After going back and forth about it with my wife for far too long, we finally gave in and bought a robot vacuum. It definitely wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment thing. It was more the point where I realised I didn’t want to spend another weekend pushing a vacuum around the house.
Our house isn’t small. It’s roughly 250 sqm over two levels. The kitchen and dining areas are all vinyl, and pretty much everywhere else is carpet. It’s fully furnished too, which is great until you’re trying to vacuum around chair legs, stools, and whatever else has ended up on the floor that day. Then there are the kids. All three are under 10, and I’ve come to accept that the floor is never really finished.
The second floor is much smaller, about 60 sqm, and it’s mostly bedrooms. We don’t run the robot up there at all. That’s where the Samsung stick vacuum still does all the work.
Some days it’s just crumbs. Other days there’s cereal crushed into the vinyl, snack bits under the table, or something sticky that no one can explain. One breakfast is usually enough to mess things up again.
I’m not testing features or doing anything scientific here. This is just what happened when we added a robot vacuum to our normal routine and let it get on with it.
We bought Roborock Qrevo EdgeC from our local Harvey Norman after a lot of standing around and talking. We spent a good chunk of time with the sales guy, asking questions, comparing prices, and looking at a few different options.
In the end, this one made the most sense for our house and the way we use it. We paid $1,100 AUD, including an extra two-year warranty. It wasn’t cheap, but if it’s going to be running most days, the extra cover felt like a sensible move.
What I thought would happen – and what actually did
I bought it thinking it would take over completely. That was really the whole reason for getting one in the first place. After the first week, that idea didn’t hold up very well in our house.
The floors were cleaner, no question, especially in the kitchen and dining areas where most of the mess ends up. But there were still parts that needed attention. Edges were the obvious ones, and thicker carpet didn’t always look as good as I expected. Every so often there’d be something stuck to the floor that it just passed over, and that’s usually when I’d notice what hadn’t been done.
We still vacuum. Not constantly, but often enough. It’s just different now. Instead of dealing with days of built-up dirt, it feels more like maintenance. That wasn’t what I had in mind when we bought it, but it’s where we’ve landed.
I’ve got a few clips from around the house that show this better than words probably can. Watching it move through different rooms makes it pretty obvious where it helps and where it doesn’t, especially once furniture and carpet come into the mix.
The kitchen and dining area
On a typical Sunday morning, after the kids have finished breakfast, I turn the robot on. That’s usually when the floor looks its worst.
Before cleaning anything up, I filmed the kitchen and dining area as it was. Cereal scattered around the table, bits of food that didn’t make it into mouths, hair, dust the usual mix that builds up without you really noticing until you stop and look at it.
Chairs were still pulled out. Nothing was moved out of the way. It wasn’t staged. This is just what the space normally looks like once breakfast is done and everyone’s already thinking about the next thing.
That’s the mess I wanted it dealing with, not a freshly reset room.
I filmed a few normal runs to show how it moves once furniture gets in the way.
I actually started this run when the battery was already low, around 30%. It cleaned for a bit, then headed back to the base on its own. I didn’t do anything it just stopped where it was up to.
After it had charged enough, it went back out automatically and finished the rest of the living and dining area. It picked up where it left off, without me needing to restart or reset anything.
The clip below is what the floor looked like once it was done.
Most of the open areas were clean. Some corners came up better than I expected. The spots where vinyl meets carpet were more hit and miss, and if you look closely there are still a few tiny bits left behind.
That’s the part that hasn’t really changed. It doesn’t catch everything.
What has changed is how long it takes me to deal with the rest. What used to be a full clean that took around twenty minutes is now more like a quick pass. Five minutes with the stick and the kitchen and dining area are done.
That’s where it’s made the biggest difference.
Carpeted areas
Before it ran on carpet, I filmed the living area as it normally looks. I cleared a few loose items, but otherwise left it as is.
On carpet, it does a decent job overall. The open areas came up well, and the space near the windows looked noticeably cleaner than before.
There were a couple of spots it didn’t handle as well. It didn’t go far enough under the sofa to clean properly, and the rug was hit and miss. The main carpet was fine, but once it reached the mat, you could still see what had been left behind.
It’s enough to keep things looking under control during the week, but it’s not a replacement for a proper vacuum on carpeted areas like these.
Where we landed
After a few weeks of using it, this is how things settled.
The robot runs most days and takes care of the mess we’d otherwise ignore until the weekend. Floors stay under control, especially in the kitchen and dining area, and we don’t get that built-up feeling anymore.
The Samsung stick vacuum is still part of the routine. We use it on carpet, under furniture, and along edges where the robot doesn’t quite reach. Not every day just when it’s needed.
We didn’t replace one vacuum with another. We just changed how much time we spend cleaning. What used to take twenty minutes most days is now a quick pass once or twice a week.
That’s been the real difference for us.
