I tested the world’s first robot vacuum with twin motors for extra suction power, and they actually work

ZDNET’s key takeaways

• The Eufy X8 Pro is a two-in-one robot vacuum and mop that sits in the midrange market at $500.
• It’s the industry’s first vacuum to feature dual TurboCyclone Suction units to effectively clean different surface types.
• Eufy’s Pro-Detangle feature was not as effective in my house full of dogs and cats.

Cleaning pet hair is something I struggle with in my home. It’s on my floors, my couches, my clothes, and even my dining room table. And the only way I’ve found to even remotely keep up with it is by running a robot vacuum every single day because, really, who has the time to run a handheld vacuum daily? 

If you do, you have my respect. Truly. That’s to say, when the Eufy X8 Pro showed up on my doorstep with the promise of being the pet hair cleaning expert, I immediately put it to work.

Also: The best robot vacuums for pet hair you can buy

The Eufy X8 Pro claims to have an active detangling roller brush, meant to prevent itself from clogging up from pet hair. The company also says this is the first vacuum to feature dual TurboCyclone Suction motors (two fans that run at 4,000Pa). To test the claims, I gave the vacuum the entirety of my home for a month. Let’s talk about how it did. 

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Eufy X8 Pro

The Eufy X8 Pro is a two-in-one machine that excels on soft flooring surfaces, suctioning up pet hair and debris easily.

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The Eufy X8 Pro has a number of distinctive features, including a dual TurboCyclone Suction, which is an industry first. The X8 Pro has two 4,000Pa vacuum motors that vacuum up every little bit of dirt and debris scattered throughout the home. With four different suction levels — quiet, standard, turbo, and max — I found that my carpets and rugs generally come out with beautiful carpet lines and are hair-free after cleanings. When the robot detects softer surfaces, the BoostIQ feature kicks in, ramping up the suction power to lift all of the dirt and debris out of the carpet.

Also: I tested a $6,000 automower for four months. Here’s why I’m fully invested

When cleaning the rest of my home, sections of which are tiled, I found that the X8 Pro could get a little carried away with its side brush. Occasionally, instead of the brush kicking the dirt and debris into the brush roller, it would fling the pieces elsewhere, sometimes where the vacuum had already cleaned. This seemed to happen more with debris like stray cat litter and pieces of dirt, rather than pet hair or dust bunnies. This isn’t a big deal if you’re running the X8 Pro daily, but you might be a disappointed in the cleaning capabilities if you’re hoping for this to clean everything up on a single run. 

The Eufy X8 Pro is a two-in-one machine, but the mopping functionality is best described as just a wet pad to get dust off your floor rather than actually deep-cleaning. I’ve never been a fan of this wet mop head mechanic because it often builds up dirty water and uses that to drag along the floors. 

If you don’t have kids or pets who waddle around the house, the wet pad may tickle your fancy, but my home has all of those things, so a true mopping feature is a must-have for me. Here’s a great list of two-in-one machines that will do your floors justice.

Review: Roomba Combo J7+: A 2-in-1 robot vacuum done (almost) right

Despite that, the Eufy X8 Pro is an intelligent robot vacuum that uses iPath Laser Navigation to clean in neat, consistent rows. It mapped my home’s layout quickly and efficiently and even attempted to divide the space into areas that it thought were different rooms. 

Both of these features worked well and made things very straightforward to understand in the app. However, one downfall with the X8 Pro is the lack of object avoidance. If I didn’t pick up the cords, toys, and stuffed animals before the Eufy did its thing, I was in trouble. For some people, this isn’t an issue (myself included) on certain days. Sometimes, I have my life together and my floors look clean and pristine, but that’s usually not the case. I lost a lamp cord and a baby toy to the X8 Pro, which was rather unfortunate.

Also: This robot vacuum mop combo has a brilliant self-cleaning feature I didn’t know I needed

Lastly, Eufy says the X8 Pro will keep its rollers tangle-free, a bold claim considering how difficult it can be to manage through strings of pet hair. But between my own long hair and the fur from my German Shepherd, German Shorthaired Pointer, and cat, robot vacuum rollers are often clogged when they make their way into my home. Unfortunately, the Eufy X8 Pro had a similar ending; after every clean, I found myself having to manually unclog the rollers.

ZDNET’s buying advice

The question now is who should buy this robot vacuum? After weeks of testing, my consensus is that for soft surfaces like carpets and rugs, the Eufy X8 Pro is an amazing cleaner, especially for the mid-range price. point. And really, it does a great job on my tile flooring, too, even with the occasional mishap from the side brush. Just don’t buy into the Pro-Detangle Comb marketing, especially if you have several furry friends around the house. 

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