Xiaomi Roidmi Eve Plus Review: Self-Empty Base on a Budget

The Xiaomi Roidmi with charging station / dust collector.

Xiaomi Roidmi Eve Plus Robot Vacuum Cleaner Review: A Roomba Rival That Makes The Cut

RRP $ 450.00

"The Xiaomi Roidmi offers straightforward cleaning and an intelligent app that offers the user many customization options."

advantages

  • Precise real estate mapping

  • Excellent cleaning performance

  • Solid battery life

  • An intuitive app

disadvantage

  • Instructions and app can be difficult to understand

  • Occasionally gets stuck on furniture

No longer the niche figureheads that scoured the homes of the most serious tech hounds, robotic vacuums are now ubiquitous. While big names like Roomba and Dyson stand out for their performance, reliability, and customization features, the O.G. Labels are also known for their high prices.

If you look at Amazon, you'll find that there are hundreds of robot vacuum brands out there that promise high-performance cleaning from top brands at great prices, but unfortunately, many models just don't. Every now and then, however, a non-brand contender will come to the surface to compete against the biggest names in Clean Town. One such vacuum robot is the Xiaomi Roidmi, the subject of our test today.

Is that a worthy vacuum robot? As a matter of fact. Does it hold up against the best in vacuuming? Yes and no. Let's take a closer look.

Out of the box

Top view of the Xiaomi Roidmi vac.

I often worry that the boastful designs and finishes of certain brands of robot vacuums clash with my home decor. Call me crazy but it drives me crazy While browsing around on the Roidmi a little before it got to my house, I wasn't sure if the product stills I saw would carry over to the Vak's personal demeanor. I'm happy to say I was pleasantly surprised.

The traditional puck-shaped shell of many robotic vacuums is fully present here, but the hard white casing and rounded black trim keep things minimalist and go with most furnishings.

The Roidmi is also ready for use straight out of the box. My model had an already existing charge of about 68% after unpacking, the battery level was quickly increased by a few minutes of basic charge. The Roidmi comes with the plug-in vacuum cleaner and charging station, replacement mop heads, an additional filter (with a QR code that you have to scan to add the vacuum cleaner to your app) and an operating manual.

Adaptive cleaning that gets the job done

The Roidmi's carbonless motor generates a solid 2,700 Pa of adjustable suction power. My apartment has three types of floors – carpeting, laminate and tiles – all of which Roidmi viewed as a professional. By default, the vacuum cleaner is set to the "Standard" suction setting, but Quiet, Power and a powerful Max mode are also available, which can be found in the companion app under the "More" tab (more on this below).

Bottom view of the Xiaomi Roidmi with mop attachment.

To see how the Roidmi would pile up against the rubble, cat litter was purposely placed over my carpet. For the laminate and tiles in the kitchen, I decided to use granules made from cat food. The bot's rotating main brush did the lion's share of the dirty work, handling even the deepest points of the test throw with ease. Same goes for the food, where the two side silicone brushes also did a good job of catching stray pieces of meow mix along the baseboards.

The change from one floor surface to the other was handled smoothly by the two drum wheels, with the Roidmi climbing my carpet sleepers with ease. I could also hear the suction power automatically change when the vacuum cleaner hit my carpeted floor from a hard surface.

The bot's rotating main brush did the lion's share of the dirty work.

The vacuum cleaner uses 18 sensors to control the Roidmi through your whole house, avoiding your walls and furniture while the house is getting clean. My Roidmi moved from room to room and did an excellent job, but its performance was not perfect. Every time I used the vacuum cleaner there were several moments when I had to get it out of a corner it got trapped in or out of some furniture it couldn't steer away from.

In terms of wiping, the Roidmi has three water dispensing presets to choose from (in-app), ranging from small to large quantities. As soon as you attach the mop head, the bot automatically recognizes that you have switched from vacuuming to mop mode. In use, the Roidmi did a decent job of deliberately tackling soda spills, but I had to finish the job on my own elbow grease. I would say that wiping with your Roidmi should be reserved for less serious spills and dirt / grease stains.

Self-draining and a lot of power

As soon as the Roidmi finishes cleaning or you order it to return to its base, the rear-facing dust connector on the vacuum cleaner connects to the dust collector. The collector then picks up all the dirt, deodorises and filters the contents as it flows into the dust bag. The dust collector emptied my Roidmi efficiently and at a reasonable volume. In fact, the only complaint I have about the collector is that regardless of where I placed it in my apartment, the Roidmi would take its sweet time to find it.

The Xiaomi Roidmi with charging station / dust collector.

Oddly enough, the bot would move only a few inches from the base, drive backwards, and then bump forward five or six times. Only then does the vacuum cleaner properly dock on the dust collector.

The Roidmi's 5200 mAh battery is said to provide up to 250 minutes of continuous operation. I ran my vacuum cleaner through a handful of full home cleans (1,100 square feet) and at the end of each cycle I had about a third of the battery left to play with. Not too shabby if you ask me.

An intuitive app that can be difficult to understand

While you can simply turn the vacuum on to send the Roidmi out for a whole house clean, be sure to download the Roidmi Companion app (available for iOS and Android devices) for an expanded set of controls and map options .

The Roidmi's apartment scan was so detailed that it even included rooms and cupboards that were behind closed doors and walls.

As soon as I switched on the Roidmi, the LDS laser on board immediately scanned my entire apartment. The resulting card is logged directly on the main page of the Vac in the Roidmi app. Here you will also find some basic functions such as start / stop controls, a load command that sends the Roidmi back to its base, and various suction and wiping settings. There is also a battery level indicator, a tracker of how long the vacuum cleaner has been in use in the current cycle and how much living space has been covered.

The Roidmi's apartment scan was so detailed that it even included rooms and cupboards that were behind closed doors and walls. When the bot is active, you can easily track it in the app (it's a tiny gray circle with a glowing blue ring around it). With four filters at the top of the home page, you can customize the cleaning experience.

If "Entire Map" is selected, the Roidmi will search your entire mapped residence. The partition allows you to define no-clean zones that the vacuum cleaner should avoid. The area allows you to pinpoint specific spots in the house that require careful attention. If you need to specify exactly which parts of a room to hit, you can tap and drag the cleaning square to enlarge or shrink it. When Area is selected, you can use the "Add" icon in the lower menu ribbon to add up to five different deep cleaning zones to which the Roidmi will react one after the other. With a final filter, Point, you can send the Roidmi into a 1.6 meter long pre-measured cleaning zone. You can add more point zones, but you cannot adjust their size.

While none of these tabs and drop-down menus have been difficult to use and navigate, there is some language separation with the entire app that can pose a challenge for some. For example, a quick menu where you can adjust the suction sensitivity has an Enter / Save button labeled "Set". It's a big, red button at the bottom that probably leads most to believe that after making your adjustments, you'll tap it – which is correct. However, Determine may not end up with all users. I even questioned it for a moment before just tapping the button because I had nothing to lose.

Our opinion

The Xiaomi Roidmi definitely does the job when it comes to what a vacuum cleaner does best – vacuuming. Strong suction and effective brushes dig deep for the dirt your old stand just can't find. There's even support for Alexa and Google Assistant to control the vacuum with a handful of voice commands. That said, if you're looking for the seamless app experience you find on titans like Roomba, you can find a good app that could use a bit of polishing here and there instead.

At around $ 449, the Roidmi holds up well on its sticker, though inventory for the product appears to be low on both digital and stationary shelves – so much so that it doesn't even seem to be available for purchase on Roidmis Side.

Is there a better alternative?

Yes, but you'd pay more to get a robotic vacuum cleaner that requires less supervision. Roborock has two outstanding options to choose from: the intelligent S6 MaxV with its built-in camera for superior obstacle avoidance and the S7 with its sound wiping function.

There is also the iRobot Roomba i3 Plus with its self-draining dock. It's an efficient cleaner that somehow manages to avoid most of the household obstacles and potential pitfalls. In any case, you will still be spending more money to pick up one of them through Xiaomi's offer.

How long it will take?

It's reasonably constructed, but comes with a one-year limited warranty that protects it from failure.

Should you buy it?

Yes, because for the price it offers a lot of value to combine the functions of vacuum cleaner and mopping device. The inclusion of the self-draining docks only sweetens the package.

Editor's recommendations



Eve Spectrum 4K Review: It Exists, and It’s Mighty Good

Eve Spectrum 4K gaming monitor Cyberpunk

Eve Spectrum 4K

RRP $ 799.00

"The excellent design and image quality of Eve Spectrum 4K make the wait well."

advantages

  • Stunning, minimalist design

  • Excellent IPS panel implementation

  • HDMI 2.1 and 100 watt USB-C

  • Razor-sharp 4K image

  • Highly configurable panel settings

  • Sell ​​without a stand to save money

disadvantage

  • Eva has a sketchy story

  • Overwhelming color performance with our sample

The mythical Eve Spectrum is a monitor you may have heard of. It was a fully crowdfunded show that was due out a year ago. But it never did. This left funders very disappointed as they feared they had lost their money to a project that would never come to fruition.

But lo and behold, to my surprise, I now have the test device of the 4K version in front of me.

The Eve Spectrum 4K is essentially everything a lot of gamers could want in a monitor: 4K, IPS, fast at 144 Hz, with HDMI 2.1, DisplayHDR 600, G-Sync / FreeSync, with all the panel optimization settings you can think of The OSD can only dream, a very minimalist design – the list goes on. The design was created in collaboration with the community and many players loved it.

But is the Eve Spectrum 4K good enough to become one of the best gaming monitors out there? Well – and maybe it was worth the wait.

design

The front of the Eve Spectrum 4K with the screen off.Niels Broekhuijsen / Digital Trends

The Eve Spectrum is the most minimalist monitor I've ever seen. In itself it's just a 27-inch panel with very thin bezels and a power LED on the underside. And I'll say it for itself, because the standard $ 799 kit doesn't come with a stand – that will cost you an additional $ 99.

This is something that the community wanted and, in my opinion, a great move. The enthusiast market has a penchant for attaching monitors to wall mounts and monitor arms in the name of cleaner, more minimalist-looking setups, and I'm all for it. Heck, those mounts often cost less than $ 99 or so at this ballpark.

The styling of the Eve Spectrum is nothing more than clean and classy.

However, if you do, I am happy to announce that the booth is for the most part worth the price. It's beautifully machined and painted and feels like a high quality piece of kit. My only complaint? It's so slim you'll see the cables behind it. That, and at its lowest height, is still tall, with the bottom of the display just over 3 inches above the desk.

Otherwise, it has a full range of customizations, including rotating it to portrait. It doesn't pivot, but that doesn't really matter. The stand also has a recess under the foot to pass cables underneath, like your keyboard.

The optional stand attached to the back of the Eve Spectrum 4K.

The boxing and branding of the Eve Spectrum 4K.

Other than that, the design of the Eve Spectrum monitor is very small. The backend only offers the connections and controls in a very clean, rectangular design. There is no aggressive, player-centered styling here – just clean and classy. I've always thought that less was more, and I really like the aesthetics of the Eve Spectrum.

Ports & controls

The side connections on the back of the Eve Spectrum 4K.Niels Broekhuijsen / Digital Trends

The Eve Spectrum I'm reviewing is the 4K model. Since this is a high refresh rate 4K panel, it is expected to include HDMI 2.1 – and it is here: The 4K Eve Spectrum includes a DisplayPort 1.4a input and two HDMI 2.1 ports. This makes it ideal for connection to your PC and two modern consoles, so that they can run in full RGB colors without chroma subsampling and with HDR activated at 4K and 120 Hz.

In addition, the display has a USB-C upstream port, which is ideal for docking the monitor with a single cable connection and display input, access to the USB hub and a power output of up to 100 watts via USB-C offers . It uses the DisplayPort protocol, and the OSD (on-screen display) lets you either prioritize the refresh rate to hit the full 144Hz, but with the USB hub running at USB 2.0 speeds, or the display at 60 Limit Hz, but USB 3.1. reserve bandwidth for the ports.

With HDMI 2.1 and USB-C with 100 W power, the Eve Spectrum offers the best connection options in the gaming monitor class

The only catch is that there's no ethernet port, so it's not a full-fledged hub. But chances are you're only using the USB-C docking feature for a second laptop besides your desktop anyway.

The USB hub itself has two USB-A and one USB-C ports, all of which run at USB 3.1 Gen 2 speeds for up to 10 Gbit / s bandwidth.

The display is powered by an external brick, but the power cord is on the short end. This means that especially if you mount the monitor on an arm and want to keep the cabling tidy, you want to have a cable tray under your desk that you can slide it into, as it won't dangle all the way to the floor without it.

The controls and connections on the back of the Eve Spectrum 4K.

On the back there are controls for the monitor, which consist of a direction switch and an on / off button. Pressing the switch takes you to the OSD of the display, which is one of the most extensive OSDs I have come across on a gaming monitor. Of course, you'll find the usual range of connectivity, system, color, and overdrive settings, but the Eve Spectrum has a few more tricks up its sleeve.

For gamers, Eve offers a cheating crosshair, an FPS counter, a low latency mode, adaptive sync settings, response time settings and strobing modes for the backlight. Of course, backlight strobing won't work with Adaptive-Sync enabled, but that's to be expected.

In the meantime, the OSD also includes settings to customize the behavior and colors of the Power LED with full RGB support. If you don't like the white light, just change it according to the colors of your setup. Isn't that neat?

However, there is one strange thing about the OSD: it's blurry. This is a 4K monitor, but the OSD is not very nicely designed, nor is it programmed to have the same sharp resolution as the display. But it's an OSD, and it's well-equipped, so do you really care that it doesn't look nice? It's also a bit slow to adjust values, and I would prefer to have a brightness adjustment option that doesn't require me to dig deep into the menu for quick changes. But unfortunately.

picture quality

Testing the Eve Spectrum 4K Monitor with a Spyder Colorimeter.Niels Broekhuijsen / Digital Trends

The Eve Spectrum is based on the same panel as the LG 27GN950 that we tested last year and that was very good indeed. With that, the Eve Spectrum is off to a good start, and while the specs aren't all that different, Eve throws a factory calibration into the mix that claims a typical Delta-E (color difference from real) of 0.59, especially on our device in his attached report indicates a Delta-E of 0.5. As a reference, any number below 2.0 is considered good enough for professional editing, so I was anxious to double-check those numbers.

But there's more to it than just color accuracy. The IPS panel offers a resolution of 4K (3840 x 2160) for razor-sharp images, has an advertised static contrast ratio of 1000: 1, as is expected from IPS panels, and can display up to 1.07 billion colors since it a 10. is bit (8 bit + FRC) panel.

I was disappointed when testing the display's color performance. Brightness and contrast tests were great and delivered a good 500 nits of brightness at 100% and achieved the promised contrast ratio of 1000: 1 perfectly, but the panel did not come close to the promised color performance.

Coverage of the DCI-P3 space was limited to 95% instead of the promised 98%, which is acceptable, but gamma was 2.3 instead of 2.2, the white point was 7100K instead of 6500K, but worst of all was the color accuracy Reading I received a Delta-E of 2.31, which is outside the acceptable norm for professional color grading and, according to the accompanying report, is far from the promised value of 0.5. Normally I would reduce this to differences in the test equipment, but with such a large discrepancy I can hardly believe that this calibration was even performed.

And let's face it, a typical Delta-E across all of its tests of 0.59 is too good to be true anyway. The only monitor I've ever achieved this with is Acer's ConceptD CM2, which isn't a gaming monitor at all, despite the fact that LG's 27GN950 was terribly close. Nevertheless, our Spyder X Elite calibrated the display to acceptable standards within a few moments, refined the white point, the gamma performance and corrected the colors to a Delta-E of 1.46.

Browse the web on the Eve Spectrum 4K gaming monitor.Niels Broekhuijsen / Digital Trends

That said, it's about more than just synthetic testing, and most players probably don't care that much about perfect color performance anyway. When I tested the LG 27GN950, I found that the left and right sides of the panel fell off in brightness near the edge, making it almost look like a piece of parchment that was still rolled up on each end. To my surprise, the Eve Spectrum showed no such phenomenon, and while it wasn't at all annoying on LG's panel, it looks much higher quality when the same panel is evenly illuminated to the edge.

Additionally, the amount of IPS glow and backlight bleeding from this IPS panel was also minimal – either this device was selected to be sent to me (although Eve claims not to do so on its website), or Eve has a trick his case for the monitor construction, which limits these effects better than LG. I kind of feel like it's the latter, but I don't believe it as I haven't seen any other units. That's not to say there aren't any, the lower left corner shows a little more sheen, but it's very acceptable.

Overall, the Eve Spectrum 4K I tested has one of the best IPS panel implementations I've seen, but I'm a little at a loss as to why I couldn't reproduce the color performance Eve tested. In any case, the performance is more than good enough for most use cases that I wouldn't pass the monitor on just based on the test results I had with my sample.

Playing in the Eve Spectrum

The Eve Spectrum 4K gaming monitor with cyberpunk on the screen.Niels Broekhuijsen / Digital Trends

The most important factor for gaming performance is the fast refresh rate of 144 Hz. 144 Hz is now the norm for gaming monitors, while there are monitors with 360 Hz in the upper range. You don't get that at 4K, of course, where you're limited by overclocking to 160 Hz at the highest end on LG's models with the same panel, and although this overclocking option isn't available on the Eve Spectrum, you can opt for a 240 Hz variant decide by falling on a QHD panel (2560 x 1440). However, other than extremely competitive gaming, I can't see a fall for anything over 144Hz.

But let's forget all of that for a second, turn on adaptive sync, turn on HDR, and start a few games with the graphics sliders all the way up. Here the Eve Spectrum shines in the truest sense of the word.

In HDR games, the Eve Spectrum 4K literally shines.

I didn't think I would like it that much, I thought the smaller 27 "panel would offer a lesser experience than my own 34" ultrawide despite the higher resolution, but boy, I was wrong. Playing at 4K for immersion is tremendous value, especially when playing games that have textures with the required resolution. I've played Mass Effect Legendary Edition, Horizon Zero Dawn, and even started Cyberpunk 2077 because it would be almost criminal not to do it. Long story short, the Eve Spectrum offered a level of resolution that was fun to play on, especially with immersive titles like these that have texture resolution to aid them. Coupled with 600 nits of HDR brightness, I could lose myself in game worlds for hours.

Of course, when it comes to competing titles like Insurgency Sandstorm, the Eve Spectrum 4K isn't lazy either, although it's important to keep in mind that it's a 4K monitor. While I had no problem playing the above story-based titles with higher visual fidelity and relying on Adaptive-Sync to keep things running smoothly, in this competitive online shooter I had to lower the graphics settings to get close the 144 Hz refresh rate to come – budget for a beefy graphics card if you're interested.

Our opinion

If you're looking for a proper 27-inch 4K gaming monitor, the Eve Spectrum is as good as possible. Priced at $ 799 and another $ 99 for the stand, it competes head-to-head with LG's best and offers some additional features, albeit with a bit more risk due to the company's history.

The Eve Spectrum may be well over a year late, but it's certainly not lacking in demand and it's still one of the best, if not the best, 4K gaming monitors money can buy. With HDMI 2.1, DisplayHDR600, 98% coverage of the DCI-P3 color space, a great IPS panel implementation and a mighty tidy design, the Eve Spectrum 4K is a display that many gamers can be itchy about.

Are there alternatives?

The best alternative right now is 27GP950 from LG, which is the successor to the LG 27GN950 that we tested last year. All three are essentially identical monitors based on the same panel, except that LG's new version has HDMI 2.1. The LG panel also does 160Hz overclocking and comes with RGB, and it costs about the same when you include the kickstand.

This makes the Eve Spectrum a tough best seller, but if you're into the minimalist design, want the 100 watt power output, skip the booth, and want the customizability, the Spectrum 4K may have the edge.

How long it will take?

Eve covers the Spectrum with a three-year warranty, including a 14-day DOA period and a pixel policy that states that the display must have no bright pixels and up to five dark pixels before a replacement is guaranteed. That being said, I don't see any reason why the Spectrum 4K shouldn't last at least five years like any monitor should, if properly cared for, do.

Should I buy it?

This is where Eva's reputation can come into play. The weight you place on the company's longevity and ability to deliver will no doubt put some off – and that's fair.

But just because of the quality of this brilliant monitor, the Eve Spectrum is absolutely worth buying.

Editor's recommendations



Eve Cam Review: Marred By Performance Issues

Eve Cam in the kitchen

"Keep going. You can find much better HomeKit-enabled cameras."

  • Easy setup

  • Low price (for a homekit camera)

  • Bad capture frame rate

  • Disappointing video quality

  • Weak speaker

  • Favorable construction

HomeKit is slowly putting together a decent range of home security cameras for Apple's smart home ecosystem. With iOS 14 offering new features, the future looks promising.

We checked the Logitech Circle View not too long ago and now we have another HomeKit offer – the Eve Cam. There are some similarities between the two of what can be expected from cameras that support HomeKit, but it saves a bit of the price.

Simplified setup

I can't stress the simplicity of setting up a surveillance camera for HomeKit enough, but the Eve Cam is once again proof. It is not technically necessary to download an app, although it can be installed using the Eve app for iOS, which ultimately only opens the home app. From here, simply scan the QR code on the Eve Cam with an iPhone XS – and that's it. Easy enough? You bet! The advantage of HomeKit is that I wasn't forced to register a new account or set up passwords as everything is managed through my iCloud account.

However, I had the annoying problem that I was initially unable to connect to the Eve Cam after moving it to another room. I tried several times to manually reset the camera, but my iPhone XS simply couldn't recognize it.

After several more attempts, it somehow recognized it, but the same problem reappeared when I tried to move it again. After repeating it several times, it miraculously connected, after which I noticed a firmware update notification.

Fortunately, this may have resolved my reconnection problems since the Eve Cam has since been able to reconnect when I unplug it.

Flattering design

Although the price is slightly lower than that of the equally competent Logitech Circle View, the Eve Cam has an unflattering design. For starters, the all-plastic design makes it feel brittle and cheap. It lacks the essential feel of Logitech Circle View, which has a metal base and a matte exterior.

The Eve Cam has a somewhat flattering design.

Indoor placement is critical due to the 150 degree field of view. It's average if you compare it to some of its contemporaries, but it follows the 180-degree field of view that you get with Logitech Circle View. It is best to place it in corners for the best possible coverage.

As soon as it falls onto a surface, the sticky coat under its base ensures that it stays in place. If you want to attach it to a wall or ceiling, it comes with the required bracket and a 7.2 foot power cord. The base is also magnetic, providing additional flexibility in choosing the facility.

Below average performance

The Eve Cam records videos with a resolution of 1080p and 24 frames per second. While the resolution is expected from a camera in this range, the frame rate is very disappointing as 30 FPS seems to be the norm. As a result, the footage does not look smooth. You can still spot a scene, but with a competition of at least 30 frames per second, the lackluster frame rate of the Eve Cam is a noticeable disadvantage.

The video quality isn't worth writing at home either, mainly due to the poor dynamic range, subdued colors and soft details. This is a more serious problem than the frame rate.

If there is a lot of contrasting light in the frame, the highlights are often blown out to achieve a more neutral exposure in the rest of the shot. It's usually not that difficult to spot faces, but finer details often appear soft. You will find it difficult to see fine details in clothing, and objects in the distance can be very difficult to identify.

Eve cam close-upJohn Velasco / Digital Trends

Night vision does most of the job. Visibility is an average of about 20 feet indoors. That should be more than enough for most average-sized houses, but again, the performance of the Eve Cam is disappointing – mostly due to the soft graphics that make it difficult to see details.

Finally, the internal speaker can be used for bidirectional navigation, but it won't scare intruders. It is crisp, weak and difficult to recognize voices in it. You are more likely to confuse thieves than to scare them.

Data protection at its core thanks to HomeKit

As a HomeKit-enabled surveillance camera, all concerns regarding data protection are eliminated. In fact, all cameras supported by HomeKit offer the same data protection functions. This includes encrypted videos stored in iCloud, LEDs on the camera that show the status of the Eve Cam, the ability to electronically disable the camera based on my iPhone's GPS location, and more.

Our opinion

The Eve Cam has all the basic ingredients to make it a decent HomeKit-enabled surveillance camera. However, the disappointing picture quality, the low video frame rate and the mediocre design make them well behind the rest of the package.

How long it will take?

The all-plastic construction makes it light but brittle. It may not hold as well as other cameras. It comes with a 1-year limited warranty that covers defects, though this is standard in the industry.

Is there a better alternative?

The Logitech Circle View is a solid HomeKit-enabled camera that offers the same features, but has significantly better performance and a more stable design. The best thing is that picking it up on the Eve Cam doesn't cost you much more.

Do you have a limited budget? In this case, the Eufy Indoor Cam 2K Pan & Tilt is the ultimate indoor camera, as it is available at an affordable price of $ 50 and offers 360 degrees of view with its pan-and-tilt function.

Should you buy it

No, just no.

Editor's recommendations