SwitchBot Mini Robot Vacuum K10+ review

Let’s say you’ve gotten a small residence or the rooms in your home are fairly cosy. You have a look at a regular robotic vacuum and assume: that’s greater than my espresso desk and I’ve nowhere to place it. What do you do?

It’s this predicament that has led SwitchBot, the exuberant firm that makes with aplomb all method of ingenious sensible devices, to launch the K10+. It’s smaller than a dinner plate and never solely vacuums however mops as effectively – though not on the similar time.

Add to that the 2500Pa suction, a quiet 48dB operational noise, an auto-empty dock that guarantees as much as 70 days of hands-free cleansing, and LiDAR navigation that plots out your rooms and exhibits obstacles on the ground, and the K10+ may very effectively be the reply to the small area downside.   

Design & Construct

• Robotic 50% smaller than commonplace fashions
• Compact auto-empty station
• Comes with spare filter and dirt bag
• Makes use of disposable mop cloths

Within the field is an auto-empty station, the mini robotic vacuum and mop, a bag with a spare filter, mud bag and a packet of disposable mop cloths, a fast begin information and a person handbook.

The auto-empty station is fabricated from onerous, white plastic, with an influence cable and built-in plug. The highest lid opens to disclose the mud bag compartment with the mop plate conveniently clipped into the underside of the lid, and there’s a small cleansing device fastened into the chamber that has a brush at one finish and a scalpel edge on the different.

Standing at 32cm, we discovered the station was roughly stage with the highest of a regular UK energy socket, so there’s capability to put it beneath a desk or excessive console desk. At 26cm broad and 21cm deep, the station itself is compact and doesn’t overwhelm a small room; nevertheless, when the robotic is charging, the footprint extends outwards into the room to roughly 38cm, so bear that in thoughts if area is at a premium.

The K10+ is round 50% smaller than commonplace fashions, and that is obvious as quickly as you unbox the shiny white robotic itself. It’s chunkier than rivals and appears to have a persona proper from the off. You simply really feel somewhat keen on it: it’s acquired the lovable issue.

It expenses on the station through metallic contacts and the highest plate of the robotic vacuum lifts off to disclose the on/off slider swap. There’s a Residence button on high of the robotic vacuum, which sends the vac again to the station for recharging or to pause cleansing, and the Clear button, which allows you to flip the vac on and off or begin or pause cleansing.

Switchbot additionally supplies a spare mud bag, filter and a pack of thirty moist disposable cloths for the mopping plate.

Arrange & App

• Easy set-up
• App controls entire SwitchBot universe
• Good LiDAR mapping

After unpacking, arrange the auto-empty station in a viable spot with good Wi-Fi protection with 0.5m clearance on either side and 1.5m clearance in entrance. Plug within the station, wrap the twine neatly on the again, and set up the sting sweeping brush. Then take away the highest plate, slide the ability swap on, and place the robotic subsequent to the charging factors on the station and the sunshine ring will illuminate – on contact, the robotic vacuum ought to play an ident and let you know that it’s charging.

Then, obtain the SwitchBot app. The app controls every part within the SwitchBot universe, so you may join any SwitchBot sensible machine by way of it, which suggests you may create scenes that begin processes when one other SwitchBot product is activated: say, a contact sensor that triggers once you shut your entrance door can then activate the robotic vacuum to begin cleansing.

Switchbot provides a QR code to the app within the person handbook for each Apple and Android. As soon as the app has put in, add the machine, begin the Wi-Fi configuration by urgent the Clear and Residence buttons on the robotic vacuum and then you definately’ll get a immediate in your Wi-Fi password to pair the machine.

The subsequent step is to set the vacuum to map the area you want to clear.    

The K10+ appears to map in a short time. We set it to map two rooms with an interlocking hallway, and the LiDAR navigation managed to partially map three rooms past a sunk staircase touchdown some ten toes or extra away. The rooms shall be picked out in numerous colors, though you’ll in all probability need to edit the map to exactly designate room parameters.

Alex Greenwood / Foundry

Efficiency & Options

• 4 suction modes
• Scheduled cleans
• Vacuums in locations others can’t attain

To hoover, merely open the app, press ‘Clear’ or ‘Extra’, which is able to deliver up the map, after which press ‘Clear’.

You’ll be able to select to scrub by room, entire home, or space, and to scrub a few times over, and there are 4 suction ranges: quiet, commonplace, robust and max.    

Quiet mode appears to be round 30-40 decibels, and we discovered it quieter than a median desktop PC. Most is a typical vacuum cleaner noise stage, and you may really feel the air outlet from the filter from a few foot or extra away.

And sure, as a result of it’s so small, the K10+ can attain in every single place. It even managed to hoover beneath a child doll’s toy cot. The auto-empty is loud although – as this characteristic at all times is – so be ready to expertise what feels like a small jet engine firing up in your house. On the plus aspect, you may schedule this mud assortment in order that it doesn’t happen at an inopportune time.

As with most robotic vacuums, the K10+ can’t climb a step greater than 2cm, which is hard in case you have an uneven ground floor, however one barely uncommon characteristic is that by way of the app, you may also distant management the robotic vacuum on a direct foundation, transferring it in all instructions like a drone.

Once more, you may schedule cleans and generate stories. The app may even let you know the standing of the filter, aspect brush, brush roll, mud bag and whether or not you should wipe the sensors. You may as well set a don’t disturb interval and a toddler lock. 

In our checks, the K10+ cleaned 8m² in about 11 minutes. One factor we observed is that the K10+ will try and vacuum beneath just about beneath something, so it does nudge gentle furnishings a bit – a toddler’s wicker rocking chair was at all times at a little bit of an angle afterwards.         

If you wish to mop, then the method is a bit more concerned. The mop plate is housed on the underside of the auto-empty station lid, and you should match a moist wipe material to the mop plate – SwitchBot provides you with a pack of 30 or you need to use your individual – by wrapping it across the plate and securing it with each the integral Velcro and hooks.

We should admit that we acquired this unsuitable at first and needed to reposition the wipe, and since it’s a moist wipe, it misplaced some moisture earlier than we managed to get it on the plate. That mentioned, when you match the plate excessive of the comb, the K10+ goes instantly into mop mode, which we thought was somewhat spectacular, and once you set it to scrub, it mops your ground.

Now this isn’t mopping as most individuals would outline it. As an alternative, it’s extra of a humid mud. What the K10+ is doing is wiping a moist wipe throughout your onerous ground. So it may possibly’t take away ground-in grime or deliver up your tiles when what they actually need is scorching water, sugar cleaning soap and vigorous scrub with a brush that resembles a hedgehog.

However for damp dusting, we thought it was somewhat good. And it didn’t depart a streak on our tiles.

In our check, we mopped two rooms and located the wipe lasted about 20 minutes earlier than it actually dried out. It picked up fairly a little bit of normal fluff. It’s not one thing that may take away a puddle of spilt juice although. It’s extra of a mud elimination and buffing course of.

The K10+ works with Alexa, Google Residence, Siri shortcuts, IFTTT, and SmartThings for all you Samsung bods.  

At current, a alternative package for a yr’s use, which incorporates two new edge sweeping brushes, 5 bin filters, 5 extra mud luggage, eight packs of thirty mopping cloths and a brand new cleansing device prices $59.99/ £59.99, though there’s at the moment a deal for 20% off. You’ll be able to see the low cost code on the web page.

Worth & Availability

The SwitchBot Mini K10+ is on the market within the US for $499.99. There’s at the moment a $100 off voucher deal on Amazon, and it’s accessible at full value direct from SwitchBot.

Within the UK, it’s priced at £499.99, with the identical shopping for choices accessible. Once more, on the time of writing, the place to purchase is Amazon, which is providing £100 off with a voucher code on the web page. You may as well purchase from the SwitchBot web site.

Notably with the low cost, and bearing in mind the self-emptying station, this makes the K10+ a extremely good worth possibility for anybody searching for a smaller robotic vacuum. For extra choices throughout a variety of value factors, take a look at our round-up of one of the best robotic vacuums we’ve examined.

By the way, SwitchBot is about to launch the S10, which is the following stage in automated ground cleansing and is at the very least double the worth of the K10+ ($1,199.99/£999.99 and accessible for pre-order). Not solely does this robotic vacuum and mop have 6500Pa suction, a curler mop and an auto-empty and dry station, it additionally comes with an auto-fill and drain water station that you simply plumb into your water provide and wastewater pipe, and the S10 has the flexibility to refill humidifiers and empty de-humidifiers in addition.    

At this level, it’s all getting a bit just like the Self Actuated Residential Automated Habitat – or SARAH for brief – that Jack Carter discovered himself dwelling in when he turned sheriff of Eureka. SwitchBot additionally makes sensible hubs, locks, keypads, movement sensors, contact sensors, indoor cams, bulbs, plugs, meters, curtain openers and the well-known, unique “bot” that may activate a fundamental gentle swap.

The scene programming potentialities inside this gadget universe are countless. Sooner or later, somebody will make a movie that echoes Residence Alone, solely it gained’t be a little bit boy referred to as Kevin repelling a duo of dastardly burglars, it will likely be a SwitchBot mini hub as a substitute.  

Must you purchase the the Switchbot Mini Robotic Vacuum K10+?

We just like the K10+. It’s dinky and cute, and handles small areas effectively, albeit barely erratically as a result of it will get into locations different robotic vacuums can’t. It’s additionally not a dominating presence so can sit in a small room simply and nobody goes to make use of the auto-empty station as a surrogate stool.

If in case you have a small dwelling area, and also you need a robotic vacuum to maintain the mud beneath management, we’d say the K10+ may very effectively be for you.