ECOVACS DEEBOT N20 PRO PLUS - When Less Is Best

Make no mistake, I've been a convert of robot vacuums for years. There's nothing like coming home from work - or even a holiday - to discover your house has been freshly vacuumed.

But if there's one thing I've learned about these technological timesavers, it's that they require more attention than you might have initially suspected.

Just because they're robots doesn't mean they can do everything themselves. Yes, some have their own self-cleaning stations, but those stations still need emptying eventually. Brushes and filters also wear out over time and will need replacing. 

The good news is, one of the latest DEEBOT robot vacuums from ECOVACS now does a much better job of looking after itself.

The DEEBOT N20 PRO PLUS doesn't look dramatically different from other ECOVACS robot vacuums but the same can't be said for its auto-empty station. It's quite a compact home base and unlike previous models that contained large, disposable bags to collect the dust, dirt and other detritus, here ECOVACS introduces its PureCyclone Technology. 

Instead of emptying into a large bag that you eventually have to throw away and replace, everything is sucked directly into an easily-removable, 400ml dust chamber which just clicks out for you to empty, then clicks back in just as easily.

There are so many advantages to this new system, other than the fact you're not having to fork out for replacement dust bags every few months. Obviously, it means less waste, so it's better for the environment. It also maintains total suction right up until the chamber is full and the dust chamber on board the N20 vacuum itself stays spotlessly empty after every clean. This in turn means the vacuum also maintains full power and I can assure you, that 8000Pa of suction leaves your floors looking amazing, every time.

The N20 PRO PLUS also features a new, four-stage filter system, keeping any unwanted dust or odours to an absolute minimum - great news for you allergy-prone sneezers out there.

Another new innovation is the ZeroTangle main brush head. ECOVACS claims the combination of flat and outward-rotating angled bristles with a double set of comb teeth prevents hair getting wrapped around the roller brush. 

This is a constant issue in my house, as it is occupied by three long-haired ladies and a dog. Unfortunately, the DEEBOT's ZeroTangle system doesn't quite seem to live up to the hype and I still find myself having to cut tangled hair from the roller every few cleans. On the upside, there aren't any rubber blades on this brush head, which always seem to be the first things to wear out on other vacuums so again, it looks like I won't have to replace the roller as often.

There's only one side brush on the N20 PRO PLUS whereas many other robot vacuums have two. These spinning, brushes are designed to sweep debris from corners and the base of skirting boards into the path of the main roller to be sucked up. I was worried one brush less would make this device half as effective but as far as I can tell, it's more than smart enough to compensate, spinning around in tight spaces to ensure the most thorough clean possible. Yet again, this will save me money as it's one less accessory I'll have to replace when it wears out.

Depending on your budget, robot vacuums handle mopping one of two ways; either you manually add some kind of mopping attachment or there's an automated filling and emptying feature on the base station. Having your robot fill itself with clean water, go out and mop, then return to drain the dirty water and clean itself certainly sounds very sci-fi. But guess what? Sooner or later you're going to have to fill up that clean water tank in the base station and deal with the dirty water tank too. Ick.

Unless things can progress to the point where the base station can be plumbed in, (no, I don't know how that would work either, but they did it with fridges) I now think it's easier to do things the N20 way; a separate mopping module with its own water reservoir and a replaceable pad underneath. You just fill it up, pop it in and let the automated mopping begin. I've always been impressed with the results from DEEBOT mopping and with the latest OZMO Pro 2.0 vibrating mopping system, ECOVACS has only improved the experience, leaving a spotless, quick-dry finish.

There have also been improvements to the high-traction drive wheels on the N20 PRO PLUS, now ensuring door-sills, mats and rugs up to 20mm high are literally no obstacle. This can actually cause its own issues, which I'll explain shortly - but for the most part, I've found the object detection, avoidance and general manoeuvrability to be first-rate.

The potential for trouble arises once the N20 PRO PLUS has completed its initial scan and mapping of your floor plan when you first set it up. Although the automated mapping procedure is very quick and leaves you with an accurate map you can customise, if you have floor-level windows or ranch-sliders, the DEEBOT will scan right through the glass and add whatever's outside as an extra room. Unless you then separate this "ghost room" using a virtual boundary on your map in the ECOVACS HOME app, next time the N20 vacuums when you leave the ranch-slider open, it'll probably just carry on outside, easily summiting any low doorstep, happily vacuuming or mopping your deck.

This is exactly what happened to me and of course, I was able to solve the issue with the late application of the aforementioned virtual boundary. Trouble is, while out on the deck, the DEEBOT must have sucked up some fairly large leaves. Quite impressive... until I couldn't figure out why that oh-so-powerful PureCylone auto-empty station wasn't emptying anything. Turned out, one of those leaves was blocking up the works.

Nice to know there's enough suction for an object of that size but kind of annoying I can't just delete those "ghost rooms" off my map. This has always been an issue with the DEEBOT system and I can't wait for the day a simple app update finally fixes it.

Before I conclude, battery life is definitely worth a mention. The N20 PRO PLUS claims an amazing 300-minute runtime on its fully-charged, 5200mAh battery. I haven't run it that long to check because it doesn't take anything like that long to clean my whole house. This is by far the best battery performance from any robot vacuum I've tested to date.

Better battery, efficient and effective fuss-free mopping, an improved brush system and best of all, no bag to replace. Ever. If they could just nail that Anti-Tangle thing, the N20 PRO PLUS would be close to perfect.

    

Click here for more information on the ECOVACS DEEBOT N20 PRO PLUS.

Nanoleaf Sense+ - Make Your Smart Home More Accessible

If I lived alone, I'd have the smartest home imaginable.

Depending on the time of day (or night) each room would light up as I entered. Music would start playing automatically. The temperature would always be 22°. At a single command, the lights would go down, my TV would turn on and my favourite show would start playing from where I left off.

I literally already have all the gear to make that a reality.

But alas... I'm not the only one who lives here. Not only are the other cohabitants unwilling to sit down and learn exactly how all these gadgets work so they can control them themselves, I'm not sure I have the patience or communication skills to teach them.

I get it. As it stands, I use three different virtual assistants to control dozens of devices, not to mention those that actually work better with their own apps or remotes. I have to admit, it's a bit of a nightmare really and I'm not sure why my family puts up with any of it.

So when Nanoleaf came up with a simple way for everyone to control the lights, I was definitely interested.

The Nanoleaf Sense+ - to put it simply - is just a switch.

Which means the next time Domestic Manager complains, "Why can't there just be a switch?" I'll be able to point to it. In fact, I'll be able to hand it to her.

That's because although the Sense+ looks a lot like any other wall-mounted light switch, it's only the mounting plate that's fixed to the wall; either screwed on or fixed in place using the less-permanent adhesive backing. The switch itself merely magnetises in place - in fact, it can stick to any metal surface that's magnet-friendly.

Being completely wireless means the Sense+ is perhaps more a remote control than a switch and as such, it'll do a lot more than just turn your lights on and off.

Although, let's not underestimate the elegant simplicity of two nice big buttons - one with a picture of an illuminated light bulb and one obviously unlit. No doubt at all what's going on there.

Then, in the middle of the matchbox-sized pull-out module you'll find a dimmer rocker. Again, no ambiguity - a simple plus or minus for brighter or darker. No instructions required.

Things get a little more complicated with the left and right-hand buttons though. These are fully programmable via the Nanoleaf app and can be assigned three different functions each, depending on what sort of lights you're controlling.

It's worth noting here that not all Nanoleaf smart lights are compatible with the Sense+, so you'll probably want to do a bit of Googling before you purchase, just to make sure all your lights are going to play nicely together. I've found results can be a bit inconsistent when you group older generation lights with the newer, Matter-over-Thread-enabled models so you're better off upgrading anyway.

Regardless, it's important to update the firmware on any Nanoleaf devices you want to pair with the Sense+ before you start. This is, unfortunately, a torturously long process which often doesn't work first time. Even if you've set up your lights using Apple's Home app on an iOS device, you'll still be directed to the Nanoleaf app for the firmware update. And while, in theory, you can queue several several lights for updating simultaneously, I'd advise against it, because if something goes wrong halfway through, you may have to factory reset the light completely and start from scratch.

As you will have gathered, this is not the part of the process every member of the household should get involved in.

However, once everything is updated, you've paired the Sense+ and created a "Control Group" for it to link with, it's then a very easy process to assign functions for single clicks, double clicks and long presses of the left and right buttons.

For example, a single click of the right-hand button cycles all the lights in my living room through a list of different colours. Meanwhile, a double click of the left-hand button sets them to warm white.

But the real beauty of Nanoleaf smart lights is their ability to show customisable scenes - changing patterns of colours you can select from a growing list of preset templates, or you can create your own. Once you've saved any of these scenes to your list of favourites, they too can be assigned to one of the buttons on the Sense+.

This has got to be great news for any long-suffering family members of a tech geek like me. Now there's an easy-to find, physical switch to control the lights with. Just like the old days.

But wait...

The Sense+ has two other hidden features that give it its name; a motion sensor and a daylight sensor. This means you may not need to use any of the buttons at all. You can set the Sense+ to turn on the lights when it gets dark or when someone enters the room. Or more usefully, a combination of the two; automatically light up the room when someone enters... but only at night.

Both motion and light sensitivity can be adjusted to your preference using the app and both sensors do the job perfectly.

And because Sense+ uses Matter-over-Thread rather than just simple bluetooth or potentially crowded Wi-Fi, the commands from the buttons are carried out pretty much instantly, with almost no lag whatsoever.

When it comes to summing up the Sense+, the word "simple" keeps coming to mind. It's simple to install (and looks just like any other light switch when magnetised in place). And it's simple to use - meaning the rest of the family are no longer living in the dark when it comes to the smart lights in your home. 

The update process should be simple too - unfortunately, this has always been an issue with Nanoleaf products and there's still a lot of room for improvement. But don't let that one gripe put you off setting up your own Sense+ system. If I had my way, I'd have one in every room of the house.

    

Click here for more information and pricing on the Nanoleaf Sense+ smart wireless switch.