The cleaning of the household can already be automatically handed over to the common robots in some places. A vacuum robot is therefore already represented in many houses and apartments. There are tons of brands and a wide range of prices and quality. But in many households, vacuuming is not enough because a tile or wooden floor also needs to be wiped. For this reason, the mopping colleagues are pushing their way more and more into the market. In today’s test of the iRobot Braava Jet M6 robot mop, you will find all the information and details about the product.
Like all of our gadget tests, this one begins directly with the packaging and the associated first impression of the device and its scope of delivery. The box has a noticeably slim design and immediately stands out from some of the robot colleagues. Nevertheless, the main unit and its accessories have, of course, arrived safely with us. In addition to the mopping robot, the scope of delivery also includes the charging station with detachable base plate and power cord, a reusable cloth for dry and wet mopping, two single-use dry wipes, one single-use wet wipe, operating instructions, and a sample of the branded cleaning agent for the water tank.
We would rate the scope of delivery as “just right” because everything is included for the first time. The Braava Jet M6 itself has an angular format, and this alone stands out from its suction and wiping competition. This enables him to clean corners and edges particularly well. It is also smaller and looks great. The iRobot mopping robot is mostly white and only has a few accents in silver and black. This makes it look modern and fresh. We like this color combination between the many dark vacuum, mopping, and hybrid robots.
The flexible bumper protection dominates the front. Furthermore, the integrated camera is placed there, ensuring safe and, above all, effective journeys. There are three buttons on the top, which offer the self-explanatory functions Clean, Home, and Spot cleaning. The silver circle represents the lid of the washer fluid tank. With a push-to-open, this jumps open and exposes the tank. This can be easily removed and filled with a handle. The tank capacity of 150 milliliters may seem a bit small, but thanks to the economical use of water, the filling should be enough for an entire apartment of around 100 square meters.
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The mopping module is pushed in on the underside so that the floor can also be cleaned properly. An integrated scanner then recognizes the attached cloth and automatically adapts the cleaning to it. Once the Braava Jet M6 is fully charged through contact with its charging station, the rest of the installation can begin. The in-house app , which is available for Android and iOS, is required for this. After registering and setting up the WLAN, the Home and Spot buttons must be pressed simultaneously for two seconds. Now the LED ring around the top of the tank cap becomes active for the first time. This can shine in different colors and intensities, which is very nice to look at and speaks for a modern device.
However, at this step, we noticed the first disadvantage of the robot mop because the respective pressure point of the three buttons is not very good. It took several attempts for the simple connection to the app. Fortunately, the buttons don’t necessarily have to be used after setup, as the app offers a good alternative here. This is also the same as from our test of the iRobot Roomba i7 +. The app is laid out and self-explanatory during use. The mapping of the apartment is very precise. As in the last test, we also miss the live location of the robot on the map. Many other competitors already show this, and we like them there very much.
For the first trips in which the iRobot Braava Jet M6 gets to know its new environment, we recommend using a dry wipe. The mapping is completed more quickly, and the household helper can do his actual job of wet wiping. Thanks to the integrated camera in the front, the mopping robot recognizes its surroundings and creates an exact map in the app based on its journey. We give a big plus point for the adjustable tasks. Individual areas can be defined here and selected as desired. Together with a clear color scheme, these favorite areas are displayed directly on the app’s start screen.
This saves time and is very convenient to use.
Furthermore, individual areas or rooms can be delimited for the Braava Jet M6. For example, if it is a room with a carpet or a play area with small parts belonging to children, you can create a virtual boundary in the app. To achieve a particularly proper cleaning, it is advisable to vacuum beforehand. Without this step, the Braava mopping robot pushes the found crumbs to the edge of the room, where they then have to be removed later. This is where the perfect complement to the Roomba i7 + robot vacuum comes into play. Since both devices come from the same house, a coordinated cleaning of vacuuming and wiping can be done – more comfort is not possible.
But now to the real highlight of this test, the wiping process, and the associated result. The iRobot mopping robot mops in two strokes to achieve a particularly good cleaning performance. In doing so, he moves the rooms in lines in an orderly manner. It moves back a little to start cleaning, sprays water from the nozzle in the front, and then drives over it. This process is repeated for the next piece to travel back over the piece that has just been cleaned. So everything is reliably caught and hit twice with the cloth. With this approach, cleaning may not be the fastest, but it is extremely thorough and, of course, automated.
The extremely low volume is also noticeable when cleaning. Although it is not comparable to that of vacuum robots, you hardly hear the Braava at all. The mopping robot can also be configured for the individual household. Depending on the floor covering and soiling, you can choose from a total of three wiping levels. This then results in the amount of water sprayed and how much the individual strips overlap. The robot mop can easily find its way under the chair and table legs. To accidentally splash the furniture wet, he saves himself this step, and the area is only cleaned with the damp cloth, which is perfectly fine.
Despite the small points of criticism mentioned, the conclusion of our test is very good. The decisive factor here is the great cleaning result. The iRobot Braava Jet M6 moves up to a few millimeters to the room’s edges and can also navigate wonderfully through obstacles. The standard level of cleaning performance was completely sufficient for our hard floors and produced a satisfactory result. We also like the look very much, and the compact design has proven itself in everyday life. As a navigation instrument, the camera needs a certain amount of light, but it has always scanned reliably during the journeys that have been made.
Even with clear water without additives, the floor will be perfectly clean. If you do not want to use the brand’s cleaning additive, you should pay attention to appropriate agents that cannot attack the seals of the robot mop. In the extremely poor incidence of light, you can see the tracks of the wheels on the freshly mopped floor. However, this is due to the construction with the upstream wiper and is not a point of criticism for us, so only mentioned here as a reference and for the sake of completeness. We also rate the scope of delivery as positive. With the various supplied cloths, you can easily find out your preferred cleaning method without letting the masses of useless clothes gathered together gather dust.The range also surprised us because the tank looks very small at first. The intelligent wiping method makes up for a lot here, however, and we can confirm the manufacturer’s information of around 100 square meters from our test. In addition to very light stains, those from the next stage could also be removed without leaving any residue. In combination with a vacuum robot, we find the iRobot Braava Jet M6 ingenious. If the iRobot Roomba i7 + is also a model of the same brand, you have a cleaning crew in your home that is always ready. The coordinated cleaning trips seek their equals among competitors. The mopping robot from iRobot costs a mere 700 euros, but you get a device with good quality and perfect cleaning results.
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