforts by subscribing and liking after watching the video. So, let's get started!

Equipment

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

The package includes:

1. The charging base conveniently stores the robot's cleaning tools and a spare roller.
2. Platform to the base.
3. Branded cleaning product.
4. Cover for dust collector for dry cleaning.
5. Power adapter with Chinese plug.
6. High-quality adapter for European sockets from Philips.
7. Spare filters.
8. Funny robot sticker.
9. Documentation in Chinese.

The kit is complete, which is a big plus! It includes all the necessary accessories and consumables for operating the robot.

Appearance

Now let's take a look at the Smartmi A1's design. It's white and has a hexagonal shape. It's a bit of a confusing, and even less so, a great design. I'll show you why in my tests.

A cleaning module with a fluffy roller is mounted at the front. Above it is a sensor that detects obstacles in the robot's path. There's also a wall sensor on the right side of the mechanical bumper.

The body height is 128 mm, which is also not good. The robot won't be able to clean under furniture.

A lidar is responsible for navigation. It is equipped with a spring-loaded cover to prevent the robot from getting stuck under furniture. Two mechanical control buttons are located next to the lidar: Start/Pause and a forced return to the charging base.

A soft-touch mechanical bumper is installed at the front. The roller is conveniently removed from the side. The design is similar to those found in upright wet vacuum cleaners.

Under the top lid is a combined container with compartments for dirty and clean water. The dirty water compartment also serves as a dust collector and holds up to 360 ml.

The kit includes two covers. The first one has a float. It should be installed when using the Smartmi A1 in floor cleaning mode. The filtration system consists of a mesh and foam filter. The second cover is equipped with a mesh and HEPA filter. It should be installed when using the robot for dry cleaning only.

The clean water compartment holds 600 ml. The water inlet is equipped with a mesh filter. Water is supplied to the roller by a special pump.

The robot's underside is equipped with four fall protection sensors. A scraper is located behind the roller to collect liquid residue from the floor. The robot vacuum cleaner moves on wheels, and it also has three swivel casters for increased maneuverability.

I'd also like to show you the charging base once again. As mentioned, it conveniently stores the robot's accessories. There's even a compartment for storing excess cord. The plastic platform underneath the base prevents the wet roller from coming into direct contact with the floor, allowing the robot to self-clean. During self-cleaning, clean water is supplied to the roller, which rotates and rinses itself, collecting the dirty water in a dedicated reservoir. Self-cleaning is initiated when the robot returns to the base after a cleaning cycle.

Overall, the robot's design is quite interesting and very reminiscent of the previously mentioned iLife W400, 450 and 455. The build quality is high, on par with other robot vacuum cleaners in the Xiaomi ecosystem.

Technical specifications

The main characteristics of the Xiaomi Smartmi A1, as stated by the manufacturer:

• Li-Ion battery 5200 mAh.
• Suction power up to 4000 Pa.
• Cleaning area >100 sq.m.
• Battery life up to 120 min.
• Clean water tank 600 ml.
• Dirty water tank 360 ml.
• Obstacle clearance 2 cm.
• Robot dimensions: 338*344*128 mm.
• Weight: 6.5 kg.

The only characteristic that stands out is the increased suction power, which has been verified in tests.

Functional capabilities

Let's take a look at the Smartmi A1's main features. The robot vacuum is controlled via the Mi Home mobile app. Since this is the version for the Chinese market, you must first select the China region to connect. The app interface is in Russian.

On the main control panel, the robot vacuum cleaner creates a room map and automatically divides it into rooms. Below the map are buttons for Start/Pause, forced return to charging, and suction power adjustment.

To the right of the map, three cleaning modes are displayed: at a selected point on the map, in a selected zone, and in selected rooms.

In the settings section, you can view the cleaning log, set up scheduled cleaning, set quiet times, adjust the volume of voice alerts (which are only available in Chinese), and edit the map. I'll go into more detail on these.

Well, first of all, it's worth noting that the Smartmi A1 can store multiple cleaning maps, which is a plus. You can set virtual walls and no-go zones on the map, even creating separate no-go zones for wet cleaning mode. You can also edit room boundaries.

Additionally, you can enable a Y-shaped movement trajectory, track the status of consumables, switch to manual robot control mode, and enable search by sound signal.

Voice control via Yandex.Alice is also supported, as is the ability to resume cleaning after recharging at the base.

What I think is missing is flexible settings for floor cleaning. For example, there's no way to adjust the roller speed or the robot's movement, as is the case with the iLIFE.

Testing

And finally, let's move on to the most important part: testing. A detailed video review of the Smartmi A1, including all the tests, has already been prepared and published on the channel:

Navigation

First, let's test the Smartmi A1's navigation in a room with obstacles. Upon leaving the base, the robot vacuum cleaner begins cleaning the room's perimeter. It immediately became trapped by the legs of a clothes dryer, from which it was unable to free itself. The dryer had to be removed to continue the test. After completing the perimeter, the robot begins cleaning the accessible area in a serpentine pattern. It swept around the box and the legs of the dryer separately. It's also important to note that when making a double pass, the robot's second serpentine pattern is perpendicular to the first. This means it cleans in a crisscross pattern, which is a plus.

As for navigation within the home, the Smartmi A1 cleans room by room, first along the perimeter, then in a serpentine pattern. There are no uncleaned areas, and this model has excellent navigation.

Suction power

The suction power was pleasing and even surprising. The Smartmi A1 was able to thoroughly vacuum debris from every crevice, including those as small as 10 mm. This is one of the best results in the test room. This robot definitely has very strong suction power.

Dry cleaning of laminate flooring

When it comes to dry cleaning on hard floors, there are some nuances. The robot collects most debris, regardless of its structure. However, due to the lack of a side brush, it doesn't sweep up corners and along baseboards, making it extremely impractical for dry cleaning. Perhaps only for spot cleaning in the center of the room, for example. The roller barely picks up any fur and hair, directing them directly into the dust collector. It's also very easy to clean.

Cleaning the carpet

Carpet cleaning isn't exactly the Smartmi A1's strong suit, which was to be expected. It gets stuck on carpets and crashes. And even where it does go, it still leaves behind debris.

Wet cleaning and carpets

It's also worth noting that Smartmi A1 doesn't recognize carpets or automatically avoid them in wet cleaning mode. Therefore, to protect carpets, I recommend setting separate no-go zones for wet cleaning mode.

Wiping off dirt

The dirt removal performance is excellent. The Smartmi A1 thoroughly cleaned the main part of the stand, leaving no streaks or dirt marks. However, there's one caveat: the robot vacuum cleaner doesn't clean a narrow strip along the baseboard, as the cleaning roller doesn't extend to the edge of the unit. This is a drawback of all the robot vacuum cleaners reviewed. However, given that we're specifically reviewing a mopping robot, it has higher cleaning requirements, so the issue still exists.

We see that the dirty water is collected in the appropriate compartment. However, the roller itself is relatively clean, as the robot self-cleans as it cleans the floor.

Removing difficult stains

Even tough stains, like dried-on sauce and coffee stains, are within reach of this robot. It can remove dried-on stains without leaving marks or streaks. This is a significant advantage compared to many competitors.

For example, a robotic vacuum cleaner Dreame Bot W10 It didn't cope with this task. It's also worth noting that in this test, it was additionally assisted by the cleaning agent included in the kit, which I added to the tank.

Some observations

I would like to highlight some observations that were revealed during the operation and testing of Smartmi A1.

The first issue is related to the robot's body shape. The hexagonal shape impairs the robot's maneuverability. It has difficulty turning in tight spaces, such as around a dining table and chairs. It can get stuck between the chair legs and, after prolonged attempts to free itself, it malfunctions. This isn't good. During operation, the robot malfunctioned several times, but there were times when it cleaned tight spaces. It's a matter of chance, really.

The second issue is water consumption during floor cleaning. At minimum power, the tank is just enough to clean a 70 square meter apartment. At medium power, the tank is enough for about 40-45 square meters. In Turbo mode, the situation is different. After cleaning 30 square meters of usable space, the robot reports that the dirty water tank is full, even though I always emptied it and completely filled the second tank with clean water before testing. Overall, it turns out that the residual water is collected more thoroughly and the tank fills faster. Overall, it's a strange design solution with tanks of different capacities. For example, the same iLIFE W450 The tanks are approximately the same, which is more logical.

As for the water flow itself, at minimum power, it's moderate and suitable even for cleaning wood floors. However, at medium and maximum power, the robot floods the floor generously and may leave small puddles when turning. I don't recommend using these modes on wood floors, and I don't think the Smartmi A1 is a good option for laminate or parquet floors. It's more practical and safer to use on tile floors.

The next point is also the robot's advantage. When cleaning along curtains, it drives straight up to the wall and cleans behind them. Typically, lidar robots barely touch light obstacles in these areas before moving away.

It's also important to note that the Smartmi A1 can safely vacuum up liquids from the floor. This robot vacuum won't malfunction after driving through puddles, which is a plus. What's more, it won't leave any puddles behind.

It's also worth noting that in dry cleaning mode, even with a full water tank and the dust bin cover in place, water is not supplied to the roller. In case anyone was wondering, the robot is only capable of vacuuming.

And finally, the roller drying. The Smartmi A1 claims to have automatic roller drying on the base. According to the manufacturer, drying takes between 6 and 12 hours. In my opinion, the drying isn't very effective, and given that there's no hot air drying feature, just a ventilated roller, I can't call this a plus.

Obstacle clearance

The robot couldn't handle a 20mm threshold, but it can overcome a 15mm threshold, which is a plus, considering that the robot vacuum cleaner still has a washing and cleaning module, which is different from conventional robot vacuum cleaners with a wet cleaning function.

Driving on dark surfaces

A common problem with robotic vacuum cleaners, related to detecting dark surfaces due to height differences, also applies to this model. The Smartmi A1 is sensitive to dark flooring.

Noise level

Finally, we measured the Smartmi A1's noise level in different modes. At minimum power, it was between 66-67 dB, at medium power, the noise level rose to 72 dB, and in Turbo mode, the peak was 75.2 dB. This model's noise level is elevated, but its power is also very high, which is related.

Personal opinion

The Smartmi A1 robotic vacuum cleaner has been thoroughly reviewed and tested. our evaluation system he managed to gain 63 out of 100 pointsThe result isn't very high, but this is due to the robot's design and intended use. It's a mopping robot, after all, and failed to score points in a number of evaluation criteria. However, when compared to its direct competitor, the iLIFE W450, which only scored 46 points, we see that its similar design yields better results. However, the Dreame Bot W10 scored 79 points and could also be positioned as a mopping robot vacuum cleaner.

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

I'll share my personal opinion about the robot. I liked the following:

1. High-quality floor cleaning without streaks.
2. Capable of removing even the most difficult stains.
3. Very high suction power.
4. Self-cleaning function of the roller during washing and after cleaning is completed.
5. Able to clean behind curtains.
6. Capable of collecting liquids from the floor.
7. Good navigation.
8. Automatic return to the charging base, compared to similar designs that lack this feature.
9. Complete set.
10. Yandex.Alice support.

Speaking of shortcomings, quite a few were also discovered. Namely:

1. Does not clean the narrow area along the baseboard.
2. Not able to collect debris along the baseboard and in the corners.
3. Afraid of dark floor coverings.
4. Not very good maneuverability, including the possibility of getting stuck on the dryer's legs.
5. The shape of the body reduces the robot's maneuverability, causing it to make more unnecessary movements and may be unable to escape from tight spaces.
6. High body.
7. This model is designed for the Chinese market, so you may experience app freezes when using Chinese servers. Voice notifications are also only in Chinese.
8. Small compartment for dirty water.
9. It is not possible to flexibly adjust the cleaning parameters, namely: the robot's speed, the water supply level and the roller rotation speed.
10. Drying of the roller is not very effective.

As a result, we see that the Smartmi A1 has both its pros and cons. Its floor cleaning technology and cleaning module design have proven their effectiveness, and the Smartmi A1 can rightfully be considered a fully-fledged mopping robot vacuum cleaner. Pairing it with a dry cleaning robot is a smart solution. However, there are already a large number of other options on the market. robots with a station for rinsing wipes, and some of them are practically as good as household floor cleaning. The engineers still have work to do to perfect the product, and I hope more sophisticated robots with a similar design will appear soon. So far, I have mixed feelings about this model.

If you have any questions, please ask them in the comments. Happy shopping. Bye!