EZViz RS2 Review
A powerful robot vacuum and mop
Verdict
With its ability to drop its mop pads and leave them in the cleaning dock, the EZViz RS2 can move out and vacuum carpets without fear of getting them wet. It’s a powerful vacuum and quality mop, cleaning well in all of my tests. Getting to the bin to empty it manually is a bit fiddly, but otherwise this is a great tool for those that primarily have hard floors.
Pros
- Excellent vacuuming and mopping
- Clever mop-dropping
- Neat app
Cons
- Can’t move over carpet to mop hard floor beyond
- Fiddly to empty the bin
Key Features
- TypeThis is a robot vacuum cleaner and mop, which will self clean its mopping cloths.
Introduction
EZViz may not be a name that you’d associate with robot vacuum cleaners, but it’s a welcome one to join the fray.
For the EZViz RS2, the company could so easily either have copied existing designs or just created a budget model; instead, it has done something that I’ve never seen before and has created a robot that can automatically ditch its mopping pads for a true vacuum-only mode.
That’s quite the trick. While the robot does have some quirks of its own, it’s largely a successful robot vacuum and mop and extremely keenly priced.
Design and features
- Self-cleaning station
- Can drop its mopping cloths
- Powerful app
On the face of it, the EZViz RS2 looks much like the competition, such as the Ecovacs Deebot T20 Omni, complete with dual round microfibre mopping cloths.
There is a big difference here: the EZViz RS2 can automatically detach and reattach these mopping cloths in the docking station, allowing it to vacuum carpet without risk of getting it wet.
Other robots may be able to lift their mop cloths, but they still can’t deal with all carpets. The only other robot to offer a similar level of convenience is the iRobot Roomba Combo j7+, which has a mopping bracket that it can lift and tuck completely out of the way.
As well as charging the robot, the dock has two large tanks: one for fresh water and one for dirty water, which are used to clean the mopping pads. The tanks are easy to lift out for refilling or emptying. Once the robot has finished its job, there’s hot air to dry the pads, preventing smells.
EZViz provides two spare microfibre cloths in the flap at the front of the dock, so you can give one set a deep clean in a washing machine and still be able to clean your home. This cubby hole also has a cleaning brush, which can be used to clean out the docking station.
This station doesn’t automatically empty the robot, so you’ll have to remember to do this after a clean manually. That makes the EZViz RS2 slightly less convenient to use than some of its competitors, but it does mean that you don’t have to buy new bags, which means no ongoing costs for these components.
Getting to the bin is a bit fiddly, as it can’t be reached while the robot is in the dock. To get access, I had to pull the EZViz RS2 out and then get to the bin and its included filter.
Otherwise, the robot is very similar to other ones. It uses LiDAR via the dome on top to map out a room, plus it has a camera on the front that it uses for object detection, plus for remote camera viewing.
If you don’t like the privacy risk, then there’s a sticker in the box to cover up the camera; however, this will stop object detection from working.
Flip the robot over and there are two side brushes, so the robot can approach the edges of a room from any angle. There’s also a main brush for agitating dirt, although it’s not an anti-tangle model.
Although there are quick controls on the robot and dock, to get the most out of the EZViz RS2 you need to hook it up to Wi-Fi and the EZViz app. Once connected, the robot should perform an initial mapping run.
It automatically guessed where rooms were in my house, although I could easily split or merge zones as I saw fit. In addition, I could set no-mop, no-vacuum and forbidden zones, controlling where the robot can and can’t go.
For the most part the app is pretty easy to use. The default setting is to clean the entire house, but the robot can also be told to clean a single room or an area marked on the map.
Options for cleaning include choosing from the four power modes, and the three water levels, plus whether to clean each area once or twice.
There’s also an option to set how the robot vacuum cleaner cleans: vacuum before mop, vacuum while mop, vacuum only or mop only. I think that the vacuum before mop option is the best, letting the robot clean up dry mess before switching to mopping mode.
Performance
- Good navigation
- Powerful suction
I found that the EZViz RS2 was mostly an able navigator. Thanks to carpet detection, it will not run over carpets with its mopping pads attached. This does mean that the dock has to be placed onto a hard floor to start; I put my sample onto carpet tiles, but this confused the EZViz RS2, and it refused to move off the dock.
Moving around my home, the EZViz RS2 avoided bumping into furniture and falling down a step. I did have to set the sofa up as a no-go zone: the robot could often get under there, but there’s not even head height, so it would get trapped and refuse to move.
Although the camera has object detection, it’s more basic than the detection used on the iRobot Roomba Comba j7+. Here, the robot avoided a sock and a USB charging cable, but my fake pet mess was just rammed into.
To test cleaning performance, I sprinkled a teaspoon of flour onto my test carpet. It took two goes to remove most of the mess, leaving a trace behind; that’s good performance for a robot and shows that this one is a good maintenance cleaner, although you will need a regular vacuum cleaner for deeper spills.
Moving on to the hard floor test, I put a teaspoon of flour into the middle of the room. The EZViz RS2 found this job easy, and removed it all.
My edge test is tricky for robots, but the EZViz RS2 did quite well, picking up a lot of the mess, although it did leave a smear of flour behind.
I then trod mud onto the floor and gave the EZViz RS2 a couple of mopping passes to see how well it did. The main stain was removed, but there were traces of dirt left behind. For regular mopping, this robot will be good, but I recommend a hard floor cleaner for dealing with tough stains and for deep cleaning.
I measured the robot at a 64.7dB volume, which puts its noise level about even with most other robot vacuum cleaners that I have tested. Battery life is quoted at a maximum of 260 minutes, although mopping and vacuuming brings that down to a maximum of 160 minutes. In either case, there’s more than enough battery life to tackle a large area, and have spare for spot cleaning.
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Should you buy it?
You want a quality mop that can deal with carpets
A very good mopping robot, the EZViz RS2 can drop its mopping pads automatically, making it perfect for delicate carpets.
You want self-emptying
If you want to reduce maintenance to a minimum, then look for a robot that can automatically empty its bin.
Final Thoughts
Considering its price, the EZViz RS2 is great value for a mopping robot vacuum cleaner, with a self-cleaning station. I like the way that it can drop its mop cloths for vacuum only, although this system isn’t perfect: if you’ve got a run of carpet between two rooms with hard floors, the EZViz RS2 can’t make it over without being carried.
While its mopping performance isn’t quite as good, the iRobot Roomba Combo j7+ can move from room to room, getting out its mop when required and tucking it away when not. And the iRobot has an anti-tangle floor head, making it better for pet hair.
However, when it comes to mopping performance, the dual brushes on the EZViz RS2 make it a winner, and it’s generally a powerful cleaner. I think that the Ecovacs Deebot T20 Omni is slightly ahead, and its station self-empties, but it’s a lot more expensive. Looking for something different or cheaper? Check out my guide to the best robot vacuum cleaners.
How we test
Unlike other sites, we test every robot vacuum cleaner we review thoroughly over an extended period of time. We use industry standard tests to compare features properly. We’ll always tell you what we find. We never, ever, accept money to review a product.
Find out more about how we test in our ethics policy.
Used as our main robot vacuum cleaner for the review period
We test for at least a week
Tested with real-world dirt in real-world situations for fair comparisons with other vacuum cleaners
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FAQs
It can vacuum them, but it won’t mop them with the mop brackets attached. To vacuum carpets, the robot can leave its mop brackets in the docking station.
Full specs
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Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
