Such is when a company competes in-house with its most popular robot.

Introductory

It’s no secret, to this day, the Xiaomi Roborock S50 vacuum cleaner has been the runner-up. I’ve tried enough machines, but I haven’t been able to get the efficiency and knowledge that the S50 knows from any other robot yet. Okay, I know good, I already have a successor, which knows a lot more, but its price is still in the skies, so I would definitely wait with the purchase until, say, Black Friday.

This passion led to the fact that when Banggood asked me to try a new machine called the Xiaomi VIOMI V2, I couldn’t say no. It has better capabilities based on the paper shape than the Roborock S50, yet is cheaper than that. Immediately curious, I couldn’t miss the opportunity to clean the apartment with it.

And what is the experience? There’s something I don’t like, but it’s basically a real, harsh competitor, so it’s a little incomprehensible to me why it was put on the market at all. I wonder why we need to start another competitor within the company? I will not give an answer to this question now, but whether it is worth buying a vacuum cleaner yes!

Packaging and exterior

It's not worth wasting a word on the box. Simple cardboard, everything is nicely arranged inside. In addition to the EU standard power supply, we find the dock, the water tank, a second MOP, and two side brushes, one of which is a spare, so we don’t have to buy this until later.

Which, in turn, is definitely worth a few sentences on the outside. It really can’t even be mentioned on one page with the Roborock S50 because it has become simple and functional rather than beautiful. The VIOMI V2, on the other hand, got a flashy cover that made us happy to click. With a bright, tiny dotted pattern, circular lines on top of the laser cannon, it looks incredibly good!

Anyway, the S50 and VIOMI are essentially the same in size, the latter a few millimeters higher, so there is no difference. This is good, because with us, the S50 fits under essentially all the furniture, which means that there will be no problem with the VIOMI, let's say, it gets stuck under the bed.

The exterior is also normal in other respects. Round shape, top of the gun turret, dust or water tank under the openable lid (I’ll write about that later), and two buttons that let us start cleaning without a phone or command the machine back to the charger.

At the bottom there is a roller brush and a side brush, and of course the wheels, which help you through the thresholds, for example. Both brushes are easy to remove and clean, and we also get a tool very similar to the one in the S50, with which we can cut the hair and hairs wrapped around the roller. I’ve already loved this at Roborock, it makes the brush incredibly easy to clean.

There are more than ten sensors in the vacuum cleaner, these clearly show the infrared in front and the fall arrest sensors on the edges.

abilities

I already wrote in the introduction that on paper this machine is better than the Roborock S50. This is partly true, but there are two points where it is not. Let's start with these! For some completely incomprehensible reason, the pressure sensor sensor was missing from the sensors. This is necessary so that the machine cannot get stuck under anything. I’m not saying you can’t live without it, we don’t need it because of our furniture, but it’s still weird that it was left out.

The second thing is mopping. This is one of the huge advantages of VIOMI V2 anyway, so the something for something principle applies here. What is it about? About the fact that the VIOMI V2 is the only Xiaomi vacuum cleaner that can dispense water on its own while washing. For this, a solenoid valve was built into the water tank, which nicely opens and closes the water path. In addition, the machine has been given a brutally large water tank, which predicts that we are really getting a real mop function here. This will be partly the case, but let's not run so far!

Below the VIOMI V2 water tank you will find the heads on which the water drips. There are four of them, which fit into the four holes in the bottom plate of the vacuum cleaner, meaning that water drips from the tank directly into the inside of the mop head, even in a fairly large amount. The company does not accidentally add two MOP wipers to the machine. One can only wipe easily wet, but the other can also wipe with plenty of water and then wipe the floor dry with another part.

So far okay, that sounds really good, but what's the problem here? Well, it's just that we can put either a dust container or a water tank in the machine, meaning it won't vacuum and wipe at the same time.

The Roborock S50 was probably chosen by many because it can “wash up”. The person who asked me didn’t make this mistake because I told him the machine doesn’t wash up, it just wipes it. That is, on a hard floor, parquet, in addition to vacuuming, the wet MOP also removed the last stuck dust particles, making the floor completely dust-free.

At VIOMI, it was decided to sacrifice this ability, in exchange for giving it a normal mop function. Whether this is good or not is up to you.

There are three more important things about capabilities. The first was the battery capacity, which is smaller than the Roborock S50. I don’t classify this as a serious negative, because even with this smaller battery, it loosely saves 80 minutes, and if it discharges it goes back and charges itself. So I'm not bothered by the cattle, I'm not at home anyway, then you can charge me if you want, the point is that by the time I get home the cleaning is ready.

The second is the laser sensor. This is common with more expensive Xiaomi vacuum cleaners, but it shouldn’t be left without a word. The dilapidated LIDAR system maps the spaces to be cleaned in real time, “sees” the furniture, its legs, walls, and everything it needs to clean. On the other hand, and this is a very important argument, our privacy is not hurt by camera vacuum cleaners. We don’t have to worry about the camera image landing on a remote server and others watching us slip out of the bath without clothes.

The third thing is suction. You can choose from three levels, by implication the weakest is the quietest in one and vice versa, the strongest is the loudest. This strongest gear is stronger anyway than the Roborock S50, 2000 Pa instead of 2150, so the sound is a bit bigger. We can see this as a problem, but see the previous point, if I’m not home I can’t hear it, so I don’t even bother. In return, it also cleans more efficiently due to the higher suction power. That is, for me, this is more good than bad!

Anyway, the quiet mode is really quiet. That is, if for some perverse reason we want to vacuum in the evenings, in our presence, we can even watch TV in the meantime.

Speaking of suction strength, the carpet cleaning mode has been left out of the capabilities. Don’t think of any big smart solution here, it’s just that if the vacuuming at Roborock went to, say, middle gear, it sensed the carpet to the maximum. This ability looks very good on paper, but I don’t think it makes any sense. Again, I’m not home when it comes to cleaning, so why not use the strongest gear. I’ve always used it, so then the S50 didn’t alternate performance on the mat because there was nowhere else to turn the suction power.

Phone App

Before the machine arrived, I read on the net that there are two versions of it. One communicates through the Xiaomi Home app while the other communicates through the Mijia app. The copy from Banggood worked with the Xiaomi Home app, which I was happy about because I use it for my smart gadgets at home anyway. However, by plugging in the vacuum cleaner, I got into trouble. I tried unsuccessfully for at least half an hour when I finally remembered trying to move the location from China to Hungary. I had it in China because a lot of devices used to only work through the Chinese server. Well, the VIOMI V2 refuses to communicate with the Chinese server, but as I switched to Hungarian it recognized the machine and I could already use it. Heureka!

You could easily say I already have in my blood the use of programs added to smart vacuum cleaners. But no, it’s not because I write that slap is simple, but because it really is. He doesn't know Hungarian, but regardless of that, the basic functions are included in a transparent and understandable way. It's as simple as a wooden wedge, as they say!

The program has two negatives to mention here as well. One is that the currently available version lacks the ability to run on a scheduled basis. The location is there, but if you click it it is not yet available. That is, it will be later. The other is that it does not monitor the status of accessories. Okay, that's only half true, because Roborock only inferred the wear on the brushes from how many hours it was in it, but I still thought it was good to say after a certain amount of cleaning that the round brush or roller brush might be worth it, possibly HEPA to replace the filter. In the case of VIOMI V2, it is our job to keep in mind that the filter needs to be replaced sometimes, and the brushes should also be checked from time to time.

Overall, the controls are perfect, easy to use, the thing deserves a big five.

Use

When the Roborock S50 arrived at the time, I spent long half hours watching what it was doing. To react to obstacles that wriggle through “forgotten” cables outside is what a table or a much more complicated shaped swivel chair does. I loved it! He avoided obstacles so cleverly, he fought himself so cleverly out of distressed situations that I just opened my mouth. Why am I writing this down? Because the VIOMI V2 detto is like that. I don't see a difference between the two machines. It neatly maps the rooms, divides them into zones, which it then cleans up nicely, one after the other. You can insert a virtual wall through the application, ban areas, or assign zones to clean it, so the two machines have the same capabilities.

It is a good idea to start using the telephone setting anyway. If Hungarian is the localization setting as described above, then we have an easy task. The two buttons on the cover must be pressed simultaneously for 30 seconds, in which case the wifi is reset and the Xiaomi Home program finds the vacuum cleaner. You will be asked if the wireless network your phone is using is good, if so press a reason and the setup is done!

And then come the most important question, that is, how to clean up? The super bit weak expression here, because the whole thing is perfect, at least the vacuuming function. The opening of the powder container was large enough so he was able to suck up even a half-broken ice cream stick. The scattered cat food is child's play for him, so guided by a stupid idea, I took it out to the terrace and also picked up the fruit with it, popularly called the plumage plucking from the tree. He ate them all, true, then I had to wipe the bottom with a damp cloth, but the thing worked. Sweeping, vacuuming big green check mark!

Here is the mopping as the biggest novelty. Well, it got better, but I think with the present technology it will never be like when we wash it by hand. The reason for this is simple, you cannot press the mop part hard enough on the floor. He doesn’t “see” it, oops, a little syrup dripped down there in the kitchen and it turned into a black blob. Wiping with a lot of water is nonetheless spectacularly better than the Roborock S50, simply because more water can soak up stains that just the wet Roborock MOP couldn’t. So the conclusion in this matter is that unfortunately the big juvas won’t go away either, but if we just want it to wash up smoothly, we’ll be happy with the performance.

Conclusion

Is something else missing? I don't think so, but if you have any unanswered questions that stretch your insides, don't hesitate to ask them, I'll try to give you the right information!

I have described the pros and cons above compared to the biggest competitor, the Xiaomi Roborock S50. I don't know which vacuum cleaner you will choose after that, but yes, if you already have an S50 at home, it is not worth replacing it. Not because VIOMI would be bad, it just doesn’t offer so much more (or less here and there) that it’s worth thinking about an exchange.

The problem is much bigger if you just planned to buy a Roborock S50 because then it’s hard to tell you to stay that way or buy it instead. I would be one, unless a peasant with a hair's breadth, but I would choose VIOMI. One reason is that it is slightly cheaper. The other is that the biggest advantage (or disadvantage from another angle) of the mop function is very sympathetic to me, even for several reasons.

First and foremost, although there was the option at Roborock, I didn’t use it. I didn’t use it because the flow or shut-off of the water couldn’t be controlled, so then if the tank was up, the carpet was also washed. Okay, it didn’t get dripping wet, so much water couldn’t fit in the tank, but it moved harder on the longer-fiber carpet with the mop unit attached to the bottom. Plus, I was lazy. I just didn’t feel like filling the tank, I rather left the whole thing to hell.

VIOMI, on the other hand, has no such issue. If the dust container is inside, you can't wash it anyway. If, on the other hand, I want it to mop, it does so much more efficiently than the Roborock S50.

How do I recommend this purchase? Nana, clearly, since it's a high-end vacuum cleaner that costs a little over $ 300, or roughly $ 100, at least in the current coupon promotion. There is no question that if you want to buy a good robot, it is worth the price, and even though it is new, it does not have the usual surcharge for novelty.

If you can befriend the idea of ​​having to handle the mop and vacuum functions separately, or if you are able to live temporarily without timing, you will love it!

The Xiaomi VIOMI V2 Laser Robot Vacuum Cleaner is priced at $ 399,99, from which we now know the G925b3c with a coupon code to carve $ 80. The price will be $ 319,99, so even with the current crappy exchange rate, we can only add it to the basket for a little over 94 thousand forints.

You can buy it here:

Xiaomi VIOMI V2 laser robotic vacuum cleaner with mop function - Coupon code: BG925b3c

Don't forget, choose the duty-free and completely free EU Priority Line delivery when shopping!