Pros
- Cleans well on bare floors and low carpets
- Silent operation
Cons
- The charging dock is too light (it can get pushed around easily).
Design
The Ecovacs Deebot N79 is round, 13 inches in diameter, and 3.1 inches in height. The top cover is made of gray plastic and aside from a little text is adorned by only an AUTO button, illuminated in different colors, and a Wi-Fi indicator. The rim of the disc is made of black plastic and split into two halves, front and back. The front half has a soft bumper cushion with IR proximity and touch sensors inside. On the rear rim, are the power switch, charger socket, and dustbin release button.
On the bottom of the robot, you will find a layout typical for round models: two large motorized wheel, which are connected to the suspension, and one small caster wheel for balance, a vacuum intake port with the roller brush inside it, two side brushes, two charging contacts, and three cliff sensors.
The robot weighs only 6.7 pounds.
Cleaning Power
The Deebot N79 does a great job picking up pet hair and other dirt from hard floors and low carpets. However, it doesn’t have enough suction to decently clean high-pile carpets. The side sweepers ensure that the floor along your baseboards is also cleaned, and they extend far enough to sweep some of the dirt out of corners as well. However, the round shape precludes complete corner cleaning.
Cleaning system
The Deebot N79 uses 3-stage cleaning technology classic for robotic vacuums. Two side brushes sweep the dirt towards the intake port, and the roller brush agitates the dirt off the floor and captures what the side brushes sweep to it. Finally, the fan sucks the dirt into the dustbin.
Main brush
The main brush is V-shaped, half-bristled, and half- rubbered. This should help the robot to lift dirt effectively.
The brush is easily tangled, so you may need to take it out and use the included tool to cut pet hairs out of it from time to time.
Noise level
The robot is very quiet; you can barely hear it. You can even watch TV or listen to music while it cleans in the same room. It is so quiet, some people can sleep with it running in the room.
Navigation
Cleaning pattern
The N79 has the simplest random navigation, so it wanders around a room and changes direction when it detects obstacles. Mostly it manages to “see” obstacles and avoid contact. It stops a couple of inches before the object and goes elsewhere. However, it has difficulty seeing very dark or black objects. In those cases, it will make gentle contact with its spring-loaded front bumper.
Room coverage
Due to random navigation, the robot doesn’t “know” what areas it has already cleaned and which not, so it can miss spots. On a full charge, it will fully clean an open-plan apartment of approximately 1000 sq. ft.
Navigating modes
Auto
In the Auto mode, the robot will clean all of the available area using random navigation and try to find its charging dock when the battery runs low.
Edge
Edge mode allows you to clean thoroughly along the walls of the apartment where dust tends to hide.
Spot
Spot mode can be used to clean a particularly dirty area. Place the robot in the center of the area and the N79 will spiral through it for 3 minutes.
Single room
If you want to clean a single room, which is too small for running the robot full time, you can use the Single Room mode. The Deebot N79 will clean just like in Auto mode, but finish its job earlier. You must lock the robot in the room so it cannot escape.
Maneuverability
The robot has no problem transitioning from hard flooring to carpet or low area-rugs and vice-versa. However, it can tangle on high-pile rugs with a fringe.
The robot has no trouble getting over most thresholds.
Due to its small height, it can go under beds and desks where upright vacuums can’t reach. However, if the furniture’s clearance is just about the height if the robot, it can get stuck. It’s recommended to block such areas to let the robot do its job seamlessly.
Tight spaces, for example, between furniture legs are not an unsolvable problem for the Deebot N79. It can take some time to find its way out with a series of random movements, but eventually the robot vacuum will exit the maze and keep on cleaning.
Cliff sensor
The robot has three anti-drop sensors that prevent it from falling down stairs. They work well, but can make trouble on dark surfaces.
Return to the charging dock
When the battery is low or after receiving the command, the Deebot N79 will look for its home base to dock and recharge. It often takes it a long time to find the docking station unless it’s right next to the robot. To help the Deebot find its way home, the charging dock should be placed against the wall with open floor for 6.6 feet in front of it and 3.3 feet on both sides.
The dock also has a hole on top where the remote control can be stored.
The charging station is light and the robot tends to move it accidentally while docking. It should have more weight to improve its stability, especially on carpet.
Battery
The Deebot N79 come equipped with a Li-ion 14.8V x 2600 mAh = 38.48 Wh battery.
Runtime
The robot’s input power is 25 Watts, so it runs for approximately 90 minutes on a full charge.
Charging
The battery can recharge while the robot is on the charging dock or by being manually connected to the power adapter. It takes 3-4 hours to fully charge. The robot can be kept on the charger after the battery is fully charged so it will be ready to clean when you need it.
Replacement
The battery cannot be replaced on your own, only by qualified service personnel in a service center. The good news is, the manufacturer will replace the battery for free during the warranty period.
Operating
The vacuum can be operated with the button on its top cover or by remote control or smartphone app.
Controls on the vacuum itself
Using the controls on the vacuum, you can switch it on or off and toggle Auto mode.
IR Remote control
Using the IR remote control, you can run the robot in any desired mode, schedule it, or even control its movement with arrow buttons. The remote has an LCD display showing the current time and mode.
Smartphone app
The smartphone app for iOS or Android provides even more control over your vacuum, from anywhere. To use it the robot must be connected to a Wi-Fi network (only 2.4Ghz).
Besides all the features provided through the remote control, the app shows how much battery life is left, when you need to replace the filters and brushes, and malfunction notifications.
You can also use the app to rename the robot if you want.
Scheduling
The Deebot N79 can be scheduled to run every day at a certain time using the remote control and / or on particular days of the week using the smartphone app.
Before cleaning
It’s advised that, before running the robot, you do a quick cleanup around the house and grab anything that might get caught, such as cords, toys, slippers, or clothes, block the areas where the robot can get stuck or where you don’t want to clean, and remove or fold rugs with tasseled edges.
Malfunction notifications
If the robot gets into trouble, it will stop and ask for help by beeping one to four times.
Dustbin
The dustbin is 600 ml, which is adequate to hold the dirt that the vacuum can pick up during one cleaning cycle. It should be cleaned afterwards by pressing the release button and then opening and emptying it.
Filtration
The filtration system consist of three filters: net, sponge, and high-efficiency pleated filter.
The filters are effective and capture most of the dust particles. This is particularly useful if you suffer from asthma or allergies.
To maintain their performance, the filters should be cleaned from time to time. The net and sponge can be rinsed under water, but not the pleated filter.
What’s in the box
- Robot
- Charging Dock
- Power Adapter
- Remote Control
- Two AAA batteries
- Four Side Brushes (two spare)
- Spare Sponge Filter
- Spare High Efficiency Filter
- Instruction Manual
Ecovacs DEEBOT N79 specifications
| Type | Robot |
|---|---|
| Bag type | Bagless |
| Navigation Pattern | Random |
| Return to dock | Yes |
| Roller brush | Motorized |
| Battery energy | 38.5 Wh |
| Shape | Round |
| Filtration Efficiency | High-Efficiency |
| Input power | 25 watts |
| Side brushes | 2 |
| Height | 3.1 inches |
| Weight | 6.7 pounds |
| Dustbin capacity | 0.6 liters |
| Wi-Fi Connectivity | Yes |
| Runtime | 92 minutes |
| Smartphone App | Yes |
| Remote control | Yes |
| Battery replacement | Yes |
| Battery type | Li-ion |
| Warranty period | 1 years |
| Warranty type | Limited |
| Cleaning path | 13 inches |
| Length | 13 inches |
| Width | 13 inches |
| Brand | Ecovacs |
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