In this review we will analyze Vactidy Nimble T7, an entry level robot vacuum cleaner that can help you with household cleaning
Robot vacuum cleaners are becoming very popular in our homes because they can lend a big hand in household cleaning. These are autonomous devices that wander around our homes, removing dust and dirt. Just turn them on and they will do their job. Or not? In this review the protagonist is Vactidy Nimble T7, a producteight entry level range which is offered at a very aggressive price which inevitably brings with it some limitations. Let’s see the details!
Vactidy Nimble T7 review: technical characteristics
This robot vacuum cleaner offers a suction power of 2800 Pa with a 250ml tank. There are also two side brushes to channel the dirt towards the suction areas. Furthermore, we also have the possibility of installing a cloth that is moistened by the robot to also be able to remove dirt stuck to the floor. The robot can be adjusted to 4 levels to wet the cloth depending on the type of dirt. It also comes with a carpet brush that automatically activates when a carpet is detected. Obviously we have a system of HEPA filters for the dust.
Vactidy Nimble T7 bases its navigation system on proprioceptive sensors, probably an inertial measurement unit (IMU) and on the physical collision sensor. It is not equipped with LiDAR or other more advanced vision systems that allow it to detect distant obstacles and plan complex trajectories. The robot is made of plastic, with two motorized differential wheels and a third free one to give more stability. The suspension system allows you to overcome obstacles with a difference in height of up to 15°, more than enough to get over carpets on the floor. It measures 7.3cm tall, not exactly short.
The 2500 mAh battery allows approx 12o minutes of operation, sufficient to cover approximately 100 m2. Charging then takes approximately 6 hours to go from 0 to 100%. Thanks to Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections we can manage our device via smartphone and smart speaker. We will also have a replacement of brushes, cloths and filters supplied.
Vactidy Nimble T7 review: use at home
Using this robot vacuum cleaner is really simple. Unlike other cheap models, we have it included a very simple and intuitive remote control. This can facilitate use by elderly people who may not be familiar with smartphones and still struggle to bend down to use the physical buttons on the robot.
The remote control allows you not only to turn the robot on and off, but also to select the cleaning mode from those available:
- Automatic cleaning: the robot will use a reactive strategy
- Room cleaning: the robot chooses a serpentine trajectory to cover the entire room
- Edge cleaning: the robot will try to clean by following the walls of the room
- Spot cleaning: the robot focuses on a specific area, useful for the most stubborn dirt
Let’s say that if the room has a regular and linear structure, with few obstacles, this Vactidy Nimble T7 works quite well. The suction power is enough to remove dust and normal dirt. The damp cloth also allows you to remove dirt that tends to stick to the floor, perhaps due to humidity. It also works well with animal hair.
However, the navigation system runs into difficulty if there are many obstacles in the room that make the survey complex. The robot it will struggle a bit to extricate itself, the trajectory is not always straight and sometimes tends to skip some areas. This is a limit that should be overcome with the use of a LiDAR to map the rooms and therefore to be able to locate the robot. This is a fairly mature technology, but which the manufacturer decided not to integrate to keep costs to a minimum. Anyway The obstacle detection system works very well: the robot manages to perceive it a few centimeters before the collision in order to have time to slow down.
We found it a little noisy, especially in medium and high power modes. But nothing unbearable. Of course, we don’t recommend using it at night or during naps.
Vactidy Nimble T7 review: the application
Vactidy offers an application to control its robots completely wirelessly. The app essentially provides all the functionality of the remote control and a little more. First of all we will have to put the robot on the network, connecting it to Wi-Fi via the smartphone. There procedure is simple and totally guided. It takes a few minutes, although we find it very annoying to have to repeat it every time we turn off the robot. At this point we will be able to control our robot via the app. What more can we do than the remote control? We can program the robot to activate and clean in a certain time slot. Another important function is that of updating the firmware.
Another useful function is that of coupling with the main home automation systems and virtual assistants such as Google Home, Amazon Alexa or IFTTT. In this way we will be able to control our robot using voice commands or even remotely. Globally the application is quite intuitivealthough in some parts the translations are a bit unfortunate and misleading.
Conclusions
Overall, how do we rate this Vactidy Nimble T7 robot vacuum cleaner? The price makes it extremely attractive, but is it really useful at home? Depends. If you have few obstacles in its path or in any case you don’t mind moving them from time to time (for example putting the chair on top of the table) it will do a good job. Otherwise you will have to arm yourself with patience. In general we do not recommend it for large houses and apartments with many different rooms due to the limited navigation capabilities. In short, if you want to spend little it is certainly the right choice, but you will have to accept various compromises! That’s all from the electronic section, keep following us!
Points in favor
- Good suction power
- Obstacle detection
- Simple to use application…
Points against
- Very rudimentary navigation
- A little noisy
- …but with some things to improve