This robot vacuum cleaner Is different from the other robot vacuum cleaners I have reviewed on the channel, watch on to find out how.
I had a chance to review the Viomi V3 earlier and the Viomi is it’s bigger brother with more features and a couple of nifty additions which I will get to in a bit. It comes in this huge box, other vacuums come in a box 1/3rd the size.
I have here the Viomi S9 UV automatic Dirt Disposal Robot vacuum. This vacuum has UV sterilization and claims 99.90% bacteria would be killed. Reminds me of the lifebuoy and Dettol ad’s. Mijia is xiaomi’s smart assistant, and this vacuum works with it.
Features wise, we have Automatic dirt disposal, which is the highlight of the vacuum, LDS navigation which is LIDAR navigation. 2800PA suction power, pretty powerful. 5200 mAh battery for longer cleaning time. Those were the important features, I will get more into detail about the other features too.
Opening up the box, we have the manual,
the mopping plate, this attaches below your vacuum, and it has a pad already attached.
Inside we have a box of extra disposable mopping pads,
and two extra dust bags.
There is one installed in the charging station so these two are extra.
An extra corner brush is provided as a spare.
Here’s the charging station/dustbin combo.
And here’s the Robot vacuum, wow shiny, and the blue accents make it look futuristic.
The top has two buttons, one for home/recharge and the other is power.
The LIDAR is in the centre of the vacuum, and not on one corner as most vacuums have it. Maybe redesigned to work with the charging dock.
Do you notice this diamond pattern on the front face, a nice blue gradient. Loving the colour. The vacuum is also available in white. UV Disinfect, this is one of the first UV sterilizing robot vacuums from Viomi.
The rear of the vacuum has the dustbin/water tank, oh and the dock charging pins are also on it. The access hole in the tank is through which the charging station would empty the dustbin. The water tank is 250 ml, not the biggest but would be enough for most homes.
This is the underside of the vacuum, with a central rolling brush where the main vacuuming takes place, and it can be opened to clean within.
There is a corner brush on the side which pushes the dirt and debris to the centre to be sucked in.
A front castor wheel allows the vacuum to move in any direction.
The side wheels act as shock absorbers when the vacuum moves up or down a high carpet or wooden flooring.
Sensors are present on the circumference of the vacuum providing it the information on how to navigate through the obstacles.
The side have anti-collision sensors and below are the cliff sensors which prevent the vacuum from falling off heights.
This front bumper protects the vacuum from head on collisions.
The strip you see with LED’s that’s the UV sanitation strip. This strip shines UV light which cleans any germs in its path. The vacuum would automatically turn the UV led’s off when you pick it up to avoid harm.
Now for the charging dock. It continues the blue diamond design on its face, with a viomi logo in the centre.
The metal prongs are for charging and the hole/vent below is how the vacuum’s dustbin would be emptied.
This is the lid which opens up from the top allowing access to the 3-litre dust bag within.
Some instructions on the lid on how we are to replace the dust bag. It’s supposed to provide around 30 days of cleaning before needing to empty it. That does depend on the amount of dirt in the house.
The dustbag slides out easily, making it easy to empty and also replace. Just slide it back in place and done.
There’s a brush provided which can be used to clean the vacuum and it also has a blade which would help with tangled string or hair on the central rolling brush.
The dock comes with a two prong Indian/EU plug.
Let’s set it up and check out how it works.
Connect the dock to power and we have some LED’s light up on the dock’s display. It shows the current charge level and the charging status.
And the led’s above displays the collecting and bag full status. These are just the system testing the led’s during the first start.
Once the dock is ready all the led’s except for the charging led turn off. As the vacuum is connected to the dock it turns on and starts charging.
We need to connect the vacuum to the Xiaomi home app, press and hold the power and recharge button to initiate pairing mode. Follow the instructions on screen, select your Wi-Fi, and it should be paired.
Once paired I ran the vacuum with the vacuum along borders option on, which runs the vacuum along the borders of your house quickly mapping it. This option is present in all Viomi vacuums which helps speed up map generation.
Cool, we have the map all set and now we can name the areas as I like. We can store maps of multiple floors and select between them when required.
Now using the app, I can initiate a cleaning of the entire house or even specific rooms by tapping on their names.
Using map management options we can edit the maps, add virtual walls or restricted areas, setup point vacuuming or area vacuuming too.
I have set up restricted areas in the app, such as the kitchen, bathroom and outdoors so the vacuum doesn’t get damaged or run away. * im free
The suction power is 2800 pascals, which is quite powerful.
The UV light activates when it is cleaning, and is generally not visible as it is under the vacuum. Best to not allow it to shine on skin as it can damage it. This if for demo purposes only, don’t look at the light directly. It will turn the light off when lifted off the ground.
One feature the Viomi s9 has over the v3 is carpet detection, it will increase the power when over carpets for a better cleaning.
Via the app you have access to various vacuuming modes, such as vacuum only, vacuum and mop and mop only.
The suction power can be changed using the app, between quiet, standard, medium and strong.
If mopping mode is active, we have options to change the speed of water flow between three levels, 1 being lowest and 3 being highest.
Battery life is dependent on the suction power set on the vacuum, on quiet mode the 5200 mAh battery can work the vacuum for around 3 hours. This is good for a 3000 sqft house. Increase to strong and the battery life goes down to 1 hour. I find quiet and standard are good enough for most houses, unless until you have extra dirt to pick up then place the vacuum in the higher suction modes.
If you do have it in the higher suction modes anyway, the vacuum would automatically return to the charging dock midway to top up and continue with it’s cleaning from where it left off.
I was glad that the vacuum can clean under the sofas, which is a blessing. You will need it to be at least more than 4 inches for it to be able to go under it. It had no problems going around other furniture and obstacles in the house, cleverly manoeuvring around them.
The anti drop sensors prevent the vacuum from falling off heights from stairs, or changes in sections in the house.
Mopping is also available in this vacuum, just attach the provided mop pad and fill the water tank, and start mopping via the app.
We have two modes s-pattern and y-pattern. S-pattern is the standard in most vacuums and is more battery friendly, moving in an s-pattern around the house. The y-pattern simulates hand mopping, moving the vacuum front and back like you would mop.
S-pattern is good enough for normal mopping as it is power efficient, takes less time and uses less water. But for stubborn stains, use the y-mopping pattern for a thorough cleaning.
Charging dock/ dustbin combo 
Automatic dirt disposal is the main feature you purchase the viomi s9 for, the vacuum docks into the charging station once cleaning is done or we manually initiate it to return to dock. Once it returns, the dock initiates emptying of the dustbin. Wow, that’s cool.
This explains the size of the charging dock as it needs to hold the 3-litre dust bag within. Once full just remove the dust bag from within and empty it.
You would change the dustbag only if it is damaged and is not required to change every time. Approximate 30 days of dust is collected in the dustbag, but your mileage may vary. We do have the lights in front displaying the status and when we notice the full bag light we need to empty the bag.
Make sure to maintain the vacuum with occasional cleaning for its longer life. There are instructions provided in the manual and the app also displays the parts life and when they need to be cleaned or replaced. If the parts don’t look damaged, they need not be replaced.
We have a whole host of options in the app, such as scheduling a cleaning, view history. Remote control, one of my favourites where we drive the vacuum around like an RC car, to get it to where you want to clean or just play around.
More options are available in the app, and a detailed video of all the features is available in the video.
So, what are my thoughts on the Viomi S9 UV, it’s a great vacuum with all the bells and whistles you would want in a robot vacuum. Restricted areas, virtual walls, remote control are all great features and the Viomi V9 has them all. UV sterilization is a plus. The price is around 50,000 which is high but not for the kind of features you get. Other brands with similar auto dirt disposal cost twice as much. I always liked LIDAR navigation robot vacuums and this one navigates like a champ. Scheduling features allows automatic cleaning of the house at specified times and the auto dust disposal gives us peace of mind at least for a month which would be displayed on the charging station if the internal bag is full. The dust bags are not meant to be re-used and are a bit troublesome to empty, but it can be done. Extra Dust bags are available online, and if you don’t want to use the dustbags or don’t have a spare you can always turn the feature off and clean the dustbin manually.
The vacuuming and mopping are great and works really well. A rather good robot vacuum for the price, and definitely something to look out for if you are in the market for a robot vacuum with auto dust disposal.
