Ecovacs Deebot T30 PRO (CN): wipe output, 11,000 Pa, new station!

The latest new product to review is the Ecovacs Deebot T30 Pro robot vacuum cleaner. The 2024 model lineup features several new design features that improve cleaning performance. They've also increased suction power to 11,000 Pa, added new features, and improved the station's size, making it more compact. Below, I'll thoroughly test the Ecovacs Deebot T30 Pro, highlight its pros and cons, and then express my opinion on whether it's worth buying. The price at the time of writing starts at $750 for the basic configuration from China, and can reach up to $1,050 for a Russian purchase with a water and sewer connection module. So, let's get started!

Regionalism

First, a few words about the model's regional availability. The Ecovacs Deebot T30 Pro is produced for both the Chinese and European markets. Local stores in Russia and on AliExpress most often sell the Chinese version, as is the case with mine.

There are several points here:

1. To connect a robot vacuum to a smartphone, you need a Chinese SIM card to register an account. Stores typically provide unique login credentials, but it's better to specify this moment before ordering.
2. Given that the robot is intended for the Chinese market, voice notifications are implemented in Chinese. The YIKO voice assistant also only understands phrases in Chinese. But at least the app interface is in English. It's easy to figure out and intuitive.

Well, as for concerns about the blocking of Chinese Ecovacs robots due to operation outside of China, for this there is no need to worryEcovacs' official website states that the company does not prohibit the use of its Chinese products outside of China. The main thing is to register an account with a Chinese phone number. So, don't worry about bricking the robot. It won't happen.

Equipment

Let's start with the package contents. The robot arrived in a box like this:

In my case, the station is equipped with a module for connecting to the sewer and water supply. It's removable, and if needed, additional tanks for clean and dirty water can be purchased and installed in its place.

In addition to the robot and station, the delivery kit includes:

1. Power adapter with Chinese plug.
2. A tank with detergent installed in the station.
3. Tubes and various accessories for connecting the station to the sewer and water supply.
4. Operating instructions in Chinese.

The package is standard. Spare parts are not included.

Appearance

Now let's take a look at the Ecovacs Deebot T30 Pro's design. The robot is round and comes in white. The listed height is 104 mm from the floor, although in reality it's around 102 mm.

Wall sensors are mounted on both sides of the bumper. A central sensor system detects and accurately avoids obstacles in the robot's path. The technology is called TrueDetect, like the previous version. Ecovacs Deebot T20 Pro.

The 30th series, however, has been updated to TrueDetect 3D 3.0. It's important to note that this feature only implements obstacle avoidance. Remote home monitoring via the camera is unfortunately not available.

Navigation is handled by a lidar system with a spring-loaded lid. Three mechanical control buttons are located next to the lidar. The dust container is located under the top cover. Next to it is a WiFi reset button and a QR code for connecting the robot to the network. The dust container has a HEPA filter with a foam insert and a mesh filter. The container capacity is 300 ml.

The robot also has a small 55 ml water tank, hidden inside the body. Water is automatically pumped into the tank at the station and dispensed onto the cleaning pads during cleaning.

The bottom of the robot has four fall protection sensors and a carpet sensor next to the swivel roller. Surprisingly, there's only one side brush. Even Ecovacs has come to terms with the fact that a second side brush isn't really necessary. For example, the previously released Ecovacs Deebot T20 Pro and X1 Omni There were two side brushes, which attracted many people.

The central brush unit is floating. The turbo brush itself has been updated. It is now equipped with soft, resilient bristle inserts. The manufacturer claims that the angle of the bristle inserts reduces tangling. One side of the turbo brush can be removed to remove tangled hair and fur.

A comb is installed behind the brush to untangle the brush shaft from hair and fur.

Behind the turbo brush are two round holders with cleaning cloths. On the left, under the holder, you can see a mechanism for sliding the cleaning cloth out, allowing for thorough cleaning along baseboards and furniture. I've seen something like this before!

In Ecovacs' case, the technology is called TruEdge. A very important upgrade to the cleaning module!

It's worth noting that, if necessary, the sideways movement of the cloth can be disabled or a more delicate setting can be selected, maintaining a gap of a few millimeters between the edge of the cloth and the baseboard. This is useful for renovations without a baseboard or if you simply don't want the cloth to come into contact with the baseboard or furniture.

And another important observation: the cloth not only presses against the baseboard when cleaning, but also fits tightly into the corner, which improves the quality of cleaning in the corners.

I would like to add that the wipers automatically lift up by 9 mm when the robot enters carpets, when returning to the station, and also when the robot moves to the selected cleaning zone.

As for the station, the Ecovacs Deebot T30 Pro self-cleans from debris, washes the wipes with hot water heated to 70 degrees, and dries the wipes with warm air after cleaning.

The robot's access ramp, combined with a napkin tray, is completely removable. This makes the station very convenient for maintenance.

Above is a garbage bag. It's important to note that the bag is four-layered, with the inside, as I understand it, containing a layer of silver-ion membrane and a layer of black activated carbon, providing antibacterial protection. The product description also states that an optional silver-ion module is available for disinfecting clean water in the tank. That's a plus.

Well, as for the module for connection to the sewer and water supply, it is removable.

Under the front cover are the lids for the clean and dirty water tanks. These also serve as coarse water filters. In the center is a detergent tank like this one. The station automatically mixes it with the clean water when washing the cloths. The tank capacity is 350 ml.

The station is very easy to connect to utilities. Simply install the corner connectors into the corresponding holes in the station, install a pass-through branch, and connect the pipes: one to the pass-through branch and the other to the drain.

Technical specifications

The main characteristics of the Ecovacs Deebot T30 Pro, as stated by the manufacturer:

• Navigation: Lidar + TrueDetect 3D 3.0
• Li-Ion battery 5200 mAh
• Suction power up to 11000 Pa
• Dust collector 300 ml
• Water tank 55 ml
• Bag in the station: 4 l
• Obstacle clearance up to 20 mm
• Robot dimensions: 353*104 mm
• Station dimensions: 409*490*394 mm

It is worth highlighting the increased suction power here, which will definitely be verified in tests.

Functional capabilities

Speaking of the Ecovacs Deebot T30 Pro'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 must provide all access rights.

Connecting the robot to the app was straightforward. However, it's important to keep in mind that the app interface is in English, while the robot itself only speaks Chinese, so it's best to completely disable voice notifications. This is one of the robot's main drawbacks—the lack of a Russian language adaptation. However, this isn't as inconvenient as it seems. Once everything is set up, it's a simple matter of forgetting about it. Further operation is as simple as pressing the start button, and the robot begins cleaning.

Key features of the Ecovacs Deebot T30 Pro (new features highlighted in bold):

• Washing napkins with hot water at the station (70 °C)
• Napkin extension to the baseboard (TruEdge)
• Improved floor cleaning in corners
• Automatic detection of cleaning settings (intelligent hosting, Cleaning Mode Extra)
• Self-cleaning of the dust container
• Drying napkins with warm air
• Identifying objects on the floor
• 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
• Setting the frequency of washing napkins (10, 15, 25 minutes)
• Cleaning log
• Setting up a cleaning schedule
• User mode
• Automatic power increase on carpet
• Carpet sweeping in wet cleaning mode
• Automatic lifting of napkins when driving onto carpets

I'd like to point out that they've increased the water temperature for washing the cloths from 55 to 70 degrees Celsius. They've also added a mode for automatically determining cleaning parameters. It's called "intelligent hosting." It's similar to Roborock's SmartPlan and Dreame's CleanGenius. I described the cloth ejection in detail in the design review.

It's also worth highlighting the integrated YIKO voice assistant, which allows voice control without third-party apps. It's a cool idea, but Russian commands are not supported.

Overall, we see a slight update in functionality compared to the previously released T20 Pro. There are numerous settings, allowing you to flexibly customize cleaning parameters to suit your individual needs.

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 T30 Pro'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 no problems. The robot also swept around a box and chair legs separately, then returned to its station. The test was successful.

Speaking of navigation within the house, the robot vacuum cleans room by room, following the perimeter, then in a serpentine pattern. Every 15 minutes, as I've established, it returns to the station and washes the cloths, then resumes cleaning from where it left off. In total, during the cleaning cycle, it made three intermediate trips to the station to wash the cloths. There were no uncleaned areas; this model has excellent navigation!

Identifying objects on the floor

But the object detection system remains underdeveloped, no matter how many sensors and cameras Ecovacs engineers have implemented. The robot vacuum cleaner brushed against a toy, a bathroom scale, a sock, a sneaker, and the charger cord. While these objects didn't disable it, it was still in contact with them, and, for example, the brush cord would have gotten tangled up just a little bit more. And it even ran over the simulated pet surprise. So, the Ecovacs Deebot T30 Pro is more accurate than its peers without the object detection system, that's a fact. But the system itself definitely needs some improvement.

In complete darkness, the situation, as expected, was no better. The robot again drove over the simulated pet surprise and further displaced other objects on the floor. This test failed.

Suction power

As for the suction power, I can say it's strong. The robot vacuum was able to suck up debris from crevices 2.4, 6, and 10 mm deep. However, for some reason, it only partially cleaned the deeper crevices.

The actual suction power seems slightly inferior to the previously released T20 Pro, likely due to the new turbo brush design, which results in a loss of suction. Regardless, it's a powerful robot vacuum, and judging by the results, I can say it still cleaned up dirt better than its predecessor, the Ecovacs Deebot X2 Pro.

Dry cleaning

The collection performance of various types of debris on laminate floors is good. Only a small amount of debris remains in corners, where round robotic vacuums can't reach. In reality, the central brush barely picked up any hair or fur. All debris is collected in the dust bin. Test passed!

Carpet cleaning

The same debris was scattered on a low-pile carpet. And I can say that the Ecovacs Deebot T30 Pro thoroughly cleaned the carpet.

It can also clean a medium pile carpet, but not as well.

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 completely empty, so this robot's self-cleaning is excellent! The results are excellent.

Wet cleaning

The cleaning performance is also excellent. The cloth adheres well to the floor and absorbs dirt.

When it came to scrubbing tough stains, the robot even managed to remove dried-on coffee and sauce stains. Granted, it didn't do so on the first try. It took six tries, to be precise. But it was still up to the task. Many similar and predecessors in the line couldn't even achieve this level of performance.

Wet cleaning and carpets

When it comes to wet cleaning on carpeted floors, the robot offers several different modes of interaction. It can carefully navigate around the carpet in wet cleaning mode, or it can enter and touch the carpet with its cleaning pad if you want to clean it with the robot. It can also clean carpets during wet cleaning, automatically lifting the cleaning pads when entering the carpet. This is the most optimal cleaning option.

Washing quality of napkins

And right away, I'd like to talk about the efficiency of the station itself. In a domestic setting, after washing the floor, the wipes are thoroughly rinsed at the station. A minimal amount of dirt is washed away under the pressure of warm water. That's a plus.

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

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 the noise level, it ranges from 59 to 72 dB, depending on the selected operating mode. The noise level is average, which is quite normal given the high actual power.

Personal opinion

The Ecovacs Deebot T30 Pro robot vacuum cleaner has been thoroughly reviewed and tested. According to our rating system, it scored 193 points and enter the TOP-7 tested robotic vacuum cleaners At the time of writing this review. If not for the comments listed below, it would have certainly been a contender for a top-5 spot. I'll highlight the pros and cons, and then share my personal opinion of the new robot vacuum. I liked the following:

1. High-quality waste collection on both hard surfaces and carpets.
2. Effectively removes dirt from the floor.
3. High suction power.
4. Capable of cleaning areas right up to the baseboard, thanks to a pull-out holder with a cloth.
5. Improved cleaning in corners thanks to the robot's rear entry with the cleaning cloth extended.
6. Turbo brush protection system to prevent hair and fur from getting tangled.
7. Availability of a station for self-cleaning the dust collector, washing and drying napkins.
8. The station can be connected to the sewer and water supply by purchasing the appropriate module.
9. Washing napkins with hot water.
10. Drying napkins with warm air.
11. The station design is easy to maintain thanks to the removable one-piece ladder.
12. High-quality self-cleaning.
13. Waste and water disinfection system at the station.
14. Automatically lifts the wipers when entering carpets. Moreover, the wipers lift higher than many similar products.
15. Touch objects and furniture more accurately thanks to the object detection system.
16. A large number of functions in the application.
17. Smart automatic cleaning mode, in which the robot independently selects cleaning parameters based on artificial intelligence algorithms.
18. Not afraid of black coatings.
19. Good cross-country ability.
20. High quality assembly.

Speaking about the disadvantages, there are the following comments about the robot:

1. The model is designed for the Chinese market, so the app interface is in English, the built-in voice assistant does not work, 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. There is no automatic detergent supply in the standard station configuration.
5. Doesn't sweep out debris in the corners.
6. The system for identifying objects requires improvement.
7. There is no function to remotely monitor your home through the robot camera.

Ultimately, despite the improved design, the Ecovacs Deebot T30 Pro still suffers from the same issues that plagued previous models in the line. That's why it only ranks seventh. Overall, however, this robot vacuum is worth considering and is recommended. If the above concerns aren't too serious for you and the advantages appeal to you, then you can buy it with confidence. However, I personally haven't found the Ecovacs Deebot T30 Pro, or at least its Chinese version, which isn't adapted for the Russian market, to be superior to flagship models from Dreame or Roborock.

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!