Eufy E20: two-minute review

The Eufy E20 is an ingenious piece of design. It's a self-emptying robotic vacuum that also doubles as both a stick and handheld vacuum, so when it's finished cleaning the floors, you can take over and vacuum the stairs, a sofa, or your car interior. It has strong suction (up to 30,000 Pa in handheld mode) and is more capable than some other robots at climbing over raised door thresholds and wading through thick rugs.

The setup process is quick and simple, and the Eufy app is easy to use, with plenty of options for adjusting settings, creating cleaning schedules and even driving the robot manually, if you prefer. The docking station is relatively compact and the crevice tool neatly stores inside the robot itself when not in use. And, while you'll need to find somewhere to store the stick attachment, it does at least stand up on its own.

I've tested some of the best robot vacuums on the market, and the E20's robo element holds up pretty well in comparison, although it's not quite perfect. Its cleaning powers was good and I was mostly impressed by its navigation skills, although during my review period it sometimes behaved erratically and was occasionally let down by imperfect obstacle avoidance. It frequently head-butted the (open) kitchen door and pushed shoes instead of driving cleanly around them. I also had to remove tangled hair from the roller brush more frequently than with some other robotic vacuums.

The manual vacuum works surprisingly well, and while it lacks the robust build quality and extra features found on today's best cordless vacuums, it was still capable enough to replace my regular Dyson for the duration of my review. If you don't already own a stick vacuum, or yours needs replacing, the E20 is an effective all-in-one solution that delivers strong value for money.

That's the short version; read on for my full Eufy E20 review.

Eufy E20 review: price & availability

• List price: $549.99 / £549
• Launched: February 2025
• Available: US / UK

The Eufy E20 was announced at CES 2025 – where it won the Best of Innovation in Home Appliances award – and went on sale earlier in February 2025. At list price, it costs $550 / £550 / AU$999, which makes it a mid-range robotic vacuum. At time of writing, Eufy's own website offered a $50 discount, so it looks like you'll be able to avoid paying full price if you're smart about when you buy.

However, the E20 isn't just a robot vacuum – it's also a cordless stick vacuum (which can be used as a handheld). This plausibly means customers could buy the E20 and do without any other form of vacuum for their entire home, since in stick and handheld mode it can handle the stairs, a sofa, your car interior and everywhere else unreachable by rival robots.

While this 3-in-1 design is unusual, it's not completely unique. Currently on the market is the Yeedi C12 Combo, which similarly bundles stick vac and robovac on the same docking station, although there the handheld doesn't sit inside the robot vacuum. That option is US-only, and costs $699.99 / (about £560 / AU$1,110).

There's also the Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo, which has a handheld included (but no wand to turn it into a floor vac). Again, it's not available in the UK, but is significantly more expensive at $1,199.99 / AU$2,299 (about £950).

If we focus on Eufy's own range, and the robot vacuum-only options, the E20's price puts it roughly on par with the $650 Eufy Omni C20. However that self-emptying robot comes with a powered rotating mop, which the E20 lacks. Below both sits the $450 Eufy L60, which has the same self-emptying design but also lacks a mop.

Ultimately, the E20 is good value if you don't already own a handheld or stick vacuum, and if you're happy to mop the floors yourself. A good stick vacuum will typically cost £350 / $350 or more (although some are far pricier), so factoring that in, the Eufy E20 starts to make sense.

• Value for money score: 4 out of 5

Eufy E20 specs

Eufy E20 review: design

• Innovative 3-in-1 design can function as robovac, stick vac and handheld
• Robovac and handheld dock and empty into the same base
• No mopping capabilities

The Eufy E20's design is by far its most compelling attribute. This is a robotic vacuum that doubles as a handheld vacuum with both stick and brush attachments for cleaning floors, steps and sofas. Or, think of it as a handheld vacuum that can be docked into a robot, which then charges and empties its onboard dustbin via the included docking station.

It's a clever approach to the number one problem with robotic vacuums – that, no matter how intelligent and powerful they are, they cannot tackle the stairs, furniture or your car. With the E20, Eufy presents a machine that can handle just about everything, and means you don't need to purchase an additional handheld vacuum. All that's missing is a mop.

The motorized part of the robot looks much like other robotic vacuums, complete with wheels, roller brush and spinning side brush. But with the press of a big red button, the handheld element – which comprises the robot's suction system, dustbin and battery – detaches, ready to be used as a handheld. A stick attachment with powered roller brush for vacuuming the floor is included in the box, along with a crevice tool and a brush for vacuuming furniture. The stick doesn't come with a wall mount (as other handheld vacuums do), but can stand up on its own, making it easy to store without falling over, and the crevice tool handily tucks into a storage slot on the robot itself.

The robot measures 13.5 inches (34 cm) in diameter and is 5.5 inches (14 cm) tall. The base station is 10 inches (25.5cm) wide, 15.5 inches (39cm) tall and 6in (15cm) deep. When docked and charging, the total footprint of the robot and base station is 13.5in (34 cm) wide and 18in (46cm) deep.

The stick attachment for using the vacuum as a handheld is 34 inches (86cm) long. As ever with robotic vacuums, it is recommended that you leave plenty of space in front of, and to the side of, the docking station. This isn't entirely necessary, but bear in mind that if the dock is close to a wall the robot won't be able to reach that area of the floor.

The handheld section uses a bagless design and can be emptied manually. Or, you can place it back onto the robot and it'll then empty automatically into the charging dock, which uses a 3.5-liter dust bag that Eufy says needs replacing every 75 days. The robot empties itself when it sees fit, although you can have it empty on command with a press of a button.

Installing and setting up the Eufy E20 is easy. It connects to the Eufy app just like the company's other robotic vacuums, then drives around to create an editable map of your home. After that, you can task the robot with cleaning your entire property, or targeting one room or just a specific area of your choosing. There's also plenty of customization, with several suction strengths to pick from, but I'll come back to this in the performance section of the review.

Lastly, a strange quirk of the E20's design is how the robot's charge point is at the opposite side to the dust bin. This means the robot first parks at the docking station to empty its dust bin, then drives back out, turns around, and parks again, this time facing the opposite way so its charge point can connect to the dock.

• Design score: 4.5 out of 5

Eufy E20 review: performance

• Robovac mostly performs well on suction and object avoidance
• ... although some navigation issues and erratic behavior
• Manual vacuum surprisingly capable too, if a bit loud

The setup process took just a few minutes, with the robot successfully navigating its way around my apartment on its first attempt. It created a fairly accurate map, which I was able to quickly edit – changing a couple of room boundaries and naming each room – from the app with just a few taps. I also created a no-go zone to prevent the robot from driving under the living room sofa, as the amount of stuff under there meant it was bound to get stuck. Finally, I used the app to mark the bedroom floor as a medium pile carpet, and to plot the location of a high pile rug in the living room.

Right away, I was impressed by how the E20 clambered its way over a set of relatively high doorway thresholds without getting stuck. It even reversed then drove forward more quickly after failing on its first attempt. Some other Eufy robots, including the vastly more expensive Omni S1 Pro, have failed to reliably clear these thresholds. I asked Eufy about this but a spokesperson said there have been no changes to the robot's intelligence in this regard.

It also drove over a thick rug without getting stuck – also something pricier robots often fail to do – but got tangled up in some tassels at the end of the rug. This is understandable, and if you have such a rug you'll want to either mark it as a no-go zone in the app, or move it before each clean.

The robot mostly navigated very well, but on one occasion, after being untangled from the rug, it first said it "wasn't on the ground", when it was, then seemingly got lost despite saying it had correctly positioned itself. Another press of the home button fixed this, and after several minutes of exploration, it found its way back to the dock.

During daily use, I found the E20's navigation to be a little clumsy and inconsistent. Sometimes it would drive precisely along a wall, leaving the tiniest of gaps, while other times it would push shoes around instead of driving around them, and head-butt open doors. On one occasion, when tasked with vacuuming the bedroom, the robot arrived at the entrance to the room and cleaned for just a few moments, before declaring the task complete and returning to base. I tried again, but this time it failed to enter the room and instead drove off into the living room, before returning and successfully entering the bedroom.

Although I've highlighted a few unfortunate failings here, the E20 mostly performed well. I especially like how it drove more quickly at any raised thresholds it failed to clear at the first attempt, and how it cleaned in neat lines – and at a decent speed – when in a large, open space. Only in the more cluttered corners of my home, such as where doors can't be fully opened and access is restricted by relatively complex objects like a portable heater and an office chair, did the E20 struggle. In a larger home with more open space I can see if performing better.

Before I get to the specific cleaning challenges, I should talk about the E20's handheld function. This performs very well indeed, with the stick attachment easy to fit and remove, and the crevice tool handy for vacuuming furniture, a car interior, and other hard-to-reach areas. In handheld mode the E20 deploys its maximum 30,000 Pa of suction (compared to 8,000 Pa when used as a robot, as power is also needed for the motors and navigation system). It did a great job of cleaning hard floors, carpets, rugs and sofas, and entirely replaced my Dyson Cyclone V10 for the duration of the test.

There are four levels of suction power, selected by repeatedly pressing the power button and indicated by a light bar on the side of the vacuum. A long press of the same button turns the vacuum on and off.

Although the manual vacuum works well and has plenty of power, it is rather loud. I recorded a peak loudness of 92 dB at maximum suction (the same as the Dyson V10 at full power), but a more comfortable 82-85 dB at the Eufy's lower power settings.

Being able to use a robotic vacuum as a handheld is a bit of a game-changer, even if the robot isn't quite the smartest around. I can imagine scheduling the robot to clean every few days, then using the stick attachment for occasional top-ups – like tidying up crumbs after food prep – and picking the crevice tool for furniture.

All that's missing is a mop, but at this price point that omission is understandable. A static mopping pad could have been added, as with the SwitchBot K10+ Pro, but since that doesn't work too well, I prefer Eufy's approach of reducing complexity and going without.

Suction tests

Now for the specific tests, starting with how the E20 performs with fine dust, made from a mixture of flour and crushed digestives, on a hard floor. Since it's a small room, I set the robot to vacuum the entire floor once at its lowest power setting, called Quiet and with a loudness measured at 63 dB.

The results were impressive, with almost all evidence of the flour/crumb fix picked up on a single pass at the lowest suction level. I noticed how the E20 didn't flick debris all over the room with its spinning side brush, as other robotic vacuums are often guilty of. In this case, a second pass wasn't required.

I then repeated the test on carpet, and the results were less impressive. The E20 spilled some of its bin contents when clearing the doorway threshold (which sees it climb from exposed floorboards up to a carpet), then failed to lift all of the crumb mix on its first pass. I repeated the test using the next suction level, called Standard (measured at 65 dB), but the robot failed, stating: “Route unavailable. Unable to reach the target point.”

This error occurs when a custom cleaning zone includes an area beyond the confines of the map. Even if it just touches an object like your bed, for example, the task will fail, so you need to be extra careful when creating the custom zone.

Most of the crumb mix was picked up using Standard mode, but some still remained. A single pass on the next mode, called Turbo (66 dB), picked up all debris. After this, the robot emptied its dust bin (79 dB) and put itself on charge.

I then repeated the tests, but this time replaced the crumb mix with oats to see how the E20 performed with larger debris. On hard floor the lowest suction level is powerful enough to pick up the oats, but the robot flicked debris around the room with its spinning side brush and left quite a bit of mess behind, as most robotic vacuums do in this test.

Next, I upped the suction strength to Standard and switched to two passes instead of one, and the E20 did a fantastic job. The room was left almost spotless, with practically no debris missed at all. Impressive.

I repeated the oats test on carpet and found that two passes with Standard mode was the best option. The robot did a great job, picking up all debris save for just two stray oats.

Finally, obstacle avoidance. I used a sock, a shoe and a USB cable to test the E20's ability to spot objects and navigate around. It did a great job of avoiding both the shoe and sock, getting close (but not too close) to each, then continuing its cleaning routine.

Unfortunately, it didn't care for the USB cable, and ate it almost immediately. This wrapped around the roller brush, stopping the robot and causing it to ask for help. No damage was caused, but it was clearly a failure.

Eufy says the E20 uses LiDAR and 'dual laser sensors” to scan its environment and avoid obstacles over 15mm in size. The USB cable is less than 15mm wide, but is of course much longer than that. Eufy also says the roller brush rotates in reverse after cleaning and uses a built-in comb to dislodge hair, but when retrieving the cable I also had to remove a clump of hair that had tangled itself around the roller after just a handful of cleans.

• Performance score: 3.5 out of 5

Eufy E20 review: app

• Simple setup and use
• Highly configurable
• Easy to schedule and adjust settings

Eufy's app is a good one. Setting up the E20 is quick and easy – just as it is with Eufy's other robotic vacuums – and the app is responsive, stable and intuitive. Part of the setup process includes telling the robot to create a map by exploring your home. You can then use the app to name rooms and make edits, such as creating no-go zones, labelling where carpets are, and moving any boundaries the E20 might have got wrong. I wish there was an option to label raised thresholds, so that the robot would know to drive more quickly, or at an angle, to clear them reliably.

You can tell the robot to cover an area once or twice during each clean, and there are four suction strengths. You can also tell the E20 to vacuum the entire map, clean a single room, or draw a specific zone for it to target.

Head into the comprehensive settings page and there are options for creating a daily or weekly schedule, adjusting how often it self-empties into the docking station, setting a child lock, and even taking manual control to drive the robot yourself. There's also a handy page showing the remaining life of replaceable components like the filter, brushes and dust bag.

• App score: 4.5 out of 5

Should you buy the Eufy E20?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

How I tested the Eufy E20

I set up the Eufy 20 in my home and used it as my only vacuum cleaner for a month. It entirely replaced my own handheld vacuum and was used to clean every room. This included hard floors and carpets, and I also used the E20 in handheld mode to clean a sofa and my car interior. After living with the E20 for a month, I completed a series of specific tests to discover exactly how well it performs.

Read more about how we test robot vacuum cleaners.

• First reviewed January 2025