Xiaomi Roidmi F8 battery vacuum cleaner now for $299.99

There are already some battery vacuum cleaners from China, which the Roidmi F8 should leave far behind in comparison. Without anticipating the test results too much: This model not only matches the Dibea models, but clearly Dyson and other top manufacturers. We have thoroughly tested the competition from China.

• Roidmi F8 battery vacuum cleaner
  • at AliExpress for $299.99 | Banggood for $347.58

Responsible for the production of the wireless battery vacuum cleaner is Roidmi, one of the many financed companies of the Chinese tech giant Xiaomi.

Technical Specifications

Scope of delivery of the Roidmi F8

The scope of delivery of the Roidmi F8 includes:

• 0.4 l large dust chamber with HEPA filter (already fitted)
• vacuum cleaner tube
• Attachment with draw-in hood and two different brush rollers
  • one for carpet
  • one for hard floor
• Attachment with brushes
• Charging cable (without EU-adapter)
• Wall bracket with screws
• small brush for cleaning the individual brushes
• additional HEPA filter
• Manual in Chinese (but you don’t need it either)

The fact that the manual is only included in Chinese is due to the fact that sales outside China have not yet started completely. Of course, we wanted to secure a test model as soon as possible and have already taken action. Apart from the difference mentioned above, however, there will probably be no differences in any “international version”.

Design and workmanship

Many jokes are certainly made about the iF Design Award in the employee area at Xiaomi, after all, every product felt by the Chinese designers receives the award. Whatever you think of the price, the Roidmi F8 is a real eye-catcher when it comes to design. The materials used here are metal and high-quality plastic.

The first use of the vacuum cleaner showed two things: The F8 weighs 2.5 kg (hand vacuum cleaner weighs 1.5 kg), which is perhaps one of the cuts you have to make because of the metal vacuum cleaner tube. And: When using the vacuum cleaner over the floor, it’s like walking with a dog whose owner doesn’t run fast enough. It looks as if the vacuum cleaner can work on its own or is motorised, it literally drags its user behind it.

Below the built-in brush and hood there is LED lighting. Not only does this look pretty cool, it also helps to be able to vacuum better in darker corners – such as under the car seat. However, this only lights up when the vacuum cleaner perceives darkness around it – works perfectly and is technically ingenious.

As with the Dibea models, all individual parts can be assembled very quickly and easily. Switching from battery vacuum cleaner to hand-held vacuum cleaner also works perfectly. In total, all assembled parts measure 119.1 x 25.9 x 15.8 cm, which corresponds to the average size of a battery vacuum cleaner.

The F8 has no handle directly on the inlet pipe, only the handle on top of the hand-held vacuum cleaner. However, because the vacuum cleaner literally drags its owner behind it and the suction power (especially on the second suction stage) is very high, no further pressure must be exerted on the inlet pipe to achieve good cleaning results. Accordingly, no additional handle is required here.

It’s the little things that matter

Of course, the only thing that matters with a battery vacuum cleaner is that the house is sparkly clean after vacuuming. But if you spend about $300 on a vacuum cleaner, you will enjoy not only the stylish design but also the small details that Roidmi has placed here. This can be a stamped Roidmi logo on the charging cable, but can also be tiny LED lights (nozzle lights) on the hand vacuum cleaner, which show you the battery status (1-4 lights) and a full dust chamber.

Of course, you can only read a guideline value for the battery from four illuminated LEDs, but it is always practical and stylish. More details can be found in the app, more about this later.

The entire floor nozzle (with which one goes over the floor) comes on a width of 26 cm, the intake hood only on a width of 8 cm. However, since the high suction power of 185000 pa makes everything run through the hood very quickly, the size of this plays a subordinate role.

To sum up: The appearance of the F8 is also worthy of other design awards and the workmanship is just as top. This makes the use even more fun and also prevents the vacuum from hiding in the storage room.

Working time and battery

After a charging time of only 2.5 hours, the vacuum cleaner with its 2500 mAh lithium battery is ready to use for 55 minutes. This sounds like really strong values at first (which it is in itself), but be careful: although a normal battery vacuum cleaner takes just under 5 hours to recharge and then works for about half an hour, the two different suction levels must be observed.

For example, the stated 55 minutes apply when using the lower suction level, but at the higher level you only get a maximum working time of 10 minutes. Roidmi advertises that a 350 m² surface could be cleaned with one battery charge – but only at the low suction level. But even with this you still have enough suction power to get the floor clean in your four walls.

What I personally had been looking forward to very much: The vacuum cleaner comes with the supplied wall bracket, so that you don’t have to put it in the storage room, but can also present it in a fancy way. In addition, it does not get in the way and the battery can be charged during this time.

So the theory. However, the small screws and holder included in the scope of delivery are not able to hold the hand-held vacuum cleaner. I will work on this a little bit to find a good solution, but it is a pity.

The missing adapter for the charging cable in the scope of supply is however not a big deficiency in my eyes, finally there are the adapters for few dollar. As it is always an important point : The battery of the F8 cannot be replaced.

Performance of the Roidmi F8

What is the most important thing in evaluating a vacuum cleaner? Right, how much suction he brings along. A normal battery vacuum cleaner is about 7000 pa, the Roidmi F8 has 18500 pa suction power (!). A strong value that is logically also reflected in the operating volume of 75 dB. Especially at the second suction stage it is not possible to understand much around you in operation, other people in the room can also not continue to watch TV without problems. These are the sacrifices that have to be made in favour of high suction power.

This suction power is noticeable both on hard floors and when cleaning carpets. The F8 is definitely good to use on carpets. With lint, dust or even dog hair, the vacuum cleaner can be used both as a hand vacuum cleaner and completely removed. Cleaning on hard floor is really fun due to the “speed of the vacuum cleaner” already described.

Of course, the vacuum doesn’t accelerate on its own, but just a minimal push will get you going – and you won’t feel like you’re doing any housework at all. It’s a little curling or bowling.

Various attachments

Practically, the scope of delivery includes various attachments, each of which is suitable for a different substrate. The roller is ideally used for the hard floor, the brush can also be used for carpets. The attachment with several brushes and its own small suction opening is well suited for mats and sofa hems, but also for carpets. In the long term, the latter will mainly be attached to the hand-held vacuum cleaner.

However, the 0.4 l small dust container is no great help. If there is a little more dust and dirt in the apartment or if you simply have large rooms, you often have to empty the dust chamber. Of course, this also depends on the intensity of use, but it is already annoying. However, this is a general problem of battery vacuum cleaners, as you don’t want to carry around an oversized dust chamber while vacuuming.

The HEPA filter can be easily washed out or alternatively cleaned with the small brush supplied. The individual parts of the dust chamber can be easily disassembled and reassembled.

2 in 1: Vacuum cleaner and hand vacuum cleaner

Of course, this is no longer a new invention; almost every device now comes with an integrated hand-held vacuum cleaner. But you still want him with you.

Too much cannot be added to the hand-held vacuum cleaner compared to the removed vacuum cleaner, only this much: LEDs would also have been nice with the hand-held vacuum cleaner, since you often want to give evidence of dark corners, especially in the car. That is of course complaining at a very high level. Otherwise an absolutely solid hand-held vacuum cleaner with high suction power.

Integration in the Mi Home App: Why?

With vacuum robots, the App integration makes sense due to the mapping or missing remote control. But what is the point of a battery vacuum cleaner? Let’s start with the registration in the Mi Home App (Android, iOS). Many of you will already have an account here, after all any halfway smart product from the Xiaomi universe can be controlled by it.

Roidmi also has its own app (Android, iOS), but this should be identical in content to the operation via the Mi Home App, but the connection should be even more complicated. Accordingly, I recommend the proven Mi Home App.

Registering and connecting to the app

If you are not yet registered, you have to enter a password and your e-mail address after downloading the app. Of course, a disposable/spam address can also be used here; you no longer need the e-mail address for further use.

To connect the battery vacuum cleaner to the app, the Bluetooth must be switched on on both the smartphone and the vacuum cleaner itself. On the Roidmi you have to press the two controls on the handle of the vacuum cleaner at the same time until the light under the dustbin symbol lights up blue. Then the teat is ready for pairing.

If the Bluetooth is switched on and the Mi Home App is started, go to “Add Device” (plus symbol in the upper right corner of the start screen of the app) as you are used to with other gadgets. The app then searches for devices in the area and promptly finds the Roidmi F8.

Once the vacuum cleaner is added to the app, you can create a homescreen shortcut (an app icon, so to speak) for the smartphone screen and set the area where the vacuum cleaner works. The former is practical because you can access the teat so quickly with one finger movement, the latter you do not need or only with many Xiaomi gadgets in the house.

Once this step is completed, you can already see the main user interface: A graphical representation of the Roidmi F8 and three buttons below with the possibility to choose between 80, 130 and 180 watts. Thus you have one selectable suction level more in the app than in the analog operation.

But that’s almost it in terms of features. Otherwise you can read the following in the app:

• exact battery condition in percent
• and how long you can still work with it on the respective suction stage
• when the HEPA filter should be cleaned again
• Push notification when dust chamber is full
• Temperature and air quality
• cleaned area with comparisons (this area corresponds to 0.09 basketball courts)
• Cleaning time and distance travelled and calories burned (WHAT?!)

The app integration is a big mystery to me personally. Of course it’s convenient to read the battery level, but hey, it’s a battery vacuum cleaner. As long as it can’t work on its own, I don’t need any app control. After all, a battery vacuum cleaner works by picking it up, turning it on and off I go. Since firmware updates for the Roidmi F8 are possible, I hope for more useful features here.

Conclusion

What’s to stop me from unconditionally recommending the battery vacuum cleaner to you? The price. Over $300 is a powerful announcement, but you get one of the strongest vacuum cleaners currently available on the market. The very high suction power paired with the stylish design and the high-quality workmanship make the Roidmi F8 an absolute top model.

However, one must ask oneself whether dust control justifies this price. But if you look around for various products, you quickly notice that you can spend twice as much on similar models. If you want to invest the money, the Roidmi F8 definitely does everything right.

• very high suction power
• Performance on hard floors and carpets
• can also be used as a hand vacuum cleaner
• LEDs for dark corners
• Top design and workmanship

• Working time at the highest suction level could be longer
• Battery not replaceable
• App integration does not really make sense