Robot Vacuums at IFA Berlin 2023
Ever since IFA Berlin 2023, one thing has been continuously echoing in the back of my mind: vacuum cleaners. Traditional vacuums, dry vacuums, wet mops, hybrid vacuum, robot vacuums, whatever variation of a vacuum cleaner you can think of was showcased at IFA in Berlin.
I visited IFA for 4 days, attending the fair for 3 in an attempt to scout and witness interesting and innovative smart home technology. While the expo was indeed filled with Smart Home tech, the vacuum cleaners dominated the space. I documented my visit in detail for anyone who wants a recap: IFA Day 1, Day 2, Day 3.
The SwitchBot booth showcased two smart vacuum cleaners coming out in Q4 2023: the S10 model – top of the line hybrid vacuum cleaner and it’s simpler brother meant for small spaces, the K10+. These two rightfully generated a lot of noise, and one of them is launching on Kickstarter today.
The SwitchBot S10 is launching on Kickstarter today
Use the link for a $400 discount!
Main Features of the SwitchBot S10
Besides the obvious, which that the S10 vacuums and mops your floors, this robot vacuum brings some interesting and innovative features to the industry.
It has the ability to automatically refill it’s water tank and your SwitchBot humidifier (sold separately). On top of that, the dirty mop water is automatically drained by attaching the S10 to your water tap and drain system.
Once the robot decides it needs to drain the dirty water it has accumulated, it will travel to the location of the water station and dock itself, replacing the mucky with fresh clean water.
If you decide to get the Humidifier too, you can pair them both in the app and never worry about it running out of water again. When the humidifier is empty, the S10 will wake up, refill itself with fresh water from the station and travel to the humidifier to refill it. Talk about a smart home!
The roller mop washes and scrubs itself about 300 times per minute while cleaning, which prevents mopping up dirty things and spreading them around your home. Once the S10 detects carpet, the mop is retracted to prevent contaminating your carpets.
For dry cleaning, the S10 has a suction power rating of 6500Pa which is more than the top 10 most powerful robot vacuums currently available. I witnessed the S10 in action when visiting the SwitchBot booth at IFA Berlin and recorded a short video:
The S10 will also have the ability to use cleaning solutions for better scrubbing your floors. There will be an included bottle in the package and a place to pour it in the water station, which can hold 150ml of fluid.
What’s also interesting, is the multi-floor capability of the SwitchBot S10. Naturally, it won’t be able to climb stairs but you can freely map your entire house with the app and just move the robot to the floor you want cleaned.
Technical Specs of the SwitchBot S10
For anyone interested, here’s the full list of technical specs of the SwitchBot S10:
How does the S10 attach to your water and drain system?
For anyone wondering how does the SwitchBot S10 actually attach to your water and drain system, it’s actually pretty simple. The water station has two hoses that you need to connect to your existing plumbing system with the corresponding adapters.
The company will include all the necessary adapters and accessories needed so anyone can do it on their own, like a small DIY project. Basically, you can connect the S10 as long you have accessible pipes around:
- Your washing machine
- Your dishwasher
- Your toilet seat
- Your bidet
- Or anywhere with a water and drain pipes
Judging by my past experiences with SwitchBot, the company goes above and beyond in explaining even the most mundane things so novice users can do things themselves. The app has one of the best user interfaces I ever encountered, which streamlines the integration process of SwitchBot Smart devices.
Upcoming Matter Support
The SwitchBot S10 Vacuum Cleaner will support Matter in an upcoming OTA firmware update, once Matter actually brings support for the robot vacuum category. There is no ETA on this update, since it’s directly related to the Matter specification.
SwitchBot Kickstarter Campaign
The SwitchBot S10 launces on Kickstarter today, and if you were smart enough to get the into the rebate program for $20 you can now reap the benefits by pre-ordering your S10 vacuum cleaner.
- Buy into the SwitchBot S10 Rebate Program ($20)
- Ends before Kickstarter begins on October 16th, 2023, at 8:00AM PDT
- On October 16th at 8AM PDT visit the Kickstarter page
- Buy the SwitchBot S10
- Email the proof of order and proof of rebate to support@switch-bot.com
- Wait for the refund
