Hello! Today we will review an interesting robot vacuum cleaner called the Cecotec Conga 7090 IA. Country of origin Spain. In the European market, robot vacuum cleaners from this company are very actively sold and are leaders in sales. At a cost of $500-600, the robot vacuum cleaner is equipped with a lidar, an object recognition system, a dry and wet cleaning function, a polisher mode, three central brushes of different structure and suction power up to 10,000 Pa. Declared features can justify such a high price. So today, I will test the Cecotec Conga 7090 IA in detail and will express my own opinion whether this robot vacuum cleaner is worth buying. Let’s go!
Equipment
The robot vacuum cleaner came in such a branded box:
It contains:
- Charging base.
- Power adapter.
- Separate dust collector. And in the robot, itself, a combined tank for water and dust is already installed.
- Branded sticker on the top panel of the robot.
- Control panel with batteries.
- Nozzle for wet cleaning with installed microfiber mopping pad.
- Spare mopping pad.
- Spare side brush.
- Two interchangeable central brushes.
- Robot cleaning tool.
- Documentation translated into several languages.
In general, the delivery set is very good. There are almost all spare consumables, not counting HEPA filters, and even a control panel, which can be very convenient for the elderly people.
Design
Let`s see how this robot is designed. Cecotec Conga 7090 IA is available in black, glossy plastic, round body shape. Height is about 9.5 cm from the floor.
A system of sensors and cameras for recognizing objects on the floor is placed on the front mechanical bumper. The technology of the so-called machine vision was called 3Diana. Lidar is equipped with a very stylish backlight.
There are two mechanical buttons on the control panel: start / pause and forced return to the base for charging. The lidar itself is equipped with a spring-loaded cover that prevents the robot vacuum cleaner from getting stuck under furniture.
The dust collector is installed at the back. Inside there is a cyclonic filter with an interesting backlight that breaks through the translucent top cover of the robot. In addition, the blown air is filtered through a mesh and HEPA filter. By the way, this container holds up to 600 ml of dry waste.
Instead of a dust collector, you can install a combined container for water and debris. A pump is installed inside the tank for electronic regulation of the water supply. The reservoir holds up to 200 ml of water. The capacity of the dust compartment is not stated, but it looks small and holds about 300-400 ml of debris. Filtration system based on HEPA filter. Unfortunately, the filters are not interchangeable with a separate dust collector.
Let’s turn the robot vacuum cleaner over and see how it looks from below. There are only 3 fall protection sensors on the front. Side brush one: three-beam, quick-detachable. The central brush block is floating, which is a plus.
As mentioned earlier, the kit comes with three central brushes to choose from: a standard bristle-petal, rubber and a fluffy brush called Jalisco. It is more suitable for collecting dust and hair on hard floors. All brushes are not collapsible, only the cap is removed from one side.
Mopping pad for wet cleaning is fixed on a special nozzle. Water enters the mopping pad through 2 holes. Fastening to the body of the robot is carried out by a mechanical lock.
In general, the build quality of the robot vacuum cleaner is above average. There are certain nuances but speaking generally the design is good.
Specifications
The main characteristics of Cecotec Conga 7090 IA, declared by the manufacturer:
- Battery Li-Ion 6400 mAh
- Suction power Up to 10,000 Pa
- Cleaning area 150 sq.m.
- Battery life Up to 240 min
- Dust container 600 ml
- Combined container ≈350 + 200 ml
- Passage of obstacles up to 20 mm
- Dimensions 355*97 mm
Functionality
Let’s move on and review the functions of the Cecotec Conga 7090 IA. The robot vacuum cleaner is controlled through a branded mobile application designed specifically for this model. Registration and connection to the network was easy. On the main working panel, the robot vacuum cleaner builds a map of the room, automatically zones it into rooms, and even independently determines the type of flooring in each room, displaying it with a corresponding pattern on the map.
When you press the start button, you can select one of three operating modes. The first mode is manual joystick control. The second mode is fast cleaning. There are many settings, which I will explain in more detail later. First, it is proposed to select the movement mode: automatic, floor polisher mode during wet cleaning, move around the perimeter of the room, spot cleaning in a spiral, cleaning at a selected point on the map, and cleaning in a selected area. Then you can choose a double pass by the robot if necessary, as well as adjust the suction power, the level of water supply and turn on the automatic power increase mode when driving on carpets. After selecting all these settings, you can set the restricted areas on the map, and only after that the robot vacuum cleaner will start cleaning.
Well, the third mode is the setting of cleaning according to the schedule. Here, in addition to choosing the time and days of the week, you can very flexibly adjust the cleaning parameters individually for each room. Choose the desired power, the level of water supply and even the sequence of cleaning the rooms. The same settings are available in the second section in the bottom menu called “Schedule”.
The next section is responsible for artificial intelligence and the object recognition system. Here, first it is proposed to indicate to the robot the initial data necessary for self-learning, namely: are there animals in the house, how many of them, and if “Do Not Disturb” mode is relevant at a given time. This is followed by a section with the settings of the object recognition system itself. It can be completely disabled if necessary or flexibly adjust the settings. We see that the database contains items such as shoes, socks, wires, chairs, and even pet surprises. All this will be checked during the tests. Also, the robot vacuum cleaner can recognize carpets and mark them on the map, and even keep a record of recognized objects in a log. There is also a general cleaning log.
The next section from the bottom menu is called “Map”. Here you can edit the boundaries of rooms, merging them into one or vice versa dividing them into several zones, as well as name rooms and manually select the type of flooring if necessary. Yes, and it is worth noting that the Cecotec Conga 7090 IA can store several unique maps in memory, which is a plus.
In the last section, Settings, you can change the name of the robot, adjust the volume of voice alerts and enable the so-called final cleaning. This function is not entirely clear – the robot just before entering the base increases its power to the maximum and makes several movements back and forth. Perhaps in this way the manufacturer decided to eliminate the situation with the accumulation of the remaining debris behind the central brush, which did not get into the dust collector. I don’t know, honestly. In the same section, you can track the status of consumables, check notifications from the robot, and set up work through voice assistants. Cecotec Conga 7090 IA supports voice control via Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant.
In general, the functionality of the robot is quite diverse and useful. Of the important things for me, the only thing missing is support for separate virtual walls for the wet cleaning mode.
Yes, and it’s important to remember that the Conga 7090 IA is equipped with an alternative remote control. With it, you can set up scheduled cleaning, manually control the robot, change operating modes, and adjust the suction power.
Perhaps, for some, this will be an important or even decisive option when choosing between several models of premium robots.
Testing
Navigation
And finally, let’s move on to the tests. First, let’s check the navigation of the Cecotec Conga 7090 IA in the room with obstacles. The robot vacuum cleaner passed the entire area, first along the perimeter, then in a snake. It stuck a bit on the dryer, but was able to quickly get out of the trap and continue the cleaning process. Separately swept around the box and the legs of the chair, after which he returned to the base. Test passed successfully!
As for navigation within the house, the robot goes room after room, leaving no gaps. Cleaning speed is high, I have no complaints. Test passed successfully!
Object recognition and avoidance
It is more interesting to test the object recognition system. So, out of 7 objects that was on the floor, the robot could not recognize with its sensors and camera only an imitation of a pet’s surprise. All other items recognized successfully. Moreover, he even identified a sneaker, a sock and a cable, but he just carefully drove around the rest of the items.
As a result, the object recognition system is quite accurate. Not that accurate as in its main competitor Roborock S6 MaxV, but much more accurate than Dreame Bot L10 Pro, Z10 Pro and Ecovacs Deebot OZMO T9 AIVI, when compared with the flagships. In addition, it is important to note that the sensor system responds adequately to carpets, the robot is not afraid of them and does not avoid them. However, in the dark, the system still loses its effectiveness, and the robot becomes blind. In general, I would give four out of five points.
Suction power
Speaking of suction power, the Cecotec Conga 7090 IA is a little disappointing. I was sure that it would be able to do a 10 mm slot on the stand. But in the end, with all three brushes, the robot vacuum cleaner showed the same result. He can suck out debris from cracks up to 6 mm deep. In any case, this is a very good indicator, but not the best among robot vacuum cleaners with claimed high suction power.
Dry cleaning on laminate
Speaking about the quality of collecting various debris on the laminate, the standard bristle-petal brush proved to be the best. The robot cleaner was able to pick up all the debris, leaving the corners unswept, which is typical of most round robots.
With a rubber brush, the result is also good, but a little bit of debris is still left on the stand. The fluffy Jalisco brush showed the worst result. Almost all the rubbish was left on the stand. And the one that the robot was able to scoop up got stuffed in front of the brush. The fact is that the engineers left a minimal gap and large debris, as well as an accumulation of wool, they simply physically could not pass through this gap. That`s why, this brush can only be used to collect dust and hair.
Carpet cleaning
Speaking of carpet cleaning, here again, the bristle-petal and center brush did the job, the Jalisco fluffy roller did not. But with the first two brushes, and considering the high suction power, we can say that Cecotec Conga 7090 IA cleans carpets perfectly.
Mopping
The quality of wiping dirt also spoiled the impression of the robot. After driving, even in the floor polisher mode, not only stains remained, but also traces of dirt that were not wiped off. Then I checked the mopping pad and it became clear that on the sides it does not press very well to the floor. The central part takes the whole pressure. Everything remained on the stand that the robot did not pass through the central part.
In real living conditions, the so-called unwashed stripes are minimal and the mopping pad is sufficiently enough wetted with water. In terms of delicate wet cleaning, the situation is not so disapointing.
Mopping and carpets
A top question for many is how the robot vacuum cleaner behaves in wet cleaning mode when driving on carpets. Let me remind you that Cecotec Conga 7090 IA recognizes them and there is even a function to enable recognition. So here, unfortunately, this function only works on carpets with high pile, as well as the automatic increase in suction power. The robot does not detect carpets with medium pile, so it passes through them with a mopping pad without turning off the water supply. I recommend that you install restricted areas on all carpets so that the robot does not wet them during cleaning.
Passage of obstacles
But the passage of the thresholds is very pleased. The Cecotec Conga 7090 IA was able to easily overcome the 2 cm threshold with and without the wet nozzle.
Drive through dark surfaces
This robot is also not afraid of dark surfaces and passes over them without problems. This is a plus.
Noise level
And finally, we measure the noise level of Cecotec Conga 7090 IA in different modes. With the suction turned off, the noise level is in the range of 55-57 dB. At minimum power, it rises sharply to 69-71 dB. In the average mode, the noise level was about 73.5-74 dB, and in the Turbo mode, the peak value was 78 dB. Yes, the noise level of this robot is high. But the suction power is above average too.
Summing up
Cecotec Conga 7090 IA was reviewed and tested in detail. According to our rating system, it scored 75 out of 100 points. It was so near from being in the top 10 of the tested robots, but was placed between its main competitors Dreame Bot L10 Pro and Xiaomi Mijia Vacuum Cleaner Pro, which scored 76 and 75 points, respectively. But even in current condition, it has his strengths compared to competitors, although there are quite a few comments.
What I liked:
- Good navigation.
- Accurate object recognition system on the floor.
- Flexible cleaning options.
- Increased suction power.
- High quality dry cleaning, both on hard floors and carpets.
- Alternative control option via remote control.
- Good equipment, incl. three central brushes to choose from.
- The robot vacuum cleaner is not afraid of dark surfaces.
- Good passage of obstacles.
- Availability of warranty and service support from the manufacturer.
Speaking of disadvantages, the main ones are:
- Poor wet cleaning abilities.
- The central brushes do not disassemble for cleaning from coiled hair and wool.
- There are problems with carpet recognition function.
- There is no self-cleaning station.
As a result, there was a double impression of the robot, and here it’s a matter of price. For $500-600, I would like to have almost perfect robot vacuum cleaner with modern functionality. But the quality of wet cleaning spoiled the impression. Although, on the other hand, everything is intuitive in the application, and the quality of wet cleaning is almost at the level of the models as “Roborock” or “Dreame”.
If we talk about the main characteristics: as a vacuum cleaner, there are no special complaints about the Cecotec Conga 7090 IA. The quality of dry cleaning is high. As for the robot, there are also few comments: it is equipped with advanced functionality and artificial intelligence. So, I can say that this robot vacuum cleaner is really good, but expensive. Summing up, this robot left a positive impression, and if you like Cecotec products, the disadvantages are not so significant and it is important that the robot vacuum cleaner has a warranty and service from the manufacturer. I see no reason not to recommend it.
That’s all, if you have any questions, ask them in the comments below. Happy tech shopping, bye!
