YEEDI C12 Pro Plus: Will This Robot Vacuum And Mop Terminate Our Home's Dust?

There are dedicated souls out there who vacuum their floors every day, from corner to corner, and I applaud them for it. No crumb dares to speckle such perfect surfaces for long, as a strong hand and a rush of air whooshes it into the glorious filter of oblivion.

I will never be one of these people. Even in the best and cleanest of times, vacuuming is among my least favorite activities of daily living. As a serial checklister, vacuuming is something which slides perfectly into that miserable niche of "Yeah, you did it, but how long does it last?" – and that's before you add in the kids and dog element. Between my canine companion's enthusiasm for mud, my four-year-old daughter walking in the front door brushing off the remains of the dirt "cake" and "cookies" she has "baked" in the sun, or how her one-year-old little brother demonstrates his refined culinary palette by inspecting his food, picking it from his mouth, and throwing it to the floor with a devious grin... well, the sad truth is that my household is the absolutely perfect place for a robot vacuum and mop.

Enter the YEEDI C12 Pro Plus. Between the messiness of life with small children, and the fact that we recently had our wood floors sanded and refinished, the timing couldn't be better to try out a new high-tech cleaning tool. Here's how it went, and whether you should – or shouldn't – allow this robot to vacuum and mop your house.

The YEEDI C12 Pro Plus arrived on my front porch on a sunny afternoon in a clean, sturdy box. Nice packaging is nice packaging, but after a lifetime of science fiction novels and comic books, there's always the lingering fear that any robot will begin its world domination plan by murdering me. Nonetheless, the devastating daily mess caused by both my children had me fully willing to accept the global domination of Skynet, Cybertek, or even Omni Consumer Products if it meant not having to stress out over my floors anymore. So, I ripped off the tape and got started. 

I'm always skeptical of the words "easy assembly," but trust me, this robot vacuum and mop's assembly process won't give you grief. I was impressed by the solidity and weight of every piece, and how easily it fits together. Much like a Dyson, every component has a clear purpose and snaps together with the satisfaction of a well-made product.

Installation also involves scanning a QR code, which the vacuum will verbally prompt you to do (yes, it speaks!), after which it prompts you to download an app. Mileage on this will vary. I wasn't super-fond of this element, but I usually find such things tedious. If smart gadgets are your jam, you'll probably love these extra features. Anyhow, once my home Johnny 5 was assembled, charged, and (sigh) QR-coded, I was eager to set it loose.

A big factor in deciding to go for a robot vacuum – aside from the fact that 3/5 of this household strives to create as much mess as possible – is that we just finished the aforementioned massive home renovation project involving sanding and refinishing the floors. Thus, every crumb that descends down upon those glistening wood surfaces now glares at us with all the intensity of a thin red line on a Rothko painting.

Thankfully, once you set the little robot free to zoom about your floors, it does a phenomenal job of sucking those crumbs right up. Say goodbye to the Cheerios hiding under the chairs. Dog hair? See ya. Abandon your fears that all the dust under the couch will never be eradicated: Your mechanical little helper will bravely wheel right under there and return undamaged.

I was genuinely impressed with the suction power of the robot, and how its zig-zagging path somehow managed to cover the entire floor. It had no problem navigating the bumps and crevices of wood flooring, and it easily maneuvered over area rugs, as well. If you're worried it's going to pull an ED-209 (that is to say, go tumbling down the stairs) don't sweat it: The device's little robot brain is wise enough to know that stairs are a no-no. Finally, when you're ready to call it a day, the robot returns to its station with a simple press of the home button.

Imagine a world where instead of spending 30 minutes, an hour, or multiple hours inspecting your floors, vacuuming, and mopping, there's just one little device that does it for you. All you have to do in order to get it started? Press a button.

Using, maintaining, and cleaning the robot vacuum is (mostly) a breeze. The eco-friendly dust bin, per the product's marketing materials, should only need to be cleaned about every 45 days, and it definitely did not need any cleaning in the week I've used it. That said, I did give it a clean, just to see how the process works, and was impressed by the ease and efficiency of emptying the dust and debris into the trash can with minimal mess. The necessary pieces all detach smoothly and reattach without problem. 

The device's mopping function is also impressive. As opposed to the ancient medieval ritual of standing on wet floors with a frown, a big stick, and a splashing bucket of dirty water, this device turns mopping into a streamlined process of attaching the right pieces, pushing a button, and letting your pet robot devour your morning coffee splatters. As an overall approach to keeping your floors clean, this robot does it with style.

Even a great product like this one has its defects. The YEEDI C12 Pro Plus' home function, mentioned earlier, is super convenient and super cute: If you press it near the station, it will tell you what it's doing, then turn around and back up to its station. That said, if you're worried about A.I. taking over the planet, using a robot vacuum and mop will remind you of technology's limitations; while the home function works great if you're close to the base, it failed to find its way back from the other side of the house.

A robot vacuum will also struggle with the same issues as a regular vacuum. At one point, I noticed it sitting unevenly, with one side substantially higher than the other, and no longer vacuuming well. I readjusted it, put it back down, and there was no improvement in the poor robot's slouched posture. Upon closer inspection, I still couldn't figure out what was messing it up, so I had to take apart some of the sections on the bottom. The first thing I uncovered was a little baby sock, wedged deep in the way only a baby sock can be. This solved the suction problem, but not the leaning problem. Undeterred, I returned to my dissection of the base until, after laborious analysis, I found a paper tissue tightly wedged underneath one of the wheels. Once that was removed, the device got back to work.

Unless you've watched so much "Black Mirror" that you have an all-consuming fear of robots, the YEEDI C12 Pro Plus is a product that I would genuinely recommend to all people who don't have a passionate love for vacuuming and mopping their hardwood floors on the daily. While you can't throw away your regular vacuum and mop – there will always be a place for the manual approach, to get those tiny corners and crevices, or for times when a deeper clean is necessary – running this device at the end of the night will save you hours and hours of time you'd spend on tedious, everyday maintenance cleaning.

I'd especially recommend this robot vacuum and mop to fellow parents and pet owners like myself, however. It's fun to watch a little R2D2 shuffle about on your floors, but it's even more fun to watch your speed-crawling baby chase after it with an excited laugh. And it's beyond relieving to know that whatever food that baby might drop, if the dog doesn't get it, you can rely on a simple button press afterward to get it vacuumed away. From low maintenance to high quality, the YEEDI C12 Pro Plus will shave time off your cleaning routines and give you more time with the family. That's what it's all about, right?