The Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo T8 AIVI is an floor sweeping and mopping robot that has every feature you could need in a multi-purpose robot – and a video and microphone that can scan your home whilst you are away.

The Ozmo T8 AIVI robot has laser mapping and navigation using its sensor on the top of the robot, and uses AIVI (Artificial Intelligence and Visual Interpretation) technology for its camera module.

The robot maps your home and will clean zones, areas and rooms on different floors – as well as letting you control it manually. It increases its suction power when it transitions from a hard surface to carpet, yet it is quiet in operation.

The robot will clean for almost two hours before it returns to the charging dock. After it has charged in the dock the T8 AIVI will return to finish cleaning the remaining area. This feature can be turned off in the app if needed.

I had a lot of issues connecting to the Ecovacs app. I needed to have the robot and my mobile device within three metres  of the access point for Wi-Fi connection to happen, and when I moved the docking station to a different part of the house, the Deebot showed that it was offline.

However, once I managed to re-connect to the app, the settings in the app were easy to configure.

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The app settings allow you to set advanced mode – which means you can specify particular areas to be cleaned. You can also set virtual boundaries, and maps for different floor levels.

Other settings in the app control the vacuum power, water flow level for the mop and allow you to auto-boost the suction power when transitioning onto carpets.

The app has a 'video butler' which shows you a view of what the T8 AIVI can see when it is on a cleaning cycle. 

The objects the robot recognizes are: socks, shoes, slippers, cables, cloths, clothes, floor mats, and its charging dock.

Unlike the Roborock S6 MaxV, the Deebot T8 AIVI does not recognise pet waste.

I tested this with the plastic pet poop model that Roborock supplied with its robot vacuum, and I noticed that the Deebot moved the pet poop to the side of the carpet (imagine the smearing!)

The AIVI obstacle smart recognition needs a well–lit environment for the camera to work effectively, so it will not work during night-time cleaning cycles in the dark.

You can set a password to enter the video manager page to prevent any unauthorised access. Using the app, you can  monitor your home with the live streaming feature of the camera which will check for pets, open doors, or even items missed due to obstacles.

Each time I tried to start the video (which 'takes a few seconds, please be patient'), the video failed to load.

I took the robot to within one metre of my Wi-Fi access point and tried to start the video butler feature. After 30 seconds of waiting, the app screen timed out and displayed a reset button. I tried for an hour before giving up.

Later, after manually driving the robot around the room using the controls, the video manager sprang into life. It allowed me to drive the robot to different parts of the house manually, take photos using the app, and use voice activation to speak through the robot's microphone feature. 

This totally confused the dog who knew that I was physically in another room. The video is a neat feature to use, but you do need patience to get it going, and connection is variable.

If the T8 AIVI can not clean the floor due to an object lying on the floor, the robot will send a notification to the app, showing any areas that were missed during the cleaning cycle and suggesting that the objects are removed. This feature works well.

Like the Roborock S6 MaxV, the T8 AIVI could not cross higher thresholds, but did not try to find another route over – unlike the Roborock.

Perhaps it is a little less rugged at climbing than the S6 MaxV.

Mopping is effective. Ecovacs commissioned a third-party test centre to evaluate the effectiveness of bacteria removal.

The floor was sprayed with bacteria, and the T8 AIVI was used to mop the floor with the mopping settings set to max suction, medium water level and a time of 8 minutes.

The tests showed that the bacterial removal was 96.86% effective.

At full water level settings, suction max, and operating time of 20 minutes, the bacteria removal rate averaged 99.26%.

The mopping works well – but not if you have a particularly filthy floor. Like the Roborock S6 MaxV, the Deebot Ozmo's 240ml water tank is for daily mopping only.

If you need a floor washing robot, you need something like the ILife W400 Shinebot which has a roller to scrub the floors and a squeegee to dry them afterwards.

The Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo T8 AIVI is priced at $799 – the same price as the Roborock S6 MaxV – and has similar features. It would be hard to choose one robot over the other.

If you want the peace of mind that remote video monitoring and voice will give you, then get the Deebot Osmo T8 AIVI. If you need your robot to navigate around any pet poop, then you need the Roborock S6 Max V.

Both are excellent robots that will meet your expectations, and will give you a set-it-and-forget-it cleaning and mopping schedule to keep your home or office clean.