ECOVACS Deebot N8 PRO+ Review: Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum and Mop

Some of the most important technologies in our lives are the ones we take for granted. When there’s a big, highly-anticipated release like a new game system, everyone is talking about it.

But if you look at our everyday lives, there are all kinds of less-exciting, but essential, technologies.

Take the vacuum cleaner, for example. It was actually one of the most revolutionary inventions of the early 20th century.

Before its invention, if you wanted to clean a rug, you had to take it outside and beat it with a stick. Suddenly, cleaning your rug was as simple as running the vacuum. It saved a lot of time and effort.

The dawn of the 21st century brought us the iRobot Roomba, the first robot vacuum. Now you didn’t even have to run the vacuum yourself, just empty it every now and then. But early robot vacuums weren’t all that smart. They missed a lot of spots, and wandered around at random. Modern robot vacs are a lot smarter.

Today’s robotic vacuums have advanced mapping capabilities, so they don’t miss any spots. Modern technology has also made small motors more powerful, so you can get a lot more suction. So if you haven’t looked at a robot vac in a while, it’s well worth giving them a second look.

ECOVACS Deebot N8 PRO+

We’re about to review the ECOVACS Deebot N8 PRO+. This robotic vacuum is self-emptying, with a large base station that has its own dust bag. It also has a built-in mop, along with a high-quality main roller and excellent object avoidance capabilities. It also has big enough drive wheels to cross an 0.8-inch obstacle.

But to find out how well it really performs, we’ll have to look beneath the surface. We’ll have to talk about all the details of the engineering, from the brushes to the sensors. We’ll need to look at the suction power of the motor, and how the mopping function works.

And, of course, we’ll have to dig into the smartphone app, and how you control the vacuum. After all that, we’ll have a clearer picture of what we’re dealing with. Let’s begin!

Overall Design

The ECOVACS Deebot N8 PRO+ has an attractive black housing with a satin finish. It doesn’t collect fingerprints, but it also does a reasonably good job of not collecting dust. There’s a little oblong platform towards the front of the top, which houses the main LIDAR sensor. Across the front of the housing, you’ll notice additional black sensors. All of these are essential parts of the vacuum’s navigation system, which we’ll discuss more momentarily.

On the back of the housing, you can see the water level in the transparent reservoir. In terms of physical controls, there’s only one button. This is a small power button located to the right of the LIDAR sensor. Press it to initiate a cleaning cycle, and the vacuum will go to work. There are plenty of more advanced control options, but you access all of those through the companion app.

The vacuum comes with a base station, which is larger than your average robot vacuum base. That’s because it has to be large enough to house the dust bag, which takes up most of its volume. The actual charging platform isn’t oversized at all. But the oval-shaped front part of the housing is a tall cylinder. This is made from the same smooth plastic and the vacuum, and the lid is hinged at the back. To open it, just press down, and it will pop up to reveal the dust bag. There’s an LED indicator on the front of the housing that lets you know when the bag is full.

The kit includes an extra dust bag, a single washable mop pad, and 10 disposable mop pads. You also get the benefit of a 12-month manufacturer’s warranty. If anything goes wrong in that time period, you’ll be 100% covered.

Drive and Brushes

On the bottom of the vacuum’s housing, you’ll see the main roller brush, located right at the centerline. This brush is very well-engineered, with a combination of long, stiff bristles and a shorter set of silicone ribs. The combination of the two provides excellent performance, both on carpets and on solid floors.

There’s a set of two brushes to the front and sides of the main roller. These brushes have long bristles that sweep out to the sides of the housing like helicopter blades. They bring dirt and dust in from the outside and push it under the main roller, so it gets sucked into the vacuum. On a carpet, this doesn’t really do much. But it significantly improves the performance on any kind of solid flooring.

Trailing behind the main roller is a surface where you can attach a mopping pad. You don’t have to if you only want to run a vacuuming cycle. In fact, you probably shouldn’t, since you’ll just be dirtying a mop pad for no reason.

The two main drive wheels are located to the back and sides of the main roller brush. These are big and fat, large enough to cross an 0.8-inch transition. The largest standard transitions are 0.75-inch, so you can cover 100% of most standard floor plans. The drive wheel is located at the front, and is motorized to swivel 360 degrees. This allows it to steer the vacuum around your house.

With all of that being said, the Deebot N8 PRO+ is a fairly pricey vacuum. If you don’t need something self-emptying, take a look at the Bagotte BG800. It has a simple, non-self-emptying design, with otherwise similar features. It’s also much more affordable.

Cleaning Performance

This vacuum has a maximum suction power of 2,600 Pascals (Pa). That’s around average for a robot vac, but it’s somewhat disappointing at this price. Even so, you can clean any kind of carpet, and suck up just about any ordinary mess. You can also save batteries by not running on maximum power all the time. There are three different suction levels, and even the lowest is fine for ordinary dusting.

Along the same lines, there are four different mop flow rates. The lowest does little more than dampen the pad. On higher levels, it’s still not a huge amount of water. But there’s liable to be some residue left over, which is something to be aware of.

One useful feature of the Deebot N8 PRO+ is the automatic carpet detection. When the vacuum senses a carpet, two things will happen. First, the motor speed will automatically ramp up to the maximum power. Second, the flow of water to the mop pad will be shut off. That way, you don’t get your carpet wet every time you run the vacuum.

If you need more suction power, there are plenty of options. One excellent example is the Yeedi Vac Max. It’s also a combination of a vacuum and a mop, and it provides up to 3,000Pa of suction. On the downside, it can only cross a 0.35-inch transition, so it’s not suitable for all floor plans.

Battery and Charging

The battery on this vacuum will last for around 110 minutes, but take this with a grain of salt. A lot depends on what your settings are. The higher the suction level, the faster your battery will drain. Similarly, you’ll draw more power when you’re also mopping your floor simultaneously. We’d normally expect at least two hours of performance, and this falls just short of the mark. Still, you can expect to clean most floor plans on a single charge.

Even if you have a larger home or a lot of carpets, you’re still going to be alright. When the battery starts to get low, the Deebot N8 PRO+ will automatically return to its home base. Once it’s done recharging, it will pick up cleaning again right where it left off.

If you want a vacuum with a very long-lasting battery, consider the Rozi R7. It will run for an impressive 260 minutes per charge, or more than four hours. It also has a low-maintenance, self-emptying design. Then again, the roller isn’t well-designed for deep pile carpets.

Setup and Maintenance

As with any modern robot vacuum, the Deebot N8 PRO+ will have to map your house to be truly effective. To start with, download and install the smartphone app, and make sure the battery is fully charged. Pair your phone with the vacuum, and follow the instructions to perform the initial setup. Then, the vacuum will perform an initial run, where it maps out your house. The built-in sensors provide excellent object avoidance, navigating around even the smallest obstacles.

Thanks to the built-in dust bag, you don’t have to do much in the way of maintenance. It has a capacity of 2.5 liters, enough to last for around a month. Obviously, a lot depends on how dirty your floor is, and how often you’re cleaning.

Everyday Use

Once you’ve set up the vacuum and the app, everyday operation is easy. Within the app, you can view the map of your home that the Deebot has created. You can name your rooms, clean rooms individually, or clean your entire floor at once. You can schedule your cleanings daily or weekly, and for the whole floor or for a portion of it. You can also set no-go zones – areas for the vacuum to avoid. This is also where you adjust the vacuum and mopping power levels.

If that’s not enough, you can pair the vacuum up with your home voice assistant. It’s compatible with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, and there are many useful commands available.

Final Verdict

The ECOVACS Deebot N8 PRO+ is a versatile little vacuum that’s great for most floor plans. Its self-emptying function means that there’s very little maintenance. And with its advanced object avoidance, it’s less likely than other robot vacs to get caught somewhere. All in all, this is a well-designed home appliance.