On opening the box, I was filled with a slight sense of joy. Some assembly is usually required with these things, but the X10 Pro Omni came already assembled. You just need to remove all of the plastic packaging, clip a ramp onto the base unit, and put the power wire in the back. Up until this point, it was the easiest robo-vac I’ve ever set up. Then it all went south.
As is usually the case, it’s an app that threw a spanner into the works. The app itself isn’t exactly mandatory, but if you want features like mapping, cleaning modes, and remote control, then you need it. Getting into the app is easy. If you have an account with Anker or any of its subsidiaries, then that login just works. Similarly, connecting the vacuum to your network is equally simple. It links with your phone via Bluetooth and gets your WiFi details from there. But then we hit a few snags.
A firmware update is required, as is often the case, but we were unable to apply it as the bot was technically down as emptying its contents into the base unit. This issue was solved by letting it wander a bit and then sending it home. However, the firmware update process repeatedly crashed after this. Eventually, all was well once we unplugged the base station and plugged it in again, but the whole experience was an unfortunate snag right at the start.
