DJI Romo P

Earlier this year, smart home manufacturer Dreame concluded a press release by teasing that they intend to launch a television soon. A television. From a manufacturer whose primary achievements are based on vacuum cleaner bags, mop pads, and LIDAR sensors.

DJI, the manufacturer that has pretty much cornered the drone market, both for amateurs and semi-professionals like myself, has now launched a robot vacuum cleaner. These two topics are related, to say the least, and testify to the fact that these Chinese manufacturers simply refuse to be limited to the pigeonhole that has been designed for them. You might think it's silly and say, "stick to what you know," and I'm inclined to agree. But at the same time, DJI's Romo P exudes so much confidence that even though this particular model is difficult to recommend, just as Dreame's first television will probably be, I am immensely pleased that they are giving it a go.

Okay, so what can DJI Romo P, the most expensive of the three models that make up the Romo series, do? First and foremost, and this is something you can't measure on a cynical list of specifications, is design. Whereas DJI sticks to a rather sober, if not downright anonymous design profile for its camera gear, the Romo P looks like it was designed by... well, Nothing. I say that because the entire base, and the vacuum cleaner itself, is transparent. But not only that, everything is also arranged under the cooling hood, so it's interesting to look at. I love it, I admit, but when I enthusiastically showed Romo P to my better half, she wasn't exactly impressed and thought that robot vacuum cleaners and their base stations should be as subtle as possible.

In relation to the aforementioned specifications, there is good news and bad news. Romo P delivers 25,000Pa suction power - a record for us, beating the Dreame X50 Ultra's 20,000Pa. Does this make a difference to its actual functionality? We'll get to that, but it immediately becomes more complicated when we consider, for example, how high door frames the Romo P can negotiate. The aforementioned X50 Ultra can handle a full 60 millimetres because the wheels are mounted on a kind of stilts that can be extended to give the unit higher clearance. In comparison, Romo P can handle just 25 millimetres, which places it behind most competing flagships.

Fortunately, there are no more unpleasant surprises of this kind, but conversely, there is no central, innovative gimmick here. It can neither climb stairs, lift vertically, nor anything else. I'm not saying that this is absolutely necessary, and with a 164-millilitre water tank on board, lower noise than most competitors and the aforementioned wild design profile, there are reasons to buy a Romo P.

But on the other hand? This Romo P costs around £1,300. That's a lot of money, and given that the X50 Ultra has been on the market for some time, it can be found for under £1,000, as can Roborock's Saros 10. Even the Saros Z70 with a built-in robot arm is available for less. DJI is storming into the market with the most expensive top model ever, and even though the suction power is high, it is not immediately clear why they thought that this particular pricing would invite particularly favourable comparisons.

That said, this is a really solid robot vacuum cleaner. The higher suction power is actually noticeable with more stubborn dirt, and the self-cleaning docking station in particular appears almost sparkling after 30-40 floor washes in this cat-and-child home, where it always looks like Ragnarok after a day of escapades. I have also noticed that DJI's effective use of LiDAR sensors works better for more economical navigation this time around. The Romo P moves smoothly in a way that its competitors simply cannot match, and the nifty app can detect even the smallest objects, such as our TV cable (which, due to a Pedestal, has a single extension cord on the floor that other robot vacuum cleaners constantly try to swallow), and the noise reduction is actually noticeable to us, who mainly run it right after we go to bed.

So it's not entirely ridiculous, and it's clear that DJI has something on its mind here, which hopefully can be paired with more innovation now that they have gained a foothold in a new industry. As it stands right now, the Romo P is a little too expensive to wholeheartedly recommend, especially since its main competitors are on offer at significantly lower prices, without you getting noticeably more for your money. But that doesn't mean the Romo P is a disaster, because it's anything but, and I'm personally looking forward to DJI trying again.