Ecovacs Deebot N20 Plus review: a good robot vacuum cleaner without breaking the bank

The Ecovacs Deebot N20 range attempts to attract consumers with very low prices. Three models make it up. A first robot without a base is offered at €299, the Deebot N20 Plus with bagless emptying station costs €399, while the Deebot N20 Pro Plus adds €100 and a vibrating mop.

This is the €399 model that we are testing here. As you have understood, the robot vacuum cleaner comes with a charging station which ensures emptying of the dust collector. A bagless bin sits on one side of the base and collects vacuumed waste, without requiring consumables.

Completely transparent, this tank reveals a multicyclonic filtration system, which ensures that as many particles as possible are trapped. And to make the floor shine, the Deebot N20 Plus has a large brush, a side brush and a mop. However, he skips a camera and chooses a laser rangefinder, as well as different sensors to find his way in his environment.

Convenience of use

The silhouette of the Ecovacs Deebot N20 Plus is not original in itself: the robot vacuum cleaner adopts a circular shape of 35 cm in diameter and 9.6 cm in height. Its thinness should allow it to fit under most furniture in the house, unlike the Ezviz Rs2 and its 10.3 cm height.

Its charging station also knows how to be discreet. It peaks at 50.5 cm by 35.3 cm wide and 41.3 cm deep (with the access ramp). Without a water tank, it is however equipped with a 1.5 l dust tank, which retains the waste sucked up by the robot and its 400 ml collector.

The base of the Deebot N20 Plus also has a major advantage: it does not require a dust bag. The user is therefore not forced to purchase consumables to operate his robot, imitating the Eureka E10s. The choice is therefore economical, but also ecological. On the other hand, the bin needs to be emptied into the trash, which requires no additional effort compared to changing the dust bag. The charging station even gains in aesthetics with its transparent blue plastic tank. At the same time, it gives a glimpse of its four-layer multicyclonic filtration system, the effectiveness of which we will test later.

No water tank is therefore integrated into the charging base. However, this Ecovacs robot is well equipped with a mop. Installed at the rear, it is attached to the 220 ml water tank. On the other hand, you should not expect remarkable performance from it since it does not have the ability to vibrate, unlike the Pro Plus version of the Deebot N20. This is why we do not carry out any washing tests for this model.

Under the belly of the Ecovacs robot vacuum cleaner hides the main brush. Made of nylon bristles, it would benefit from anti-tangle technology to prevent tangling of hair and animal hair. A comb is even installed near the brush to detangle them if necessary.

A side brush is also attached under the robot, which takes care of bringing the waste towards the main brush. We now prefer the system inaugurated by Dyson and its 360 Vis Nav in the form of a small side squeegee.

To find your way around its environment, the Ecovacs Deebot N20 Plus houses a laser rangefinder recognizable by its small turret on its hood, as well as various sensors. No camera here, making us doubt the ability of this model to recognize obstacles.

Finally, three commands take place directly on the robot. The first starts and stops the cleaning cycle, the second returns the device to its base, while the last asks it to vacuum around it only.

Connectivity and application

To access more features, you must install the Ecovacs app on your smartphone. You can launch a quick map of the home (only a few minutes, three maps can be saved for this purpose). After which the Deebot N20 Plus saves the map and allows us to organize our interior: create new rooms, merge others, rename them, etc.

This map allows you to follow the progress of the robot live and clean the entire home, just a few rooms or a specific area. Four suction modes are available: Silent, Standard, Max or Max+. Three water flows are also offered. It is therefore possible to ask the Deebot N20 Plus to pass twice for a better result.

The Ecovacs app also allows you to increase the suction power on carpets, adjust the frequency of emptying the base, create cleaning sequences, or even schedule sessions at fixed times.

The Ecovacs app is pleasant to use and allows you to quickly get to grips with the robot vacuum cleaner.

Interview

Due to its white coating, the Ecovacs Deebot N20 Plus is not the easiest to maintain and it must be dusted regularly. That said, its two brushes are easy to remove and clean if necessary. As such, the app tells us when to do it, the same for the sensors and the collector.

But it is the docking station that interests us here. Its large dust container must be emptied into the trash can and Ecovacs makes the task easier for us, equipping its bin with a system similar to Dyson’s Point & Shoot. Thus, the user only has to pull a mechanism so that the bottom of the tank opens and lets the collected waste escape. A good point. The mop can be washed by hand or machine washed.

Regarding the filtration system, we decide to measure its effectiveness by vacuuming 20 g of cocoa powder. We measure the filter on board the device before and after and discover 2 g of cocoa finally lodged. The result is an improvable filtration system, which may not sufficiently trap dust. For comparison, the SwitchBot S10 only retains 0.5g of cocoa.

Navigation system

If the Ecovacs Deebot N20 Plus knows how to defend itself thanks to its laser rangefinder, the absence of a camera can pose a problem. To put its navigation system to the test, we scatter 100 g of sawdust in strategic locations in our laboratory. The robot goes everywhere without worry and collects 81.8 g of sawdust after its passage.

On the other hand, after several cleaning cycles, we realize that the Deebot N20 Plus hates things to change. When a piece of furniture is moved, for example, the robot quickly becomes lost and does not vacuum up the now free space. We sometimes have difficulty asking it to vacuum a specific area via the mobile app: the robot begins the task before suddenly returning to its base.

Faced with obstacles, this Ecovacs is blind. Without a camera, the robot swallows everything in its path: screws, pen, cable and even cloth. The user will therefore have to tidy up their home before launching the robot, at the risk of seeing objects disappear.

Aspiration

During suction tests, we were able to note a certain consistency from this model. On hard floors, thin or thick carpets, the Deebot N20 Plus is around 80% of waste vacuumed up.

On hard floors, its side brush tends to eject the grains of rice out of reach and we notice a lack of power on thin or thick carpet.

Performance is satisfactory, but on par with an entry-level device. The Dreame L10 Ultra is almost flawless.

We also measure the suction power of the base of the Ecovacs N20 Plus. To do this, we fill the robot’s dust collector with 50 g of sawdust, then 50 g of rice. After starting the automatic drain, no traces of sawdust and only 0.6 g of rice grains remain. These results are very good.

Conclusion

Overall rating

How does the rating work?

If the robot vacuum cleaner market is driven upwards by full-featured devices, more accessible and very satisfactory models nevertheless persist. This is the case with the Ecovacs N20 Plus. Entry-level, this robot enjoys some welcome qualities. Its compact charging station eliminates the need for dust bags and allows for more ecological and economical maintenance. The robot can vacuum for hours in silence and with decent performance. On the other hand, the N20 Plus is penalized by a hazardous navigation system and poor recognition of obstacles. Finally, we would have preferred a vibrating mop, like that of the N20 Pro Plus.