Xiaomi Mi Robot Vacuum cleaner - a New Zealand Perspective

The Xiaomi Mi Robot is available from Gearbest in Mainland China. They ship internationally (including NZ)

The Xiaomi Mi Robot is an an autonomous vacuum cleaner - a small robot that will vacuum the floor of your house/apartment/flat/hut without any input from you other than turning it on. It has a long list of sensors and scanners which I've takenthe liberty of de-mystifying below. For the TL:DR version that means it is more effective and methodical at cleaning than all but the most OCD cleaners. 
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Specifications and what they mean
This vacuum cleaner is heavily specc'd so I'll try convert this our to what it means in practicality:

• 360° Laser Disatance sensor - Room can be mapped accurately in order to clean all areas and lessen chance of object impact
• Wall Sensor - When impact occurs the vacuum will change path
• Dustbin Sensor - Tells you when the dustbin is full (surprisingly important)
• Electronic Compass - Helps with navigation of the vacuum once room is mapped
• Cliff Sensor - Stops the vacuum falling down stairs
• Drop Sensor - Tells you when the wheels cannot reach the ground - if it gets stuck on something
• Speedometer - Helps with navigation of the vauum once room is mapped
• Fan Sensor - If something jams the main vacuum it will stop to avoid damage
• 3 CPUs - With all these sensors this helps process this information to come up with a methodical and efficient cleaning patter
• Brushless Motor - Lots of suction and excellent efficiency
• 5400mah battery - Long run time (approx. 2.5 hours). This is a VERY big battery
• Wall brush - This cleans the corner where the floor/carpet meets the wall and is very effective.

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This Xiaomi Mi Robot is deckedout with sensors and put them to good use for a seamless, methodical, efficient clean

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What's included?
In short not a lot more that what you need. The box protects the product well in shipping. Inside is:

• The vacuum cleaner itself
• The charging station
• The dustbin
• Figure 8 power cord that will need replacing with a NZ version ($4 from PBTech)
• A de-tangling comb

It's worth noting that all of the boxes are in Chinese but don't fear, there is not trace of Chinse language once the boxes are thrown out and the onboard languge pack is updated via phone in the next section.

Getting started
This is where I'll focus my advice because it can be challenging to set up but once that is done, everything takes care of itself.

Very easy to align with a charging dock that is equally as classy looking as the vacuum itself

Preparing the vaccum
Plug the charging station into the wall at any spot on the floor. If you need a local NZ figure 8 cable you can buy one here from PBTech for $4. Line the large metal tabs on the back of the vacuum up with the charging unit. The vacuum will tell you (in Chinese for now) that it is charging.

Install the App and update
Although the vacuum can be run without the app, the app is very good and will keep you up to date with an english language pack and any software updates. The Xiaomi Mi Home App is available both in the Android store here and the Itunes store here. I used android and for the purpose of this review will assume they are the same. The steps to follow are:

1. Turn the vacuum on after charging as above
2. On the vacuum cleaner push and hold both home and power buttons for 3 seconds to enter wifi config mode.
3. Open the app give permission to all of the requests.
4. Choose 'mainlaind China' as your region
5. You need to register the app with an email address etc.
6. Click on my devices
7. Choose the + button to add your device (choose the image of the xiaomi mi robot vacuum cleaner)
8. You will be asked to enter your wireless access details. This is important so that the vacuum can access updates and connect to the cloud for wireless control and settings access.
9. With the vacuum now added to the products, click on the vacuum in the app and go into the settings menu. Choose "Vacuum Settings" and then "Voice Pack". Choose "English - Female Voice". It will download the pack and then install. Now you vacuum will only speak English. American English anyway.
10. Next, go back to the main settings menu and choose "General Settings" and then check for firmware updates. This will update the firmware to the latest version. Xiaomi are regularly updating the algorithm that defines the cleaning path of the vacuum to be efficient in not overdoing movement but methodical so that it can clean EVERY piece of floor that it can access. You'll only need to do this once - it will be automated from now.

Run the Vacuum!
Now for the fun part. First open all the doors to allow the vacuum access and remove any string or string-like material from the floor that the Xiaomi Mi Robot may catch on. No need to move chairs etc as the unit is very clever about moving around objects.

The Xiaomi Mi Robot can be started in one of 2 ways - either by a quick push of the round power button on the vacuum, or in the app. Either way the newly installed English Language pack will tell you it is starting. The vacuum will then move forward from it's charging station, scan the room and vacuum the floors. If you started in the app or go into the app after starting on the vacuum itself you'll really start to see the smarts. At first it will create a very basic image of the room/area and as it moves, cleans and continues scanning this image will get clearer and clearer. Using this map the cleaner will then create very methodical cleaning paths and will discover objects to clean around. I'd recommend spending some time watch the mi robot not because it will get in trouble but to see how clever it really is!

The app really is great when set up and show a lot of detail as the vacuum track around al the rooms. This particular clean was interrupted but you can see the methodical path the Mi robot takes

Surprising things I found after the first clean
The vacuum power is about the same strength as a good portable modern brushless vacuum. Not as strong as your mains-power unit BUT it gets places that I never get to - right up to the wall in corners, under beds and furniture as well as every bit of floor that doesn't look dirty (and so doesn't get attention). What this meant is that halfway into my first clean the mi robot stopped and told me the dustbin was full - emabarrasingly full. After emptying the dustbin and replacing I then pushed resume on the app and it went on it's merry way again. Needless to say when it finished its first run and parked itself neatly (and automatically) in the charging bay, the dustbin was full again. After the embarrassment wears off you do get a sense of satisfaction that the mi robot is getting places you usually don't get to and so even though it is less powerful than a regular plug in vacuum, it is much more methodical and so gets to more places.

Living with the Xiaomi Mi Robot
After the novelty wears off, this is still a really good vacuum because it requires so little input. There are 4 power levels of which we find the quietest is still too much at bedtime but we have a very open plan home and everyone's situation is defferent. It's easy enough that when you are out of the house that you can turn it on as you leave but with a cloud-connected App you can turn it on anywhere you have cell or wifi network. The app sends you notifications to let you know:

• When cleaning is interrupted - if the dustbin is full or the vacuum gets stuck
• When the cleaning is finished
• When the mi robot has returned to base

I was thinking that for a 2 storied house plus garage you'd need more than one unit but that it not the case. Every now and then I just carry the Mi robot upstairs without the charging dock and let it do its thing - there is no difference except that rather than returning to the dock downstairs it goes back to where it started.

The outtake for me that was after the slight complexity around setting up the App and understanding and figuring out the sensing, it just works really well. Ive tried to summarise why in key points below:

• It is very clever in figuring out a cleaning pattern that will cover ALL of the ground it can reach without needing to go back and forth over the same spot.
• It is so methodical in cleaning that it gets all of the spots you usually don't
• It won't fall down stairs or down a ledge
• It returns to it's charging station so you don't need to worry about manually charging it
• It has a clever traction system that lets it change surfaces - smooth floors to shallow deep carpet and back plus easily moves over transitions.
• It minimises or lessens impact of bumping into furniture to rather than 'feeling' its way around Additionally it remembers where objects are on a given cleaning cycle

The bottom line is that the vacuum has not come out of the cupboard since we received the Xaomi Mi Robot and the floors have never been so clean. I had no idea the technology was so capable. If this were to be stolen from me tomorrow I'd replace with the exact same unit. The Xiaomi Mi Robot autonomous vacuum cleaner is available from Gearbest who ship internationally:

https://www.gearbest.com/robot-vacuum/pp_440546.html

Click on the images below for an embiggened view.