Moprobo OneGo Turbo review: Pizza, anyone?

Price When Reviewed

Not available yet (Kickstarter, slated to ship in September)

Wet-and-dry vacuums promise an efficient way to clean your floors by tackling two chores at once. In practice, though, they come with plenty of compromises.

While great for hard surfaces, wet-and-dry cleaners often don’t perform as well on carpets compared to traditional vacuums. They typically operate at a higher noise level than regular vacuums due to the powerful motors needed to handle both wet and dry debris. And they require regular thorough maintenance to prevent mildew and odor buildup.

Startup Moprobo says its Moprobo OneGo, an innovative vacuum-less cleaner whose Kickstarter campaign launched in early June, remedies these problems. It provided us with a prototype of its OneGo Turbo, which is slated to be its top-of-the line model.

Design

The Turbo weighs 9.92 pounds and comes in a blackand silver finish. It includes a 1.1-liter clean water tank on the rear of its body and a 0.5-liter dirty water tank that slots into the back of the floor head.

Rather than a conventional brush roller, the OneGo uses a large cleaning cloth that looks like a swatch of AstroTurf to sweep debris and apply water to the floor. A separate “magic wand” that uses the same material wrapped around a much slimmer roller is set above the cleaning cloth to capture pet hair.

The OneGo’s drying and charging dock, two extra cloths, and a box of spare magic wands were also included with my review unit.

Moprobo

Moprobo

Moprobo

Setup

The OneGo requires little assembly. You just have to insert the handle into the body, then set it on its charging dock. It took just over two hours to fully charge in my tests, good for about 70 minutes of runtime. A small LED on the handle displays the current battery level.

While the OneGo is charging, you can fill the clean tank with tap water. A tutorial video Moprobo supplied in lieu of a user manual also instructs you to add some Moprobo cleaning solution, but none was included with my unit.

Operation

The OneGo starts cleaning as soon as you recline the handle, and you can long-press the trigger under the handle to boost power when necessary. At its highest power, the cleaner has a noise level of about 65 dB, comparable to many robot vacuums.

Michael Ansaldo/IDG

Michael Ansaldo/IDG

Michael Ansaldo/IDG

As the cleaning cloth rolls over the floor, it sweeps debris into the dirty water tank at the back of the floor head.

Moprobo says the OneGo can swallow anything from dust to whole slices of pizza, and my testing more or less bore out those promises. It easily passed our rice test, grabbing every grain of the quarter-cup I spilled in its path. It also removed leaves, scraps of papers, and even half a slice of bread.

If you want to make “eating” big chunks of stuff even more amusing, you can squeeze the trigger three times in succession to activate its game mode. A Pac Man-like orb appears on the display and hungrily swallows a little yellow ball each time you sweep up a large object.

The cleaner’s mopping performance was solid as well. It lifted a smudge of jelly and some smears of pizza with little effort. It didn’t provide enough scrubbing power to remove some shoe scuffs, but for most other household messes it was up to the task.

The OneGo moves easily thanks to its light weight and its powerful roller, which propels it forward as you push. Additionally, its handle reclines flat to make it easier to get under couches and beds. However, its bulky floor head made it difficult to maneuver around my kitchen table set and impossible to get into cabinet toe spaces.

Michael Ansaldo/IDG

Michael Ansaldo/IDG

Michael Ansaldo/IDG

Cleaning and maintenance

The dirty water tank needs to be emptied and rinsed after each cleaning job. A removable plastic insert is included in the tank to separate solid debris from liquid. That allowed me to dispose of the solid waste in the garbage and the dirty water down the sink drain. After a quick rinse of both pieces, I reassembled them and inserted the tank back into the OneGo.

You’ll probably also want to inspect and possibly replace the magic wand after each cleaning. The fabric sleeve slips off its roller easily and can be disposed of and replaced in a minute or so.

When you return the OneGo to its dock, you press the trigger to start the self-cleaning cycle. This includes a two-and-a-half minute washing of the cleaning cloth, followed by about a 40-minute drying cycle. At the end of these, the fabric looked as clean as it had when I pulled it out of the box.

The OneGo and its charging base will need additional maintenance over time to keep it clean and functional. On that score, I found it easier to disassemble and reassemble its parts for a good rinse than most other wet-and-dry vacuums I’ve used.

Moprobo

Moprobo

Moprobo

Specifications

• Dimensions: 8.62 x 11.5 x 44.31 (DxWxH)
• Weight: 9.92 pounds
• Maximum speed: 600 rpm
• Maximum run time: 50 minutes
• Maximum run area: 3,600 square feet
• Charging time: 2.5 hours
• Water tank capacity: 1.1l
• Dirty water tank capacity: 0.5l
• Self-propelled: Yes
• Self-cleaning time: 2 minutes
• Noise level: 65 dB

Should you buy the Moprobo OneGo Turbo?

I admit I had my doubts about this unconventional cleaner until I saw it in action. The Moprobo One Go Turbo’s cleaning ability is impressive, and its user-friendly design should ensure that maintaining it isn’t an additional chore.

There are improvements to be made, though. A smaller floor head would make it easier to get around table and chair legs and under cabinets. More scrubbing power is needed to tackle deeper grime and stains. A companion app would be helpful for tracking cleaning data and customizing water flow.

As it stands, though, the OneGo Turbo is certainly compelling, and we look forward to checking out the final shipping version.