Mopping Comparison

Full disclosure - I received the Z60 as part of the Get and Create program.  I will provide honest opinions and feedback - both good and bad.

The first robot vacuum I purchased was the V50 (white).  I wanted to do a comparison of the mopping with the Z60 and V50 since they use different mopping technology.  The V50 has mop pads vs the Z60 with the mop roller.

We had a dog accident on the dining room floor, so after I cleaned it up with paper towels I wanted a good mopping to finish cleaning the floor.  I was not testing how clean the units get the floor - I already know that both the Z60 and the V50 are excellent at mopping, I was more interested in the process.  For example - how long did it take, how many times (if any) did it return during the job to clean the mop roller or pads, etc.

I made sure both machines had the same settings.  The only difference in settings - the Z60 has 4 clean settings for vacuuming and mopping - Quick, Standard, Intensive and Deep.  The V50 has 2 clean settings - Quick and Standard.  

The settings I used were Vac & Mop; Suction power - Standard; Clean setting - Intensive on the Z60 and Standard on the V50; Number of passes - 2.  I would have used standard on both, but the Z60 went first and I didn't realize the V50 didn't have the Intensive clean.

Both robots showed the space as 238 sq ft.  The Z60 took 33 minutes to clean the room and the V50 24 minutes.  This may be the difference between the Intensive and Standard clean.  During the clean - the Z60 only went back to clean the roller mop at the end of the task, while the V50 went back part way through to clean the mop pads and then cleaned them again at the end.

The most notable thing I notice between the 2 robots is the sound.  Both are very similar in sound with vacuuming, however the mopping is considerably different.  The V50 is a lower frequency hum, while the Z60 is a higher pitch much more mechanical sound.  I've noticed the Z60 mopping is considerably louder than the V50.  Generally if the V50 is mopping close to me I can still watch tv however if the Z60 is mopping I typically have to put on my AirPods to hear the tv.  I'm not sure if this is due to the pitch or just overly loud.  I also know everyone's hearing is different so it may just be more noticeable to me.

I decided to see if there was a difference so I have a decibel reading app on my iPhone.  This is not a professional app by any means and no calibration but I thought it would work for just getting an idea if the units do have different volumes when mopping. Standing the same distance away from the robots (about 3 feet), I took the readings.  The Z60 registered an average of 57.4 decibels while the V50 registered an average of 52.0 decibels.  So the Z60 is louder but I'm not an expert so I have no idea if 5 decibels is a big deal.  This was more for me to see if I was hearing them correctly or if the frequency was just making me think the Z60 was louder.

Manual cleaning:  The cleaning for the mop pads and rollers is different but easy.  The V50 mop pads I can just throw in the washing machine; the Z60 mop roller I washed by hand during the full maintenance.  In the photos, you can see the dirt strips on the Z60 roller mop.  I washed it like you would a paint roller - I used a little dish detergent and then rinsed well and squeezed out the water.  You can see it cleaned up very well and can be used again.

Overall opinion - both robots do a fantastic job of cleaning.  It's nice to have the extra clean settings on the Z60 for when you really need a deeper clean.  They both did a great job of mopping without leaving excess water on the floor.  In the photo, you can see the Z60 left an un-mopped strip along the kitchen threshold.  The V50 did a similar strip.  I may need to adjust the threshold there, so I definitely do not consider that a fail for either.  

It would be very difficult for me to pick one over the other based on cleaning performance - both vacuuming and mopping.  The Z60 has more features for mopping however the V50 is not quite as tall so can get under lower items a little easier.  The higher pitched, slightly louder and more mechanical sound of the Z60 mopping is a little more noticeable to me but if it really bothered me I could just set it to mop at night when I'm asleep.

In my honest opinion - you could not go wrong with either vacuum.  They both do a fantastic cleaning job, they climb taller thresholds like sliding glass door jambs and the routine maintenance is very easy for both.