This robot vacuum cleaner test’s embarrassing, «Kassensturz»!
11.12.2025
Translation: Megan Cornish
A consumer magazine compared eight robotic vacuum cleaners. Unfortunately, almost all of them were basic models – and not a single one featured the latest technology.
«Half of the robots fail when picking up moisture», «The robots don’t replace our usual cleaning appliances», «Even the results of the best models are not impressive» – these damning verdicts come at the end of the comparison test of eight robot vacuum cleaners by the «Kassensturz» consumer magazine (website in German).
But why? Let’s first look at the test results. Then I’ll explain why I’d rate the comparison «inadequate».
Test winners Medion and Mova
Two models achieved a «good» rating, each scoring 4.8 on the Swiss grading scale. The Medion X20 scored well on dealing with moisture, navigation and the fact you can repair it. It received criticism for its noise level and energy consumption.
The Mova E30 Ultra offers the best suction power of all the candidates and also performs well in mopping and navigation. Its energy consumption, however, is rated «inadequate» – as is the case with six out of eight models.
The mid-range and the two «inadequate» models
With ratings ranging from 4.3 to 4.6, these four models are in the middle of the pack and are rated «adequate».
Two models failed the test and were rated «inadequate». Both are inexpensive and lack a clean base. The Kärcher RCV 3 performed poorly in mopping, noise levels and repairability, earning it a score of 3.8. The Hobot Legee Q10 fared even worse, failing to achieve «adequate» scores in either vacuuming or mopping. It was also the loudest model in the test and had high energy consumption.
No robot can clean away this criticism
A closer look at the comparison reveals weaknesses – not in the robots, but in the test design:
- Not up-to-date enough: Only one of the eight models dates from 2025, four were launched by the manufacturers in 2024 and three back in 2023. Most of the them already have one or two successors.
- No higher than mid-range: Not a single test device represents the current state of the art, nor did they at the time of their launch. All of them are aimed at the beginner or mid-range market.
- Missing manufacturers: Ecovacs – one of the most important manufacturers alongside Dreame, Roborock, and Xiaomi – is completely absent. TP-Link and Eufy also failed to make it into the test. Instead, a less relevant brand – Hobot – is included.
The discrepancy between my experience and the test scores is striking. The Dreame L10s Pro Ultra Heat only achieves an «adequate» rating. After testing it in June 2024, I gave it five out of five stars. The Community seems to agree: almost 300 buyers have given it an average of 4.7 stars. I’ve linked four other test reports from specialist magazines – the robot receives the top rating of «very good» in all of them.
Why does «Kassensturz» arrive at such different conclusion? Because the testers weight the criteria completely differently to users. The Dreame achieves the best marks in its core competency of vacuuming and mopping across the entire test field. But that only accounts for half of the overall score. Energy consumption – which contributes 15 per cent to the final result – drags the average down. This is likely due to the fact that this robot’s the only one that dries its mop heads with hot air – which can take 90 minutes or more.
The ability to repair is also important, accounting for 15 per cent of the score. Navigation (ten per cent), acoustics and battery life (five per cent each) are significantly less important. Other aspects are completely disregarded, such as app usability, mapping or navigation across multiple rooms. In the lab, the robots were only required to clean a single 19-square-metre room with a few obstacles.
Source: Lorenz Keller
What you can and can’t take from the test
The Medion and Mova models are decent robot vacuums for under 300 Swiss francs. However, none of the eight models are truly convincing carpet cleaners. The only model that scrapes a passing grade in this area is the Mova E30 Ultra.
However, this doesn’t mean that robots are generally bad at cleaning carpets. «Kassensturz» didn’t even test really good vacuum cleaners. Current top models deliver three to five times the suction power and, based on experience, perform better on carpets.
«Kassensturz»’s comparison might give the impression that robots don’t help cleaning much – an impression reinforced by general statements in its TV report. This is unfortunate, as current and truly high-quality robotic vacuum cleaners weren’t even included in the test. This also leaves the question open whether manufacturers have since improved their standby power consumption.
Update: the error’s been corrected. If you read the test on the «Kassensturz» website and are wondering why all the robots in the test overcame obstacles of ten to 16 centimetres, I assume it was a typo – it should probably be millimetres. Even robots with climbing technology – also omitted from the test – only manage a maximum of four to five centimetres.
Header image: Hobot
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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