Why did I buy it:
Because I have a 40kg dog in the house, short-haired, that sheds all year round, and we remove a whole fur ball (literally) every day.
Did it solve the problem?
Yes, it did.
Now let's talk about the vacuum cleaner.
I don't have experience with other models as this is my first vacuum cleaner that costs more than 4 euros.
The assembly and connection were done in 5 minutes using the Mi Home application.
If you're familiar with apps and gadgets, you'll find everything easy.
It immediately started mapping the area, I made sure to pick up small objects from the floor and open all the doors. It completed the map in about 20 minutes.
It even mapped the balconies through the glass!
The vacuum cleaner has 4 power levels, each one making more noise, with the Silent mode being the quietest, although you can still hear it but it's not terribly annoying. The other modes are normal and turbo for carpets.
The options are sweeping, mopping, or both.
In mopping, there are options for low, medium, or high water usage.
Sweeping:
It does what it promises, it will sweep.
It replaces the regular broom by 95%, maybe once every two weeks you'll need to sweep the corners, although it goes wall-to-wall and does a good job there too.
I believe that because it has a brush, sometimes it doesn't "sweep" a small piece of debris as it throws it away, and I might see a crumb or something on the floor occasionally.
Nothing too crazy though, we used to leave more with the broom.
It starts by mapping the perimeter of the room and then goes back and forth until it finishes.
To clean the entire house of 95 square meters, it takes about an hour and 10 minutes. (I think it depends on the layout of the house)
Every time it returns to the base, the bin empties itself into the bag automatically. (The bag lasts for 50+ uses, depending on the size)
Mopping:
It has a 200ml water tank and a cloth.
The tank can be removed with two buttons on the sides WITHOUT having to turn the vacuum cleaner upside down.
If you remove the tank, it recognizes it and simply doesn't mop.
The cloth needs a GOOD wash after each mopping. So far, I've been putting a little dish soap on it and scrubbing it, if you let it accumulate a lot of dirt (for days) I don't know if it will clean completely.
As you know, it is forbidden to put cleaning agents together with water, it will damage the vacuum cleaner.
The solution for me is:
I have put a little cleaning agent with water in a spray bottle and spray the cloth. Otherwise, you can spray the floor and let it dry, then the vacuum cleaner will go over it with water and everything will be fine.
If this process sounds complicated to you, just mop once a week.
The essence of mopping here is to wet the floor to keep the dust down, and it does that.
Navigation:
Supposedly, the LDR LDS or whatever they call the sensor recognizes and avoids obstacles, but that's not true, it's a "lie" from Xiaomi, unless it sees something huge in front of it, it will try to find a way to avoid it.
It will bump into small objects, it will go around them for a couple of meters, then it will remember to turn because it recognized them, and it will bump into them again. It's a minor issue, we don't have a chaotic house, just some things.
To give you an idea, I have a damaged doorstop, it used to ride over it and the vacuum cleaner would get stuck, you could hear the scraping sound as it rubbed against the iron of the doorstop. To solve this, I set that specific spot as inaccessible from the application.
The first time, the vacuum cleaner went out on the balcony, passed through the aluminum with a lot of effort, as they have an alpha height and had to see them as an obstacle. I solved this by setting the balcony as a no-zone.
Under the furniture, dining room, living room, television, etc., which have many legs, the vacuum cleaner "finds" and touches them, very gently though, without causing any damage. This is what makes the process time-consuming, as when it goes under the table, it takes 20 minutes to untangle from the chairs since every turn it makes is 360 degrees.
Maintenance.
It requires some maintenance, it tells you in the application when it's time to change something. Occasionally, the side brush and the central one in the middle need to be cleaned, the sensors it has need to be cleaned from dust, and of course, the cloth needs to be cleaned every time after mopping (if you don't want it to get dirty).
All these are consumables and after about 200-300 hours, they need to be replaced, with the price being around 12 euros each.
Overall, I am very satisfied, if it lasts me 4-5 years, I will be even more satisfied.
A vacuum cleaner with an automatic bin is the way to go for me, with the same amount of money, you can get the best model of Xiaomi without a bin, with two brushes instead of a cloth for mopping, and with 800 euros, you can get the one with the bin.
It is a honest choice. I hope I helped.