Comparison of self-cleaning stations Roborock, iRobot, Ecovacs, Viomi, Dreame, Roidmi и Proscenic

Hey guys, welcome to RobotObzor! Today I’ll compare some auto-empty bases from different robot vacuum cleaning companies. Thing is, 2021 saw a huge demand for self-cleaning bases, and almost all vacuum brands made their variation of one. And so I got an idea to compare all of their parameters and more importantly, how well they do with their main job. Here I reviewed some bases from robots like Roborock S7, Ecovacs Deebot OZMO T9 AIVI Plus, iRobot Roomba i7+, Dreame Bot Z10 Pro, Viomi S9, Roidmi Eve Plus and Proscenic M8 Pro. So now we’ll find out, which robot’s self-cleaning base is the best and most effective. Don’t forget to like and subscribe to keep up with our latest content, and let’s gets get started!

Bag and base price

First let’s talk about our bases’ prices. Some of them are sold as a necessity, and some are optional to have. In this case I’ll set the approximate price.

The most expensive base is the new Roborock S7. Currently the price reaches $300. I even got a discount for $10, but the base is still pretty expensive. For a comparison, Roidmi Eve Plus, costs about the same price, but the kit already has a vacuum with it.

iRobot Roomba i7+’s costs $300. So the robot without the base will cost $700, and with the base it’ll be $1000.

Amazon: iRobot Roomba i7 +

Ecovacs Deebot OZMO T9 AIVI Plus’s base is somewhere between $200-265.

Viomi S9 is sold without the base. The average price goes around $530-600. And the robot’s competitors by characteristics and functions only go for $400. And so the base’s price is $130-200.

Dreame Bot Z10 Pro is also sold without the base, and I couldn’t find the base separately. The robot costs around $440-465, while Dreame Bot L10 Pro which looks almost identical is sold for only $320-375. And so the base itself shouldn’t cost more than $120-150.

Proscenic M8 PRO has the same problem. The Pro version costs from $385-440, while Proscenic M8 goes from $300-360. So the base is around $85-140.

Roidmi Eve Plus goes for around $330-360. I couldn’t find a version without the base, though I saw it recommended to me a while back. So the base’s price would be $90-130.

Amazon: Roidmi Eve Plus

So in conclusion we see that the best base markup is at Proscenic, Roidmi, Dreame и Viomi. А and in Roborock, iRobot and Ecovacs only the vacuum’s price itself can compare to the other good vacuums.

And in the chart I decided to compare the price of the bags:

Assembly comparison

Separately I wanted to compare the different base’s assembly. There are some interesting points that I would like to note.

Well, first of all I would like to note the obvious advantage of the Roborock base, which has a bag-less compartment for collecting dirt. You can seriously save on the bags by using a MESH filter and a flask with an installed cyclone. This base is very easy to use and clean, which you can do with water.

And if you want to keep yourself away from dirt altogether, you can just install a 3 liter bag and change it every few months. This decision remains very new and interesting.

Taking out the trash

When it comes to emptying the trash, iRobot, Ecovacs, Dreame and Roborock can be emptied through the bottom. Moreover, the first three bases can be cleaned through a shutter in the dust collector, and Roborock has a unique dust cleaning system through the main suction channel and the central brush.

As for Viomi, Proscenic and Roidmi the dust is cleaned through an opening in the back. The robot’s rear is connected to a station with a conjoined container, which has a special shutter for unloading dirt. This way the manufacturer decreased the dirt tube length, number of bends, and time of unloading the dirt. And next you will see how effective this actually is.

Filtration system

Now for the additional filtration system, Roborock once again wins this battle. Inside the base, in the motor is an additional HEPA filter and a cloth filter.

Besides that, Proscenic can brag that it has a foam filter under the lid. I couldn’t find a filter in other bases, which I can get to without opening the frame.

Service

As for servicing the robot, specifically how easy it is to clean it, each robot has 7 stations for easily unscrewing the station to clean it. And only Roborock provided a little tool for doing just that. It’s the little things that count, I guess.

Cloth contact with the floor

Another cool feature, is that Roborock, Ecovacs, Dreame and Roidmi’s cloths do not touch the floor. For the first three cases, the robot completely drives on the platform, and in Roidmi’s case, the base has a plastic platform right under the mopping nozzle.

After Viomi and Proscenic return back to the base, they stay on the floor and the cloth touches the floor, which isn’t good. Aerobot is only made for vacuuming, so no problems there.

Control panel and indications

And lastly, I would like to take a moment to notice the control panels. iRobot, Ecovacs, Roborock and Dreame all have basic LED indicators, which just give the base’s status for auto-empty and signal power input.

Viomi and Roidmi have a display screen, which shows the battery and self-cleaning status.

And Proscenic’s panel not only has indicators, but also has buttons- with which you can return the robot back to base or pause the cleaning cycle.

Oh, and lastly I would like to note, that Roidmi has an Ionizer installed that disinfects the base’s inside. Or at least that’s what the manufacturer says. I mean, it looks like clickbait, but who knows, maybe it helps a little.

Characteristics

Now I’ll compare the base’s features told by the manufacturer. Maybe this will answer why the prices are so spread out. I put everything in a chart:

Note that the highest suction power goes to iRobot, which is also the loudest. But Dreame’s is below the others, but at least there is less volume. Aside from that Dreame, like Proscenic, has a large dust bag in the station.

And note that iRobot’s base only take 10 seconds to clean everything out, and if the robot has made sure that the dirt is out, it will go for a second cleaning cycle. This is very good and helpful.

I’ll also add that, the most compact placement of the robot on the station goes to Roidmi Eve Plus and iRobot Roomba i7+. These robots take the least amount of space, and this might be a contributing factor to your purchase. On the other hand, Proscenic and Viomi take up the most space due to their build.

Self-cleaning quality

And most importantly- I’ll compare the auto empty quality of these different models. This is basically, the base’s main point.

So for the test I used 6 different types of dirt. These are sand, buckwheat, beans, sunflower seeds and peanut shells, which were put in the dust collector by 100 grams, so that way we get the same results each time. And as for the hair and fur, I just put it without measuring, as the containers are too small for any more, and I couldn’t get that much hair. We’ll put this dirt all in order for the different models.

Roidmi Eve Plus got out 70 grams of sand, 64 grams of buckwheat, 45 grams of beans, 75 grams of seeds, and 10 grams of peanut shells. The weight showed a difference of 12 grams, but most of the shells fell out of the base, so I didn’t count those. The hair and fur were completely sucked in.

У Viomi S9 did a little better. It got 67 grams of sand, 99 grams of buckwheat, 67 grams of beans, all of the seeds, and 97 grams of shells. It got thee hair out just as well as the previous model.

Amazon: Viomi S9

Proscenic M8 Pro got out 83 grams of sand, 95 grams of buckwheat, 59 grams of beans, all of the seeds, and 13 grams of shells. This model showed promise, but couldn’t get the hair and fur out, so that’s a red flag.

Ecovacs Deebot OZMo T9 AIVI Plus sucked out 98 grams of sand, 99 grams of buckwheat, all of the beans, 72 grams of seeds and 6 grams of shells. Most of the hair and fur got stuck in the dust collector which is a problem.

Dreame Bot Z10 Pro basically has the same base. It sucked out 87 grams of sand, 96 grams of buckwheat, 97 grams of beans, 96 grams of seeds, and 6 grams of shells. It could’t get the fur out.

Amazon: Dreame Bot Z10 Pro

And we got a little situation with Roborock. It got 98 grams of sand, 27 grams of buckwheat, 99 grams of beans, 81 grams of seeds, and 36 grams of peanut shells. And the base could get the fur out only on the second try, and even here is a problem- the dust collector’s hair and fur got stretched, which we see in the base, but this is far from everything. Most of the hair got stuck between the central brush and the suction nozzle. After trying this again, the system mistakenly sent out an alert that it had to have maintenance on it. So there are major problems with the hair and fur.

Amazon: Roborock S7

And I think that iRobot gave the best results. It got 66 grams of sand, 93 grams of buckwheat, 84 grams of bans, 98 grams of seeds, and 84 grams of shells. It also got the hair and fur out without any problems.

To compare the results, I put them in a chart:

It’s important to note that all robots got several attempts, especially to get the hair and fur out for the bets results. Ok, so the dust collectors were stuffed by hand, and not with the natural tubes and such and this might have affected the performance, but the experiment was still the same for all the robots.

Which self-cleaning station is better?

All in all I think that the best results came from iRobot. Behind it came Viomi, Dreame and Ecovacs, Then Roidmi, as even though it didn’t show the best results, it could still get dirt out pretty well. That includes hair and fur. Well, Roborock and Proscenic have their ups, but I wouldn’t call them the best. Though their containers are perfect for the job, and it’s weird that only Proscenic couldn’t get hair and fur out, even with several attempts.

I liked iRobot and Viomi the best, as they got the main task handled well, but I would like to give a special mention to Roborock for its characteristics, build, and functions.

Now I have tested everything I wanted to test, and hope that this helps your future decision in your purchase of an auto empty base, or if you want to have one at all.

Thanks for watching, leave your questions in the comments below. Have fun shopping, bye!