Ecovacs Deebot X11 OmniCyclone Review: Improving At Breakneck Speeds

Over the last few years, we've seen massive innovation in the robotic vacuum space. Modern robotic vacuums not only vacuum and mop your floors, but do so with increasing suction power, along with better and better mopping systems — and all without you having to do more than empty and refill a few water tanks every few weeks. The next point of progress? With the Ecovacs Deebot X11 OmniCyclone, it's charging speed.

To be fair, I've never been overly concerned about the charging speed of a robotic vacuum. Sure, I've experienced even the previous-generation Ecovacs model running out of juice part way through cleaning, due to the fact that I had it set to the most power-hungry modes to clean my floors (don't judge, I have a toddler). But it can still be annoying. If you have a robotic vacuum and are anything like me, you often run your vacuum when you're out running errands so there's enough time for the floors to be clean and dry by the time you get home. That goes out the window if the vacuum has to charge for an hour or so first.

The Deebot X11 OmniCyclone has other new features, too — like the ability to scale (small) stairs. So, is it worth the high price tag that it demands? I've been using the Ecovacs Deebot X11 OmniCyclone for a while now to find out.

The overall design of the Deebot X9 Pro Omni was more or less the same as the X8 Pro Omni before it, but the new Deebot X11 OmniCyclone does away with that trend, making more significant design changes. Some of those are necessary, given the new features, but whatever the reason, I generally like the look of it.

The biggest design change comes in the form of the new docking station, which is wider and shorter than before. The most obvious change is on the front. Instead of a flat face, the new docking station has a cylinder in the middle that protrudes outwards. I can't say that I love the look of this, but it's also not a big deal. It still looks fine, and it's not like it's going to conflict with anything else in your home, given the fact that the protrusion is still above where the robovac enters and exits the dock.

There's a great reason for the new docking station design, though — the docking station is now bagless, meaning you don't have to buy annoying replacement bags when they fill up. In its place is a plastic bin that's pretty similar to what you might find in a traditional handheld vacuum. You can see how full it is at a glance, and you'll also get a notification in the Ecovacs app when it's time to empty it. The dock holds the clean and dirty water tanks as well, which you can access by lifting them from the top.

It's also worth noting that the Ecovacs Deebot X11 OmniCyclone supports two different kinds of cleaning solutions. There's the standard cleaning solution, but there's also a heavy-duty solution. There are small tanks for both of them, and the vacuum will decide on its own which solution to use based on how dirty your floor is. You'll need to use Ecovacs' official cleaning solutions, or you risk damaging the vacuum.

The dock has a relatively subtle look, apart from the fact that it's somewhat large. Both it and the vacuum are a darker color scheme, unlike modern Roborock models, which are white. I actually don't mind the white look, but I'm also perfectly happy with how Ecovacs' models look. As long as its not crazy colors that look out of place, the color of my robotic vacuum isn't something I spend much time thinking about, though that could partially be due to the fact that I have a nice little corner for it that's largely out of sight.

The actual vacuum is mostly the same as before and similar to any other modern robotic vacuum. That's not necessarily a huge issue — it looks good, and it's definitely on the premium end of robotic vacuums these days.

The Ecovacs Deebot X11 OmniCyclone works with the Ecovacs app, which is generally well-designed and easy to use. When you first set the vacuum up, you'll need to have it create a map of your home, but I found the OmniCyclone to do so relatively quickly and quietly. In the mapping run, it's not cleaning, so it simply uses its onboard sensors to create a map for future reference.

Like the past few generations of Ecovacs models that I've tested, the resulting map did need some attention. It didn't do the best job at figuring out where all the rooms, doors, and walls were, and I had to edit the map to fix its errors, add labels, and so on. It's common for robotic vacuums to make a few mistakes, but I've found Roborock models to do a better job at this.

Overall, the app works well. You can easily select rooms or sections for the vacuum to clean, and you'll be able to choose for it to vacuum, mop, or vacuum then mop. You can also choose water levels and suction levels, which is handy. I didn't love the fact that the app has ads for Ecovacs products and services, especially considering the fact that they show up frequently, but it's not a huge deal.

Like other modern Ecovacs robotic vacuums, the X11 OmniCyclone supports Matter, which means you can add it to your preferred smart home app. I really like this — you won't get detailed controls, but you can choose which rooms you want cleaned along with the cleaning mode. It's nice for households with different levels of interest in tech — it would be a lot to ask my wife to learn the intricacies of a new robotic vacuum every time a review unit arrives, but with Matter support, no matter which vacuum I have, she can set it to clean without figuring out a new app.

Last is the big improvement to battery and charging performance. I often have a robovac clean on higher settings, as I have both a cat and a toddler. In higher settings, the previous-generation Deebot X9 Pro Omni had to stop to charge during cleaning, which meant that it wouldn't complete a task very quickly. The X11 gets around this with a new fast-charging tech that it uses when it's cleaning the mop pad, something that will likely happen at least a few times in average-sized homes. Ecovacs says this three-minute mop-clean/fast-charging session will give it a 6% charge, which is pretty good. It means that the vacuum can clean up to 1,000 square meters without stopping to charge, which in turn means it can easily clean my home without needing a long break. That's a nice improvement — it allows me to set the vacuum to clean while I'm running short errands rather than expecting it to take a long time to finish cleaning, during which time I have to try and keep the floors tidy enough for it to clean.

There are a few performance-related improvements to be aware of when it comes to the Ecovacs Deebot X11 OmniCyclone. For starters, basic suction power has improved, rising to 19,500Pa. It's not the single most powerful robotic vacuum out there, but that is very high. Suction power, of course, is only one part of the equation of vacuum performance, and it doesn't mean much if the vacuum can't actually use that suction power.

The mopping system has also gotten a bit of an improvement. The roller mop can now extend further than before (so it can reach into corners better), and it has a new nylon material on the bottom that's supposed to be able to allow it to scrub the floors better.

The last new addition to the vacuum is the ability to scale thresholds of up to 4cm. This isn't a special mode or a smart feature — it works with the addition of a simple latch that automatically lifts the vacuum when the vacuum hits the threshold. It's entirely mechanical, and in demos, it seemed to work well. However, my home doesn't really have elevated flooring like that so I wasn't able to test it further.

Overall, the cleaning performance on offer by the Deebot X11 OmniCyclone is excellent. Whether on carpet or hard floors, the vacuum was able to pick up the vast majority of dirt and debris on a vacuum cycle, then get much of the rest when mopping. Again, I have a toddler, so my floors get pretty dirty, and I'd be lying if I said that the X11 OmniCyclone got everything. But it did a very good job at day-to-day cleaning, meaning that I didn't have to manually clean the floors very often at all, save for a spot clean every now and then to get really stuck-on messes — think things like dried oatmeal.

I'm not sure I would say that the X11 OmniCyclone was dramatically better than the X9 Pro Omni that I was using before, but it was certainly at least on par, which is to say it was very good. With the improved mop pad and suction power, it's objectively a better product. But if you have something like the X9 Pro Omni, you won't need to upgrade to this one for cleaning performance alone.

The Ecovacs Deebot X11 OmniCyclone is an excellent robotic vacuum that solves many of the pain points that people have with previous-generation models, like the need to stop and charge for longer cleaning runs. These pain points are getting addressed at seemingly breakneck speeds, and it feels like every year we're getting dramatically improved models. The truth, however, is that for most users, these issues can be a little niche. If you already have a modern robotic vacuum with decent mopping performance, then you probably don't need to upgrade to the Deebot X11 OmniCyclone. That said, if you do have the cash and want the latest and greatest, or your old model simply isn't doing what you need it to, then the Deebot X11 OmniCyclone is the way to go.

The competition

There's tons of competition in the robotic vacuum space, and the Deebot X11 OmniCyclone certainly isn't cheap, retailing for $1,499. That said, it's really the only model right now that has fast charging tech like this. If you're looking for something that can handle large cleans in one go, it's the model for you. Again, however, if that's not an issue you face, it might be worth saving some cash on something a little cheaper. Ecovacs itself offers plenty of excellent models that don't cost as much as the X11 OmniCyclone.

Should I buy the Ecovacs Deebot X11 OmniCyclone?

Yes. It's an excellent robotic vacuum.