dser RoboGeek 21T Review

The Good

Our review of the Dser RoboGeek 21T Vacuum put this robot vacuum through its paces. Let’s take a look at some of the best features of the Dser RoboGeek 21T…

 

Overall Design: The RoboGeek 21T is slim, and has been designed for getting into small and cramped spaces. It’s less than 3 inches thick, which is small enough to fit under most sofas. It can also navigate easily under other low-lying furniture like beds, dressers, and other trouble spots that can be a barrier to an upright vacuum. It’s also 14 inches in diameter, which is on the large side, meaning it can cover a large area of floor relatively quickly. However, that’s a secondary concern since you don’t have to put any effort into operating the RoboGeek. It weighs 10.76 pounds, which may be hefty for some, but not so heavy as to be inconvenient. Most of that weight is the battery and the motor.

 

Suction and Cleaning: So, we know the RoboGeek is well designed on the outside. But that won’t do you much good if the vacuum itself is underpowered. Thankfully, that’s not a problem with the 21T. This little vacuum pulls with a powerful 16 kilopascals (kPa) of vacuum pressure. A typical upright vacuum will pull at around 20 kPa, which means the RoboGeek is nearly as powerful. That’s impressive, considering the relatively small size.

 

Battery: This vacuum carries a powerful, 2,600mAh rechargeable battery that can operate for up to 100 minutes without recharging. Your actual results will vary depending on what settings you’re using, but no matter how you cut it, this is a significant battery capacity, especially for a small, portable unit. Overall, the battery takes 4 to 6 hours to charge. So, you can effectively run the RoboGeek for a total of 6 hours a day. Even if you’re obsessive about cleaning, that’s way more vacuuming than you’re ever going to need.

 

Charging Dock: One thing we liked about the RoboGeek 21T is that it automatically returns to the charging base when the battery drops below 20 percent. This saves you a lot of work and will eliminate the need for monitoring the battery level. It also means that you won’t come home from work to find your vacuum stalled out in a corner, or dead in the middle of the room. Also, you get a charging base. This base is about four inches tall and sits tight against your wall. Plug it in, attach your vacuum, and it will begin charging.

 

Dust Bin: The dust collection bin has a capacity of 600ml or about 2 ½ cups. This is a relatively large capacity, particularly for a small vacuum, and it means you won’t have to change the dust bin very often. Typically, you’re going to get better performance if you change it frequently, but you don’t need to worry about forgetting. When the collection bin is excessively full, the vacuum will return to the base, and a warning light will illuminate. As a result, you’ll always know when your dust bin needs to be changed. Meanwhile, the large capacity will allow the RoboGeek 21T to clean up large messes and large houses without continually needing to monitor its fill level.

 

Wi-Fi Enabled: The RoboGeek 21T — unlike its predecessor, the RoboGeek 20T — is now Wi-Fi enabled and supports iPhones with iOS 8.0 or higher as well as Android 4.4 or above. Its intelligent Wi-Fi controls can guide the sweeper with both its Phone App and Remote Control — open the App to unlock more features. With this feature, you can vacuum from anywhere via the smartphone app or remote control and utilize a wide variety of vacuuming functions. 

 

Boost Gen: Another feature we liked was Dser’s “BoostGen” technology. This feature automatically detects when the vacuum is sucking up a large quantity of dust or debris and adjusts the motor power to compensate. If necessary, the RoboGeek 21T can ramp up to 1.5 times its usual strength, which means it can clean up even the most stubborn of messes. Heavily soiled rugs, spills, and large objects are no match for this setting. 

 

Be aware, though, that the BoostGen feature will drain your battery far more quickly than usual. However, if you make wise use of this feature, you’ll find that it does a great job of getting you out of a jam. Another thing the BoostGen feature does is adjust motor power when switching between tile or hardwood and a carpeted floor. This can save you battery life since the motor will dial back when it’s running on a smooth, easy-to-clean surface.

 

Noise Levels: While it’s operating, the RoboGeek 21T produces only 58 decibels of noise. This is significantly quieter than your average upright vac. Unlike with an upright, the volume level is lower than everyday conversation. Not only is this convenient, but it’s also a great safety option. You can run this vacuum at any time of day, without having to worry about children or dogs’ sensitive ears. If you want, you can even run the RoboGeek 21T while you’re asleep — that’s something you can’t do that with an upright vac!

 

Extra Features: There are many quality vacuums on the market, and many of them have great features. For example, the Narwal Self-Cleaning Robot Mop and Vacuum, which is just what it sounds like. It mops your floor in addition to vacuuming, freeing up dirt and grime. That said, the RoboGeek 21T also has a lot to offer, and there are several features worth pointing out. Here are a few of the ones that piqued our interest.

 

• First off, the 21T features a built-in infrared anti-collision sensor. This can add years to the life of your vacuum, as opposed to many robotic vacuums that are continually bumping into walls and furniture legs before they change direction. Not only that, but the same infrared sensor keeps the vacuum from falling off stairs or ledges. 

 

This is a significant convenience since many robotic vacuums shouldn’t be used upstairs as they’ll quickly destroy themselves if they cross off the edge and tumble to their demise. In effect, with this vacuum, you gain the ability to clean your entire house, although the vacuum can’t go up and down stairs. So you’ll need to buy two units, or move your vacuum upstairs to clean those areas.

 

• The RoboGeek 21T can also clean a wide variety of surfaces. Tile, hardwood, carpet, it doesn’t matter, this robovac will get it cleaned. It also doesn’t miss a spot. The IR sensor and built-in navigation software will ensure that it covers your entire floor. That said, like most robotic vacuums, it travels in a random pattern, so the center of your floor is going to get more attention than the edges. 

 

To help alleviate that issue, RoboGeek includes a remote control in the kit so that you can customize your cleaning job. This somewhat defeats the purpose of an automatic, robotic vacuum, which is primarily to save you time and effort. But it should only really be necessary for touching up the edges of the room from time to time. It can also be used for spot cleaning of spills and huge messes, which can save you the need to own an upright vacuum at all. For regular operation, you simply have to press a single button to turn the vacuum on.

 

• We’ve talked a lot about how the RoboGeek 21T can clean anywhere, anytime, but sometimes you don’t want to clean your entire house. Sometimes, you want a vacuum for a limited area. In that case, you can use the pair of magnetic boundary strips, which is included with every new vacuum. 

 

These can be placed across doorways, and the RoboGeek will behave as if there’s a wall there and turn around. Keep in mind, though, that powerful magnets, or even toys with magnetic parts, can also cause the vacuum to turn around. But for the most part, the feature works very well, and it can save you a lot of time and effort keeping your vacuum where you want it to go.