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The Ecovacs Deebot N10 Plus may not replace your regular vacuum cleaner, but it's got some pretty great in-app features, customizable automations, and an intelligent mapping and navigation system. Read on to see what it was like to have the N10 Plus clean my apartment for two weeks.

Design: What We've Come to Expect From Bot Vacs

The Ecovacs Deebot N10 Plus and Auto-Empty Station in a living room.
Michael Bizzaco / Review Geek
  • Vacuum Dimensions: 13.9 x 3.7in (0.35 x 0.093mm)
  • Vacuum Weight: 28.3lbs (12.83 kg)
  • Auto-Empty Station Dimensions: 12 x 17 x 15in (0.30 x 0.43 x 0.38mm)

The Deebot N10 Plus is 13.9 inches in diameter and 3.7 inches tall. If you have any experience with traditional robot vacuum designs, the N10 Plus won't be groundbreaking, although the white finish of both the bot and the Auto-Empty Station does tend to draw attention, and not necessarily in a bad way. These days, it's pretty much black or white for bot vacs, and I personally prefer the latter.

The vacuum's filter and internal dust tank are located under a plastic flip-top hood, along with a power toggle switch and a reset button. The N10 Plus also has a removable water tank that releases by pressing and holding a lock button. Once filled, simply slide the tank back into the vacuum and wait for an audible click to confirm it's firmly seated. Attaching the mop pad is as simple as picking the vacuum up and lining up the attachment with the two pins on the tank. Press until you hear a click, and you're ready to mop.

Plastic bumpers are located all around the Deebot N10 Plus to protect your home and furnishings from inevitable robot vac collisions (more on these later), and similar to competitive LiDAR bots, a small environmental scanner sits on top of the chassis.

The bottom part of the Ecovacs Deebot N10 Plus.
Michael Bizzaco / Review Geek

Equipped with Ecovac's TrueMapping Technology, the Deebot N10 Plus uses a combination of LiDAR scanning and dTOF sensors for all things mapping and navigation. In terms of power, the vac can pull off a whopping 3,800Pa of powerful suction, which is great for homes with thick carpeting (like my own), and features an integrated OZMO Mopping System to ensure no leakage occurs.

The Deebot's included Auto-Empty Station is 12 inches wide, 17 inches tall, and 15 inches from front to back. It's not the bulkiest charging dock/dirt collection combo I've ever seen, but you'll probably want at least a two- to three-foot area for it to hang out in (that has a nearby AC outlet).

The box contents of the Ecovac Deebot N10 Plus.
Michael Bizzaco / Review Geek

In addition to the Deebot N10 Plus itself, box contents include the Auto-Empty Station, an instruction booklet, a mop pad, two side-sweeping brushes for corners and crevices, and a multi-function cleaning brush (housed under the front hood).

Setup: Nice and Easy

Setting up the Deebot N10 Plus took me no time at all. To get started, you'll first want to find a home for the Auto-Empty Station that provides enough real estate for the N10 Plus to comfortably dock without encountering any obstacles. Once plugged in for power, go ahead and attach the color-labeled side brushes to the bottom of the N10 Plus, then place the vacuum on the charging dock. Remember that flip-top hood? Open it up and slide the power toggle switch into the "On" position (and leave it open for the following step).

Related: Narwal Freo Robot Vacuum Review: An Advanced Cleaning Assistant

Next up is downloading the Ecovacs Home app (available for iPhone/iPad and Android) onto your smartphone or tablet. Once installed, launch it and scan the QR code located on top of the N10 Plus. The setup wizard will then walk you through creating an Ecovacs app and getting the N10 Plus connected to your 2.4GHz Wi-Fi (no 5GHz support).

Once all is said and done, you'll probably have taken no more than 20 minutes to get everything up and running.

Mapping and Motion: Getting the Lay of Your Land

The Ecovacs Deebot N10 Plus in a living room.
Michael Bizzaco / Review Geek

So how exactly does the Ecovacs Deebot N10 Plus handle a solid sweeping of your living quarters? At least in my case, fairly well, although I had a few grievances with the overall cleaning experience. But let's start with the positive part of the compliment sandwich, shall we?

Once the Auto-Empty Station is plugged in and you've got the N10 Plus connected to Wi-Fi, you'll want to allocate a solid hour-plus or so to your first cleaning session. This is because the N10 Plus is going to need to perform a full scan of your living environment, which means you'll want to have any doors opened to spaces you want the bot to get into. You should also go ahead and throw up some kind of physical boundary around items you don't want the N10 Plus coming into contact with. Unlike certain robot vacs that use magnetized boundary strips to indicate No-Go Zones, you'll be able to create virtual barriers for the N10 Plus in the Ecovacs app; but not until your bot has completed its first-run mapping.

But wait: Doesn't the N10 Plus have an object avoidance system? Indeed it does, discerning reader, and it's actually pretty intuitive tech, but just to be on the safe side, things like decorative vases and laptop charging cables should always be put away or partitioned when the robot vacuum is cleaning. In terms of actual object avoidance, I found that the N10 Plus actually did a great job of avoiding major furniture, walls, and home decor, and even when it did accidentally collide with something, it would do so gently and then slowly rotate away from the obstacle until a new clear pathway was detected.

My apartment is about 1,400 square feet, which took the N10 Plus a little over an hour to get through. I'm also happy to say that there were only a few times I had to go and bail the vac out when it got stuck around or underneath furniture. But what absolutely stinks about having to assist the N10 Plus manually is that once you lift the bot from the floor, it automatically ends the cleaning cycle. This means that if your bot was in the process of mapping out your home (as it was mine), you'll have to start the process all over again.

That being said, if you need to go and rescue your N10 Plus, make sure to manually pause the cycle (using the Ecovacs app or by pressing the N10 Plus' power button) before lifting the vac off the ground.

Suction and Mopping: Good (Not Great)

The Ecovacs Deebot N10 Plus cleaning coffee off a kitchen floor.
Michael Bizzaco / Review Geek
  • Suction: 3,800Pa
  • Battery Size: 5,200mAh
  • Runtime (Standard Power): Up to 200 minutes
  • Runtime (Low Power): Up to 330 minutes

Now in terms of actual cleaning capabilities, for the few weeks that I was able to use the Ecovacs Deebot N10 Plus, I found that it did a relatively decent job of cleaning my apartment.

As far as flooring goes, most of my crib is made up of plush carpeting, with vinyl and tile used in the kitchen, bathroom, and utility spaces. For carpet cleaning, I needed to have "Vacuum Power" (located in the Ecovacs app) set to either Max or Max+ if I wanted to make sure my carpeting received the best vacuuming possible. On the "Standard" setting, I noticed that the bot would often skip over surface-level debris, especially during the tried and true oats-on-the-floor test. On lower settings, the N10 Plus simply ignored a bulk of the oats it passed over.

I performed the same oats test in the kitchen, and I wasn't very pleased with the results. I don't know what I was expecting, but I figured I should give the N10 Plus a chance with its side-sweeping brushes on a hard surface. Nope. Instead of tactfully vacuuming the grains, the N10 Plus played a round of frisbee with my Quaker Oats supply. The bot also had a habit of dragging oats from the kitchen and into carpeted areas. I actually needed to have my cordless Shark vac on standby whenever the Deebot N10 Plus was messing with the test grains.

Related: Are Robot Vacuums Worth It Now?

Now, what about mopping? For testing purposes, I dumped some old coffee on the kitchen floor, let it sit for a bit, then let the N10 Plus go to work (after filling the water tank and attaching the mop head, of course); and let's just say that you shouldn't be tossing your regular mop in the garbage. The N10 Plus did an okay job of getting up the initial liquid mess, but the floor reeked of coffee after the fact. I ended up doing a final clean with a set of Clorox wipes, which pulled up a ton of leftover coffee.

Make sure to remove the mop attachment before you send the N10 Plus back on your carpet!

And now we get to the Auto-Empty Station. It was simple enough to physically connect the included dust bag with the blower unit, but man, that thing is animated! After the Deebot N10 Plus finishes a cleaning cycle and returns to the Auto-Empty Station, the contents of the bot's 2.5-liter dust bin will be emptied into the reusable dust bag (which holds an advertised 60 days of dirt and debris).

Be prepared for your lights to dim and for noise akin to a leaf blower. I've had experiences with the automatic dirt disposal motors of other robot vacs erring toward the loud side, but never as decibel-breaking as the N10 Plus suite. And for whatever reason, my N10 Plus also had a hard time physically docking to the charging station, regardless of where the unit was placed.

Kind of like a dog that needs to make a few loops around his bed before planting, the Deebot N10 Plus would slowly return to the Auto-Empty Station from whichever room it cleaned last, slowly dock, reverse, dock again, reverse, and then dock two or three more times before charging actually began.

App and Voice Controls: A Solid Command Center

While you can manually start a cleaning cycle with the Ecovacs Deebot N10 Plus by pressing its Power button, all of your settings, vacuum/map customizations, and scheduling functions are located in the easy-to-use Ecovacs Home app (available for iPhone/iPad and Android). And as far as robot vacuums app go, I was actually quite pleased with the UI of this one.

The Home Screen will show whatever cleaning map your N10 Plus last worked with. You have the choice of three cleaning modes, located at the bottom of the page: "Area," "Auto" (the default), and "Custom."

"Auto" will perform a full cleaning of all clean-able space on whichever map you've chosen for your N10 Plus (save for No-Go Zones that you've created), returning to the Auto-Empty dock when vacuuming or mopping is finished. "Area" will allow you to choose the mapped rooms in your home, giving the N10 Plus a checklist of spots to sweep, while avoiding rooms that don't need a touch-up. "Custom" allows you to draw cleaning zones that your N10 Plus will thoughtfully stay within.

When the Deebot N10 Plus is in standby, you'll be able to tap the "Map Management" icon (bottom-left of the Home Screen) to access whatever maps your N10 Plus has created for your domicile. When the N10 Plus is actively cleaning, that same icon becomes a Barrier creation tool (indicated by a brick wall). This is where you'll go to create No-Go Zones for both vacuuming and mopping, which are then saved to whatever map the app is set to.

At the bottom-right of the Home Screen is a Charging icon. This lets you manually send the N10 Plus back to the Auto-Empty Station for a recharge instead of waiting for a full cleaning cycle to finish. Another option, called "End Task," will simply stop the N10 Plus dead in its tracks.

Up above the "Map Management" button is a "Cleaning Preference" settings icon. Tapping this will bring up a sub-menu of different vacuum/mop power and water distribution presets. Tap the grayed-out area of the map to return to the Home Screen.

I also really liked the handy readout at the top of the screen that gives a detailed breakdown of your current cleaning cycle in terms of actual cleaning status, area cleaned, and how long the N10 Plus has been running.

For a full settings dashboard, you'll want to select the three dots icon at the top-right of the home screen. Under "Basic Settings," you'll be able to do things like toggle Auto-Boost Suction on or off (allowing the Deebot N10 Plus to ramp up power whenever carpeting is detected), create custom cleaning schedules, reset your current map, and more. "Additional Settings" will give you access to the vac's cleaning log, accessories usage report, and other housekeeping logistics.

Oh, and let's not forget about Alexa controls! Once you download and enable the Ecovacs skill through the Alexa app, you'll be able to start and stop cleaning cycles with voice commands like, "Alexa, ask Deebot to start/stop cleaning." Unfortunately, there are no far-field mics on the N10 Plus, which means you'll have to use an Alexa-powered smart speaker, display, or the Alexa app to issue commands to the vacuum.

And in terms of hopes and dreams, the one thing I wished was a little more front-and-center was a battery monitoring readout. Other than a battery level icon at the top-right of the home screen, the app has no way to see what percentage of the battery is remaining.

Should You Buy the Ecovacs Deebot N10 Plus?

Like many entry- and mid-tier robot vacuums, in my opinion, the Ecovacs Deebot N10 Plus is best utilized as an automated, roving companion to your traditional vacuum. I have a cordless upright Shark vac that I clean the whole apartment with at least once a week; so for me, it was nice to use the N10 Plus as a dedicated "in-between-clean" device, but I can't say I would ever want to throw away the Shark.

In my experience, unless you're throwing down the really big bucks for robot vacs, many models simply don't have the strength and tech to get the kind of deep-clean results that a traditional vacuum delivers.

As of the publication of this article, you'll be able to purchase the Ecovacs Deebot N10 Plus for $650 through Amazon and Ecovacs directly, which isn't too bad a deal when you consider the LiDAR technology and feature-loaded app.

The N10 Plus also comes with a one-year limited warranty from the manufacturer.

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Ecovacs Deebot N10 Plus
$350 $650 Save $300

Pros
  • Nice design
  • Great companion app
  • Excellent battery life
  • Powerful suction
Cons
  • Only delivers an ?okay? cleaning
  • No onboard camera
  • Initial mapping can be wonky
  • A little expensive
  • No HomeKit support (Siri Shortcuts support is available)