Optus Mobile Review ALDI Mobile Review Amaysim Mobile Review Belong Mobile Review Circles.Life Review Vodafone Mobile Review Woolworths Mobile Review Felix Mobile Review Best iPhone Plans Best Family Mobile Plans Best Budget Smartphones Best Prepaid Plans Best SIM-Only Plans Best Plans For Kids And Teens Best Cheap Mobile Plans Telstra vs Optus Mobile Optus NBN Review Belong NBN Review Vodafone NBN Review Superloop NBN Review Aussie BB NBN Review iiNet NBN Review MyRepublic NBN Review TPG NBN Review Best NBN Satellite Plans Best NBN Alternatives Best NBN Providers Best Home Wireless Plans What is a Good NBN Speed? Test NBN Speed How to speed up your internet Optus vs Telstra Broadband ExpressVPN Review CyberGhost VPN Review NordVPN Review PureVPN Review Norton Secure VPN Review IPVanish VPN Review Windscribe VPN Review Hotspot Shield VPN Review Best cheap VPN services Best VPN for streaming Best VPNs for gaming What is a VPN? VPNs for ad-blocking Neither the S6 Pure nor Viomi V3 has an objection recognition ability (you’ll need to spend a little extra on something like the Deebot OZMO T8+ for that feature) but still, the Roborock S6 Pure knows when to cut its losses after colliding with an object. The Viomi V3, less so. The Viomi V3 and I crossed paths one night while I was cooking, holding a tray fresh out of the oven. The Viomi V3 bumped into my feet once and turned tail, or so I thought. Two seconds later it comes rushing towards me with more momentum than before; my life flashed before my eyes as the murderbot came back to finish what it started. Overall, the conflict was brief and hasn’t happened again but I have been sleeping with one eye open ever since. Despite the odd navigation inconsistency, the Viomi V3 still does a solid job of cleaning my house. It’s just not as meticulous as other robot vacuums we’ve tested at a similar price. After giving it a few days to get to know the house, I still find dust and debris gathered in easily accessible corners. The Viomi V3 doesn’t have a carpet sensor (an overdrive feature other robots use) but its baseline suction power seems efficient enough to cover both hard floors and carpeted areas with ease. If mopping is more important to you, switch to the 550ml water tank. I’d go as far as to say it’s a good option for someone who’s interested in robot mops but isn’t ready to commit. If you don’t like it, you can always switch back to the bigger dustbin. The Viomi V3 makes a splash in a couple of ways. There’s the previously mentioned 550ml water tank but it also has a motorised water flow mechanism and three levels of… wetness? Both are advanced mopping features to have at this price point and for small spills, it’ll do you just fine. The biggest problem is, the Viomi V3 can’t detect carpet so it won’t hesitate to mop over your fancy rug if given the opportunity. This is the same for the similarly priced S6 Pure but at least with that you can set specific “no mop” zones and you couldn’t depend on it to navigate around those areas. You can’t set mop-specific areas (outside of the scheduling feature) with the Viomi V3 and even if you could, I wouldn’t count on it to play by your rules. I tested the mop with some tomato sauce and a splash of Greek yoghurt that I let dry on my wooden floors (the things we do for these reviews) and, to be honest, the results were much the same as they’ve been with other robot vacuum-mop hybrids; it just sort of pushes the mess around. At least with others, they return to finish the job but I returned thirty minutes later to the Viomi V3 to see it had left the job half done. It’s not unbearable but it’s just another thing to chuck on the annoying pile. I just can’t move past how finicky the whole experience has been. From the initial set-up to the lacklustre navigation, to a Mi Home app update that wiped my maps, to the noise and design, there’s just a lot about it that I find irritating after having such a carefree experience with some of its competitors. It’s curious because, on the flip side, the Xiaomi-funded Roborock S6 Pure performed flawlessly which leads me to wonder if there’s much life left in the Viomi tank or if Xiaomi would be better off banking on Roborock. Despite the reduced price of $499 (down from $799), I wouldn’t recommend the Viomi V3 over the competition, even if it is an impressive machine on paper.
