Review: ECOVACS DEEBOT T30S COMBO: robot vac-mop + handheld

Sometimes it’s fun to push a product to its limits… like seeing firsthand if supposed anti-tangle technology really works. Testing and reviewing robot vacuums is fun and floor cleaning bots seem to unveil new features every week. The ECOVACS DEEBOT T30S COMBO, for example, boasts five major new features: a mop than can reach out and sop up spills, even more powerful suction at 11,000pa, that special anti-tangle technology, the ability to start the clean with a tap of your foot, and a go-anywhere handheld vacuum which can help you get inside and out, all while your robot takes care of the rest.

ECOVACS DEEBOT T30S COMBO hands-on review

In this review I’m going to try out the newest DEEBOT in my home. I’ll show you what it can do, test how well it cleans on the floors and everywhere else. I also went above and beyond to test the anti-tangle technology too! I’ll go over the pros and cos and let you know if I think I can recommend it to you.

I’d also like to thank ECOVACS for being an ongoing sponsor of the blog and the YouTube channel. While they are paying for my time here, they have not told me what I have to say or what I can’t say about the new T30S Combo, and I got to review it just as I wanted to. So these thoughts are 100% mine.

What you get: ECOVACS DEEBOT T30S COMBO

In a nut shell, The all-new ECOVACS DEEBOT T30S COMBO combines the hands-free convenience of a nearly autonomous robot vacuum and mop, with the flexibility of a handheld vacuum. You can also upgrade to the DEEBOT T30S COMBO COMPLETE, which includes additional accessories that convert the hand vac into a full-sized stick vacuum.
Now if you think this set up looks a little familiar, it is quite similar to the recently launched ECOVACS DEEBOT X2 COMBO, which I reviewed here. The key difference from the X series to the T series is that the X series features Ecovacs’ most advanced robot, so not surprisingly that option costs a bit more. The T series robot gives you almost all of the same technology but with a simplified robot all at a lower cost.

The ECOVACS DEEBOT T30S COMBO  has an impressive 11,000 pascals of suction, which has been increased even from the outstanding suction of the X2 . This may be double and up to three and four times as powerful as most other vacuum robots.

This should mean it will do an even better job of suctioning nearly every thing from your floors. We’ll find out what it can do in my cleaning tests, coming up.

Let’s unbox the T30S to get a closer look: There’s a few components in here; most importantly is the DEEBOT T30 robot. This round-shaped bot has a corner brush and underneath, two roller brushes inhale dust and dirt, while two rotating mopping pads wash the floor. We’ll dig a bit deeper on this in a bit…

In the package you’ll also find is a handheld vacuum. Three brushes come with the handheld; a flat dusting brush, a mini motorized brush, and a crevice tool.

The all-in-one OMNI station is the biggest component and this is central command for your T30S. Inside the OMNI station is where your bot will empty its own dustbin, then wash and dry the mopping pads. Two large tanks under the lid hold clean water and dirty water.

There’s also a power cord, and a small ramp for DEEBOT to get to its garage. A vacuum bag comes pre-installed.

How it all comes together is pretty cool: the robot parks under the ONMI station and just above that is where the dustbin auto-empties into a sealed bag. To the right is where you can store and charge the handheld vacuum.

Helpfully, the dock will automatically empty the handheld for you too after every use, and this cradle keeps it fully charged.

This is a cool feature: a small drawer in the base of the OMNI station holds all the hand-vac accessories so there’s no misplacing them.
It’s probably worth pointing out the size of this station. It measures about 20-inches tall, 22-inches wide and 14-inches deep. And you will need it to have some clearance for the T30S to come and go and to remove the handheld from its dock too, so keep that in mind when you’re situating it.

Set up: ECOVACS DEEBOT T30 COMBO

Getting things set up is going to take just a minute or two. From my experience reviewing numerous ECOVACS robot vacuums, the process is always fast and trouble free. It’s one of the reasons I really like recommending ECOVACS; it’s easy to set up and use, even for those new to robot vacuums. You just need the free ECOVACS app. Sign up for or sign into your account and then choose the option to add a new robot. To go over the process quickly: you’ll power the robot on, scan the QR code on the bot and connect to your home’s Wi-Fi.

With that done your DEEBOT will prompt you to go on a mapping run of your house so it can learn the layout. I was really impressed that the robot found its way around my space in about 8 minutes and I had a fully generated, and accurate map. With the house mapped it was time to put the DEEBOT T30 COMBO to work.

Foot touch technology

One of the first things I tried was the foot touch start option. You do have to turn this setting on inside the app but otherwise with a gentle nudge of your toes, you can have the robot go out and do a clean of your house. Sometimes that’s just more convenient as you’re passing by than digging out your phone.

Cleaning tests

Whenever I test out a floor cleaning robot I always run them through the same series of cleaning tests. I will scatter finer stuff like flour or sugar, middle size bits like rice or oatmeal, and bigger cracker pieces on both carpet and hard floors. With the mopping I create liquid spills and let some dry to test the scouring prowess.
Since the ECOVACS DEEBOT T30 COMBO also has the handheld vacuum, I’m going to test it out on a few different things. I’ll try it out on the dog bed, the sofa (which is usually loaded with dog hair) and then I’ll take it to the car and the camper van where I think it will actually be really helpful.

Vacuum tests

I let the T30S run for a few days to simply clean up day to day debris. I have two dogs and it’s been a mucky spring here in Calgary so the T30S has been getting a workout.
Even so, there was nothing I threw at this bot that it couldn’t clean. It was great at vacuuming up pet hair and dust. DEEBOT T30S was also able to pick up every last speck of granola, flour, sand, dried fruit and more from my dedicated cleaning tests, whether it was on the hard floors, or carpet and rugs.

I’d say from my days of testing it got about 99-100% of anything on the floor.

ZeroTangle Technology

DEEBOT T30S COMBO has a little bit of tech that I think it pretty important as a long haired woman… ZeroTangle Technology. Too often long hair can get wound around the brushes and jam up a robot vacuum, requiring constant annoying maintenance. The DEEBOT T30S has a  specially designed V-shaped roller brush with flat bristles, which helps hair slide more easily off the brush.   There’s also what ECOVACS calls Dual Comb Teeth Arrays in the roller brush compartment which helps rake off hair into the suction port.
I ran the robot for several days to see if it would get tangled and when I flipped it over you can see there’s no hair around the brush.
I took it one step further and got some hair from the salon and tried to feed it in and deliberately get it tangled around the brush, but no dice. You can see in the video review that this technology works really well.

Mopping tests

I was really impressed with the mopping. The mop has what’s called TruEdge Technology, which means the mop plate reaches out sideways to get closer to edges.
I tested this by spilling liquid under the toe kicks and found the T30S was easily able to wipe it up.
In all of my tests, the DEEBOT T30S COMBO was able to clean the floors beautifully, again getting about 99-100% of spills bot damp and dried.

One other feature I noticed is that DEEBOT will automatically re-wash a floor if it detects very dirty areas.

The DEEBOT has scrubbing, spinning mopping pads, and I like these better than a flat pad because I’ve found they work better at scrubbing away dried on stains. Technically ECOVACS calls this the OZMO Turbo 2.0 Rotating Mopping System, and it’s designed to apply constant pressure to the floor for deep mop scrubbing. The plus microfibre pads can lift up to 9mm off the ground so if the robot hits carpet, it won’t get it wet.

When I tested this I was able to see the lifting in action—and you can too in my video review.

Another feature I really like about the mop is that I can dial the water flow up or down.

Self cleaning & emptying

The All-in-one OMNI station keeps everything charged, and it also automatically empties both the robot and the handheld vacuum into the same sealed dust bag.

It will also clean and dry your mops.

It automatically refills the robot’s on board water tank with fresh water, and it will clean the mopping pads with 70-degree（158℉） hot water then starts a 2-hour Hot Air Drying cycle, which doesn’t even make a sound.

Handheld tests

The handheld vacuum got a lot more use than I first thought it would. It is convenient just to grab it from the dock to vacuum up a small spill in the kitchen or to give the sofa a once over before company comes over. When I dock it to recharge, it empties itself automatically.

In the camper van, it’s small enough that we could bring it on any trip, and it was really great at keeping the bed, cushions, seats, and even the floor free of sand, grit, and pet hair.
And if the auto-empty base is not handy, you can just flip the bottom open over a trash can.

The handheld vacuum is the ideal car cleaner too. The mini motorized brush can clean the floor wells, the dusting brush is perfect for vents and cupholders, while the crevice brush gets into all the small spaces in the car.

Yiko Voice assistant

Another ECOVACS selling feature I wasn’t sure I needed, but found was so handy is the Yiko voice assistant. Just by asking Yiko, I can start or stop a clean, empty the dustbin, wash the mops or pause drying.

Schedule

One of the most useful features of a robot vacuum is the ability to schedule cleanings anytime. The app makes it easy to choose regular daily or weekly cleanings and I find this is one of the best ways to maximize your investment.

Obstacle avoidance

ECOVACS bots in my opinion are some of the best you can buy when it comes to avoiding hazards and obstacles and the T30S Combo is no exception.
On more than one occasion it was able to unstick itself from a tricky throw rug, a charging cable, and even the base of some stools.

Battery life

This new generation of DEEBOT has a more efficient battery: a 5200mAh battery which adds up to about 200 minutes of runtime when used at full power, and you can get up to 290 minutes or 3.5 hours if you run it at lower power and in vacuum only mode.

The Handheld has a 4000mAh Lithium Battery, which will let you clean up to 60 minutes.

Noise level

I really appreciate the fact that with this robot floor cleaner you can adjust the noise level by adjusting the cleaning power. Inside the app you can simply dial the vacuum suction up or down if you want which also lowers the noise level. This is great if you’re trying to have a work call while you want the floors cleaned. When DEEBOT is emptying itself, the noise level does go up a bit, but the auto empty sequence is much faster and really only lasts less than 10 seconds.

Overall review: ECOVACS DEEBOT T30S COMBO

Overall, I think ECOVACS has created an outstanding balance of high-end features and price. Let’s go over the pros and the cons.

On the pro side, the vacuuming performance is outstanding, picking up every scrap from sugar grains to cereal. The mopping actually cleans floors extremely well with downward scrubbing pressure and spinning pads.

The handheld vacuum has quickly become my go-to for small spills and it’s a lifesaver for the car and the camper van.
ECOVACS bots are easy to set up, schedule and they’re super user friendly, and with the Yiko voice assistant you don’t even need your phone. You can also dial the suction and the waterflow up or down for more cleaning power or a quieter task.

So what are the downsides? I think the biggest issue for folks will be the size of the base station. There’s no escaping that it’s quite large and you will need clearance for it.

In short I can absolutely recommend the ECOVACS DEEBOT T30S COMBO if you’re looking for the smartest, most versatile best cleaning floor bot with extras and at a more affordable price.
ECOVACS DEEBOT T30S COMBO sells for about $1,199 USD and you can get one from ECOVACS.com or here from Amazon.

You can also take a look at some of ECOVACS’ other high-tech floor cleaning robots… like the DEEBOT X2 OMNI  and DEEBOT X2 COMBO, as well as ECOVACS T20, right here.