Deebot 901 Smart Robotic Vacuum for Carpet, Bare Floors, Pet Hair, with Mapping Technology, Higher Suction Power, WiFi Connected and Compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant

While Ecovacs isn't a household name that I was familiar with, I have found the Deebot 900 is a better product by leaps and bounds then others. It cleans just as well, has better features, and is significantly better priced!One of the most important features is it's ability to map your home. It cleans more with a traditional back-and-forth pattern. Robot learns the layout of the area it cleans so instead of just bumping into things it for the most part either avoids or gently taps obstacles. Since the Deebot knows the layout of the area it is able to navigate back to its base when the battery is low, after about an hour of cleaning, to charge and then finish the job (if that's how you have it set). Mapping also allows you to create virtual boundaries, instead of having to purchase additional "virtual walls" like the mid-range other brands require. I found mine got into trouble behind my bed because of cords and when it tried to get under my recliner chair. Also, I didn't want it to go into the bathrooms. I was able to draw boxes around these places and the Deebot just doesn't go there. See image of my living room and the red boundary to keep it away from the recliner. I was surprised how much it had vacuumed up so I am happy with the cleaning ability. Still probably should be considered a maintenance cleaning between regular vacuums, but helpful nevertheless.A few of the cons, it cleans for around an hour and then needs to charge for 3-4 hours, which isn't an issue for me as I schedule it to clean when I am gone for the day and it only needs to charge once to finish the cleaning. It doesn't like to be picked up, otherwise it loses the map and has to rebuild that on the next cleaning. Just make sure you turn it off before picking it up and it is not an issue. Would be nice if it pushed notifications to your phone that it was starting, completed, etc.In summary, no robot vacuum is prefect. They all get stuck from time-to-time or just do some odd things you wouldn't do with a regular vacuum. After experiencing the night-and-day difference between the household name and the Deebot... I can confidently recommend the Deebot 900!

Update Jul26: New Update Jul27, Update Aug 3rd, Update Aug 8Read updates below.*** THIS VACUUM does not support 2.4gHz 802.11n!!!! Set your router to BG mode and it will work...****As of day one, not so good. Have been unable to connect to wifi to configure the Vac. Called tech support and described the problem and immediately they said that it was a known problem with the App. They said to wait 24 to 48 hrs and try again. Checking the reviews on the android version of the app, that excuse seems to be the standard answer from tech support since July 11. (today is the 20th) I'm going to give it a few days and see if I can get it working, otherwise back it goes. On the positive side I started a auto clean and it seems to do a really good job. Even though it has not created a map of the house (since I cannot connect) it navigates in a pretty methodical pattern. Crossing the floor in parallel patterns with minimal overlaps.Update: After several hard resets(Hold reset button for 3 seconds) and using different phones. I was finally able to connect to the wifi. I updated the firmware and it seems to be holding the connection. (My Vac came with firmware 1.3.6 updated to 1.4.5) I wish Ecovacs had a change log for the firmware revisions..There is no excuse for having this much problem setting something up.Update for July 26th, I have had the bot working for a few days and one morning we found the bot stopped in the middle of the room. It looks like it had cleaned the first half of the room and then it just stopped for no reason. Checking the app we now see the dreaded "off Line" message and so far we have been unable to get it to go back online. Waiting now for tech support to message back on a solution. Troubleshooting guide that is in the manual and Online is unhelpful.When it works it does a wonderful job of cleaning, but so far it seems unreliable.Update for Jul 27, After sending several emails (all unanswered) I spent most of the morning trying to call support, every call ended with "no support tech was available please leave a message". After prob a dozen attempts I finally had someone answer. After going through the scripts he decided to replace the bot. We will see how long that takes..... Frustrating to say the leastUpdate Aug 3rd. After talking with a tech (which is near impossible) I received a RMA for the Bot. As soon as I walked over to the bot it started working. It had worked perfectly since Saturday. Thursday I tried to check the status on the bot and quess what? I'm back to the Off-line status message again. I'm not sure but I think this might be a problem with the servers at Ecovacs. No way to tell...Update Aug 8. Received replacement bot. Same problems getting it to sync to app. Logged into my routers admin page and I could see the bot connecting and disconnecting from the access point. One of the small notes on the error page in the app was to set the router to B, G mode. My router also supports N, so I decided to try setting my router to just support BG (BTW G was a standard since 2003, N was since 2007). Lo and behold the bot connected right up. Bottom line you have to neuter your router to BG mode to get this thing to work reliably. Ecovacs fix this... 802.11n has been out since 2007 no excuse for this not to work.....