Expert Rating
Benefits
- Compact base
- 4,000 PA suction
- A 4 litre dust bag should last 3 months
Disadvantages
- No base drainage or filling
- The mop pad requires manual washing
Our verdict
The Ezviz RE5 is a robust vacuum and mop that offers a lot for its price. It has good suction and carpet detection, making it useful for homes with different types of flooring, and you can create maps for different floors. You’ll need to fill the water tank yourself, attach the mopping pad, and wash it after use, but the dust bin empties automatically, for up to three months of hands-free vacuuming.
Robot vacuums today have incredible features, but many of these features come at a hefty price tag. The Ezviz RE5 Plus offers a feature set that includes powerful suction, carpet detection, automatic dustbin emptying, and mopping, all for a reasonable price and in a compact size, making it ideal for homes where space is limited.
If buying green is important to you, you might also want to know that the RE5’s backplate is made from recycled plastic, an amount equivalent to about 16 plastic bottles.
For more recommendations, take a look at our roundup of the best robot vacuums we’ve tested.
Design and construction
- Compact base
- 4 litre dust bag
- The robot’s water tank must be filled manually
In the box you will find the robot vacuum and mop, the self-emptying base, two side brushes, a mop kit, a mop cloth, two dust bags, two high-efficiency filters, a cleaning tool and two quick start guides.
The robot vacuum cleaner has a white hood and measures 13.4 inches in diameter. It is 3.75 inches tall, which is about average and should be low enough to fit under most furniture. On the front of the robot is a bumper and on the top is its LiDAR navigation tower. There are also two buttons: one for power, one for docking. The RE5 Plus has a replaceable side brush.
To use the mop, you’ll need to slide out the water tank, fill it and reinsert it, then snap the mop panel on top. Some higher-end models will do this automatically, but at this price point, auto-filling and self-cleaning aren’t an option.
However, the dust bin automatically empties into a 4 litre bag located inside the base. Access to the dust bag inside is via a hinged lid located on top of the base.
The self-emptying base is lightweight (3.6kg) and also white, which we like as it tends to be less imposing in a room. It’s compact, measuring just 38cm high, with a 24.5cm footprint at the base once the robot is docked, with a width of 22cm at the top of the base and a depth of 18cm.
Set up
- Ability to create a profile using Google or Facebook
- Precise mapping
- QR code to identify the device
Unpack and set up the base station, keeping in mind that you need reasonable access to a power outlet for the cable and the plug on the back. You will need 0.5m of free space on three sides of the base.
The next step is to download the Ezviz app and log in. You can create a new profile or use your Google or Facebook account. To pair the device, you can scan the QR code on the top of the robot, making the process quick and easy. All you have to do is enter your Wi-Fi password.
Mapping is a simple process and the RE5 Plus divides rooms precisely. You can also create up to five floor plans, label them accordingly and edit the topography: divide or merge space, create no-go zones and draw invisible walls.
Ezviz says the total charge time is about five hours, and you should get four hours of cleaning in quiet mode with a full battery and three hours of cleaning in original mode.
Vacuum characteristics and performance
- Four suction modes
- Customizable room cleaning
- Planning days and times
- Carpet detection
According to Ezviz, the RE5 has 4,000Pa of suction, which is good for a robot vacuum at this price point.
You can vacuum by room, floor or area. There are four suction modes: quiet, original, powerful and super powerful. If you are doing a complete cleaning of the floor or an area, you can program the robot to go over the area twice.
You can customize cleaning so the robot applies different speeds to different rooms, and you can schedule cleaning by day, time, and range.
The app tracks cleaning in real time, and in original mode you get just over a meter2 clean in one minute – in fact, Ezviz suggests you can clean over 300 m2 on a single charge.
We found the suction at the original suction level to be good and the robot was not noisy at all in this mode. The suction at the original level left a distinct striped effect on the carpet and as soon as the robot moved from a hard floor to a carpeted floor, it would automatically activate the carpet mode. You will also receive a push notification when the cleaning is complete.
The automatic emptying into the charging base at 28,000 Pa is loud, but lasts just four seconds. Ezviz says you can go up to 90 days without having to change the dust bag.
We ran a flour test with the robot. It took three cleans in the original mode to completely remove the flour, and the first clean swept the flour over a wider area, but that’s to be expected with a side brush.
We found the zone mode to be pretty accurate. You also get cleaning logs and can set a “do not disturb” time. And there’s a remote control setting in the app that lets you directly control the robot’s direction and movement. Plus, you can set the robot to act on voice commands from Alexa or Google.
Cleaning
- 300 ml clean water tank
- Voice prompt for broom mode
- Good coverage at maximum volume
To clean, remove the water tank, remove the rubber cap from the tank, fill it with water, reinsert the tank and place the cleaning plate under the robot vacuum. The robot vacuum will automatically indicate to you with a voice that it recognizes the switch to the cleaning function.
You can’t seem to mop without vacuuming.
We ran our cleaning test on maximum. The robot cleaned the floor evenly and quietly, and the maximum water mode left the floor with a visible shine that dried quickly.
Once the robot is done cleaning, it’s a must to wash the mop by hand. It’s not a difficult task, and given the RE5’s price, we think it’s an acceptable compromise.
Pricing and Availability
The RE5 Plus is a reasonably priced robot vacuum for its power and features. Its launch price was £299.99, but you can buy it at the time of writing on Amazon for £229.99. At this discounted price, it’s a very good deal.
If this isn’t the right robot vacuum for you, take a look at our roundup of the best robot vacuums we’ve tested for more options.
Should you buy the Ezviz RE5 Plus?
We really like the RE5 Plus. It’s a reasonably priced robot vacuum and mop that does what it claims to do. The vacuuming is efficient and hands-free. Yes, you’ll have to put in a bit of effort to mop, but it’s a decent trade-off for the price. And the compact size of the charging station makes it a viable choice for smaller homes and apartments.
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