The Ultenic D5S Pro is a lower-cost robot vacuum and mop with excellent vacuuming power. To keep costs down, it does not have LiDAR, IR, or camera navigation, limiting its use in some homes.

Being a reviewer spoiled by the best 3D LiDAR mapping and lots of App smarts, it is normal for me to expect a little more than a basic robovac. But it is what it is – a good robot vacuum and maintenance mop, and for the price, you don’t ask too many questions.

To segue. My sister-in-law has an Aldi special (a Dumbot) that did not cost much. It sits in the corner of a large open plan, hardwood floored space, and it trundles out and removes pet hair and detritus every day – she is wrapt. When I questioned why she did not buy an intelligent one at a higher price, she responded that it does all she needs.

So the nicest thing I can say about the Ultenic D5S Pro is that it does everything a typical, lower-cost robovac can do – only better.

Having just reviewed its smart brother Ultenic T10 hybrid robot vacuum and mop that auto empties (review), it meets our expectations of good Ultenic build quality.

It is a typical round robot with dual side-whiskers and a 16cm rotation brush. It has a 400ml vacuum dustbin, a 300/200ml combo mop/vac dustbin, and a flat microfibre mop plate.

The Ultenic website is over-enthusiastic about its features

The website paints a picture of a low cost, powerful, 4-in-one robot vacuum. It does not tell mistruths so much as ‘omit’ what we consider are vital facts. Someone looking for a bargain may not be happy if it does not meet their expectations of a typical SLAM LiDAR robovac/mop. You will also find inconsistencies between the Ultenic site and the Robot My Life site (pre-release info).

That is not to say it does a lousy job – it is a powerful but unintelligent robovac.  

This does not have LiDAR (2D or 3D), IR, or a camera, so it does not generate a map so much as use a mix of Wi-Fi, its relationship to the base station, internal logic and bumper system to get around.

It does not create a map with user-definable rooms or no-go zones. It starts off each time by cleaning the edges of the room closest to the base station, then zigzags to clean the interior before moving on to the next room. We found it was relatively efficient over four weeks of testing, apparently cleaning all the areas. But it also went over a lot of ground two to three times. It took nearly twice long to cover the same area as its smart brother, the U10.

No map means you can’t tell it to clean specific rooms, and the lack of no-go zones requires the use of magnetic strips to cordon them off.

The only downside for all unintelligent robovacs is that they can get ‘lost’ if Wi-Fi signals are weak. It tends to wander around until it picks the base signal up making it home 75% of the time (and we have strong Wi-Fi).

This requires a full house preparation because it bumps its way around walls and larger obstacles as it does not have electronic avoidance systems. See Five tips for choosing a robovac/mop for house prep.

Place the D5S Pro where you want to clean and select spot clean. It will clean a 1m spiral area. Or select room clean (make sure you shut the door) and select room clean.

We use 100g of test detritus ranging from sand to rice bubbles. It has a 2500Pa ‘max’ setting.

Its standard mode is around 1100Pa, and eco is about 700Pa. It claims an automatic ultra-carpet-boost for longer pile, but we did not see this in action. You can manually set the suction level in the App.

On the whole, it did a good job picking up more than many more expensive robovacs – probably due to the dual side whiskers.

As part of the test, we immediately ran the Dyson V15 Detect stick vac over the same area. It does edges, and we could see that it picked up the fine dust that the Ultenic did not.

This is for combo mop and vacuum. The water tank holds 300ml, and water flow is via a pressurised pump and three pin-hole outlets.

We estimate the dustbin capacity at 200ml, and after 50m2, it was pretty full returning to the station.

Water volumes are low, medium (default), and high. Low was too low, and medium left a fine film of water on the hard floors that dried in minutes.

There is no waterproof plate under the base station, so you must remember to remove the mopping attachment before charging or storing it.

A typical microfibre cloth mop uses a Y-cleaning pattern over the floor. It has no scrubbing action and limited downwards pressure. We use dried coffee and milk stains for the test, and it will not remove them. It is a ‘maintenance’ mop.

And like all similar robomops, you have to manually place it in hard floor areas (like bathrooms) off carpeted areas to prevent carpet mopping.

The App keeps track of use, and the parts are readily available from Robot-My-Life. No prices yet but they should be reasonable.

Ultenic claims up to 120 minutes of cleaning or mopping, but that is on its lowest Eco power mode. Still, on standard mode, we regularly achieved 70 minutes and about 50m2 before going home. We did a test run at Max 2500pa, and the battery ran down in 47 minutes. Recharge using the 15V/.6A/9W charger is average – about 4-5 hours.

It will endeavour to move/bump around obstacles, which is OK for larger items. It can get caught on smaller things like Lego bricks, and it needs a thorough house prep.

At 7.3cm heigh, it easily gets into places under furniture and cupboard overhangs.

Sill height negotiation is 15mm (most are 20mm), and it got stuck on a few higher sills.

About 55db in Eco, 60 in standard and 65 in Max.

It is the same App as the Ultenic T10, but its features match its capabilities. You can

It mimics the App controls for Auto, Timer, cleaning pattern etc. It has a small LCD screen to show the mode.

My first reaction was, where is the map? Then I realised that LiDAR mapping and SLAM are missing in action – just like the robovacs of the past. That is a cost compromise.

Now it is unnecessary to have all the bells and whistles when you shop on price. To its credit, it does an excellent job vacuuming hard floors, and it is above-average on carpet.

Me, I would buy its bigger brother, the Ultentic U10, as it has it all, but it is $650 – a big jump.

We recommend it for hard floors with few obstacles and sills.

If you want a simple ‘bump’ navigation robot for a lower cost, this passes all tests. Add to that the money-back guarantee, support from Robot My Life and good vacuum power and it gets a few extra points.

But to be clear, we are rating this as a non-intelligent robovac/mop.

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