realme TechLife Robot Vacuum Hands-on

With the rise in demand for smart home devices, it’s no surprise that more and more tech brands are joining the market. While realme isn’t relatively new to the scene, its intro of the realme TechLife Robot Vacuum does mark its official first entry to the robot vacuum niche.

Doubling as a smart vacuum and mop, the realme TechLife Robot Vacuum sports 30 high-precision sensors, 3,000Pa suction power (Max Mode), 5,200 mAh battery, 300mL water tank, and a 600mL dust box. And, with claims of an innovative LiDAR Smart Mapping and Navigation System that can easily be customized from the realme Link app, is this robot vacuum worth the price point? Let’s take a closer look.

The realme TechLife Robot Vacuum comes in a sleek white box that is inlaid with repurposed packaging. The device itself is securely nestled in the center – surrounded by the inclusions.

Out of the box, the device comes complete with two user manuals (device and app), two side brushes, a charging base, and an adapter.

The device also comes with a dustbin filter and cleaning brush. The cleaning brush comes with bristles, a comb, and a small cutter for removing frayed or loose ends on side brushes and vacuum.

Unwrapped, the robot vacuum sports a black glass-like finish that is semi-reflective. In terms of size, 350 x 100 mm diameter is relatively large for those living in smaller homes or condominiums. For weight, the device packs in 3.3kg of hardware, which is light considering its large dustbin and smart functions. At the top, you get the realme logo printed on top of a smaller circle – which I’m not sure what it’s for but you can see the motor spin through the slots on the side.

Likewise on the top, you also get the home button (for recharging and pausing operation) and the power button. Both of which are not tactile and come with a rubber surface.

At the bottom, you get the side brushes, which need to be attached before the operation, and the removable dustbin. You also see the retractable wheels and main vacuum with the angled rotating brushes.

For operation, the vacuum is pretty easy to handle. Long press the power button to start its functions and press the home button once for pausing and twice for recharging. When you switch on recharging mode, the vacuum automatically goes to the charging base. The charging base is light and inconspicuous enough to hide in a corner of a room. Although, the device does take some time before it can sense where the charging base is.

For operation, the device did an awesome job picking up stray cat hair, dust, and other gunk on my floor from just one sweep. Its anti-collision feature is also something worth noting as it automatically redirects the device to an unobstructed path. And, relatively with a low noise level at that – even when set to Max Mode.

As for the app features, the realme TechLife Robot Vacuum is pre-built to work with realme Link. And, while it does cover a diverse range of features, the most notable one is smart home mapping. It allows for customizable rooms with a nifty feature of outlining a rough sketch of your home from the first operation. However, I wasn’t able to completely figure out how to configure the mapping features. But, with the rough initial outline, the robot vacuum fared pretty well on its own.

As someone who works from home, any opportunity to delegate otherwise distracting home duties is a welcome one. And, with the realme TechLife Robot Vacuum’s smart mapping features and low noise levels, I can comfortably work in peace knowing that the absurd amount of cat hair on my floor is being taken care of. But, we’ll have to wait for a full review to see how this device fares in daily use.

The realme TechLife Robot Vacuum retails for PHP 16,990USD 290INR 24,544EUR 276CNY 2,108 and is available for purchase on October 22 in all realme authorized stores nationwide. However, for those opting to buy via Shopee and Lazada, the device will be priced at PHP 13,990USD 238INR 20,210EUR 227CNY 1,736.