The Xiaomi X10 is a robot vacuum cleaner with a docking station. In addition, the robot vacuum cleaner comes with a wiping function as part of its repertoire and has also been integrated into Xiaomi’s massive product ecosystem via the Xiaomi Home app. While the robot vacuum cleaner is unavailable in the US, it is priced at €499 for those residing in Europe. Nextpit has taken the Xiaomi X10 out for a spin to see whether it impresses as much in real-life as it does on paper.
Good
- Fast and uncomplicated setup
- Flawless navigation
- Easy integration with Xiaomi’s Home app
- Excellent suction performance on smooth surfaces
- Great price-to-performance ratio
Bad
- Harsh drop in performance in terms of suction power on carpets
- Mopping plate does not lift up on carpets
- Mopping performance is not convincing
The Xiaomi X10 in a nutshell
The Xiaomi X10 is a robot vacuum cleaner with a mopping function that certainly excels when it comes to vacuuming smooth surfaces. Both its mapping and navigation functions are impeccable. Apart from the comprehensive Xiaomi Home app, there is also the docking station that collects dust automatically.
Do take note that vacuuming fine particles from carpets is a Herculean task for the Xiaomi X10. In addition, the robot vacuum cleaner does leave behind a rather sticky floor during the mopping process. To be fair, we are talking about a €500 robot vacuum cleaner here, so some sacrifices need to be made here.
Xiaomi X10 Unboxing and Set Up
The Xiaomi X10 is ready for its cleaning tour in just a few moments and gets active support from the Xiaomi Home app. In addition, the base station has an integrated dust bag and a suction function.
What I liked:
- Speedy and easy setup
- Fast and reliable mapping
- Docking station with cleaning function
What I disliked:
- Only one side brush included
The Xiaomi X10 has a high-quality build to go along with the docking station, all arriving in a very modern design that is pleasing to the eyes. Apart from the Xiaomi X10 itself, your purchase will include a side brush, mop pad, and docking station. Setup is quick: You install the side brush and the mop pad, connect it to the docking station and place the robot on the station.
Upon doing so, it is time you set up the X10 in the Xiaomi Home app. You scan the QR code that is located below to establish a Wi-Fi connection. The entire process, from unboxing to successfully adding the X10 in the Xiaomi Home app, takes approximately five minutes.
Once you’ve added the X10 into the app, the next thing on the agenda is mapping out the location. The X10 was able to complete the mapping within a few minutes. Thanks to LDS laser navigation, the robot vacuum scans your four walls in a reliable and precise manner. Once the robot vacuum cleaner completes its exploration of the surroundings, you can view the result in the form of a 2D or 3D image in the Xiaomi Home app.
The Xiaomi Home app is more than successful in my eyes. In the main menu, you can send the X10 on a cleaning tour, order it to the charging station and choose between four suction levels and three levels of wiping intensity. You can also set virtual walls for the robot to protect your designer furniture or carpets, and you can set no-go zones for the X10.
On top of that, you can manage your cards and create schedules for this home cleaning assistant. You can specify just how often and where the robot vacuum cleaner should do its work. Last but not least, you have the option to set settings for the station. You can activate the automatic dust collection manually by setting just how often the dust container of the robot vacuum should be emptied.
A great feature for large families is the ability to activate the child lock. In order not to wake up your children, you can also regulate the volume of the X10. All in all, the Xiaomi X10 is a prime example of successful software integration that is easy-to-use and extremely user friendly.
Xiaomi X10 Suction and Mopping Performance
The Xiaomi X10 impressed us with its excellent suction performance on smooth surfaces. It is only on carpets that the robot vacuum cleaner show off its ugly side. The Xiaomi Home app offers you many setting options for the cleaning process.
What I liked:
- Numerous cleaning modes in the Xiaomi Home app
- Great suction performance on smooth surfaces
What I disliked:
- Does not lift up the mop pad on carpets
One thing quickly became clear in the review: the Xiaomi X10 loves cleaning up after smooth surfaces. In our nextpit benchmarks, the robot vacuum cleaner picked up 98% of scattered oatmeal and 92% of scattered sand on smooth surfaces. However, you should not place cables in front of the X10. With a suction power of 4,000 Pa, the robot vacuum does its best to clean up even such a mess.
| Test volume (g) | Suction volume (g) | Efficiency (%) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oatmeal (tiles) | |||
| Sand (tiles) | |||
| Sand (carpet) |
We also noticed that the robot vacuum did not leave any dog hair behind. Unfortunately, Xiaomi only installed a single side brush in the X10. Nevertheless, I will have to give the X10 credit for the fact that the robot navigated well during the vacuuming process and left corners and hard-to-reach surfaces far cleaner than one would initially assume.
Carpets proved to be the X10’s kryptonite. After vacuuming, we found 93% of the scattered oatmeal and just 75% of the scattered sand in the dust bin. In addition, the robot vacuum cleaner constantly got stuck on carpets due to the mop pad or required several attempts to get onto the carpet. Admittedly, the result really does not look elegant—however, there is a very simple explanation for this: The Xiaomi X10 does not lift its mop pad.
Let’s move on to the mopping performance which unfortunately, is not impressive at all. The Xiaomi X10 needed to make several passes in the review until slightly dried ketchup was—for the most part—scrubbed away. In addition, the robot vacuum cleaner failed to clean the spilled ketchup and left a rather sticky floor behind.
The battery life, on the other hand, was solid. In our review, the vacuum used up around 25% battery life after a 28-minute cleaning tour and cleaned 15 m² of living space in the process. I provided you with an approximate battery life here because the app shows the battery status in terms of remaining bars and not percentages. Personally, I would prefer a concrete percentage indication of the battery status—admittedly, this is a matter of personal preference and should not distract from the acceptable battery performance in any way.
When the Xiaomi X10 needed more juice or wanted to empty its dust container, the robot vacuum cleaner will inform the user via voice while making its way back to the docking station. Speaking of charging, the entire charging process took approximately 3.5 hours. You can also specify whether the robot vacuum cleaner should continue its work from where it left off after charging via the app.
My conclusion of the Xiaomi X10
With the Xiaomi X10, you get a vacuum robot that is extremely potent for cleaning up smooth surfaces. Only carpets posed problems for the Xiaomi X10 due to the mop pad. Driving itself over carpets is a literal hurdle for the X10 because it does not lift the mop pad while having to reckon with significant performance losses, especially with fine particles on carpets.
This robot vacuum cleaner can also mop, but this is not the X10’s ultimate strength. The robot vacuum will get rid of smaller stains, but I would still recommend against using this robot vacuum cleaner for mopping. The Xiaomi Home app impressed us with a wide range of available settings.
On the whole, you get a hardworking robot vacuum cleaner for €499, which vacuums up smooth surfaces thoroughly without any problems. In addition, there is a docking station with a self-empyting function, which is certainly something special in this price category. If you can ignore its poorer performance on carpets and are primarily interested in vacuuming smooth floors, I can definitely recommend the Xiaomi X10.
