Review: A bargain robot vacuum cleaner that has all the latest tech
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I promise I'm not asking for sympathy, but I've spent a lot of time over the last few months testing top-spec flagship robot vacuum cleaners.
The best and most expensive from the likes of Eufy, iRobot, Dreame, and Ezviz have all been put through their paces in my house, and some of these cost north of £1,000.
So I was ready to be underwhelmed by the next robot vacuum that arrived in my testing bay - the Ultenic T10 Lite. Spoiler alert: I wasn't underwhelmed.
I've tested the Ultenic T10 a while ago, and found it to be extremely capable. It's actually still putting in regular shifts in my mother-in-law's house.
The "Lite" version, is built around the same technology as the original T10, but it's, well... Lighter. Importantly, it's slimmer and sleeker than its predecessor, which means it can fit under things more easily.
And, also quite importantly, it hasn't lost any of its power. In fact, it has a rather impressive 5,000pa on hand to throw at carpets.
It also has the all-important LiDAR sensor, which makes mapping a doddle and helps it to find its way around a room and its obstacles, and it has all the smart home integration you could wish for.
The self-emptying base station isn't exactly cutting edge. You won't find any mop washing, or oxygenating tech in here, but it does empty the vacuum out after a run with a minimum amount of fuss, and it charges it back up too.
Battery life is a strong point, actually. Ultenic reckons it can manage up to 180 minutes between charges, and even on my mixture of carpets and hard floors it really did perform well and kept plenty of charge in the tank.
The waste capacity is good, too. It can hold up to three litres, which is evidently good for up to 60 days. But I suspect I'll go for longer, despite having two dogs in the house.
The mop feature isn't really its best function. The oscillating mops we find on more expensive vacuums beat this into a cocked hat, but it's nice to have it and gives a little bit of a sheen on a laminate floor.
More impressive is the app and its setup. Ultenic has done a lot to improve the app over the years, and mapping is an absolute doddle, especially thanks to that LiDAR system.
Separating rooms is easy, and it's fairly easy to create schedules and set up other functions and features.
The best bit, though, is the price. If you're quick, you might spot one on Amazon for £220.99. It's a limited-time deal bringing the price down from the normal £259.99.
And I think that's quite remarkable. You get a lot for your money. Sure, it won't outperform the latest Roomba, but it comes far closer than you'd expect, and it costs pretty much five times less.
It's really hard not to recommend it if you're in the market for a premium robot vacuum cleaner, but you've only got a limited budget.