Expert review
Plus points
- Compact base
- 4,000 PA suction power
- A 4 liter dust bag lasts 3 months
Disadvantages
- No basic drainage or top-up
- The mop pad requires manual washing
Our verdict
The Ezviz RE5 is a solid vacuum and mop combination that delivers a lot for the price. It has good suction and carpet detection, so it’s useful for homes with different types of floors, and you can create maps for different floors. You have to fill the water tank yourself, attach the mop pad and wash it after use, but the dust bin is automatically emptied, so you can vacuum hands-free for up to three months.
Price upon review
Currently not available in the US
Robot vacuum cleaners today have incredible functionality, but many of the best features come at a prohibitive price. The RE5 Plus from Ezviz offers a range of features including powerful vacuuming, carpet detection, automatic bin emptying and mopping, all for a reasonable price and in a compact form factor, making it ideal for homes where space is at a premium.
If buying green is important to you, you might also want to know that the RE5’s back plate is made from recycled plastic – an amount equivalent to about 16 plastic bottles.
For more recommendations, check out our roundup of the best robot vacuums we tested.
Design and construction
- Compact base
- 4 liter dust bag
- The robot’s water tank must be refilled manually
Inside the box you will find the robot vacuum cleaner and mop, the auto-draining base, two side brushes, one mop set, one mop, two dust bags, two high-efficiency filters, one cleaning tool, and two quick start guides. .
The robot vacuum cleaner and mop has a white cover and has a diameter of 34 cm. It is 9.5cm high, which is about average and should be low enough to fit under most furniture. There is a bumper on the front of the robot and the LiDAR navigation tower on top. There are also two buttons: one for power, one for docking. The RE5 Plus has a replaceable side brush.
To use the mop, you need to slide out the water tank, fill it and reinsert it, and clamp the mop panel on the top. Some high-end models take care of this automatically, but at this price, auto-filling and self-cleaning isn’t a likely option.
However, the dust container is automatically emptied into a 4 liter bag in the base. Access to the dust bag inside is via a hinged lid at the top of the base.
The auto-empty base is light, weighing 3.6kg, and also white, which we like as it tends to have a less imposing presence in a room. It is compact and only 38cm high, with a footprint of 24.5cm at the base once the robot is docked, with a width of 22cm at the top of the base and a depth of 18cm.
To set up
- Possibility to create a profile via Google or Facebook
- Accurate mapping
- QR code to identify the device
Unpack and install the base station. Please note that you will need reasonable access to an electrical outlet for the cable and rear plug. A clearance of 0.5 m is required on three sides of the base.
The next step is to download the Ezviz app and log in. You can set up 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, which makes the process quick and easy. Then it’s just a matter of entering your WiFi password.
Mapping is a simple process and the RE5 Plus divides rooms accurately. You can also create up to five floor plans, label them accordingly and edit the topography: divide or merge space, create forbidden areas and draw invisible walls.
Ezviz says the total charge time is about five hours, and a full charge should give you four hours of cleaning in silent mode, and three hours of cleaning in original mode.
Features and vacuum performance
- Four suction modes
- Adaptable room clean
- Day and time planning
- Carpet detection
According to Ezviz, the RE5 has a suction power of 4,000 Pa, which is good for a robot vacuum cleaner in this price range.
You vacuum per room, per entire floor or per area. There are four suction modes: silent, original, powerful and super power. If you are cleaning an entire floor or area, you can program the robot to go over the area twice.
You can customize the cleaning so that the robot applies different speeds to different rooms, and you can schedule a cleaning by day, time and size.
The app tracks cleaning in real time and in original mode you get just over a meter2 clean in one minute – Ezviz indeed suggests that you can clean more than 300 meters2 on a single charge.
We found vacuuming at the initial suction level to be good, and the robot is not noisy at all in this mode. Vacuuming on the original left a distinct striped effect on the carpet and as soon as the robot moved from a hard floor to a carpeted floor, carpet reinforcement was automatically enabled. You will also receive a push notification when the cleanup is complete.
The automatic emptying in the charging station at 28,000 Pa is loud, but takes barely four seconds. Ezviz states that you can go up to 90 days without having to replace the dust bag.
We gave the robot a flower test. In the original mode it took three cleanings to completely remove the flour, and the first cleaning swept the flour over a larger area, but this is to be expected with a side brush.
We found the area mode to be quite accurate. You also get cleaning logs and can set a “do not disturb” time. And there is a remote control setting in the app that allows you to directly control the robot’s direction and movement. Additionally, you can set the robot to respond to voice commands from Alexa or Google.
Mop
- 300 ml clean water tank
- Voice prompt for mopping mode
- Good coverage at maximum volume
To mop, take out the water tank, remove the rubber cap from the tank, fill it with water, replace the tank and place the mop plate on the bottom of the robot vacuum cleaner. The robot vacuum cleaner automatically gives you a voice message that it recognizes the switch to the mopping function.
It seems you can’t mop without vacuuming.
We did our mop test at maximum. The robot mopped the floor consistently and quietly, and the maximum water mode left the floor with a visible shine that dried quickly.
After the robot has finished mopping, you really need to wash the mop pad by hand. It’s not a big ask, and for the price of the RE5, we think it’s an acceptable compromise.
Price and availability
The RE5 Plus is a well-priced robot vacuum cleaner for its power and features. It had a launch price of £299.99, but you can buy it from Amazon for £229.99 at the time of writing. For this lower price it is a very good deal.
If this isn’t the right robot vacuum for you, check out our review 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. Vacuuming is effective and hands-free. Yes, you’ll have to put some work into the mopping, but that’s quite a compromise for the price. And the charging station’s compact size makes it a viable choice for smaller homes and apartments.
