The Switchbot S10 Vacuum Will Drain Its Mop Water for You

Jan 12, 2024

Better than your average Roomba.

Robot vacuum cleaners are nothing new, but over the past few years, we've seen increasingly smarter versions that do more than just hit walls and get stuck on power cords. iRobot's lineup of Roomba vacuums and Braava moppers are two popular options, with some models being smarter than others. But what about a fully autonomous cleaning robot that you don't have to interact with at all? That's the goal for the SwitchBot S10.

The SwitchBot S10 robot, just unveiled at IFA 2023, might just be the ultimate cleaning robot for several reasons. It can flush itself out, it can remove its own dirt, it can dry itself, and it can even load itself up with its own water. For the latter, you need to hook up its water station to your house's plumbing, but once you get that out of the way, the robot will be as autonomous as possible. That's less manual work than you'd have to do with most other robot vacuums, but you still have to remember to empty the trash bin every once in a while. Perhaps one day we'll have a robot that can do that job, too.

The vacuum component has a suction power of 6500 pa, while the roller mop can clean itself up to 300 times per second, minimizing how many times it actually needs to go back to the station. It also scrubs and washes, and is gentle while doing so, so it won't damage your flooring. It will also go into a special mode if it detects it's in a carpet, increasing suction power and hiding the roller mop so the carpet doesn't get wet. It comes with a LiDAR sensor that can map your house, and it also uses AI to avoid obstacles — while it'll do its best, you can also set "no-go" zones within the app so the robot avoids them completely.

If you want to check it out, you'll be able to support the project on Kickstarter when it launches on October 13th, and it will have a special Kickstarter price of $1,199.99. For more information about the robot, check out the official website.

Arol is a tech journalist and news/feature writer at How-To Geek. He also writes at sister sites MakeUseOf and Android Police. Currently a Pharmacy student at the Central University of Venezuela, Arol has had a soft spot for everything tech-related since he was a child. When not writing, you'll either find him nose-deep into his textbooks or playing video games.