My Robot Vacuum Adventure: A Honest Look at the Midea VCR04W

I've been loyal to my trusty old vacuum cleaner for over a decade, but the motor finally gave out, so I had to get a new one. I made the decision quickly - I saw it, bought it. It was the cheapest one with a dustbin, but my experience with the DnS vacuum was a disaster - the container opens stupidly and the cord is too short. You can read about my bad experience with the DEXP vacuum here.

My husband ordered the robot vacuum. He just wanted to help me out with household chores. He chose it and ordered it himself.

Description and price

My husband ordered the Midea VCR04W robot vacuum on Yandex Market. It cost around 6000 rubles. On Ozon and Vb, it's about 1.5 times more expensive.

The vacuum itself - I won't go into too much detail, all the characteristics and the contents of the package are visible in the photos:

Midea VCR04W robot vacuum real photosThe remote control - yeah, even a remote control is included! It's amazing what technology can do.

The instruction manual. I have no idea if my husband read it, but I didn't - he told me and showed me everything:

Charging Station:

The star of the show:

White, small, and stylish - it's a treat to look at.

Cleaning, charging, and maintenance

This vacuum has two modes: dry and wet cleaning.

To start dry cleaning, just press the Play button. You can choose how the vacuum will move and clean the floor using the remote control. My husband usually sets it to zigzag, but I just let it go without any settings. To be honest, I'm a bit lazy, and sometimes it leaves some areas untouched. Zigzag mode is definitely the way to go.

Midea VCR04W Robot VacuumThe dustbin is small, but the vacuum doesn't collect much dust anyway. Let's take a look inside the vacuum:

Let's get to the good stuff.

Midea VCR04W robot vacuum reviewFirst things first, we need to open the container and give it a good shake.

I have to admit, cleaning the filter was a bit of a pain. The design is pretty clunky and it's a real pain to get it to fit into the vacuum's structure. I mean, who thought it was a good idea to use a flappy filter like this? It would've been so much better if they'd used a solid, sponge-like filter like most other vacuums. After a good wash and dry, it's good to go. Next up, we've got the brush and we need to give it a good scrubbing:

Midea VCR04W robot vacuumThe wet cleaning function is pretty cool. Here's how it works: you fill up the special container (which is located at the bottom of the vacuum) with water. The vacuum then sucks up the dirt and debris, and then it goes back over the floor with a damp cloth to pick up any remaining dirt and dust.

Using it is like giving your floors a good old-fashioned mop-down with a damp cloth. But, surprisingly, it leaves them spotless! I was skeptical at first, but even my kids were amazed when they saw how clean the hallway floor was after the robot vacuum did its thing.

Important note! After a wet clean, always drain the water from the container, or it might leak! Don't charge the vacuum with the container full of water.

It's also essential to always remove the cloth after a wet clean, wash it, and dry it on the radiator. Leaving a damp cloth on the vacuum will make it smell like a school cafeteria.

Charging. The battery lasts for about two hours, which is just enough time to clean two rooms. You can set it to charge for less time, but the cleaning won't be as effective.

I usually charge it overnight, but I don't really pay attention to how long it takes to charge. The robot has a hard time finding the charging station, and when it does, it often gets stuck or makes a weird noise.

Small details. My kids love playing with Nerf guns, and, unfortunately, the vacuum gets tangled up in the foam darts. It tries to chew them up with its wheels, which is pretty funny. One time, it even got stuck on a kitchen paper towel roll and just kept beeping until I turned it off.

Its sensors also get clogged with hair, so I have to clean them out after every use.

After two weeks of using this robot vacuum, I've got some thoughts.

You'll need to move all the furniture, toys, and textiles off the floor before it can do its thing.The battery life is pretty short - my house is about 100 square meters, and it can't even clean the whole place on a single charge.The robot won't automatically dock itself on the charging station.It struggles to transition from hard floors to carpets.It's not great at picking up larger debris with its wheels.The dustbin filter is pretty terrible.This is a vacuum, not a mop - it's not designed to clean floors thoroughly like a mop and bucket would.I'm happy with it, I guess. I haven't touched a regular vacuum or mop in two weeks. The Midea VCR04W is a bit weak, but it's better than nothing.

I'd still recommend the Midea VCR04W.

My go-to favorite mop for cleaning floors