The Deebot X11 OmniCyclone Cleans Like a Champ, But the App Holds It Back

Ecovacs latest Deebot X11 OmniCyclon robot vacuum boasts a slew of new features, but has a similar limitation to many of the other Ecovacs robot vacuums. Is this ultra-premium robot vacuum worth the $1,500 price tag? That depends if you’re okay with a few quirks.

Credit: Ecovacs

7/10

Dustbin Capacity

0.22L

Battery Life

254 minutes

Brand

Ecovacs

Price

$1,500

The Ecovacs Deebot X11 OmniCyclon robot vacuum is feature-packed and ready to tackle any mess you put in front of it. The base station features an integrated mop washing system which uses 167F hot water to clean the mop after it’s done doing its job. You’ll find ample runtime on the battery, a bag-free canister-style dustbin, and even Matter-compatibility for a well-rounded experience.

Price and Availability

The Ecovacs Deebot X11 OmniCyclon robot vacuum is available to purchase for $1,500 at Amazon or directly from Ecovacs.

A Self-Cleaning Vacuum and Mop That Actually Works

Credit: Patrick Campanale / How-To Geek

I’ve used many robot vacuums over the years, and most promise to be non-tangle, self-cleaning, and self-emptying. The problem is, many fall short of fulfilling all of these tasks completely—the Deebot X11 OmniCyclon actually lives up to the call.

While I’ve had other self-cleaning mops, the Deebot X11 OmniCyclon does things differently. It actually has a heated water tank that keeps water at 167°F to clean the mop roller when it docks. I’m used to docks drying a mop after it cleans, but this is the first time I’ve seen a dock actually clean a roller before drying it.

This robot vacuum also ditches the bag for a bagless design with a HEPA filter. The bagless system is where the OmniCyclon name comes from, and it works great. I’ve always hated robot vacuums that had bags to change—they’re expensive, annoying, and end up returning dust to the environment. With a bagless canister, I can grab it and walk outside, emptying the canister right into my trash bin.

At first, I wasn’t super impressed with the vacuum’s performance. The mop has done well from the start, but on standard suction, the vacuum actually left behind quite a bit of dust and debris. I bumped the vacuum’s suction up to strong (which is level three of four), and it has done a lot better since then.

It’s nice that I don’t have to max out this vacuum, because in the past that’s what I typically had to do. The 19,500Pa of suction really does help the Deebot X11 OmniCyclon.

You’ll also find not just separate clean and dirty water tanks, but also a separate detergent tank and heavy-duty detergent tank. This allows you to choose, on a cleaning by cleaning basis, whether you want detergent (or your heavy-duty cleaner) or not. I typically don’t need detergent during my cleans, so I leave it off most of the time. It’s nice that I can just simply toggle it when I want the extra cleaning power, instead of having to add it directly to the water tank.

Mapping That Isn’t Tricked by Mirrors

Credit: Patrick Campanale / How-To Geek

My wife and I have a mirror in our bedroom, and it has always thrown off robot vacuums. Every robot vacuum I’ve had thinks the mirror is another room, which means I have to delete it from the map (if the app allows for that). The Deebot X11 OmniCyclon is somehow not affected by this.

I’m not sure if it’s the on-device camera and AI that recognized a mirror and ignored it or what, but the map generated was perfect without anything extra on it. This is the first time I’ve ever had that happen.

The Deebot X11 OmniCyclon also just did a fantastic job mapping. It knew what floors were hard (for mopping) and what were carpet, it navigated around my furniture perfectly, and even went between my dining chairs without getting caught.

Overall, I was extremely pleased with the mapping performance. The map is also pretty easy to modify in the app. I was quickly able to split rooms, join two rooms that the robot thought were separate but weren’t, and add no-go zones for thinner rugs.

Still Not Smart Enough to Avoid Cords or Getting Tangled on Rugs

Credit: Patrick Campanale / How-To Geek

The camera on the front of the Deebot X11 OmniCyclon is supposed to use on-device AI to figure out if something is worth avoiding or not. When it comes to larger obstacles, it avoids them perfectly and cleans around them. It’s supposed to do the same thing for cords—but instead it eats them.

I had to rescue this vacuum from getting tangled on cords several times. It also managed to get tangled on our bed skirt and several of our rugs. I ended up just adding no-go zones for areas that always have cords (like under my desk) and the rugs in our kitchen and bathrooms. Those areas were too treacherous for this vacuum, even though I fully expected it to handle them like a breeze—especially since I have the AIVI 3D 3.0 detection setting on “high sensitivity.”

The great part is, Ecovacs can (likely) fix this with a software update. Since the vacuum has all the capabilities it needs for recognizing obstacles, Ecovacs could definitely issue a software or firmware update to make the Deebot X11 OmniCyclon recognize cords better.

The App Is So Feature-Packed It’s Confusing

Credit: Patrick Campanale / How-To Geek

I’m a fairly technical person, and have been around technology for my entire life. In fact, I’ve even spent time developing apps and operating systems. The Ecovacs app is confusingly feature-packed, even for me.

I started by browsing the app and found that there’s a setting for just about everything. I normally love that, and it’s really nice to have ultra-granular controls. However, there are options that are blatantly missing.

For instance, you can’t just tell the robot to go mop a room. It has to do one of three functions: vacuum only, vacuum and mop, or vacuum then mop. There’s no button to just mop. However, if you tell it to do a zone clean, you can choose to just mop then.

Going through the five different settings areas, you’ll find a lot of toggles that you’ll likely never use. For starters, both the vacuum itself and the base station have two different settings areas (and two ways to access the advanced settings). There’s the main settings, which are on the home screen of the robot. This is where a majority of the switches you’ll need to toggle are.

However, there is also an advanced settings section for both the vacuum and the base station. This is where more granular options are located, like how often you want the vacuum to empty, how long you want the drying process to take, and other similar types of toggles.

Then, there’s the main settings for both the vacuum and base station. This is where you can access the cleaning log, check on maintenance, change the live view settings for the vacuum’s camera, and more. Plus, you can even access both the robot and station’s advanced settings from here.

Overall, the app is just really clunky and could definitely use a simplified interface.

However, one positive about the app is that the Deebot X11 OmniCyclon is Matter-enabled, which means it’s natively supported by Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and any other Matter ecosystem. This is a really nice touch, and I was super happy to see the Matter section of the app.

Should You Buy the Ecovacs Deebot X11 OmniCyclon?

Credit: Patrick Campanale / How-To Geek

I think the Ecovacs Deebot X11 OmniCyclon robot vacuum is a pretty great robot vacuum and mop with some flaws that need to be ironed out. While it clocks in with a price tag of $1,500, it does bring a lot to the table. The mop washing functionality is really great, as it allows you to have this robot clean up some nasty messes and then clean itself afterward.

The fact that you’ll never have to buy a vacuum bag for this robot is another huge benefit. Plus, the mapping is bar-none in my experience. While the app (and cord-avoidance) is annoying to me, that’s not a deal-breaker. The overall functionality of this vacuum is great and works as intended.

So, if you’re in the market for a premium robot vacuum that cleans itself properly, maps your house well, and will keep your house neat and tidy, then I think the Ecovacs Deebot X11 OmniCyclon is a great choice.

Credit: Ecovacs

7/10

Dustbin Capacity

0.22L

Battery Life

254 minutes

Brand

Ecovacs

Price

$1,500

The Ecovacs Deebot X11 OmniCyclon robot vacuum is feature-packed and ready to tackle any mess you put in front of it. The base station features an integrated mop washing system which uses 167F hot water to clean the mop after it’s done doing its job. You’ll find ample runtime on the battery, a bag-free canister-style dustbin, and even Matter-compatibility for a well-rounded experience.