Xiaomi X20+: are robot vacuum cleaners under 300 francs or euros any good?
27.1.2026
Translation: Natalie McKay
Pictures: Lorenz Keller
The Xiaomi X20+ costs less than 300 francs – only a fraction of the price of current top robot vacuum cleaners. But does such an affordable device have what it takes to tackle everyday chores?
The Chinese manufacturer designed the X20+ as an entry-level appliance from the outset. When it went on sale just under a year ago, it cost around 400 francs, but is now available for less than 300 francs. The robot vacuum cleaner from Xiaomi is one of the best-selling models in its price range – and consistently receives glowing reviews from our Community.
In the last few months, cleaning aids costing from 800 to more than 1,000 francs, i.e. top-of-the-range models with all the features currently available, have been flying around my home. So the bar for the X20+ is particularly high.
Vacuuming and mopping: good enough
The manufacturer prioritises the basic functions: the robot can vacuum the floor and mop it with two rotating mops. In the base station, the dirt is extracted, the appliance is supplied with fresh water and the mops are washed and dried.
It’s precisely these features that are essential in everyday life. I’m pleasantly surprised by the cleaning results. If I send the robot around my home a few times a week, it’s enough to maintain a good base level of cleanliness.
But I’m forced to compromise when it comes to precision. Crumbs are frequently left lying around the edges and in corners, as neither the brush nor the mop can be moved out to the side. The Xiaomi often needs a few more goes to pick these up.
At 6,000 Pascals, the suction power is quite low. The current top-of-the-range models boast 20,000 to 30,000 Pascals. I only have small areas of carpet in my bathrooms, so that’s enough for me. But if you’ve covered half your home with textile flooring, you’ll notice a difference. The X20+ doesn’t cope well with high-pile carpets, as it can’t deposit its mops in the base station. So there’s a risk of the wet mops being pulled off by the pile. However, the X20+ can raise its mops slightly.
These are clear drawbacks compared to premium models, but the X20+ cleans well enough considering its price. My guess is that, if you use it regularly and supplement it with manual deep cleaning, you’ll be satisfied with the performance.
Navigation: installation is half the battle
The Xiaomi needs around 15 minutes to scan the entire home, neither on the fast nor the slow side. Unfortunately, the result isn’t particularly successful either.
Because I still have to make a lot of adjustments to the map. The robot didn’t detect a single room; it thinks my entire home is one area. This means I have to separate and name everything by hand, which is quite tedious. The X20+ also detected part of the balconies – through the glass doors. I can’t hide or delete this. So I designate it as a separate room and define it as a no-go zone.
Still, once I’ve got this out of the way, the robot has no trouble finding its way around my home. If I only want a specific room to be cleaned, it goes there before moving straight back to the base station.
In standard mode, it takes around one minute and twenty seconds to clean one square metre. That’s not bad. The fastest top-of-the-range models manage one square metre per minute. But some take two minutes to cover the same area.
Unfortunately, the app’s cluttered. It looks terrible, with its blue tones, a lot of white space and black, very small font. I’ve to click at least one too many times to start cleaning. The layout isn’t logical either: the option to clean individual rooms isn’t next to «standard mode», but is a small symbol on the right above the map. Many inputs also react with a slight delay, initially causing me to click on the wrong things.
It doesn’t end with tidying up
Where the X20+ falls far short of more expensive models is its obstacle detection. It reliably detects larger objects and furniture, but isn’t as effective when it comes to children’s toys or cat gadgets. The first few times I used the robot to clean, I noticed it doesn’t try to avoid cables. It got stuck straight away, and the mops even came off one time.
Since then, I’ve gone through my home and moved all the cables out of reach. So it’s no longer a problem. Premium models require less work, as cables and smaller objects aren’t an issue for them.
The mops and cleaning station of the X20+ require a little more upkeep than its more expensive competitors. You’re only supposed to wash the mops with cold water and air-dry them. After three weeks of testing, they looked a bit dirty, so I cleaned them in the washing machine. You don’t need to do this as often for robots with a base station that washes the textile at 60 to 100 degrees and then dries it with hot air.
The dirt in the base station itself is noticeable. The plate on which the robot stands and the mops are washed is full of fluff after three weeks. Fortunately, I can simply take it out and clean it – but with many competitor models, I only have to do this after a month and a half.
And there’s another part that needs regular upkeep: long hair gets wound around the brush. I regularly have to take a pair of scissors and cut out the hair (not mine, by the way…). While doing so, I noticed some dust had become stuck underneath. The good thing is everything is easy to dismantle and clean.
Overall, the X20+ entails far more work than its more expensive counterparts from Dreame, MOVA, Roborock or ECOVACS.
What’s good – and what’s missing
I like how quiet the robot vacuum cleaner is when in use. I measure 59 decibels in the preset automatic mode. This makes the X20+ one of the quietest robot vacuum cleaners I’ve tested so far. Having said that, it offers less suction power, so of course it’s going to make less noise.
What the robot lacks is a dedicated climbing function. But that doesn’t mean every small threshold is unsurmountable. The X20+ easily passes over the test threshold of 1.8 centimetres. But the robot reaches it limits at two centimetres because it doesn’t have enough ground clearance, and its housing hits the obstacle. It’s unable to lift the housing.
I measure a power consumption of 3.4 Wh per hour – in standby mode, when the robot isn’t doing anything and is already fully charged. This is far too much for an electronic appliance – and the highest value measured yet. It amounts to around 29.8 kWh per year, corresponding to 7.45 francs at the Swiss electricity price of 0.25 francs per kWh.
Its power consumption is significantly higher right after mopping, when the mops are being dried. At this point, the robot uses around 25 watts for several hours. This is where I notice the difference compared to appliances that work with hot air. These require twice as much power in the drying phase.
In a nutshell
Almost everything a robot vacuum cleaner needs
The Xiaomi X20+ has the basics covered. It reliably vacuums and mops homes, as long as they’ve been tidied beforehand. The navigation is excellent, it always finds its way around, and doesn’t get stuck anywhere. In the base station, the dust is automatically emptied into a bag, and the mops are cleaned and dried.
If you don’t have any thresholds in your home and aren’t put off by the slightly higher maintenance requirements, you get a good appliance without breaking the bank. Compared to the premium models, however, you have to make compromises: in terms of cleaning quality, as well as the features and precise scanning of the home.
Pro
- Solid cleaning performance
- Hassle-free navigation
- Quiet
- Affordable price
Contra
- Cluttered app
- High electricity consumption in standby mode
- Only mediocre at cleaning right up to edges
- Can’t avoid cables
Lorenz Keller
Senior Editor
Lorenz.Keller@digitecgalaxus.chGadgets are my passion - whether you need them for the home office, for the household, for sport and pleasure or for the smart home. Or, of course, for the big hobby next to the family, namely fishing.
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