🌟 3i S10 Ultra Robot Vacuum Review: Revolutionary or Just a Gimmick?
Welcome to another in-depth breakdown here at Vacuum Wars! Today, we’re diving into one of the most innovative robot vacuums we’ve seen in a while—the 3i S10 Ultra. This machine caught our eye for one big reason: it's the first robot vacuum with an integrated dehumidifier and a full-fledged water recycling system.
But innovation is one thing—does it actually clean well? We bought one and put it through weeks of testing to find out. Here's what we discovered.
🔍 What Is the 3i S10 Ultra?
The 3i S10 Ultra is a robot vacuum and mop hybrid with a sleek design and a single-roller mop system. It comes with a large, multi-functional dock that:
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Auto-empties the dustbin
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Washes and dries the mop roller
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Fills and recycles water
It’s priced on the higher end, largely due to the cost of its advanced water management features. But do those features justify the price?
💧 Game-Changer: The Water Recycling System
This is the S10 Ultra’s headline feature—and it’s definitely worth talking about.
✅ Clean Water Replenishment (Dehumidifier)
The robot uses an internal dehumidifier to extract moisture from the air, which fills the clean water tank automatically. In humid environments (like our basement), it worked beautifully, refilling overnight. But in dry areas (like our upstairs during winter), it struggled, requiring manual refills.
You can control this system through the app, including setting humidity thresholds and scheduling extraction.
✅ Dirty Water Distillation
The S10 Ultra also recycles dirty mop water through internal distillation. Solids are filtered into the dustbin, and clean water is reused. It’s completely hands-off—but there’s no manual override. This became a bottleneck in our testing when we had to wait hours for the distillation to complete before continuing.
In normal household use, this won’t be a huge issue, but it’s something to consider if you run the vacuum often.
🧼 Mop System: Better for Spills Than Stains
Instead of spinning mop pads, the S10 Ultra uses a roller mop, which is more effective at cleaning wet spills. It processes liquid through a squeegee system into a dirty water tank.
Key mop features:
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Auto-lifts on carpet (8mm clearance)
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Extends near edges for better wall cleaning
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Washes and dries the mop in the dock
However, despite the advanced tech, it underperformed in our dried-on stain tests, scoring only 57 (compared to an average of 100). So if dried messes are your main concern, this may not be the best option.
💨 Suction Power and Debris Pickup
Here’s where the S10 Ultra really impressed us:
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13,000 Pascals of suction power—among the highest we’ve tested.
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Excellent airflow and surface debris pickup on both hard floors and carpets.
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Great hair pickup, especially with pet hair. It even passed our 7-inch pet hair tangle test with a perfect score.
However, it disappointed in deep carpet cleaning. In our embedded sand and crevice tests, it consistently scored below average, indicating that its strength is more in surface-level cleaning.
🔋 Battery, Navigation & Obstacle Avoidance
✅ Battery Life
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Advertised runtime: 180 minutes
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In testing: Above average efficiency and cleaning coverage per charge.
✅ Obstacle Avoidance
Uses a combination of:
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Time-of-Flight sensors
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A front-facing camera
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3D structured light
Performance was decent—about average—though we expected better given the tech involved.
⚠️ Navigation
Uses a fixed top-mounted LiDAR (not the usual rotating 360° type). This keeps the vacuum shorter—but not by much. It’s still one of the tallest bots we’ve tested.
While coverage and efficiency were above average, it ran slower than usual when mopping.
📱 App Experience
The app was surprisingly full-featured, offering:
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Room-by-room scheduling
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Water control
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Mop lifting controls
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Real-time humidity tracking
However, it was missing a few key features:
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No “mop with the grain” option for hardwood floors
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No control over dustbin emptying frequency, which can be important for homes with lots of pet hair.
⚠️ The Downsides
Here's what didn't work so well:
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Poor dried-stain mopping performance
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Below average deep carpet cleaning
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Bulky and heavy unit (over 80 lbs shipping weight!)
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Missing some smart app controls expected at this price
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Internal distillation system can delay use if it's not finished recycling
🏁 Final Verdict
There’s no doubt the 3i S10 Ultra is innovative. The built-in dehumidifier and water recycling system are game-changers, especially for users in humid environments. If you hate refilling tanks or dealing with dirty mop water, this robot was made for you.
However, if you're looking for raw cleaning performance—especially on carpets or dried stains—you may find better options in the same price range.
✅ Best For:
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Homes in humid climates
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People who want minimal mop maintenance
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Households with pet hair concerns
❌ Not Ideal For:
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Deep carpet cleaning
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Tackling dried or sticky messes
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Smaller homes (due to its large dock and unit size)
The 3i S10 Ultra made our Top 20 Robot Vacuum list—but just barely. We’ll be watching to see if it holds its place as other models continue to improve.
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