Vacuuming and mopping at a bargain price
2.6.2026
Translation: Megan Cornish
Pictures: Lorenz Keller
The TP-Link Tapo RV50 Pro Omni can do everything a robot vacuum cleaner needs to do – and at a fraction of the price of a top model. I only had to make a few compromises during my test.
My apartment’s straightforward: no thresholds, lots of tiled flooring and only small rugs. The TP-Link Tapo RV50 Pro Omni’s perfect for this. It offers the basic features at a reasonable price. At the time of testing, it cost 400 Swiss francs or 500 euros. That’s a fraction of current premium devices, which cost between 1,000 and 1,500 Swiss francs or euros. Logically, TP-Link has to cut costs somewhere. But how noticeable is this with everyday use?
It cleans well enough – and intelligently
The robot’s suction power is 15,000 pascals. On paper, that’s only half as much as its more expensive competitors. But it’s perfectly adequate for everyday use, at least on hard floors. It also cleans my two small rugs well. The budget model definitely shines in these areas.
The system recognises the textile structure and displays it in the app. You can then register it as «carpet». As soon as I schedule a cleaning cycle with vacuuming and mopping, the robot temporarily places the two round mops in the base station and vacuums the two rugs. Afterwards, it returns to the station, attaches the mops and vacuums and mops the remaining areas.
Regular use won’t result in perfectly clean floors down to the last detail, but the robot does deliver a high level of overall cleanliness. Crumbs tend to get left in the corners because the Tapo RV50 Pro Omni can’t extend its side brush. A mop, however, extends sideways and cleans the edges.
The tangle-free cutting brush is impressive. After each cleaning session, it cuts all tangled hairs out of the brush. This feature’s far from standard in this price range – and it saves you the tedious job of doing it by hand. The same applies to the self-cleaning docking station, which washes the mops with 60-degree water and dries them with 50-degree air.
These features mean maintenance is limited to refilling the fresh water tank and emptying the waste water. I noticed that a lot of dirt stays in the mop tray – I clean it every two to three weeks. Fortunately, this is very easy: take it out, rinse it under running water, dry it – done.
You might think an inexpensive robot like this one would be particularly loud, but you’d be wrong. On the contrary, the Tapo RV50 Pro Omni’s one of the quietest models I’ve ever tested. I measured 57 decibels from one metre away. The loudest robots feel twice as loud because a 10-decibel difference translates to doubled perceived loudness.
Precise navigation even without a camera
The RV50 Pro Omni uses two lasers for orientation instead of cameras. This means it doesn’t analyse any images of your space. But, during the map creation stage, I noticed this isn't a disadvantage for navigation. The inexpensive robot only needs 11 minutes to clean my apartment. That’s excellent, and comparable to top-of-the-line models.
The quality of the map it generates is also excellent. The system recognised and separated most of the rooms, and you can make any necessary corrections quickly and easily in the app. It’s clear and intuitive to use. Here too, there’s not much difference compared to much more expensive devices.
Navigation’s problem-free with everyday use. The RV50 Pro Omni never gets lost and always finds its way back to the base station without any issues. Even if you only want to clean a specific room, the robot goes straight there.
Tidying up’s a must – and high furniture’s essential
It’s only noticeable that the robot doesn’t have a camera when you get to obstacle detection. Cat toys and cables on the floor are an issue, as the RV50 Pro Omni just drives over them and sometimes gets tangled. So, it’s best to tidy up to make sure no small items are lying around and hide any cables behind furniture. This is a clear disadvantage compared to models from Dreame, Roborock, Ecovacs and similar brands in the upper and mid-range, which reliably avoid cables and small obstacles.
A second problem is the device’s height at approximately 10.2 centimetres. This means it won’t fit under my sofa or bed. Many competitors measure just under ten centimetres, which is enough to clean under both.
The TP-Link robot doesn’t seem to be able to judge heights as accurately as other models. There’s a two or three-millimetre gap to the edge of the sofa, but it still won’t go underneath. Only the very edge of the bed’s low – there’s just a millimetre between the laser tower and the frame. Despite this, the robot ventured under the bed every two weeks and never managed to find its way out. I then get a warning message in the app, see where the robot is stuck on the map and free it.
There’s a surprise in the base station
The robot’s docking station has an unusual design. The two tanks for fresh and waste water are just on top – almost all other models enclose them. This makes them easy to remove and replace. However, I do have to be careful that the tank sits exactly on the connector where it connects to the base station. Twice in six weeks, I didn’t position it accurately enough – and a little water leaked out. Luckily, it didn’t spill onto the floor; it just ended up on the housing underneath.
There’s a surprise in the waste water tank. It contains an activated carbon filter to combat odours. And it works really well. Even if I don’t empty the dirty water for four or five days, it doesn’t start to smell. Without the filter, that would happen after just one or two days. In the past, I’ve always relied on home remedies such as baking soda or mouthwash.
The filter lasts about three months before needing to be replaced. However, it’s easy to use the container without it – or only insert the filter if, for example, you’re away for a few days and can’t empty the waste water. It’s surprising no other manufacturer’s come up with this idea yet.
Not all products in this price range allow the robot to automatically mop the floor with cleaning solution. TP-Link’s solved this with a cartridge instead of a tank. While this is convenient because you can just attach the ready-made solution, it also limits you to the manufacturer’s cartridges.
Lowest-ever standby power consumption
There’s one area where this budget model outperforms all the others tested so far: I measured power consumption of 1.4 watt-hours (Wh) in standby mode when the robot’s idle and fully charged. This is the best result yet compared to the competition, but it’s still not really good: a standby consumption of less than one watt would be desirable and technically feasible. Based on the average Swiss electricity price, I pay just under four francs per year for the 12.3 kWh.
The power consumption’s significantly higher straight after mopping, when the mops are washed with hot water and then dried with warm air. The robot draws around 70 watts for several hours during this process.
In a nutshell
Good and inexpensive
When the TP-Link Tapo RV50 Pro Omni vacuums and mops the floor, it doesn’t quite reach every corner, but it performs well enough for this price range. Even without a camera, the robot navigates almost perfectly. The base station stands out with its warm water cleaning function for the mop heads and the odour filter in the waste water tank.
You get more performance than expected for the relatively low price, even if you have to make compromises in some areas. For example, the vacuum cleaner doesn’t detect obstacles such as toys or cables, and at over ten centimetres tall, it can’t fit under every piece of furniture.
Pro
- Fair price
- Good basic cleaning
- Odour filter
- Quiet
- Low standby power consumption
Contra
- Tall
- No climbing function
- Weak cleaning in corners
Lorenz Keller
Senior Editor
Lorenz.Keller@digitecgalaxus.chGadgets are my passion - whether you need them for the home office, for the household, for sport and pleasure or for the smart home. Or, of course, for the big hobby next to the family, namely fishing.
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