At IFA 2023, with its S10, SwitchBot risks overtaking the competition with the promise of truly autonomous floor vacuuming and washing… An ingenious technology that involves the use of three different bases!
A newcomer to the market of robot vacuum cleaners, this is no longer surprising. But once in front of the SwitchBot S10, it’s hard not to be both curious and enthusiastic at IFA 2023. Indeed, SwitchBot is not inspired by market leaders by offering a “simple” base with self-emptying and self-cleaning. Instead, he has an atypical solution: no less than three different bases for a single robot in order to have more than 99% automated use.
One robot, three bases
If you just take the S10, it looks like a classic robot. A round shape, a white dress and a small dome that hides a laser rangefinder. The latter will take care of the mapping and navigation in your home and will be supported by a front camera (with torch) to better locate and identify possible obstacles.
Only classic, you will tell us! And yet, turn the beast over and you will find that the classic central brush and its side companion are not accompanied by a classic mop, or rotating pads. The manufacturer is betting everything on a roll mop like we can find on stick vacuums such as the Roborock Dyad Pro Combo.
According to the brand, it avoids leaving traces, while offering superior floor washing performance. But it does not stop there ! With each rotation, it washes the floor and cleans itself at the same time. The dirty water is stored in a small tank next to the clean water tank of the robot. In addition, it gets up so as not to dampen the carpets.
There is therefore no longer any need to return to a self-cleaning base and this allows the manufacturer to offer a philosophy of use based on three different docks.
The first is used to fill the robot’s clean water tank and empty its dirty water tank. Don’t be surprised by its size, which corresponds to that of a charging base only. Indeed, it is designed to connect to a water inlet and drain as we can have in a kitchen, a bathroom or in the toilet. It requires a bit of DIY, but the builder delivers the robot with all the tools and accessories for quick and easy installation.
The second base is used to automatically empty the robot’s dust container and to dry the mop roll with hot air. Action it will perform after a complete cleaning cycle.
Third base may be less essential, but can still be interesting. It acts as an air humidifier that you will never have to fill with water. Indeed, when its water tank shows a low level, the robot will automatically recharge itself with water, then transfer it to the air humidifier.
With this concept of robot vacuum cleaner and air humidifier, SwitchBox proves to us that there are alternative ways to the versatile base and that it is still possible to really innovate as with its mop roll. A product that we look forward to testing, in order to verify, in addition to its effectiveness, whether it can be suitable for modest-sized apartments.
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