Review: SwitchBot K10+ Pro Combo – very powerful cordless vacuum with a tiny side-kick included

SwitchBot is once again thinking outside of the box. This time they’ve combined their mini robot vacuum K10+ with a standard cordless vacuum cleaner, this combination is called SwitchBot K10+ Pro Combo. Sounds odd, but actually it’s a billion dollar idea. Robot vacuum can never get all the places cleaned up and user interaction is required, usually in form of cordless vacuum cleaner. I’ve received their combo cleaner for testing and will tell you the best and the worst bits of it on this article.. so keep reading of you would like to know more about this oddball here.

Disclaimer: I’ve receive the tested device for free on reviewing purposes, but as always, the opinions are 100% my own and this does not affect the product review.

Specifications

K10+ Pro:

• Suction power 3000Pa
• Vacuum dimensions 24.8mm (diameter) x 9mm (height)
• Mopping capability (using disposable mopping sheets)
• Lidar navigation, PSD and mapping
• Matter, SmartThings, IFTTT, Google, Siri and Alexa support

Cordless Vacuum:

• Suction power 20000Pa
• Four changeable heads for different cleaning purposes

Auto-empty station:

• Dust bag size 3L
• Common between Cordless vacuum and K10+ Pro Combo

What’s in the box

• Cordless vacuum (incl. battery)
• Robot Vacuum K10+ Pro Combo
• Extra dust 3L bag (one in place already)
• Screw driver + 4 screws (small assembly required)
• Four cordless vacuum heads
• One extra side brush for K10+ Pro Combo (one in place already)
• One extra rear filter for
• User manual
• Warranty card

K10+ Pro Robot Vacuum

I’ve previously gone through with K10+ Pro review and the robot used with the combo product is exactly the same in terms of specifications. However, there are few minor changes: the robot charging pads are in different place, LIDAR cover is a bit different and new K10+ Pro Combo has model name printed out in the back of the device. That means the standard K10+ Pro bought can’t be used with the combo station.

I won’t be going through the features and summary of the K10+ Pro in here as the functionality and performance is exactly the same with the previous version.

As a summary from the previous reviews, the K10+ Pro is small, yet surprisingly powerful robot vacuum that can enter small spaces where larger robots can’t. It has some limitations like climbing taller than 2 cm doorsteps due its small size. As a result, K10+ Pro can’t and should not replace the bigger vacuums with a proper mopping capability, but it can run nicely as a secondary vacuum to get those pesky narrow and small areas automatically. I’m currently running it in aside with the SwitchBot S10+ and absolutely loving it!

The Cordless Vacuum Cleaner

After assembling and first tryout with the cordless vacuum truly blew my mind: it’s very agile and surprisingly powerful (suction power specified 20000Pa). Initially I thought it would not match my older Dyson V8, but how wrong was I! It’s much better, honestly. The agility is somewhat achieved by a tinier dust collection container, but that’s not a an issue at all with the SwitchBot cordless vacuum as it is emptied into the dustbin automatically.

The vacuum also has two replaceable filters: HEPA filter and rear filter. HEPA filter traps 99.97% of microscopic particles, including dust, pollen, mold, and bacteria, to purify the air. Rear filter is a fine filter to trap small particles like dust and allergens. So these two combined, no polluted air is thrown back in the air, which is obviously a good thing.

The cordless vacuum comes with four changeable heads for almost every need:

• The electric mite removal brush: sofas, beds, and carpets
• 2-in-1 crevice brush: door gaps, car seat seams, and soft seams
• 2-in-1 flat head brush: pet mats, lampshades, air conditioner vents, and curtains
• Floor brush: stairs, ultra-narrow spaces under sofas, and beds

Changing the heads is done by clicking a button and changing the head. It’s not too thigh nor too loose, all the heads fits perfectly and changing is fast. All the heads can be used with or without the extension tube. A stand to hold three spare heads is provided within the package.

If I need to dig something negative about the cordless vacuum, I would say that the handle has too little grip and can get a bit slippery from time to time.

Dual dock auto-empty station

The dual dock auto-empty station (FusionBase™) is the most interesting part on this whole system. It empties both of the vacuums, robot and cordless, into the same 3L dust bag. 3L dust bag ‘should‘ last 70 days on standard use, but it really depends of the usage count, house size and so on…

The auto-empty station is advertised to be a smaller than a sheet of A4 paper, well that’s absolutely true, but when docking the K10+ Pro robot on it, the length of required space will almost double. No problem usually, but something to consider before buying the device. You might want to have a nice spot for it instead of the robot sticking out too much. The length of the dual dock station with K10+ Pro Combo docked is 52 cm.

Otherwise the functionality of the station itself is absolutely perfect. Emptying the cordless vacuum is separated in two phases: First the debris from the vacuum is emptied to the station and the after that, all the debris from tubes inside the vacuum are sucked in as well. And of course same goes when emptying the robot vacuum, nothing is left behind what so ever.

The emptying process can get a bit loud for few seconds. The auto-empty can be scheduled not to empty every time though, so it’s no problem to run the K10+ during nights either (K10+ Pro does run very silent as well).

Smart features

When speaking of smart home, we just need to have a deeper look inside the smart features and smart home integrability the device has to offer.

First of all, the smart features are only available for the Robot Vacuum K10+ Pro. There’s nothing for auto-empty station or the cordless vacuum, except maintenance information. I was a bit disappointed when I found that out. But in the end, what kind of smart features would a cordless vacuum need anyways? 🙂

When using the SwitchBot app the K10+ can do a lot: mapping functionality, clean settings, automations, information and schedules. Features are exactly the same as with K10+ and K10+ Pro, so please check the K10+ and K10+ Pro reviews for those.

K10+ Pro Combo currently supports Matter through a SwitchBot Matter enabled hub (Hub 2 or Hub 2 Matter Mini), but only with latest V2.2-3.3 firmware. It’s currently in beta phase and might need a message to SwitchBot so they can push it to your hub. Using Matter through Hub provides only on/off (start/stop cleaning) functionality for 3rd smart home party platform at the moment.

However, I got a confirmation from SwitchBot that K10+ Pro Combo will support Matter as stand-alone once Apple Home opens up support for robot vacuum category. I’m certain there will be more features available for K10+ Pro Combo than just on/off after that.

Even though the matter support is still very limited, the SwitchBot app itself is great with the K10+ Pro Combo. It’s not perfect, but it’s easy to use and every functionality is available just after few taps on the screen. So if you’re comfortable of using their app with the robot vac, it’s no problem. If you want to integrate it to 3rd party platform like Home Assistant, you might want to wait few months for the stand-alone Matter firmware release.

Conclusion

A great device overall. K10+ Pro will do the basic cleaning and rest can be done manually with very powerful cordless vacuum. The SwitchBot app works great with K10+ Pro Combo, but 3rd party smart home support is still a bit dull and hopefully will be improved in the future firmware upgrades.

The retail price of this multi-functional robot vacuum is currently 799€. In my opinion, it’s not too bad for ‘two’ great devices, but you should keep in mind that SwitchBot also often has a good sale prices and discount codes available (psst. there’s a 10% discount code included at the bottom of this article).

Pros

• Cordless vacuum is very powerful and agile
• Robot vacuum can enter small spaces where larger robot vacuums can’t
• Auto-empty station works flawlessly with both devices
• K10+ Pro is very quiet

Cons

• K10+ Pro has difficulties passing over 2 cm tall door steps
• K10+ Pro mopping is useless
• Limited matter support

Even though the K10+ Pro Combo has limitations and there are currently issues with matter, I’m still ranking this as (near) perfect product due it’s ability to fulfil the cleaning of previously non-achievable areas and very powerful cordless vacuum.

Smart Home Score: 5/5

If you are currently looking for a new cordless vacuum or running standard K10+ (non-pro), definitely consider upgrading into this combo. It does not either matter if you are an owner of the bigger SwitchBot S10+, this will be a perfect sidekick for it as well!