No water filling or emptying needed with this clever cleaner
Given that around 95% of all launches over in Berlin at IFA 2023 were seemingly robot vacuum cleaners, brands needed to do something pretty unique to help them stand out from the crowd.
And that’s exactly what SwitchBot (of Bot finger and auto curtain opening fame) managed with the SwitchBot S10, a robot vacuum and mopping machine that offers automatic water refilling and dirty water draining.
And now it’s available to order via Kickstarter for an early bird price of $899 – the ‘real’ price is set to be $1199. Shipping is slated for March next year.
Unlike the likes of the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra and the Yeedi Mop Station Pro, which do some of the dirty work for you by draining dirty water from the cleaner and replacing it with clean water from a tank, but still require you to empty and fill the tanks periodically, the SwitchBot S10 takes care of all your water needs.
That’s because it comes with a Water Station that, just as a dishwasher or washing machine already does in your house, hooks directly up to your cold water feed and your drains.
(Image credit: The Ambient)
SwitchBot showed off a number of examples of where the Water Station could be fitted near to at IFA; think kitchen sinks, toilets, washing machines and so on – basically anywhere where you’ve got access to in/out water pipes.
Installation is as simple as it is for a washing machine and the Water Station is battery powered, so it doesn’t need to be near a plug. And you never need to charge it either as the S10 cleaner gives it some juice every time it comes for a water change.
(Image credit: The Ambient)
We spoke to SwitchBot co-founer Richard Mou at the Berlin expo and he explained that he was surprised that none of the bigger names in robot cleaning had attempted the idea before, given that the process – i.e. filling and emptying from existing water mains in houses – has been done for decades.
He said he thinks it’s because the emphasis has been on providing feature-rich, but often big and bulky docking stations, that maybe wouldn’t fit in some of the areas the SwitchBot Water Station is able to. It’s slim enough that it could even fit under a kitchen unit if a kickstand was removed.
That’s not to say that the SwitchBot S10 doesn’t have a dock. It comes boxed with an auto-empty charging dock that also dries the mop, and a tank big enough for 70 days of dust collecting before you need to empty it.
And, if you don’t want to plumb it in, there’s also an option for adding clean and dirty water tanks to the Water Station.
(Image credit: The Ambient)
The S10 itself looks like being pretty high-end with a 6,500Pa suction and a roller mop that simultaneously scrubs and washes. It also boasts LiDAR navigation and AI obstacle avoidance.
Like the top Roborock models, when the S10 it detects carpets, it will increase its suction power, while at the same time lifting the roller mop and stop spraying water to ensure your carpets stay dry.
But that’s not all. The SwitchBot 10 is also capable of refilling a humidifier. Yes, you read that correctly. Not only can it clean your house, it can also keep your humidifier – more specifically the SwitchBot Humidifier 2 – topped up with fresh H2O.
(Image credit: The Ambient)
It simply takes fresh water from the Water Station and tops up the Humidifier 2 if it detects that it is running low.
The Humidifier 2 is an optional extra, it won’t come in the S10 box but you can add it via Kickstarter for $129.
Also on show from SwitchBot in Germany was the SwitchBot K10 Plus. As you can tell from the image below, its USP is it’s diddy size – that’s it next to the more regular sized S10.
(Image credit: The Ambient)
It’s just over 3 inches tall and has a diameter less than 10 inches.
It only has a max 2,500Pa suction power but the 150-minute runtime may make it the perfect robo cleaner for a small flat or apartment.
We’re told it will launch in the US in November with a price of around $400-450.
