Robot maid Tuvio from Yandex

Came for a review on the 20th of May Tuvio TR05MLCB — robot vacuum cleaner from Yandex. I wasn’t against it, since our previous vacuum cleaner only produced a quality effect that made the eye twitch nervously. How a beginner copes – look under the cut.

So, the robot arrived in such a voluminous and very heavy box. The cardboard is thick, so you have to try hard to damage anything during delivery.

When unpacking we are greeted by a cute inscription – a small thing, but nice, I love this.

Next is an envelope with instructions, a remote control and several consumables: a cloth for wet cleaning, an air filter and three-fingered brushes. Let me immediately note a pleasant point: rags, brushes, and a dust bag come in two copies, that is, you will not need to buy additional consumables for the first replacement.

The remote control is standard: it allows you to turn it on/off, send it to the docking station, switch power, start wet cleaning and move the robot to the place of contamination, if at the moment you do not need to clean everything at all.

However, I ended up using the remote control only once, right after the purchase, since the application has the same functionality. But if, for example, there is no Wi-Fi in the house, then this device is quite convenient.

The documentation is also nothing unusual: a quick start brochure, the same small book about the application and a thorough Talmud with detailed instructions, diagrams and ways to solve possible problems.

Next, having removed the upper immobilization part, we see the robot vacuum cleaner itself and the docking station, which in this model also serves as a dust collector. Everything is packed well again, moving parts are prudently sealed with foam rubber.

While the technical expert is inspecting and sniffing the vacuum cleaner, let’s take out the docking station.

At the bottom we see contacts for charging and a hole where the vacuum cleaner dumps the contents of the dust container. In the middle there is a round screen that displays information about the percentage of charge of the vacuum cleaner, the status of the dust bag (when it’s time to replace it, a corresponding icon will appear), and when the robot dumps dust, the screen displays a countdown to the end of this procedure. By the way, this lasts 10 seconds.

On the lid there are instructions showing how to change the bag. It seems superfluous to me, because the process of removing and inserting this consumable is elementary, but I will praise it because it is still useful information, located in the most suitable place for it. I will also note that the lid closes quite tightly and soundly, so dust does not fly out.

There’s also this little helper hidden under the lid; it’s a brush for cleaning something that’s dirty in the vacuum cleaner, and in the upper part there’s a small but very sharp blade that can be used to cut off something caught in the brush or dust container: hair, long wool, threads and the like. Again, it’s a small thing, but it’s nice because it’s an indicator of a thoughtful design. For example, I knit, sew and embroider, so there are a lot of threads in the house, which either I myself lose on the floor, or the cat will contribute to this. When such a lost item got wrapped around the brush of the previous vacuum cleaner, I had to look for scissors or a steam ripper and return to the device. Immediately the manufacturer thought for me.

Meanwhile, a technical expert is inspecting the bottom of the vacuum cleaner, let's join. Here, in general, everything is standard: brushes, wheels, container for dust and water. The latter, by the way, is divided into two compartments – this is cool, I’ve come across models of vacuum cleaners where water and dust are stored in the same space; therefore, before starting wet cleaning, the container must be washed.

A nice thing: all the brushes can be removed and put back without using a screwdriver, they simply snap into place.

This is what the robot looks like installed in place. By the way, the first charge was sooooo long, but the next ones happen much faster.

Compare with the previous vacuum cleaner

The previous robot (iRobot 698) does not have a wet cleaning function, so I will compare only dry cleaning, and tell you about washing separately. Spoiler alert, in the end I like Tuvio better by almost all criteria.

1. Noise. The Yandex robot, even in turbo mode, is much quieter than its predecessor. In particular, if my husband or I had a work call at the same time as cleaning was in progress, Tuvio did not have to be stopped; it did not make such noise as to interfere with conversations. The previous one was immediately sent to the base, because he seriously interfered, and besides, he skated much longer. So let's compare…

2. Cleaning time. The new robot travels through our entire apartment in about 20 minutes. The previous one could ride for an hour and a half, but at the same time leave uncleaned places.

Tuvio can ride for longer if you set the requirement in the settings that it walk through the rooms twice.

3. “Logicality” of cleaning. During its operation, iRobot followed a logic of movement that was clear to it, which to an outside observer looked very chaotic. Something similar to the DVD icon moving across the screen, but more chaotic. Because of this approach (or the vacuum cleaner learned to deliberately filibuster), places with more dust or scattered things were bypassed, so after completing the cleaning, I had to drag the device to the right place with my hands and dance around so that it did not leave. Tuvio does not suffer from this, because it simply and uncomplicatedly travels along a wave-like trajectory from one end of the room to the other.

4. Quality of cleaning. I think it's clear from the previous points: the Tuvio does a better job than its predecessor because it doesn't try to run away from pollution, but heroically rides into it. For example, the place where there is usually the most garbage is near the cat's litter box. Although it has a door and a special mat for collecting litter, our cat is still a digger onlineso something will fly out.

   

5. Application. Here, in general, no one really wins: after the start of sanctions, the iRobot application almost completely turned into a pumpkin; consumables tracking and some other functions no longer work there, so you can only start the vacuum cleaner from it, set up a schedule and view the history. This particular model does not create a map, so you won’t be able to see it either. Tuvio in its application offers standard functionality: schedule, viewing the resource of consumables, quiet mode, remote start, manual movement of the vacuum cleaner to the desired place, etc.

   I would especially like to note the drawing of the map. The vacuum cleaner lined up its first pass through the apartment, and quite accurately. During the next couple of cleanings, he clarified the location of the toilet and bathroom, but this was not a problem of equipment, but of leather bags: they forgot to open the doors. There are a couple of gaps on the map, but these are places where the robot physically cannot reach: the corner near the bed in the bedroom, since the passage there is blocked by a closet, as well as the balcony, but the threshold there is too high. But even in such conditions, the lidar detected part of the inaccessible space and plotted it on the diagram.
   The application allows you to manually separate rooms from each other and sign them, and then the vacuum cleaner can be sent to a specific room. This function works almost perfectly; the software itself noted some transitions from room to room. The only negative is that the toilet and bathroom are not separated from the corridor; I think they are too small.

While cleaning, you can see exactly where the robot is now, how far it has already traveled and along what trajectory. The only mystery for me here is what the round scale with percentages next to the window with the charge level means 🙂

6. Sound indication. Also, in general, it’s good both there and there, the volume can be adjusted, and the voice is pleasant. By the way, Tuvio’s voice acting reminds me of the announcer from trains, to my ears, so sometimes I expect the vacuum cleaner to say something about closing doors.

Wet cleaning

Tuvio copes well. He drives through the entire house, wipes the entire floor, and then you can see from the rag that he didn’t just roll around like that. Of course, this will not replace a full-fledged wash with detergent, but as a means of maintaining cleanliness, it’s quite a workable topic. In addition, if the floors of the house do not get particularly dirty, and no one regularly spills anything sticky, then wiping 2-3 times a week is quite enough.

The main thing is not to forget that immediately after cleaning you need to remove the rag holder and empty the water from the container, otherwise there will be a puddle. By the way, this is indicated in the instructions, so I won’t mark it as a minus.

conclusions

In general, a great thing for keeping the house clean. A smart, fairly powerful, quiet, intelligent robot that also shakes out the dust on its own. There are no problems purchasing original consumables. This robot simply does a good job of doing all the work it's supposed to do, taking some of the cleaning worries off our hands without getting in the way. It's worth it now 25 thousand rubles, which, in my opinion, is not bad for the existing functionality.