Moneual Rydis H67 Pro review: The robot vacuum that couldn't

The $400 Moneual Rydis H67 Pro is a robot floor cleaner designed to vacuum and wet or dry mop via disposable Swiffer-style pads. I tested this bot on mid-pile carpet, low-pile carpet, hardwood, vinyl, and ceramic tile and experienced significant inconsistencies in the form of frequent error messages, unexplained mid-cycle stalling, and imprecise docking. Overall, this robot cleaner demanded way too much hands-on attention to make it a worthwhile purchase. If you're shopping in the $400-range, I'd suggest the $400 Neato XV Signature; it has fewer features, but the ones it has work well.

3.5

Moneual Rydis H67 Pro

The Good

The $400 Moneual Rydis H67 Pro is a multifunctional bot; it has a vacuum mode, a mop mode, and a hybrid mode (for simultaneous vacuuming and mopping).

The Bad

Erroneous error messages, stalled cleaning cycles, and docking inconsistencies were the norm during testing.

The Bottom Line

If you want a no-fuss floor cleaner, stay away from the Moneual Rydis H67 Pro.

Moneual Rydis H67 Pro Hybrid Robot Vacuum Cleaner (pictures)

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The Moneual Rydis H67 Pro has a very simple glossy black finish with an understated display panel. The main cleaning modes are vacuum, mop (using an attachable mop plate and disposable wet and dry cleaning pads), and hybrid (a combo of vacuum and mop). You can access these options either from the remote control or directly on the bot using the "M" (mode) button.

The H67 Pro also offers custom cleaning options designed to work with the various vacuum, mop, and hybrid modes. These include: intensive (3-foot by 3-foot spot cleaning), shadow (targets low-light areas, like under beds or sofas), manual (use the remote to self-steer), reservation (schedule to clean the same time every day), turbo (default setting, which can be disabled to increase cleaning time), threshold (to help the bot "climb" over 0.4-inch obstacles such as hardwood-to-carpet transition strips), and double cleaning (performs two cleaning sessions in a row).

The display itself looks fairly straightforward, but I had trouble getting it to work consistently. Occasionally when I pressed the mode button, it wouldn't respond. Other times it was very responsive. The same goes for selecting the start/stop or power on/off buttons. I accidentally initiated several cleaning cycles while trying to change the mode or power the robot cleaner off. The remote control, however, worked very well. And since several of the custom cleaning options are only accessible on the remote, I'd suggest skipping the bot display and making your cleaning selections from the remote instead.

The H67 Pro is 13.7 inches (34.8 cm) in diameter, 3.4 inches (8.6 cm) tall and 5.9 pounds (2.7kg). The dust bin capacity is 20 ounces (0.57kg) and it takes roughly 2 hours to charge for about an hour and a half of run time in the default turbo mode (deselect turbo and it will last for closer to 2 hours). In mop mode it can run for up to 5 hours on a single charge.

In addition to the robot, you also get a power cord, a charging station, a remote control with 2 AAA batteries, three wet and three dry disposable mop pads (when you run out you can use Swiffer pads or other Swiffer-style pads), a cleaning brush, and two side brushes (like the $600 Neato BotVac 85 ). It runs on a lithium iron phosphate 12.8-volt battery. Unlike the $500 Moneual Rydis H68 Pro , this model doesn't come with a reservoir for distributing water on the floor like a traditional mop. Since it doesn't have a reservoir, it's closer to the $500 Yujin Robot iClebo Arte in terms of features.

Like the iClebo Arte, the H67 Pro uses various sensors to navigate around a room. Unlike the Arte, this bot doesn't have a ceiling-facing camera that helps it follow a systematic cleaning pattern. Instead, it follows a seemingly random trajectory, bouncing into obstacles, turning around, and heading back the other direction. According to Moneual, the robot is designed to clean as long as it continues to sense debris or until its battery is low. However, I never once saw it return to the dock without first hearing a low battery prompt from the voice guidance feature.

The voice guidance feature is designed to alert you to various errors that you may encounter during cleaning, such as "Please check the main brush." It also lets you know when it's starting a cleaning cycle: "The Rydis H67 Pro will start mop cleaning." This feature is useful, but only if you're in the room to hear it.

The robot also had a very difficult time returning to its dock to charge. That was true whether I pressed the charging button myself or if it had a low battery and decided to return to the dock on its own. It often took so long to find the dock (10-plus minutes at times) that I regularly gave up and moved it to the charger myself. Frustratingly, it often got within an inch or two of docking, only to stop and turn back toward the cleaning pen. It would also be nice to have a wall barrier to section off of a room for custom cleaning.

To test this robot floor cleaner in vacuum mode, I spread 2.5 ounces (about 70g) of rice, 0.2 ounces (about 6g) of pet hair, and 1.25 ounces (42.5g) of sand on mid-pile carpet, low-pile carpet, and hardwood. In dry mop mode, I scattered 0.5 ounces (almost 15ml) of cornstarch on hardwood, vinyl, and ceramic tile. And in wet mop mode I spread canola oil, marinara, and mud on hardwood, vinyl, and ceramic tile. In the charts below, you'll see comparisons between the H67 Pro and the Neato BotVac 85, the Neato XV Signature Pro, the iRobot Roomba 880, and the iClebo Arte.

This is the only test the H67 Pro successfully completed. It collected 2.27 ounces of rice on mid-pile carpet, 2.3 ounces on low-pile carpet, and 2.38 ounces on hardwood. That's a decent third-place score, beating out both the Neato XV Signature Pro and the iClebo Arte. It did have trouble reaching edges and corners, though, even with its dual side brushes.

The pet hair tests were another story. After roughly 30 seconds of running, the H67 Pro said, "Please check the main brush." I checked the main brush and noticed that hair was tangled around the axle of the brush. I cleaned the brush and started the robot again only to receive the same error message and encounter the same sort of tangle. This happened several times in a row within a short period of time.

Ultimately, the number of error messages and the amount of active time I spent cleaning the brush was much more trouble than it was worth. It would be easier to forget the robot vacuum entirely and clean the hair yourself, whether by hand or with a more traditional upright vacuum. You could argue that 0.2 ounces of pet hair is more than most deal with on a regular basis, but, other robot vacuums -- particularly the Neato BotVac 85 -- managed to handle the same quantity with relative success.

This is also where I tested the shadow feature. I put the H67 Pro in my bedroom and let it travel around underneath my bed. As with the in-office testing, the bot didn't last long against the (probably large quantity) of pet hair that was hiding there. It quickly returned its familiar distress signal, "Please check the main brush."

The sand tests were also quite a challenge. I was able to complete two test runs on low-pile carpet before receiving a "Please check the wheels" error message. After cleaning the wheels and starting again, I got the same error message. I cleaned the wheels again, but the error messages persisted. No other robot vacuum we've tested has had this much trouble completing a basic cleaning cycle. The amount of effort needed to keep this thing running renders it completely useless -- it's supposed to be hands-off, right?

While the pet hair and sand tests were disappointing, I encountered the biggest problems in mop mode. The robot would switch between cleaning the floor and stopping suddenly. Sometimes it would stop only a few seconds after leaving the dock and never recover. Other times, it would clean for a period of time and then pause, as if stunned with its motor still running and side brushes still spinning.

I noticed this on both the vinyl and ceramic tile floors. CNET Associate Editor Ry Crist also observed this while testing the Moneual Rydis H68 Pro and even requested a new unit, only to find that it also had the same problem. I discussed this issue with Moneual and they suggested repeating the tests in threshold mode, which is designed to help the robot traverse small obstacles like door frames. I tried this to no avail. The robot cleaned for a while without issue and then paused suddenly and stayed that way for 15 minutes until I turned it off and returned it to its docking station. If Moneual is able to come up with a fix for this issue, I'll be glad to retest and update this review.

Right now, though, Moneual's $400 Rydis H67 Pro is just too high-maintenance to recommend. If you're looking for a robot vacuum that truly simplifies chore time, take a look at the $400 Neato XV Signature. It doesn't have as many features, but it's a much more predictable performer.