After Wyze released their budget-friendly, LiDAR-equipped robot vacuum, many of our YouTube viewers reached out to us for a review. So we picked one up for ourselves and during our week-long testing period, we subjected it to our tests and collected various measurements to determine its effectiveness.
Due to its overwhelming popularity, Wyze has continued to offer this model, and according to the comments on our original review, this robot vacuum has stood the test of time. Therefore, we are including a review here on our website as well, with some slight modifications to keep it current.
Here is our assessment of the Wyze Robot Vacuum (see it on Amazon).
About Wyze and the Wyze Robot Vacuum
Wyze got its start with a smart home camera – its core selling point being affordability over the competition. After the success of that first product, Wyze expanded into a wider range of products, including this also affordable robot vacuum.
Shopping for a robot vacuum? Check out our other robot vacuum reviews and comparisons!
Reading up on Wyze’s website, its founders met while working at Amazon, where they deduced that the adoption of smart technology was proceeding slowly. So they went out on their own, “and set off on a mission to change that. To make great technology accessible to everyone.”
Affordability
Wyze’s focus on high tech that is affordable for the consumer was definitely applied to the Wyze Robot Vacuum. When it was launched a few years ago, price was a big part of its story, and it still is today. The Wyze Robot Vacuum’s price moves around a bit, but it’s just about always under $300, sometimes by a good margin too.
When released, the Wyze Robot Vacuum was the most inexpensive LiDAR robot vacuum that we were aware of. When comparing the Wyze Robot Vacuum’s price today, it is still reasonably competitive among budget robot vacuums with LiDAR navigation. The field of robots that fit in that category is much, much larger too.
The Wyze Robot Vacuum’s app and navigational features seemed indistinguishable from robots twice its price when released, and it still holds up well today. We really found nothing to nitpick with where its feature set and app were concerned.
What we like
The Wyze Robot Vacuum is a smart robot vacuum, meaning that among other things it makes a map of your house and efficiently navigates around the floor plan.
LiDAR
It cleans in more or less straight lines as opposed to a random pattern. As a LiDAR robot, it accomplishes its mapping primarily by the use of a spinning invisible laser. We think LiDAR is the most accurate mapping system for robot vacuums.
When the Wyze Robot Vacuum was released it was a big shift to see LiDAR in a budget robot vacuum. Today, LiDAR has become far more commonplace. But, being fair, many brands are using less precise (and less expensive) sensors in their robot vacuums.
Navigation and mapping tests
In the various navigation tests we did, Wyze’s robot was incredibly good with nearly 100% coverage of both the small and large test rooms and accomplished this in better than average times.
It mapped the whole Vacuum Wars studio on its first run, which is typical for LiDAR robots, and it was better than average with recognizing its surroundings and navigating around table legs and similar obstacles.
Wyze Robot Vacuum app
Although a budget model, it has all the app features that you would expect to see in higher-end robots. Of note are no-go lines and zones, where you draw lines or boxes on the app to keep the robot from going places that you don’t want it to go. We consider this a must-have as it seems just about every home has areas of dense cords or other things that a robot could get stuck on.
Selective and scheduled cleaning
The app also allows cleaning by area selection, where you can limit the robot to cleaning certain rooms or areas at a time. There are also options to adjust the suction settings for specific schedules and rooms.
The Wyze Robot Vacuum’s app and navigational features seemed indistinguishable from robots twice its price when released, and it still holds up well today. We really found nothing to nitpick with where its feature set and app were concerned.
Suction and airflow tests
For power tests we measure suction and airflow. Where airflow is concerned, we measured 17.5 CFM of airflow on high power, 16 CFM on standard power, and 14 on low power. Two years later, some premium robot vacuums that cost twice as much as the Wyze Robot Vacuum have less airflow.
On par with the Wyze Robot Vacuum’s airflow are two much more recent robot vacuums from Eufy. Those models are the Eufy G30 (read our review) and Eufy G40 (read our review).
Vacuuming pickup tests
In our crevice pickup test the Wyze Robot Vacuum picked up debris from the eighth-inch crevice only, which is decent for robot vacuums. On the carpet deep clean test, where sand is embedded deep into medium pile carpet and then the robot is tasked with picking up as much of it as possible, it scored a 72.
That score is again in the same range as the two newer Eufy robots we mentioned earlier.
Cleaning performance on carpet and hard floors
In terms of its most basic function, which is picking up debris off of the surface of hard floors and carpet, we give it high marks. Its main and side brushes worked well together without too much scattering of debris on hard floors. It was able to pick up large debris cleanly and its carpet pickup was as good with both fine debris and bigger stuff.
Other test notes
The Wyze Robot Vacuum was pretty quiet. We measured it at 70 or so decibels on its highest suction power setting. We liked the dustbin design, which was reminiscent of Roborock’s design at the time. This was and is good because it’s a sound design and is larger than average.
In our initial review, we predicted that Wyze might add a mop pad at some point, but that hasn’t turned out to be the case.
In the box
What could be improved
No product is perfect, of course. Here are some of the things that we think could be improved to make the Wyze Robot Vacuum even better.
Brushroll and hair tangles
The brushroll, which even though it looks similar to older Roborock brushrolls, wasn’t as good at resisting hair tangles. In the real world that means it should be cleaned every few runs, especially if you have longer hair on your floors. Detangling a brushroll is easy to do, however, and this is not a unique issue for budget robot vacuums.
Battery life
Wyze claims that its robot vacuum can get 110 minutes of cleaning time when running on standard power. That power, 16 CFM, means it has a pretty good power-to-battery life ratio.
Battery life isn’t that big of a deal since this robot vacuum will automatically return to its base to recharge if it runs low on power. When its battery is charged, it will then resume exactly where it left off on the map.
Brand
One big difference we were a bit unsure about when we first reviewed this robot is what we’ll call “the new company factor” since this was Wyze’s first vacuum. We gave Wyze the benefit of the doubt though, as they already had an infrastructure for customer support and returns in place with their other products.
From what has made its way into owner reviews, it seems like we were right. Wyze has really expanded in the years since we first reviewed this product too. They now make a stick vacuum and dozens of other consumer products.
Vacuum Wars recommendation
We didn’t find or experience anything that might be a deal-breaker with the Wyze Robot Vacuum when we first reviewed it, and it doesn’t seem like any deal-breakers have surfaced since. Wyze seems to have accomplished its goal of building a quality LiDAR smart robot at a much-reduced cost to the consumer.
When you can find it available online, the Wyze Robot Vacuum is between $200 and $300. It’s appropriately priced for a well-mannered, budget, LiDAR robot vacuum. And while Wyze has long product cycles, we’re imagining there will be a follow-on robot vacuum in the not-so-distant future.
No. The Wyze Robot Vacuum requires a connection to the Internet via WiFi to function.
No. Wyze and Eufy are different companies, although they do make many of the same types of consumer products.
No. The Wyze Robot Vacuum uses LiDAR to map a floorplan. For navigation it uses LiDAR, infrared sensors and bump sensors.
Specs
| Vacuum Type | Robot vacuum |
| Self-emptying | No |
| Obstacle avoidance | No |
| Navigation | LiDAR |
| Diameter | 13.8” |
| Height | 3.7” |
| Weight | 7.2 lbs. |
| Color | Black |
| Battery type | 3200mAh Lithium Ion |
| Warranty | 1 Year |
The Wyze Robot Vacuum is available online, including at the retailer(s) below.
