Expert rating
Benefits
- Vacuum cleaners and mops
- Compact charging station
- Turbo mode
- Cleans large areas without recharging
The inconvenients
- Not effective on medium pile carpets
- No automatic draining
- Does not recognize the carpet when cleaning
Our Verdict
Aeno’s RC2S packs a few useful features: a large water tank for plenty of cleaning, controls for the basics so you don’t have to pick up a device, and plenty of app features. However, in other ways it’s limited: you’ll have to tell him not to clean rooms with carpet, he can get stuck easily, and he’s limited to cleaning or vacuuming, not both simultaneously. .
Smart home appliance maker Aeno offers products as diverse as vacuum and electric toothbrushes, but one of its specialties is keeping your floors clean.
Its RC2S robot vacuum is one of four robot vacuums offered by the brand (the RC3S has the same specs but is in black) and has everything you’d expect – app control, Lidar room mapping and vacuum mode improved – as well as others that you might not use, like cleaning and big wheels to climb obstacles. Other highlights include a compact charging base that’s anything but a floor hog and voice alerts that tell you what it’s about to do.
Design and build
- Low profile at 9.6 cm
- Compact base
- The 0.6 L dustbin is replaced by a 350 ml cleaning module
White and shiny, the Aeno RC2S robot vacuum cleaner follows a standard robot vacuum cleaner construction in terms of round shape, nimble weight (2.87 kg) and dimensions (Dia33 x D9.6 cm). There are, however, a few notable design features. Flip it over and you’ll find a pair of large wheels with a tread, so it can climb over rugs and carpets on hard floors, two rotating brushes and a brush bar.
Turn it the right way again and there’s the option of manual controls via buttons: one to start or stop cleaning, another to send it back to the base for charging. The charging station itself is pleasantly compact, measuring H8 x W13 x D13 cm, so it takes up less floor space.
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
However, it’s the cleaning module that’s probably the most notable. It replaces the 0.6 liter trash can to transform it from a robot vacuum cleaner into a robot mop, equipped with a removable and washable pad. Exceptionally, its generous capacity – 350 ml – gives it the ability to clean up to 150 m² of hard floors before requiring a refill.
The charging station itself is pleasantly compact
The cleaning level can vary from low to high, as can the suction power, which can reach 2,500 Pa in Turbo mode. Another plus is the inclusion of replacement brushes, a Hepa filter and a second mop pad, so you can continue cleaning when one has become dirty.
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Performance, app and features
- The app could be more user-friendly
- Voice control options
- Much more durable on hard floors than on carpets
Being able to start and stop cleaning without a smartphone handy is definitely a good thing with Aeno’s RC2S, as you may run into connectivity issues with the app, as we did. It will only operate at 2.5GHz, so it initially rejected the combined signal from our router and required troubleshooting.
Once the robot vacuum was connected, things went smoother, but not perfectly. For example, rather than dividing a kitchen and a hallway at the door, the mapping made the kitchen a perfect rectangle and allocated part of the kitchen space to the hall. While you can split, merge, and name pieces (or run the mapping a second time to try to correct errors), there doesn’t appear to be an option to move boundaries between incorrectly divided spaces.
You will have to dig through the application to find the features you want because it is not always easy. For example, the cleaning schedule, which you can change on a semi-regular basis, is hidden under settings, which is not a natural place to look.
Other features aren’t clearly named, like Pin and Go, which provides targeted cleaning of one square meter wherever you drop a pin on the map. It’s a handy feature but one that risks being overlooked given that there’s no explanation of what it does. This might also be redundant because you can choose zoned cleaning, which is pretty much the same except the size of the zone is flexible.
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
There was a lot to like, though: the RC2S found its base immediately rather than moving, and you can control its direction from the app with the arrow buttons if you want to send it in a specific way. You can also set “virtual walls” or restricted spaces if you prefer to keep it outside of a space, and it’s compatible with voice control.
We tested it by vacuuming hard and soft floors (medium-pile carpet), as well as mopping. We used flour to represent dust and oats as debris particles, and set it to clean the specific area twice.
You will have to dig through the application to find the features you want because it is not always easy.
On the hard ground there was a small patch of flour left, but otherwise it accumulated well. The result was similar with the oats: a few were turned over but the majority were picked up. However, it was less successful on the mat.
Although the dusting was initially good, flour that had not been vacuumed into the bin tended to fall off the brush bar onto the carpet. A few small oat particles were left behind, while again a few fell off.
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Rachel Ogden / Foundry
Cleaning performance was good on recent dirt, although some stuck-on food remained behind, and we had to adjust it to not clean the carpeted room. However, the biggest problem was that even though the mop pad was attached, it tended to get stuck. It got stuck on a doormat more than once before we had to remove it. We were surprised that once saved, the robot vacuum didn’t resume its task – which you’ll have to tell it to do from the app.
Charging was quite slow. You’ll need to allow five hours to charge it flat, and while cleaning uses little power, the Turbo suction mode does. It’s also quite loud, around 65 dB.
We found that maintenance after cleaning was more complex than with some competitors. While the trash can slides out to be emptied, there is no arrow to tell you how to open it. And if you clean, the pad should be washed and dried, and the module ventilated.
Pricing and availability
In the UK, the Aeno RC2S robot vacuum cleaner has an RRP of £399.99 but is usually available for less. You can buy it from Amazon for £382.82 or from Appliance House for £369. It is not available in the United States.
Robot vacuums are expensive, and for its features, this one is pretty cheap. It doesn’t have the advanced settings you’ll find on more expensive models, but if you have a lot of tile or vinyl, it’s a cheap and easy way to keep it clean.
Not the robot vacuum cleaner you need? Take a look at our roundup of the best robot vacuums we’ve tested for more recommendations.
Should you buy the Aeno RC2S?
The Aeno RC2S is a robot vacuum cleaner made up of two halves. While it performs well in some areas, you expect a smoother user experience and fewer compromises for its price. For example, many robot vacuums are not suitable for deeper carpets, but others recognize them and increase the suction and avoid wetting them automatically. That said, if you have large areas of hard flooring, the targeted, scheduled cleaning of the RC2S could prove invaluable, both for spills and everyday sweeping.
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