VIOMI S9 UV - Xiaomi robot vacuum cleaner, which also takes out the trash
VIOMI S9 UV is the next step in the evolution of robotic vacuum cleaners, you can forget about emptying the dust container.
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Introductory
For the past few years, VIOMI tests have always been found for some reason, which of course I don't mind. I don’t mind, because that’s how I witnessed that after the initial stumbles, that the manufacturer’s robotic vacuum cleaners became better and better.
Despite the initially a bit regrettable opinions, I saw the potential in the first machines (despite the software shortcomings) because a lot of innovative ideas were incorporated. Then the years went by and the machines got better and better.
Today, I don’t use either a Xiaomi or roborock, but a Viomi vacuum cleaner, the previous top model, the Viomi V3.
However, Viomi has reached the level of S9 UV. Now, not only within the brand, not only within the Xiaomi ecosystem, but also in general, the high-end robots market has made a lasting impression. We have now come to the point where we do not have to clean the dust container every 1-2 vacuumings, in fact, in a good case we never have to touch it again (but we have to, but not because of the dust, but because of the water tank).
Luckily, I was able to try out this machine as well, and I love handing over my article about it!
Packaging, accessories
Big, heavy and white box. Compared to having a robotic vacuum cleaner in it, it seems unreasonably heavy. Of course, I'm not surprised by its size, as it has enough accessories outside the base machine.
First, I need to mention right away the most important thing, which is nothing more than a huge dock. In most cases, these devices are used to return the machine and clean the battery after cleaning. However, with the Viomi Alpha S9 UV, you will have much more to do than that, but a little later on that!
We also get a MOP in the package, a spare side brush, MOPs made of disposable paper (I’ll write about that too), and finally some dust bags. The latter item may seem a little strange to a robotic vacuum cleaner, too. It's not even a little.
So far, all the usual, let's look at the machine!
External
Well, the machine has changed a lot since then. At Viomina, the exterior has been unchanged since V2. Almost. Of course, the color, the decoration of the cover is different from generation to generation, but the point remains. The placement and size of the dust container, the roller brush, the side brush, were all the same, as was the size and, with a slight difference, the weight.
This was good, as most of the components and filters were compatible, so we could buy the more expensive V3 large powder or water tank for the cheap Viomi SE, for example.
Well, in the case of the Viomi S9 UV, we have to say goodbye to this comfort!
Sure, there’s a good reason for the change, which I’ll cover in the next chapter, but in the meantime, let’s see what the engineers conjured up!
First, two things appear. One is that on previous machines, the laser gun turret has been shifted slightly toward the rear flap, while on the S9 it has been moved to the center of the machine’s cover, and with it the openable cover has disappeared, so the dust tank and water tank are elsewhere.
The first part is left, here the impact sensor and the UV sensor are also unchanged. From the back, however, we can already see serious differences, as the combined water and dust container came here. It became a kind of pull-out, drawer system.
Looking at the belly of the vacuum cleaner, we find a change, though, it’s just limited to the tank. The usual roller brush, the side circular brush, is in place, just as the position of the fall protection sensors has not changed.
If someone asks now if it’s gotten prettier or uglier, I’ll gently shrug my shoulders. The dog knows. For me, too, it's just a robotic vacuum cleaner. It looks good in black, of course, or as it came to me, in white as well. The blue inserts that break the whiteness look good, so it’s good.
Black is not a very grateful color anyway, you can really see the dust on it. This can be a problem if the machine is always in mind, but with us, for example, it “hides” after cleaning, so the dust grains sitting on the paint of my own Viomi V3 piano lacquer do not bother me in the slightest.
Knowledge and experience
In most (and indeed all) robotic vacuum cleaner articles, the experience section was the longest and the most interesting. It will be different now!
The simple reason for this is that the Viomi Alpha S9 is a UV high-end machine, there is simply nothing that would not work on it. So, knowledge is more interesting here because we can’t separate the paper form with the sharp use of what they describe, it really can.
So knowledge!
Let’s start with the most interesting thing that probably interests most potential buyers, and that is the dock and dustbags.
In the case of robotic vacuum cleaners, you’re one thing you have from the beginning that I think everyone hates. Yes, this is emptying the dust container. In the case of the Viomi V3, we got a bitang big tank, but that meant we had to give up wiping because there was no room left for the water.
Even the large tank was just enough to, in a good case, two complete vacuum cleaners, so we can say that we saved one tank empty per two cleanings. But even so, emptying the dust container is not my favorite pastime. Not really!
But how about I say that with the Viomi Alpha S9 UV, you never have to bother emptying the dust tank again in a stinky life? That sounds pretty good! Okay, sometimes it doesn’t hurt to wash under the tap, but if you don’t, nothing happens either.
Moreover, the manufacturer claims that not only do we not have to deal with the dust container, but also for about a month without the dust!
In this case, the docking station is also a second vacuum cleaner with a paper bag and a motor. When the S9 is docked, it not only charges itself with electricity, at the same time the vacuum cleaner built into the dock also sucks out the dust that has accumulated in the dust container of the machine, straight into the dust bag.
And the dust bag is like a better traditional vacuum cleaner. When we take it out of place, its mouth closes so there is no chance of anything spilling out of it.
What else has changed? Of course, mopping, or rather, wiping. Luckily, the much more efficient Y mop remained, but we also got a pump in the water tank. The latter has both advantages and disadvantages.
The downside is that from now on we will be forced to use soft (distilled) water for the machine if we don’t want the tiny pump to scale. The good news is that mopping will be much more controlled than it used to be.
In previous Viomi vacuum cleaners, water was transferred from the tank to the MOP by gravity. In the case of the Viomi V3, the amount of water was already controllable, but not in the case of the S9, where the water can be completely shut off by switching off the pump.
With the innovation, it has become possible to create virtual no-mop zones in the telephone application, on the map of the apartment, where the machine will not specifically wash (wipe).
Then there’s another really good thing that has been missing from all Viomi (and even almost all other) robot vacuum cleaners so far, and that is the anti-jamming sensor. Interestingly, it was already in the top roborock S50 years ago, and then the manufacturers somehow forgot about it.
Well, from a high-end machine, this really wasn't to be missed anymore, it wasn't even missed at Viomina. From now on, there can be no obstacle to the inwardly lower bedding, where our robot still goes in, but then the gun turret gets stuck and never comes out on its own again.
It is important to mention that the suction power has also increased compared to its predecessors, though not much, but the small one also matters. Which increased the battery capacity more, as compared to the 3 mAh of the Viomi V4900 we find 5200 mAh here, so the previous cleaning area of 250 square meters available with one charge has been increased to 320 square meters.
And the last real novelty in the name is the UV marking, that is, what the marking covers.
Even the Viomi V3 already had an anti-virus function, but it “cleaned” the dust that got into the dust container. However, in the case of the Viomi S9 UV, a UV lamp was placed on the bottom of the machine. On the one hand, it also disinfects the dust entering the tank (because it is in front of the round brush), on the other hand, it also kills viruses on the floor. So, this solution is perhaps more effective in this respect.
With regard to virus eradication, I would note that it is, of course, effective not only against Covid, but against all viruses, and even when exposed to UV light, some ozone is produced, and it is also effective against fungal growth. So, even in the apartment of virus skeptics, the method works.
I have to go back to the beginning of the article here where I mentioned that I am still talking about paper MOP shawls. Well, these paper towels have been available since V3. Even on that machine, its use was tied to virus eradication, as they do not need to be washed, sterilized, etc. we can simply throw it in the trash after use. So the bottom line is that disposable, paper MOP cloths are part of the anti-virus package.
And what has it been so far?
Of course, the Viomi V3, the full knowledge of the top machine so far, has also been included in the S9. That is, change the map editing, suction and sweep strength, the ability to manage multiple maps (for multi-storey houses, for example), timed cleaning, cleaning along the point, zone and walls, automatic carpet detection and of course the replacement of accessories, filters, brushes divorce warning.
So and in short, this machine knows almost everything!
Now may come a few words about the experience!
Viomi is a manufacturer belonging to Xiaomi’s ecosystem, so it’s no surprise that we can install it under Xiaomi’s smart home app. The surface itself is different from the other Xiaomi's children from here on out, of course, so it's different than roborock or Dreame. Some swear by one, others by another, of course there are points in each that can be tied into.
I like the interface of Viomi, but the fact is that it wouldn’t hurt if I could zoom in on the map a little bigger, for example, I could solve the map editing with less effort.
Along with that, the phone interface is friendly, easy to use, I love it.
It’s not worth wasting a lot of words on cleaning, Viomi has always been good at this. Here again, it is worth highlighting the cancellation method on the Y route, which is much more efficient than competing solutions.
What’s also interesting, and a novelty compared to previous vacuum cleaners, is the operation of the dock. There’s nothing wrong with that either, it sucks the dust out of the tank perfectly, but at first it’s astonishing the scream it produces. It could have been carved out of this, although it is true, efficient and fast to empty the dust container, it is likely that this requires a strong air flow, which in turn is accompanied by a noise effect.
Luckily, we don’t have to listen much, and even after docking, it only works for a few moments.
Summary
This article has become a bit shorter than my robotic vacuum cleaner tests in general, which is because while the Viomi S9 UV brings some pretty significant innovations, they don’t need to be specifically explained. Dust bag docking or UV lamp virus writing is a simple but extremely useful thing.
I’ve been a Viomi party myself for a while now, but I haven’t decided yet whether to buy this machine. Here will be the answer to whether I think it is worth buying or not.
Well, I'm currently using my V3, which is the top machine of the previous one. I’m happy with it, it’s flawless, and until my guy starts kindergarten, it’s only turned on 1-2 times a week, in fact, it only happens once every two weeks.
In this way, emptying the dust container is not a problem for us, and I am satisfied with the other capabilities. Because of this, for me, and for those who use their robots like me, there is no point in exchanging. Unless they already have some older, silly robot without a laser.
It will be different if the guys go to kindergarten and there will be no one at home, because then it will make sense to turn it on so that I don’t have to deal with vacuuming, I can write articles. If so, I will consider replacing the Viomi V3 with a docked, bagged machine.
For many, however, it is not the practical considerations but the price that will be the deciding factor. Viomi S9 UV is not cheap.
Of course, a top vacuum cleaner is never cheap, but the price should be considered not only in itself, but also in relation to the competition. For example, we can measure it within the Xiaomi products for the top roborock machine, the S7, the price of which, only the price of the base machine itself, is slightly higher than the price of the Viomi S9 UV with a dock.
Of course, the roborock S7 also has a docking station and automatic dust tank emptying, this soon-to-be-introduced auto-empty dock will have to be paid for separately, and I wouldn't be surprised if the package comes with the $ 800 price tag. to reach. So expensive is just a matter of comparison.
The price of the Viomi S9 UV with the coupon code BGHU0632 from the EU warehouse, with free and fast delivery, so that the price includes VAT, already HUF 177 or $ 600.
If you liked it you can buy it here:
Viomi S9 UV robotic vacuum cleaner with automatic dust container emptying
Is there VAT or no VAT? Do I have to pay duty or not?
In a Banggood store, the distributor will indicate whether or not sales tax is included in the price of that product. If you see the text Inclusive of VAT, the price includes VAT. Banggood pays the sales tax included in the price through the IOSS system, so for you, you don’t have to pay this separately anymore.
In this case, the only additional cost incurred may be the cost of the customs procedure, provided that the value of the product does not exceed EUR 150.
According to the information provided by the Banggood store (and the experience of the packages received during the week), when ordering from their EU warehouses, we do not see any change compared to the older conditions before July 1st. That is, regardless of the value of the package, we do not have to pay VAT, customs and customs clearance costs.
