Ecovacs T30S Combo review: A solid starter package

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I’m a big fan of robot vacuums, but they can’t replace a regular vacuum completely. Even the best robot vacuum can’t vacuum your car or effectively clean cobwebs from behind your furniture.

That makes the T30S combo from Ecovacs such an enticing product. If you’re moving out of home for the first time, or you need to replace your old stick vacuum and get your first robot vac, this is a well-priced option worth considering.

But it’s far from perfect. The stick vacuum itself feels underpowered compared to standalone models, and the mapping on the robot vacuum caused me a whole heap of grief over the course of this review.

But I was able to overcome those challenges, eventually. And given how compact and well-designed the Ecovacs Deebot T30S combo, it’s a solid option for anyone looking for a vacuuming solution for their first home.

What is the Ecovacs T30S Combo offering?

I haven’t done a huge amount of research to check this, but I believe the Deebot T30S combo is the first robot vacuum to offer an integrated stick vacuum in the package.

The heart of this integration is in the auto-empty station. The T30S combo’s charging dock is wider than your traditional robot vacuum, which means it takes up a bit more space in your home.

It measures in at 554 × 443 × 527.5 mm, and the vacuum components stick out a bit further than that as well, so make sure it will fit in your home before you spend your money.

But the sign is clever and refined. With a matte black finish, the docking station looks sleek. It works just like other robot vacuums, like the Deebot X2 Omni, with dedicated clean and dirty water tanks in the top of the unit.

On the right side of the empty station is a portable vacuum, with a drawer underneath that conveniently houses all the various heads and attachments for the stick vacuum.

The stick itself clips onto the outside of the unit, which again increases the station’s footprint, but also keeps everything conveniently stored when not in use.

For the robot vacuum itself, it’s on par with the mid-range models of Ecovacs’ lineup. You get 11,000 Pa of suction power, rotating mop heads with 9 mm auto-lift, Yiko voice control and the same anti-tangle technology found in the N20 Pro Plus.

The mop pad extends out to ensure it cleans right to the edge of your floor. Plus, the base station will wash and dry your mop pads after each use with hot water and hot air, helping avoid any musty odours in your home.

The stick vacuum comes with a myriad of attachments, including a crevice tool, a dusting brush, a mini-power brush for furniture and a ZeroTangle power brush. It’s nice and lightweight, making it easy to use to clean hard to reach places.

What does the Ecovacs T30S Combo do well?

I love the combined vacuum station idea. It makes so much sense from a cost and a space perspective.

I particularly love the drawer housing all the stick vacuum’s attachments. I’ve tested plenty of vacuums over the years, and nothing has had as elegant a storage solution as this.

Even better than that is that Ecovacs has designed the T30s Combo to offer a combined auto-empty design, which sucks the dirt and debris out of both the robot and the stick vacuum into the vacuum bag simultaneously.

This means that you seldom need to get up close and personal with the dirt that the vacuum collects. That’s the dream.

The T30s robot vacuum does a solid job of cleaning – both on the vacuum and mopping front. My home always felt pretty good after the vacuum went through the house, and the mop’s extendable arm gets right into the corners and edges of the room.

It’s not too loud while cleaning on standard mode, either, which is helpful when you work from home and have regular meetings while the floor is being cleaned.

The stick vacuum is perfectly acceptable as well, though if you’re looking for a rival to a Dyson, this ain’t it.

The suction power is good enough to pick up obvious messes, but the robot does a better job of picking stuff up.

There’s also not a huge amount of controllability with the stick vacuum in terms of power. You get High and low, with no real indicator of which mode you’re using apart from the volume of the suction.

The power head does feature integrated LED lights, which makes it good for cleaning in darker areas, too.

What could the Ecovacs T30S Combo improve?

The greatest challenge I had with this vacuum was the mapping functionality.

I’ve been reviewing Ecovacs products for a couple of years now, so it really surprised me that the initial map of my home was so… bad.

Effectively, Ecovacs decided that my family/dining area, the two bedrooms opening off that space and the corridor/laundry next to it were all one big room.

What’s most strange about this is that the bedrooms are carpeted, whereas the rest of the house has vinyl floorboards. You would think that might indicate separate rooms, right? Apparently not!

I managed to edit the map to better reflect the house’s actual layout, but friends, let me tell you that it was not an easy process.

Ecovacs demanded a very precise line to divide the rooms. For several weeks, it would not break the rooms apart at all.

But the kicker is that even though I managed to separate the rooms, the vacuum still wants to go into the carpeted bedrooms to mop. I have the cleaning cycle set to “mop after vacuum”, and every other robot vacuum I have tested doesn’t even enter the carpeted rooms to mop.

I can only assume it’s a legacy from the crappy initial map. Though subsequent maps were equally bad, for what it’s worth, so it’s definitely a software issue.

At the launch of the T30s Combo, Ecovacs made a big deal about its anti-tangle vacuuming heads. And just like in my review of the N20 Pro Plus, this is a baseless claim – after a couple of weeks of vacuuming, there is a massive tangle of hair wrapped around the brush.

Because Ecovacs doesn’t use the rubber brush like the Dreame L20 Ultra, the air doesn’t destroy it, but it undoubtedly still tangles.

Obstacle avoidance also isn’t as good as the X2 Omni or Dreame L20 Ultra, either. I’d have to forcibly remove the vacuum from either an errant cable or from between some chair legs at least once a week.

Verdict

When it comes to buying your home a new vacuum cleaner, I doubt there’s a better starter pack on offer.

With the combination of a robot vacuum and a stick vacuum, there’s a lot to like about it.

It is quite large, so make sure you have space before you pick it up. If you can fit it in your laundry, though, it makes your cleaning area much tidier and more efficient.

That said, if you’re looking for a premium cleaning solution, you will definitely get a better performance out of dedicated units.

Buy the Ecovacs Deebot T30s Combo online

Ecovacs Deebot T30s Combo

RRP: $2,299

Check Price @ Amazon