Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo robot vacuum review: a fuller cleaning solution

Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo robot vacuum two-minute review

The Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo reviewed here may be the closest I’ve gotten with a robot vacuum to not feeling like I also need one of the best vacuums on standby for deep cleaning purposes. Part of that is the fact that it does a great job vacuuming and mopping including edges – it has a retractable mop pad – but another factor is that the Combo and Combo Complete versions of the new T30S model come with extra vacuuming capabilities. 

In the case of the Combo reviewed here, it comes with a handheld vacuum (plus attachments) that has its own dock in the base station. The Complete version also has a stick vacuum.

No matter which version you end up with, you’ll find a feature-filled affair including its own voice assistant. Whether it’s the best robot vacuum for you will depend on whether you’re willing to spend the money for it. After all, most of my issues with it, outside of price, are fairly unimportant, such as the fact that its foot control (a light tap should set it off to clean) doesn’t always register and that it’s not great with cables (like most robot vacuums).

The only bigger issue I’ve had is with the hot water mop pad washing and its ability to wash out coffee concentrate before continuing cleaning, and even that was easily remedied. I’ll discuss that a bit more at length later.

If you don’t flinch at the high price, however, you will end up with an excellent robot vacuum system.

Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo robot vacuum specs

Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo robot vacuum review: price & availability

• List price: $1,199.99 (about £950 / AU$1,800)
• Available only in the US at the time of writing

Though Ecovacs has plenty of products available in the UK and Australia, the new family of T30S robot vacuums seems to only be available in the US at the time of writing. While unfortunate, let’s hope that it’s temporary as it’s a worthy upgrade from the Ecovacs DEEBOT T20 Omni robot vacuum I reviewed in 2023. Like that vacuum, it’s also expensive.

There are three tiers in the Ecovacs Deebot T30S family. There’s the basic Ecovacs Deebot T30S, the Combo and the Combo Complete. The basic model goes for $999.99 (about £790 / AU$1,500), while the Combo reviewed here goes for $1,199.99 (about £950 / AU$1,800) and the Combo Complete goes for $1,299.99 (about £1,020 / AU$1,950). The difference between these three models comes down to the inclusion of external cleaning tools. The basic model is still fully featured but doesn’t come with an additional hand vacuum or stick vacuum. The Combo comes with a hand vacuum and attachments. And the Combo Complete comes with the hand vacuum and attachments as well as a stick vacuum, all of which dock on the base station. That’s pretty cool considering the difference in price between the different tiers is quite minimal.

All in all, the pricing is not bad for what you get, even if it sits squarely in the premium camp. For comparison’s sake, the Ecovacs Deebot T20 Omni mentioned above retailed for $1,099.99 / £951.65 / AU$1,799 when it was released. In fact, it technically still does, though you’ll find it regularly on sale for much less. But the T20 doesn’t include the extra handheld and hasn’t mastered cleaning the edges as well as the T30S.

There are options that cost even more, such as the Narwal Freo, which retails at $1,399.99 / AU$1,999 (about £1,100) and doesn’t offer quite the same level of vacuuming performance.

• Value for money score: 4 out of 5

Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo robot vacuum review: design

• Base station a little on the wide side
• Mop pad washing and drying
• Comes with a handheld vacuum

Robot vacuums seem to come in one of two colors, black or white. In the case of the Ecovacs Deebot T30S, it’s matte black. Regardless of where you place it, it will probably blend in as long as you have the space for it. Measuring almost 22″ wide and 20″ tall, it does require a little more floor space than most robot vacuums that come with a base station.

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The robot vacuum itself looks like most robot vacuums these days. It has the typical round shape with a raised cylindrical area, which I always assume is for navigational purposes like a bridge on a ship. The front of the unit has a bumper that registers presses for the foot control (a light press will start a cleaning cycle). There’s one side brush that feeds debris into a roller brush with v-shaped bristles designed to keep tangles at bay. And there are two mop pads at the back of the unit that can retract over carpeting. Oh, and one of them can extend out to clean edges.

The base station contains two water reservoirs, one for clean water and one for dirty, a dock for the robot vacuum as well as the handheld vacuum it comes with, and a compartment for the handheld vacuum’s attachments. 

There’s also a front panel that pops open for access to the dust bag into which all the contents of the robot vacuum and handheld vacuum automatically empty when they’re docked. Also of note is that the base station will wash the mop pads during and after use and then dry the mop pads for the next cleaning.

As far as the handheld goes, it has a somewhat bulky shape. However, it’s not cumbersome to use. There are three attachments: a mini power brush, a flat brush, and a crevice tool.

Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo robot vacuum review: performance

• Great job vacuuming and mopping
• Mopping can sometimes spread certain liquids
• Handheld works like a charm

When it comes to vacuuming and mopping, I have been generally impressed with the recent crop of robot vacuums that I’ve gotten my hands on, and the Ecovacs Deebot T30S is no different.

In regard to the vacuuming, one of my tests was to pour a bunch of bay seasoning on the floor. It vacuumed it up in one go. I also ran it after a birthday party with some small bits of food and small bits of trash and it managed to pick everything up. I’ve also not had to worry about untangling anything – an issue with some cheaper vacuums.

The Ecovacs Deebot T30S mops in an even and orderly fashion as well, leaving my floors spotless. I do have to share one experience that highlights the pros and cons of its mopping capability. When I put down the bay seasoning, I also poured a bunch of coffee concentrate on the floor for it to mop up. The good news is that the coffee concentrate was swiftly whisked off the floor. However, since it is a concentrate, it permeated the mop pads and ended up leaving a thin layer of coffee-flavored water all over my floors. Even after the hot water mop pad washing, it still would make my floors smell like coffee.

Luckily, the mop pads pop right off so I just washed them with some dish soap. After that, no more coffee smell. Of course, most (but not all) of the robot vacuums that I’ve used don’t require or ask you to put any kind of cleaning solution into the clean water reservoir, so this is not going to be unique to this robot vacuum.

On a brighter note, one of the mop pads extends out during use so this vacuum is able to clean the edges of my flooring, making the need for a regular vacuum for deep cleaning a little less necessary. The inclusion of the handheld vacuum also makes investing in extra cleaning tools a lower priority. It has plenty of power and a useful range of tools. I was able to quickly and easily suck up leaves and debris from some windowsills that had accumulated a few months of pollen, dirt, and small, fallen leaves.

• Performance score: 4.5 out of 5

Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo robot vacuum review: app

• Fully featured app
• Automatically partitions mapped spaces
• Relatively basic mapping

Having reviewed a few robot vacuums that are stellar in almost every regard but fall short with their software, I’m particularly sensitive to app-related issues. Thankfully, I have yet to experience anything bad with the Ecovacs Deebot T30S.

It has all the regular functionality of choosing whether to vacuum, mop, or both, and at what strength each function runs at. You can schedule cleaning or start a cleaning cycle remotely. You can adjust the voice assistant controls here as well along with plenty of other fine-tuning.

Really, where apps have failed me in the past is with the ability to partition a mapped space into rooms. Not only did I have no issues with that here, but the robot vacuum automatically partitioned all the spaces into their own spaces. It almost did a perfect job, though it did think that my living room is actually two rooms since I have a couch that cuts it in half (and with no space underneath for a vacuum to go). That makes selecting a room to clean very easy. You can also create a zone to clean if you wish.

The only thing I will mention is that the mapping looks a little rudimentary compared to the detailed maps I’ve seen with some other robot vacuums. However, this is more of an observation than a complaint.

Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo robot vacuum review: battery life

• More than enough battery life
• Uses fast charging

Though the battery life runs between 200 and 290 minutes depending on the settings that you run it at, you’ll probably never see it run out of juice. Part of that is the fact that it employs fast charging and regularly returns to the base station to wash the mop pads, during which it will start to charge back up.

I tested the Ecovacs Deebot T30S in a one-bedroom apartment, where it would clean a large living room, bedroom, and kitchen. While it returned to the base station to wash those mop pads, it never needed to return just to charge. And I almost always ran this robot vacuum with vacuuming and mopping capabilities. If you have a larger space, you might experience it having to spend some time charging, but unless it gets stuck somewhere, you won’t have to deal with it. Just give it a little extra time to charge and continue its job.

• Battery life score: 5 out of 5

Should you buy the Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo robot vacuum?

Buy it if…

Don’t buy it if…

Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo robot vacuum review: also consider

How I tested the Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo robot vacuum

To test the Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo, I used it for a couple of weeks to vacuum and mop the hardwood floors and carpeting in my apartment. I also tested all the features listed in the app, from mapping to scheduling. I took note of how well the vacuum cleaned the edges of a room as well as around obstacles, not to mention running how the handheld vacuum performed.

Read more about how we test

First reviewed June 2024