Xiaomi is releasing their new robot vacuums under the Viomi name and I have with me the Viomi V3. Let’s check it out shall we.
Xiaomi has a slew of robot vacuums under the mi branding but the Viomi series is their newer line, and this is the Viomi V3. I have early access to this model, and it should be available in India mid-April 2021.
“Works with Mijia”, Mijia is Xiaomi’s smart device line similar to Amazon’s Alexa and Google assistant and other smart products.
Let’s check out what we get in the box.
We have a manual,
This is the mopping attachment.
We have a disposable mop.
These look like extra mops.
Another mopping attachment?
This is the Water tank which has a 550 ml capacity.
The mopping attachment would clip into this tank which I will show soon.
This attachment allows only for mopping and you cannot vacuum and mop at the same time.
Also, because there is a motor within, we are advised to not soak or rinse it.
This is another attachment which is a dustbin and water tank together also called the SmartMop, this allows for vacuuming and mopping at the same time. Nice.
But the tank capacity decreases, so if you don’t have much area to mop using this attachment is better, but if you are keen on mopping your house and need to cover a larger area the bigger water tank is a better bet.
We have a charger, with big metal prongs. I like this type of model better as the vacuum contacts with it better.
Power adapter with a barrel port connector.
Batter is 4900 mAh which provides for a 150-minute cleaning runtime.
Charge time is around 4 and a half hours to full.
Now for the vacuum, it has a reflective top which is a fingerprint magnet.
This small tower is the lidar sensor, which helps with navigation. It has the Viomi logo on it.
Looks really nice, the green part within is the rotating LIDAR sensor. It would fire a laser out and the reflected beam is analysed and the map is generated.
The metal prongs in the back would line up with the charger and charge the device
A whole host of sensors can be found in the front and also below the vacuum which helps it to navigate through the house.
The cleaning brush is provided separately and would need to be clipped on here.
The centre houses the main brush which is also the vacuuming zone. This is where all the dust gets pulled into the dustbin.
This 360-degree wheel allows free directional movement.
The main drive wheels can move up and down which act like shock absorbers which allows for easier movement on or off raised areas especially carpets.
These foam inserts protect the bumper during transportation. Remove them and the bumper is now free to move.
Here’s the front sensor which is integrated behind the bumper.
This would stop the vacuum from bumping into furniture or other items, but if it does the bumper takes the impact protecting the vacuum.
The sensors below, also called cliff sensors, prevent the vacuum from falling off heights, could be stairs or other higher sections of the house.
We have two brushes in the box. Only one brush is used at a time, the second brush is a spare.
This is how we snap on the brush. It sits nice and plush with the vacuum.
Accessing the dustbin is via this flap on the top, open it up and we have the dustbin within.
We also have this small brush which is used to clean the vacuum and has a small blade used to cut any hair or string which could have entangled on the main brush.
This is the dustbin, hold down the tab and pull it out. This is how it looks, a decent size with a 550 ml capacity. Similar to the size of the water tank.
Open the flap on the side to empty it.
On the top we have the power and home buttons.
I always liked LIDAR vacuums and the Viomi V3 can map out your house quite fast and accurately. The lidar also helps the vacuum avoid obstacles like furniture or even toys strewn around. You can literally see the vacuum slow down and turn away before touching the obstacle. The map the vacuum generates is visible on the mobile app and we can set no go zones, or we can also mark a specific area that needs to be cleaned, which is really helpful.
While the vacuum is cleaning the side brush would push in the dirt towards the centre to be sucked into the dustbin.
When removing and adding attachments we have an audible prompt indicating the attachment being installed.
The app is quite easy to setup, we would be using the Mi Home app, which is a common app for most smart Mi devices.
To setup the vacuum with the app, we need to first set it into Wi-Fi pairing mode. Hold down the power and home buttons for 3 seconds and you should hear a Wi-Fi pairing mode voice prompt.
Hit next and it would scan for a vacuum, it’s found and on the next screen enter your Wi-Fi credentials and next and it’s done the vacuum is now part of the mi home app.
Here’s the main interface for the vacuum part of the mi home app. It displays the current area of the house, how long you’ve been cleaning and the current battery level.
We can initiate a cleaning using the start button on screen and the charge button would return the vacuum to the charger.
Map’s option also displays the area editor, virtual wall and restricted area options and other cleaning options. Virtual walls option allows for setting up virtual no go zones if you don’t want the vacuum to go to certain areas.
Just select add virtual wall and draw it on the generated map.
Similarly, we can restrict areas.
We have multiple modes displayed such as vacuum, vacuum and mop and mop only.
We can change between the modes right now; it’s in vacuum mode.
Below are the suction power options, we have silent, standard, medium and turbo.
When vacuum and mop is selected, we have options to change both suction power and the water speed. If the area you’re getting cleaned needs a more thorough cleaning set the level to high or for a light cleaning set to low or medium.
And in mopping only, we have the water level option only.
On the top right we have the three dots for settings,
There are a lot of options here.
Side sweeping enable or disable.
One important option is the mop or vacuum or mop setting, where we can change the cleaning pattern. The S pattern is the standard which uses less battery, but Y pattern is supposed to be more effective.
Then we have cleaning history to see when and how long the vacuum has cleaned for,
schedule clean-up to setup automatic cleaning schedules but time and rooms, you can also set the power levels and modes.
do not disturb mode, when you don’t want the vacuum to activate
map list – a list of saved maps
Change voice modes, volume etc
Consumables option displays how long the brushes etc have been used and if they need to be replaced. If they’re not visibly damaged, you will not need to change them.
Remote control allows controlling the vacuum like a RC car, using the buttons on the app.
Equipment flushed, if you have lime scale problems in your water, you can use this option to flush out the pump to protect it.
And a lot more settings are available in the app.
Now for the cleaning quality.
It manages to find its way around the house thanks to its LIDAR mapping and does a pretty good job .
It keeps its distance from obstacles and can protect itself from areas where it can fall off.
You can see it navigate around this small bench with no problem at all.
It works under the beds, and surprisingly could go under my sofas. My earlier lidar vacuum couldn’t. So, this is quite low profile and that’s a big plus as it can go under even more areas.
If something gets jammed under the main brush, just turn it over and open it up to remove the offending object.
Let’s try out some debri
Thick debris (Kabuli Chana)
Small debris (Paper Strips)
Minute debris (Cumin Seeds)
It had no problems cleaning over my carpets. It just hops on and off without much of an issue.
It could also climb over books, so small obstacles are no problem for the vacuum.
For mopping we need to change the attachment. But before attaching we need to fill it with water.
This is the 550 ml tank, and we replace the dustbin with the tank and then we attach the mop from below.
A little different from other vacuums I’ve used before.
(Watch videos to see these modes in action)
This is how the y mopping pattern looks, it’s supposed to be more efficient.
And this is how the s mopping pattern looks, which is supposed to save more battery.
The Viomi V3 is an upgrade on their earlier models with a higher 2600 pa suction power. It should be able to handle around 2500 sq. feet area in one cleaning.
I did notice that the vacuum does take longer to dock back into its charger between cleaning which is surprising as LIDAR vacuums generally navigate much better. This doesn’t affect the overall cleaning which is more important. Restricted areas, virtual walls, remote control are all great features and the Viomi V3 has them all. The mopping feature is the highlight of this vacuum, especially with the y pattern.
A surprisingly good robot vacuum for the price, and definitely something to look out for if you are on the market for a LIDAR robot vacuum.
