Review: TCL Sweeva 6500 Robot Vacuum Is a Letdown, to Say the Least

Over the years I've had positive experiences with TCL products, from its mobile phones to TV sets. I assumed the TCL Sweeva 6500 robot vacuum would offer the same. I was completely wrong, however. The core function of suctioning up dirt from the ground worked adequately in my testing, but most other aspects of the vacuum, from its mobile app to its additional features were extremely disappointing.

Right from the start, the Sweeva 6500 vacuum raised some red flags. On setup and app sign-up, there was no initial mapping of the rooms suggested. The app and the vacuum appeared rather nonchalant in the beginning, waiting for me to make the first move. With no specific directions after powering it on, digital or in the printed manual, I tapped the Clean button and watched as the Sweeva roamed around the same bedroom a few times before getting stuck on the legs of a lounge chair.

The first day was not off to a great start, but instead of getting better over time, my experiences got worse. Rather than the vacuum being a bargain, at nearly $500, compared with other robotic cleaners, it turned out to be one headache after another.

TL;DR

Pros:

• Cleaned well enough with decent suction

Cons:

• Unable to connect reliably to its own self-emptying station
• Mobile app lacks features
• Repeatedly stuck at the top of stairs

Buy at Amazon.

Disappointing Features

There's no need for me to be vindictive for the time this vacuum has stolen from my life, but it's hard not to start off by describing the ways it has been disappointing—rather than with the product's positives. Several of its performance letdowns have lingered in my mind. The most egregious is its not being able to find its charging station to connect to it automatically—fairly often.

The charging contacts and hole to empty its dirt are all in the back of the vacuum. So to attach itself to the cleaning station, the vacuum needs first to head directly toward it and then rotate 180 degrees to back up into it. After watching the vacuum attempt to do this and fail so many times, I can't help but think it might be a flawed design.

Over and over, I watched the Sweeva 6500 approach its charging station, rotate and then back up very close to the right spot—but not exactly. It would then pull away, rotate around and attempt to back into its spot again. The process was eerily similar to watching the DVD screensaver bounce around a TV display, waiting for it to hit exactly in the corner, only for it to miss at the last second.

There wasn't a calibration setting or any type of acknowledgment of the self-emptying station in the mobile app. There were no firmware updates during my time of testing. There was no recourse to this problem except to pick up the robot and manually press it to its station so it could empty its dirt and then charge. Moving the station around helped a little bit, but it was never perfect.

This vacuum's not being able to connect automatically to the self-emptying and charging station that came with it in the same box was embarrassing, but it wasn't the only problem. I continually found myself running into oddities in the mobile app. I couldn't add a no-go zone to its map within a 2-foot radius of the charging station, for example.

Inside the mobile app, I also had quite a bit of trouble editing the map to divide rooms and name them. There was no way to indicate furniture or specific obstacles. The only tool for consumers is to create a square or rectangle no-go zone.

The laser-guided navigation seemed spotty over time. Initially, it was finding chair legs, cables and rugs to get stuck on. Over time, it seemed to do better at avoiding those things, and it was to some degree—but it never seemed to be flawless. It could not handle the top of stairs, for one thing. It wouldn't fall, but it would rotate part of its body over the edge of the top stair and then stop, alerting everyone that it was stuck.

Slightly less important was Sweeva 6500's cleaning methodology. I found the paths it took to be fairly random. It seemed to travel farther than it needed to while cleaning several rooms.

The Best Parts of Sweeva 6500

As big of a concern as the aforementioned items are, there's still a positive thing or two worth noting about the Sweeva 6500. For instance, even though its vacuuming routes didn't seem ideal to my eyes, the vacuum managed to clean for a while. It has a listed 180-minute runtime, and I found that to be fairly accurate on the standard suction level.

As such, its advertised 2,700 Pascal (Pa) suction level provided acceptable cleaning capability over the carpet. There are more powerful cleaning robots available, but this one gathered most of the pet hair and visible crumbs or debris. I sprinkled baking power on a section of carpet, and it cleaned it all up.

The vacuum supports Alexa and Google Assistant voice commands. Linking it to my Google account only allowed me to turn the vacuum on or off; it would just stop in its tracks when turned off, so I didn't spend very long with that functionally. Plus Sweeva 6500 had beaten me down by the time I got around to its smart home connection, and it wouldn't have changed the fundamental flaws plaguing the vacuum.

Should You Buy TCL Sweeva 6500?

I was extremely hopeful this TCL robot vacuum would present the great value it seemed to be. Unfortunately, I don't think there are any situations or scenarios where this product makes sense for people. I found it to be constantly disappointing in one area after another. My recommendation is to either spend this same amount of money on a really nice manual vacuum or consider a more expensive robot option.

If you do need a more budget-friendly cleaning assistant, the Yeedi Vac 2 Pro might be worth considering. It had its flaws, but in comparison with the Sweeva 6500, it was a performance powerhouse. The TCL Sweeva 6500 won't turn me off from other kinds of devices the company sells, but it certainly makes me weary of TCL's future vacuums.

Buy at Amazon for $499.99.

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