Xiaomi is one of Asia’s most prominent tech brands, known globally for its wide range of smart home devices and consumer electronics. While the company has a growing presence in international markets, its robot vacuums remain less familiar to many Western audiences. For our first-ever Xiaomi robot vacuum review, we selected the popular Xiaomi X20 Max robot vacuum and mop combo to find out how it performs. We purchased the unit ourselves and ran it through our standard battery of tests. In this Xiaomi X20 Max robot vacuum review, we’ll cover the highlights, drawbacks, and key user feedback to help you decide if the X20 Max is the right fit for your home.
At Vacuum Wars, we purchase every robot vacuum we test—no sponsorships, no free samples—so our reviews remain 100% independent and trusted by our audience.
Xiaomi X20 Max Core Specs
The X20 Max’s official suction rating is 8,000 Pa, with a dual spinning‑pad mop that auto‑lifts 10 mm. At its dock, the pads are automatically washed with hot water and dried with hot air. One mop pad extends to the side for fuller coverage along walls and in corners.
It uses an obstacle avoidance system of 3D structured‑light and LDS lidar navigation. The battery pack is 5,200 mAh which Xiaomi says can run up to 120 minutes.
And lastly, at 97 mm (3.8 in) tall, the X20 Max has an average height for a robot vacuum with top-mounted LiDAR, making it likely to fit beneath most standard furniture and other low-clearance areas.
With this suite of features, the Xiaomi X20 Max takes aim at the upper end of middle-range for robot vacuums.
Specs at-a-Glance
| Spec | Xiaomi X20 Max |
| Robot height | 97 mm / 3.8 in |
| Mopping system | Dual spinning pads with one extending arm, 10 mm lift, hot‑water wash & hot‑air dry |
| Official suction | 8,000 Pa |
| Obstacle avoidance | 3D structured‑light + edge laser sensors |
| Navigation system | LDS spinning lidar (multi‑level maps, quick‑mapping, resume‑clean) |
| Battery capacity / Official run‑time | 5,200 mAh • up to 120 min |
Poor Feedback from Users
Before we get into our test results, let’s talk about a significant issue that made us raise an eyebrow before we even lay hands on the robot for ourselves, and that’s some troubling user feedback online. The Xiaomi X20 Max has a large percentage of negative reviews, many of which have to do with a failing water pump.
Real‑world owners on Reddit and Amazon report a high rate of water pump failures after just a few weeks or months of use. The tell‑tale symptoms are dirty water pooling in the dock, repeated “high water level” errors, and the self‑clean cycle overflowing instead of draining. Some users have managed temporary fixes by tapping or replacing the pump, but many have had to seek warranty service.
To be fair to Xiaomi, the feedback comes from a small sampling size, as there are not many reviews to begin with (15 on Amazon as of this writing, and only a few dozen comments in threads on robot vacuum forums). But it is still concerning nonetheless, and not a good sign in our opinion, especially when paired with some mopping issues in our own experience.
As of this publication we found no official statement from Xiaomi acknowledging a design change or extended warranty, so we advise prospective buyers to take the issue into consideration when making a decision at this time.
Xiaomi X20 Max Pros
Carpet Suction
Let’s start with the most significant pro, which is the Xiaomi X20 Max’s performance on carpet. In our carpet deep clean test, where we embed sand into medium pile carpet and measure how much the robot removes, the X20 scored a whopping 91% sand removed, far outstripping the average of 75.4% and the 4th highest score ever. This does a lot to recommend the unit to carpet-heavy households.
Battery Efficiency
It’s official runtime is 120 minutes according to Xiaomi. While we found that it lagged a little behind average with 1.2 square meters per percentage of battery life compared to 1.3 square meters on average, we still estimate that it would cover 1151 square feet on a single charge, which is higher than the average of 1015 square feet per charge.
Navigation
The X20 Max did better than average with Navigation, using a top-mounted spinning LiDAR, which we like for accuracy. The robot covered 0.9 square meters in a minute, above the average of 0.7 meters. It also covered our floor faster than usual, finishing our floor plan in 36 minutes, 24 minutes faster than average.
Average Pet Hair Pickup
Pet hair pickup was also just average. We flatten pet hair on carpet to mimic real world conditions, and the Xiaomi was able to remove 81.5% of the hair compared to an 81% average: good but not great.
Pros Roundup: Where the Xiaomi X20 Max Shines
So in some ways, the Xiaomi X20 Max showed itself to be a decent robot vacuum, with good performance in deep cleaning carpets, battery efficiency and navigation, and average performance in pet hair pickup.
| Category | Metric (Test) | Xiaomi X20 Max | Lab Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carpet Suction | Deep-clean sand removal (%) | 91% (4th best ever) | 75.4 % |
| Battery Efficiency | Official runtime (min) | 120 min | — |
| Area per % battery (m²/%) | 1.2 m² | 1.3 m² | |
| Total coverage per charge (ft²) | 1,150 ft² | 1,015 ft² | |
| Navigation | Coverage rate (m²/min) | 0.9 m² | 0.7 m² |
| Floor-plan completion time (min) | 36 min | 60 min | |
| Pet-Hair Pickup | Flat-carpet removal (%) | 81.5 % | 81 % |
Xiaomi App
The app is also decent, doing a lot of the things we have come to expect an app to do these days. It had a fairly comprehensive suite of features, with zone-cleaning, room selections and settings, no-mop zones, and customized room settings.
| Category | App Feature | Supported? |
|---|---|---|
| Controls | Wi-Fi | Yes |
| Amazon Alexa / Google Assistant | Yes | |
| Virtual Assistant voice control | No | |
| Mapping / Navigation | Multi-Level Maps | Yes |
| Individual Room Settings | Yes | |
| Cleaning Sequence Settings | Yes | |
| Virtual Barriers | Yes | |
| No-Mop Zones | Yes | |
| Zone Cleaning | Yes | |
| Room Select | Yes | |
| Quick Mapping | Yes | |
| Recharge & Resume | Yes | |
| 3-D Mapping | Yes | |
| Performance Enhancers | Carpet Boost | Yes |
| Dirt Detect | No |
Xiaomi X20 Max Cons
However, as noted earlier, the mopping system on this model presents several unresolved issues, which have been identified both through user feedback and our own evaluations.
Mopping Performance
The Xiaomi X20 Max performed poorest in our mopping tests—a concern made more notable by existing user complaints about its water pump. In our dried-on stain test, it actually scored well with a 159 (compared to the average of 93), but it used an excessive amount of water in the process. The robot left behind 3.5 grams of water—over three times the average of 1.01 grams—which can result in puddles, streaky floors, and unnecessary messes. It’s one of the worst water retention results we’ve recorded.
Overall, the X20 Max earned a mopping score of just 2.44, well below the 2.73 average—disappointing performance for a robot in this price range.
Hair Tangles
The Xiaomi X20 Max also did not impress us in our hair tangle test, where we have the vacuum sweep 7 inch hair from hard floors to test its anti-tangle abilities. There are hair slicing combs in the brush that are designed to slice hair off of it to prevent wrapping, but when we tested the robot we found that 60% of the hairs in our test had wrapped around the brush, far worse than the average of 38%.
Lagging Obstacle Avoidance
The Xiaomi X20 Max uses a combination of 3D structured light and edge sensors for its obstacle avoidance system. In our tests, it fell slightly below average—avoiding 7 objects in the standard course and 8 in the more challenging torture test, for a total of 15 obstacles. That’s just under the average of 16.4. While not a major shortcoming, this could be a concern for households with frequent floor clutter like pet toys, cables, or socks.
Suction and Airflow
Suction was a little lackluster in our bench tests. The X20 Max clocked 0.69 kPa versus the average of 0.83, and it had an airflow result that measured 15 cfm, below the average of 16 cfm. With a carpet deep clean performance as good as this robot had, poor bench tests aren’t really a concern, but it’s something to note.
Cons Roundup: Where the Xiaomi X20 Max Falls Short
| Category | Metric | Xiaomi X20 Max | Lab Average |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mopping Performance | Water left behind (g) | 3.5 g | 1.01 g |
| Overall Mop Score | 2.44 | 2.73 | |
| Hair Management | 7-in hair wrap on brush (%) | 60 % | 38 % |
| Obstacle Avoidance | Objects avoided (regular + torture tests, total) | 15 | 16.4 |
| Suction & Airflow | Bench suction (kPa) | 0.69 kPa | 0.83 kPa |
| Airflow (CFM) | 15 CFM | 16 CFM |
Conclusion
For homes with a lot of carpet and not a lot of hair to manage, we think the Xiaomi X20 Max would be a suitable robot vacuum. But with its unresolved water issues – including just generally poor mopping – and other middling performances, we feel that there are better robot vacuum and mop combos for the same price that can do more.
See our Top 20 Robot Vacuums list for our favorite models and recommendations, all of which are purchased by us and tested independently.
