Small Wonder: How the compact robovac makes cleaning your house easier

The Robovac can be operated via remote control or switched and left alone. Pic/Sameer Markande

As a journalist, this writer's favourite excuse to wriggle out of any housework is "I need to rush for a story." The supposed therapeutic effects of cleaning aside, some chores like sweeping are simply too boring and back-breaking, quite literally, AND the vacuum cleaner, while effective, also requires attaching extensions, plugging in and out, and moving around a lot.

Which is why investing in a robovac - a robotic vacuum cleaner - was a good idea. The small, compact machine is battery powered and has sensors to guide it around the house without getting stuck in furniture or other household items. This writer has been using the robovac for a little over a month now, and it is a very smart investment to make.

The small wonder comes with its own charging dock and a remote control, but the latter only needs to be used when you want some specific area cleaned or to change modes. The robovac can do focused cleaning by moving in circles in one area, clean an entire room by moving up and down its length or can be set to auto mode, where it decides for itself where to activate which style of cleaning. The short but stout bristles fixed at two spots under the machine's round frame move in a circular motion, gathering dust and scooping it into a small compartment inside its frame. Once you're done, you simply need to open the lid, empty out the compartment and place it back in. The robovac also has a mopping function, where you can fill water inside a separate compartment and attach removable patches of cloth that draw water and mop the floor.

After use, simply guide it close to its charging dock and press the ‘home' button, and watch it smoothly move towards the dock and come to rest perfectly in a position where its charging strips align with the dock's, and charging begins automatically. Like most smart people, it will let you know when it's had enough - it emits loud beeps when fully charged.

On the plus side, the robovac needs very little attention once you let it loose, provided there are no items on the floor that its bristles could get stuck in. The device is capable of sensing most obstacles and turning around, and even if it does bump into something, its deliberate slow motion ensures no damage. Once in a while, it will try to go toe to toe with a particularly large piece of furniture but quickly realise the futility of its bravado and change course.

On the other hand, however, the size of the device means that it can only clean open and accessible areas. It does clean very well - the floor will look and feel cleaner once it's done - but it can't reach into narrow gaps and crevices the way a traditional broom or a vacuum cleaners nozzle can. Especially if you're a stickler for cleanliness, this can be a put off, as you know there are dusty corners all over the house. Our suggestion, use robovac for everyday sweeping only.