One of the biggest headaches any busy homemaker would have is spending time sweeping or vacuuming floors. If you have carpet this is an even more important task because dirt will build up over time.
Regardless of the floor type you have at home, cleaning floors is central to keeping it a safe and healthy environment for you and your family.
The default choice would be a stick or an upright but what if you simply don’t have time?
Let a robot do it for you
An alternative buying a traditional vacuum would be going for autonomous cleaners.
And the great thing is you have lots of choices. If you’d buy one 5 years ago, you won’t have any option than going with a Roomba or Neato.
But times have changed and Chinese brands have popped up.
One such is Dibea and I’ll be looking closely at their robot vacuum called the D900.
One quick look at this robot reminds me of a more premium brand – the Neato.
It has the same D-shape as the Neato but with fewer buttons. This does not the sophisticated S.L.A.M. software and laser-guided navigation inside the BotVac but it cleans well based on cleaning tests I did.
What it lacks in sophistication it makes up for in price. You can buy this robot for literally a fraction of the cost a Neato BotVac. And you can attach a mop on it so you can vacuum and mop simultaneously.
Features at a glance…
- D-shape slim design (less than 3” tall) will go under most furniture
- Twin side brushes
- 2,200 mAh lithium ion battery will run for around 100 minutes
- 5 hour charging time
- Comes with a water tank and mop
- 1200 Pa suction from the 30 watt motor
- Available in EU or US plug
- 1-year warranty
Pros
- Great price to performance ratio
- Low profile design will go under furniture with low clearance
- Bumper sensors help it avoid furniture and other obstacles
- Pretty efficient at cleaning
- Easy to empty bin
Cons
- Not great as a stand-alone mop
- Small water tank
- Lacks power and agitation to deep clean carpet
- Long charging time
What to expect from the Dibea D900?
At first glance you’d mistake this robot for a Neato BotVac but these two machines are very different.
Difference between this and a Neato
First difference would be navigation. Neato comes with the S.L.A.M. algorithm installed with a laser sensor on top.
This robot is not as polished with only infrared sensors around the front and underneath to help it avoid obstacles and falling from cliff points.
But despite the disparity in terms of features don’t sleep on this robot because it does the job.
To help give you a glimpse of what this product is all about please watch this video…
Like most of the robots I’ve looked at the past few months, the D900 has two side brushes that sweet dirt towards a suction chamber in the middle.
D-Shaped Design
A big different would be the shape. Instead of following the round shape of these cleaners, Dibea deviated and used a D-shape design similar to Neato.
Opting for this immediately improves edge cleaning performance because the side brushes are closer to the edges.
This explains why the robot was able clean most of the dirt I scattered in less than 16 minutes – that’s pretty efficient. I mentioned in the video that I run the robot for around an hour but it was actually 39 minutes.
Bottom View
Twin side brushes
Like the ILIFE A6, X5, V5 and V5S Pro this robot has two side brushes.
Big difference would be the placement of the motorized brush which is right smack in-between the two side brushes.
Also the side brushes clip on and you don’t need to remove any screws to remove them. I like this because it’s makes it easier to clean.
Motorized brush has a “double-V” design which means it has bristles and squeegee that do quite well in terms of picking up hair.
Navigation
Dibea advertises this to have a predictable back and forth cleaning pattern. But as I’ve tested this I noticed that it uses more of a random cleaning pattern.
This isn’t surprising because it does not have any software installed inside. Instead it only uses infrared sensors they call the “OBS all floor detection system”.
If there’s a difference between this and the ILIFE it would be the distance it goes before moving in a different direction. I noticed that it would go a longer distance before stopping and going in another direction.
Collision avoidance is another strong suite of this machine. It rarely bumped into obstacles. It won’t scuff your furniture the way a Roomba 650 does which is a big plus point.
Wet/Dry Mop
It also comes with a mop attachment that will allow you to wet or dry mop tiled floors. Since the bracket also doubles as a water tank, it is possible to damp mop and vacuum at the same time. But with the random cleaning pattern of this robot, I’d just use the dry mop mode to help pick up dust.
Don’t expect this to perform like the iRobot Braava since it does not move the way a Braava does so temper your expectations. This machine is a vacuum at heart – the mop is just an add-on.
Battery
Powering this low profile cleaner is a 2,200 mAh lithium ion battery that allows it to run for up to 120 minutes. But it takes around 5 hours to recharge which is similar to an ILIFE and Xiaomi.
Cleaning modes
The D900 has four cleaning modes:
- Auto – this is the default cleaning mode that where it will automatically clean an area and then recharge when battery is low. This is the mode I always use because I don’t have to baby sit the robot
- Spot – cleans a small area in a circular motion
- Edge – focuses cleaning the edges of the room
- Scheduling – will automatically clean on a specified time you set. But you can only schedule it one time for the whole 7 day period
Cleaning Performance
This robot did a very good job cleaning up the mess I scattered. I wasn’t expecting much but the results exceeded my expectations.
First, here are some before photos…
And after 39 minutes the room is pretty much clean…
But here’s the amazing part- it was able to clean most of the mess in less than 16 minutes!
It picked up 48 out of the 50 grams I scattered on the floor. Talk about efficiency.
Product Specifications
| Battery type | Lithium ion |
| Charger type | Charging dock |
| Charge time | 5 hrs |
| Water tank capacity | 80 ml |
| Dirt capacity (dry) | 300 ml |
Run Time  | 90 to 120 mins |
| Net weight (with battery) | 4.9 |
| Shipping weight | 10.8 pounds |
| Width | 11.42 inches |
| Height | 2.95 inches |
| Vacuuming |  |
| Dry Mopping | |
| Wet Mopping | |
| Multi Room | |
| Self docking | |
| Remote control | |
| Hepa filtration | |
| Cliff detection | |
| Self adjusting | |
| Side brush | |
| Full bin indicator |  |
| Stair Cleaning | |
| Cleaning sessions per week | 7 |
| Extra Filter | 1 |
| Containment | None |
| Brush cleaning tools | 1 |
| Accessories included | Charging base 300ml dirt bin mop bracket 2 microfiber mops A/C adapter Remote (AAA-batteries included) 2 extra filters 1 brush cleaning tool 2 extra side brushes |
| Voltage | auto volt |
| Manufactured in | China |
| Warranty | 1 year (learn more) |
Where to buy?
There are several sites that sell this robot and I’ll only recommend these two – AliExpress and GearBest. It’ll be cheaper buying this at GearBest when you use the coupon code “HOME5OFF” which brings the price down to around $147++.
To Wrap It Up
I must admit this robot exceeded expectations – at least my expectations. It scored high in terms of efficiency and the amount of dirt it picked up was impressive. It only took
The D-shaped design, twin side brushes and double-v brush did an excellent job picking up dirt.
Edge cleaning also is a plus because of the two side brushes that have more reach. Another feature that made this more efficient is the position of the motorized brush – it’s close to the front.
Mopping feature is a bonus but it should not be the primary reason why you buy this product because it may disappoint you.
This robot is primarily a vacuum with the ability to dry/wet mop. And the best part would be price. The D900 would cost less than $180 which is a fraction of what a Neato or Roomba will cost.
