Gadget Review - Kogan SmarterHome LX10 Robot Vacuum with Mopping Function

Kogan SmarterHome LX10 Robot Vacuum with mopping function First look and review.
** Links **
Kogan SmarterHome LX10 Robot Vacuum on Kogan: bit.ly/3rzCWsS
** Support The Channel **
Buy me a coffee: buymeacoffee.com/HiveMindAuto
** TIMESTAMPS **
0:00 Intro
00:52 Purchase Price
02:00 Taking a look
03:46 App Setup
05:18 Pitfalls
07:46 Summary
10:17 Outtro
** Helpful Links **
Home Assistant: www.home-assistant.io/
Raspberry Pi: www.raspberrypi.org/
Balena Etcher: www.balena.io/etcher/
Home Assistant for iOS: apple.co/34JATce
Home Assistant for Android: bit.ly/30VUsNh
** CREDITS **
Music: www.purple-planet.com

[@teresakenna590]

Great review, thank you.

[@HiveMindAutomation]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching

[@juzsamo9138]

Great review, thanks for the info :-)

[@HiveMindAutomation]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching.

[@robertjaen949]

Thx mate. Thinking of buying one

[@HiveMindAutomation]

Having lived with it for a while now I'd probably recommend a different unit like a RoboRock. The Kogan Cleans just fine, but the App is infuriating. It loses it's map (including any "Restricted Zones") randomly needing to then be re-told where not to go and it will also have to re-map the house which means it runs around like a drunk toddler. Integration outside the Tuya Ecosystem is limited and it also randomly drops off the wi-fi needing to be re-adopted. If none of that completely turns you off, for the price it's still pretty good and it does do a great job of picking up cat fur and other debris.

[@marccourt7363]

Great video.

[@HiveMindAutomation]

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching!

[@its028NVD]

Came here for the vac review. Instantly fangirling over the signed cyberdelia print!

[@HiveMindAutomation]

HAHAHAH. Glad someone finally noticed and got the reference.

[@its028NVD]

@@HiveMindAutomation how long have you had it and where did you get it?

[@HiveMindAutomation]

My better half bought it around this time last year and a couple of signed floppy discs from: www.phantomphreak.com/

[@earljasonaragon2640]

Thank you for this review, planning to get one just a question do you seem to have it worked on google home or Alexa integration?

[@HiveMindAutomation]

Alexa integration can pretty much just start/stop the unit and it doesn't integrate with Home Assistant. Having lived with it for a while now, it's still doing a great job of picking up dust and debris, but We've used the mopping function maybe twice. There's a bunch of REALLY frustrating things about this unit, like it forgetting it's map from time to time, and general un-responsiveness of the app. It's still great for the price though.

[@onoff314]

Hi there, can this thing map two floors? I have a two story house just wondering if you can like move the unit up a floor and the station and it will go and do it's thing?

[@HiveMindAutomation]

It has a bad habit of forgetting it's map if you pick it up and move it, including "Restricted Areas" It'll still clean and re-map, but it does move around like a drunk when it's forgotten it's map.

[@jurgensbrune1070]

Great review, thanks. I’m just wondering whether you can “turn off” the mopping function when it’s going over carpet or what you would recommend to over come this?

[@HiveMindAutomation]

You can't really do that. if the mop pad is installed, it's going to mop. the device DOES seem to so some kind of surface detection but I wouldn't rely on it and instead use some restricted areas.

[@ScozzieMan]

Hi Jurgregen, what you need to do is restrict the area and mark it as no mopping, and that's it!

[@RussellCox]

Nice review. I recently got the LX15, which the only noticeable difference is the water tank is much larger (and the unit is white), and replaces the dust bin entirely (and has its own mini dust-bin inside the water tank module). I'm not sure the mopping is particularly great, but certainly better than my not-mopping :) I was watching this review to see if anyone worked out how to get the app (I use the Kogan one, but looks like a rebadged Kuya) or Google/Alexa integration to work with the defined rooms. It's a bit of a pain to have to drag your exclusion zones off the map, and set the sweep area each time. I'd love to be able to schedule some rooms to be done once a day, and others twice a day... but since you only seem to have one layout available, that's not possible. One other thing, in the Kogan app, is the ability to restore maps (under More and then Record), so you can look through and find the map where you excluded the carpet and set it to do the hard floor next door, and restore the map for mopping, and then restore the map for another room etc. but the restore points aren't rename-able and just have dates, which makes it cumbersome to find the right one, to avoid redrawing the areas manually. It's also a shame about the fluctuating prices. I got the LX15 for AUD309, which is now $399, and one of the reviews claimed it was as low as $288. It's rather annoying, and I wish they'd stop bouncing their prices around.

[@HiveMindAutomation]

Sounds like an interesting unit. I've not tinkered around with it enough to get the Smart Assistant integration playing with rooms. So far we can turn it on and off it seems, which is in line with the poor integration I've come to expect from anything Tuya based. I didn't bother with the Kogan specific App because it's Tuya based, and I see no point.

[@jestermgee]

Mate, I had no idea you could restore a map (including masked areas) or that they auto saved after every run and you my friend have just saved me throwing this thing through the window! This was the biggest issue I found and the manual (or lack of) is useless as too are Kogan who never even advised there was a restore option after a number of different emails to ask about why this mapping is so unreliable even after I asked for someone who actually knows this product. Have to offer my absolute sincere thanks as this really has saved my sanity

[@RussellCox]

@@jestermgee Glad the info was of some use to you, although I don't use the feature myself (mostly because I can't rename them, to find them easily). I just move the restricted zones off to the side if I don't want them blocking a room, and then move them back next time (saves having to redraw them), and then move/add the target zones as needed. It's a real shame the software isn't well designed, or at least have an API so someone else can write something better, that lets you add named configs, so you can either just tap "Downstairs" and off it goes, or set a schedule for whatever config, or even ask Sirooglexa to do the kitchen. Ah well. I'm impressed with the capabilities of the unit.. shame about the app :(

[@ScozzieMan]

@@HiveMindAutomation I just bought the LX15 and its a dam good unit but the same as yourself will never link to Alexa or Google, complained to Kogan about his issue and getting some cash back -)

[@RXT35Y]

Does anyone have issues with there unit not returning to charge station. Mine has been great until this point. Cheers,

[@ScozzieMan]

Hi Stu, how did you manage to get it to turn off and on as i seem to need to have mine turned on all the time? Did you do it through the app or do you just manually turn it off?

[@HiveMindAutomation]

It'll be Powered on all the time to charge the battery, the switch passed through to Home Assistant just starts a cleaning cycle.

[@urg454]

Is it good for Apartment with 95% carpet ? I had Xiomi 1C, which was working great but battery started having some issues and looking for a replacement now. Thanks.

[@HiveMindAutomation]

I don't see why not. works pretty well in our place which is mostly hard flooring ubt we let it into the carpeted rooms and it doesn't struggle with transitions.

[@AnilSharma-ht2lj]

Hi, any idea how we can resolve "Fan Motor Error". It starts and then stops saying it has fan moror error. No help from Kogan website and despite contacting them.

[@HiveMindAutomation]

I'm afraid you're stuck working with the vendor on this as I've not seen this error. We've also since replaced this unit with a different one.

[@gdub3621]

Hey there! Did you ever get home assistant integration working for this bad boy?

[@HiveMindAutomation]

Unfortunately not. The Tuya Integration passes through absolutely nothing to Home Assistant for this unit. Pretty much the only option would be to hack it and to be honest that scares me a lot.

[@gdub3621]

@@HiveMindAutomation thanks, I kinda figured but was worth a shot . I've definitely bought way too many smart components twice, the second time I always make sure it integrates with HA 😅

[@vakilianh37]

How does the moping cloth can be replaced? We should buy it?

[@HiveMindAutomation]

The Mopping cloth is Washable, we bought a kit with I think 3 extra mop cloths in it for a small amount. That said we've replaced the Kogan robot with something else now

[@SamoanKiwi]

I can't even add it in the app. even ap mode not working hit I can see it in the hotspot but it's just not picking up on my wifi😢

[@HiveMindAutomation]

You might need to do a full hard reset on the device. There should be steps in the manual for that.

[@DaisyorPeach]

Does anyone know how to setup rooms in the kogan app? Mine just keeps telling me rooms are not set? But I’m unsure where to set them… I can only do “zones”

[@HiveMindAutomation]

Having not used the Kogan native app I'm afraid I can't say. We never had this issue in the Tuya Smart app, but we've also since replaced this robot with a Deebot

[@DaisyorPeach]

Hi, tried the Tuya app as well after this video & it’s doing the same thing… it won’t set rooms? Just says “no rooms on current map…” but no option to add them 😭

[@tongnguyen4313]

How the water tank wet the cloth. I see no dripping hole

[@HiveMindAutomation]

As far as I can tell it's the 2 blue mesh things under the mopping pad.

[@bolinoy818]

Is it able to connect to Alexa app or Google Assistant?

[@HiveMindAutomation]

You can start an Auto-Clean and have it return to the base station, but that's about it.

[@adso85]

I just bought one and it keeps saying the top censor may be blocked and just turns itself off… help

[@HiveMindAutomation]

Other than making sure the LIDAR tower isn't obstructed, the only thing I can recommend is getting in touch with the seller/manufacturer

[@jovyzcontreras03]

Wondering why the interface of your app is very different than mine? I'm also using Tuya app.

[@HiveMindAutomation]

Strange. Is it the same model Robot?

[@jovyzcontreras03]

@@HiveMindAutomation yes it's the same model. KOGAN LX10.

[@jovyzcontreras03]

@@HiveMindAutomation I thought you created a custom tuya app and customized it.

[@ausnrglover]

how did you set it up with the app, im struggling to set it up with the app

[@HiveMindAutomation]

Make sure you're using the "AP" mode when pairing.

[@ausnrglover]

@@HiveMindAutomation i did and still cant get it to work.

[@HiveMindAutomation]

hmmm... odd. I certainly didn't have any trouble connecting it. You may need to reset the unit: According to the manual available here: assets.kogan.com/files/usermanuals/KAVACRBL10A/KAVACRBL10A.pdf Page 13: Reset Wi-Fi: · Press two buttons simultaneously for 3 seconds. Page 15: Wi-Fi reset If the mobile phone cannot be connected to the machine due to modification of router configuration and password or for other reasons, please press (Home) key and (Power) key simultaneously for 3 seconds till a voice prompt “Wi-Fi has been reset” is given and the indicator light turns purple and flickers slowly.

[@jestermgee]

So I have an LX10 and an LX15 and have not watched your review but here is my own review to hopefully save other people some sanity. So the TLDR is I would not recommend either of these units... or even buying Kogan branded products. First, I have both these because ioniktially I was pleased with the LX10 and we have an enclosed patio area I wanted to keep clean but could not make the LX10 go outside and it does not really like to be shifted or it loosesd its mapping (well more on that later) so I bought the "better" LX15 for inside because the mopping was a bit "better" Both are quite decently well built and do a pretty decent job on hard floors especially, they save getting under beds and cut our cleaning doen from 3 times to just 1 time a week. Mopping is all but useless on both, if you cannot clean yopur floors draging a wet towel round, these are no better Now for the issues: The app is fine but settings such as suction power and if you want "quiet" operation just do not save. It will advise on the app when a schedule starts but never feeds back useful info such as when the thing gets stuck or has an issue and this is very common. The biggest frustration is the mapping! It works really well BUT if the stupid unit gets stuck on a sock or edge of a blanket or anything, 7/10 times you unstick it the unit will state "location fail, rerouting" which basically means that map it has built and all the "do not go zones" you created have just gone "poof" and the retard will now start the house all over again. 3 days it took to complete one run of a 4 bedroom house because it would get stuck somewhere and have to start over... then because the do not go zones reset and I was not following it round like watching a baby, it fell in the shower and sucked up all the water. Honestly, these are more frustration than they are worth and they cannot be trusted to clean a full average house without spending an hour every time chjecking to make sure there aren't socks, cables, blankets, curtains, dog eared rugs, hats, shoe laces, charging cables... you name it and it gets stuck on it. I've gone back to using an old barrel vacuum which just never has an issue and Kogan support is basically all but useless with the only skill they have to assist is "send a photo of the issue" or "sounds like the unit is faulty, send back for testing..." I conclude Kogan branded products are nothing but cheap chinese garbage dressed up in a fancy outfit... dont even get me started on the lousy performance of their smart TVs. Save your money.

[@HiveMindAutomation]

Agree with the frustrations here. I absolutely despise the app and how it loses its mapping if you trip over it I might need to do a "Follow up" review after living with it for a while

[@jestermgee]

@@HiveMindAutomation Ha, cheers. I ended up watching your review and seems you have the exact same problems as I do with both my units with the mapping and when it gets stuck. I can agree with you on the points it does actually do a good job vacuuming and for the money is pretty feature packed and well built but with just a few simple features it would make it so much better. Ability to easily save "profiles" for different cleaning tasks, quiet mode etc. Ability for the unit to push a message to the app when it has an issue NOT to loose progress if it gets stuck if you find it hours later... I find if it gets stuck and you leave it too long it "starts cleaning" again instead of continuing I did just find another user who said if you go to the app settings (more...) then Records each time it completes cleaning it saves the mapping and masked areas so you can click any of these to restore it again. This was not something I knew and addresses some of the frustrations I have. No one at Kogan could tell me this but maybe my fault for not probing into the app far enough.

[@kasualkylie3039]

This has been helpful.

[@rozee100]

I’ve got this, but when mopping the brushes broke.. are you supposed to leave the brushes on when it mops??

[@HiveMindAutomation]

I'm honestly not sure. They are removable so it wouldn't hurt you to take them off. We also bought the "Accessory Kit" for it that had replacement tri-arm brushes and even a replacement main brush. IIRC the accessory kit was about $50.

[@RXT35Y]

Has anyone has issue with the unit not returning to charging station. Mine has been great until this point. Cheers, 11:35

[@HiveMindAutomation]

I've not had any issues with it not returning to the base station, however, roughly once a month it falls off the wifi and needs to be re-paired. Sometimes this involves forgetting it's map and then it roams around the house like a drunken toddler trying to re-map everything.

[@RXT35Y]

Yeah unfortunately tried that but it has t forgot it’s map. I actually trying to get it to do the map all over again. I press reset on it and it still remembers hahaha

[@GamingWithEscape]

Crazy. I’m doing the same and mine won’t connect to the app 🙄

[@HiveMindAutomation]

Did you change the joining mode in the top right corner from "EZ Mode" to "AP Mode"?

[@GamingWithEscape]

@@HiveMindAutomation sure did. The lx10 says it connects to wifi but lights stay purple and the app says it’s fails. Very odd as I haven’t had a issue with any of my kogan stuff

[@nirgunkaur3161]

@@GamingWithEscape hey I’m having the same problem - did you resolve this??

[@eboniemartin5976]

I’m having the same issue, lights flash 10 times then disconnects

[@ChannelHTS]

hi how do i reset miine i can't connect

[@HiveMindAutomation]

According to the manual available here: assets.kogan.com/files/usermanuals/KAVACRBL10A/KAVACRBL10A.pdf Page 13: Reset Wi-Fi: · Press two buttons simultaneously for 3 seconds. Page 15: Wi-Fi reset If the mobile phone cannot be connected to the machine due to modification of router configuration and password or for other reasons, please press (Home) key and (Power) key simultaneously for 3 seconds till a voice prompt “Wi-Fi has been reset” is given and the indicator light turns purple and flickers slowly.

[@ChannelHTS]

@@HiveMindAutomation thank you so much i'll try it tomoz :)

[@sherlockohms9736]

@@ChannelHTS how’d you go? I can’t connect mine at all

[@ChannelHTS]

@@sherlockohms9736 never got it to connect it's become a doorstop :(

[@ChannelHTS]

@@sherlockohms9736 didn't work for me

[@jesledlighting6606]

Hello, do you have any email address I can reach you for business enquiries?

[@HiveMindAutomation]

Hello, You can find "Hive Mind Automation" on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Reach out to me there.

[@Drunkllamav2]

The map forgetting is a massive pain in the ass. Personally I've found it can/will forget areas if you start a clean via the app while it is still loading the areas. Also if it ever gets lost/stuck and you leave it for too long (Like it's cleaning while you're not home) it is prone to forget as well. I do really like the Vacuum, the loss of mapping/the app in general just really annoys me.

[@HiveMindAutomation]

Agreed. We've yet to trust it to clean when we're out of the house - not that that happens much anymore - but also if your base station moves even a tiny bit, it'll forget the map. It still does a decent job though and the amount of dust it picks up is surprising.

[@Drunkllamav2]

@@HiveMindAutomation that's the thing isn't it, for the price it does a very good job of cleaning and picking up dust and dog hair, it even is the only nop we've used in our house as we have laminate floorboards that can't get too wet. It's just very disappointing about the software/firmware (or a combination of both) that really, really let's this down. It wouldn't be so bad if you could export and import a map so that way if it does fail you have a backup.