Eufy Omni C28 Review

Design and Features

• Self-empty, self-clean station
• Roller-based mopping
• Slightly basic app

Eufy was the first robot vacuum cleaner company to introduce a robot vacuum cleaner with a roller for a mop, which self-cleans and doses with fresh water for longer cleaning periods. I’ve seen the company get the price down of such a system with the Eufy Omni E25, but the new C28 does the same for even less, which is impressive.

As with Eufy’s previous robots, the C28 has the same distinctive square shape with rounded edges, rather than a circular body. I’m not sure that it makes any particular difference, but it’s nice to have something a bit different.

There’s a fixed LiDAR dome on top for navigation. That does make the Eufy Omni C28 taller than the high-end rivals that either ditch the dome or can drop it for slipping under sofas, such as the Roborock Saros 10.

As is common with modern robots, there’s an additional object sensor at the front, which is used to aid navigation and help the robot move around bigger obstacles; as this sensor doesn’t contain a camera, the C28 can’t spot and avoid common obstacles, such as wires, socks and pet mess.

Underneath, you can see all the cleaning equipment. This includes a split brush bar (called the DuoSpiral Detangle), much like the DuoDivide brush that Roborock uses. The idea is that hair is channelled through to the gap, getting sucked up rather than wrapped around the brush.

There are two side brushes here, built to tease dirt out from the edges of rooms. Neither brush is on an arm to swing closer to the edge or into corners, so there’s a chance that edge cleaning won’t be quite as good as with flagships.

Dominating the rear of the vacuum cleaner is the roller, which runs almost full width. It can’t slide out sideways to get close to the edge, as rival mopping systems can, such as on the Narwal Flow. 

The Eufy Omni C28 can’t leave its mop behind for vacuum-only mode, nor can it cover the roller for moving over carpet as the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller Complete can. When carpet is encountered, the mop can be lifted 10.8mm off the ground, so the robot can slip over short-pile carpet.

While much of the maintenance is handled by the docking station, the roller can be removed for cleaning, along with the tray that collects some solids.

The entire top section of the robot lifts off to get access to the bin. You won’t need to empty this manually, but you should clean the filter regularly.

For most day-to-day use, the docking station will handle the C28. There are dual 2.2-litre water tanks, one for clean water and one for dirty water. Both are clearly labelled and easy to fill and empty. There’s no detergent tank on this robot, so you have to mop with water alone.

Underneath the water tanks is the large 3-litre dust bag, which can hold enough dust for up to 75 days. Replacements are easy to come by, and simple to switch out.

Robot vacuum cleaners used to be part of the Eufy Clean app, but the C28 has to be added to the new Eufy app. I’m not quite sure why the change has been made, but the new app looks and functions much like the old one.

Once connected, mapping is fast, with the Eufy Omni C28 building a map as it goes around. It will try to place it in rooms where it thinks it goes, with varying success depending on where I try it. 

Map editing is easy, and I could split or merge rooms to fix any mistakes, as well as set no-go areas and add furniture. In most apps, furniture can be used as a quick-select zone, but not with the Eufy Omni C28. That’s a shame, as the furniture placement isn’t that useful to the point where I wouldn’t bother adding it.

Cleaning can be performed on the entire home, a room (or rooms) of your choice, or a zone that you draw on the map. As far as robots go, that’s a standard choice.

Cleaning options are more limited than with some other cleaners, with just a choice of vacuum and mop, or vacuum only, plus an AI Automation setting that lets the robot choose the best settings. There’s no choice to only mop or to mop after vacuuming, which is a shame. Lacking a mop-only option, the C28’s brush bar may pick up some wet or sticky stains.

For vacuuming, there are three power modes, and there are also three water levels to select for mopping mode.

Performance

• High suction power
• Great edge cleaning
• Needs a few mopping passes for tough stains

Setting the Eufy Omni C28 off, I started with the carpet test, adding a teaspoon of flour to the test carpet. With 18,000Pa suction power, this vacuum cleaner is powerful for the price, and it shows. After two passes, most of the mess was gone, bar a stubborn little clump. For lighter spills and daily maintenance, this vacuum cleaner will be fine.

Next, I put a similar spill down on the hard floor, which proved to be no problem for this vacuum cleaner, picking up everything after two passes

My edge test can be tricky, but the Eufy Omni C28 did brilliantly. Using the vac and mop mode, most of the spill was gone after two passes, which is impressive.

Putting human hair down on the floor, I was pleased that the mess was collected and nothing got wrapped around the brush bar.

I then moved to my mopping tests. I started with a dried-on coffee stain. After two passes this was mostly gone, but the mess was still visible.

It took two more passes to clean this up.

I found the same thing with my red wine mess. Two passes reduced the mess, but left quite a bit behind.

I had to go for two more passes to really clean up the mess.

My dried-on mud stain did better after two passes, with the solids vacuumed up and the stain removed.

The C28 took an additional two passes to get the floor back to its best.

My toughest test is the ketchup stain. I found that two passes barely touched the mess.

I then sprayed some cleaner on the floor, and gave the Eufy Omni C28 two more passes, which let it reduce the mess. I did have to finish the job by hand.

Daily messes can be handled well by the Eufy Omni C28, but I’d have a hard floor cleaner as backup for tackling the toughest stains.

I measured sound at 57.2dB, which is relatively quiet for a robot vacuum cleaner. I could easily be in the same room as it while it got on with its cleaning.

Battery life is rated at 251 minutes on the lowest power setting. As I’ve seen from most robots, actual battery life is enough for two passes of a typical floor, with spare for some spot jobs.

Navigation is mostly excellent. This robot managed to move around the Trusted Reviews Home Technology Lab with ease and didn’t get trapped once. As already noted, it can’t spot specific objects, such as my fake pet mess, but if you’ve got a relatively tidy house and no pets, this won’t be an issue.

Should you buy it?