Roomba Alternative 2021: MOOSOO Robot Vacuum Product Review

For those of you who have followed us for some time, you know that I like to read the reviews of products I review. I usually just read the majority of them that are on Amazon.  I like to learn what other people have said about the product or perhaps address things I might have missed. Vacuums, for example, can be pretty subjective in what type of floor covering you have, if you have small children and what you need for them to pick up – if you have short haired or long haired cats or dogs, etc. The list of differences could go on and on, so I like to be clear when I am reviewing a product what I reviewed it for.

We tend to review a product for 4-6 weeks – and you may have noticed that our unboxing was posted on Dec 27, but our review is much later. That’s because the first MT-720 Moosoo robot vacuum we received started having a really squeaky wheel. I reached out to the manufacturer – because one of the things was that it was supposed to be quiet. After confirming that it wasn’t something stuck in the wheel, they decided that there was a problem and they would send us a new one.

Whenever I am sent another one, I always re-start the review process because the idea is to review it completely for 4-6 weeks.

So I decided to keep the second one at my house – on my second floor where there is low pile carpet, higher pile Berber hardwoods and tile. I wanted to be able to keep a closer eye on it.

Roomba alternative for pet hair

As a Roomba alternative for pet hair, the MT-720 has a number of features that can make it easier to keep on top of all the furry gifts your pet has left on your floors.
It’s got 1800Pa powerful suction, which combined with the brushes and rollers is strong enough to pick up embedded pet hair from carpet and rugs, as well as any crumbs or debris. It uses sensors to detect the flooring type too, only running at max power when it needs to over carpeted areas.

It has a 2500mAh battery, which should give the vacuum enough power to run for up to two hours, more than enough time to cover the average household, and when the battery runs low it’ll automatically return to the charging base.

The MT-720 is a thin model, so can get into tighter spots where your cats might have shed without you realizing, and as it’s also really quiet it’s less likely to spook your cats while it gets to work.

With 6 cleaning modes, you can set up the vacuum to work as you need it. Use Auto Clean to keep on top of pet hair on a regular basis across all your floors, or spot cleaning if there’s a particular area that you know needs more attention. Manual cleaning can also be used when you see pet hair that’s been missed or only recently shed.

And the controls are pretty easy to get to grips with – use the remote that’s included or set it up with the smartphone app. If you’ve got a smart speaker then you can control it with voice commands too – it works with Alexa and Google Assistant.
The final thing to consider when concerned with vacuuming pet hair is the size of the bin. It’s 600ml, and it comes with a HEPA filter which helps to trap more pollutants from the air. Most robot vacuums have a bin between 500ml and 700ml, so this is pretty much average.

Moosoo told me that the MT-720 is comparable to Roomba 675 in features and parameters.

What’s Inside:

1. MOOSOO MT-720 Robot Vacuum Cleaner
2. Charging Base
3. Power Adapter
4. Remote Control – requires 2 AAA batteries that are not included—-
5. Side Brushes x 4- you only need two, so you get 2 replacement ones, which is super nice
6. HEPA filters x 2 – you only need one, so you get an extra one for replacement
7. Clean Brush that sits on the charging base
8. Instruction manual

Set-Up

It was super easy to setup and start running, as you will see in the unboxing.  It even talks and has a lovely British accent.

Steps are:

1. Connect the adapter to the charging station
2. Install the side brushes
3. Like with any vacuuming, you need to make sure power cord or electrical cords, dirty socks, dirty underwear and other things are not on the floor to hinder it’s ability to vacuum properly
4. If you have oriental rugs or another rug that has tassels on it- be sure to fold those under the rug
5. Remote control requires two AAA batteries that do not come with the unit

I prefer for a vacuum to be fully charged before I start running it.  And it is recommended it the owner’s manual that it charge 6 hours before running it for the first time. And the second one I received actually arrived on a day when the weather was 1 or 2 degrees Fahrenheit (-17C) – and sat out on my front porch for some time. However, there was no damage to the battery.

The App – WiFi Connection

The vacuum can be operated via an app on a smart phone.

To download the app and register, you just scan the QR code that comes in the package or search for “SmartLife” and download the app.  Once app is installed, you just follow the app instructions to register your account and login.

To connect the vacuum to the WiFi you need to press the front bumper and top-button at the same time.  If you have at least one smart-device in your home, you probably already have the SmartHome app and it runs on that.

It doesn’t supports 5G WiFi – only a 2.4Gh WiFi network so that you need to change your WiFi setting to 2.4Gh.

You can then connect the device to your Alexa or Google Assistant.

Through the app, you can start the vacuum when you’re not at home – so let’s say you find out that a friend is coming over – you can start the vacuum on your app while you’re out and about and come home to a vacuumed area.

It has app controls – but if you don’t want to download the app, you can just use the remote control that comes with it.

The Remote

For those of us who don’t want to download an app or mess with that, there’s a remote. It does require 2 AAA batteries, which are not included.

With the remote control that comes with it, there are several things you can do:

• Power it on and off
• Return Home – Ask it to return to home to the dock/charging station
• Stop/Start – Pause it and make it run again
• Ask it to go forward, backward, left or right
• Ask it to run against a walls or edges of the room
• Ask it to spot clean
• Ask it to go at “Turbo” speed – the vacuum has 3 speeds:
  • Low – The lower suction mode has lower noise, it’s good for common household cleaning and ideal for tile and wood floors
  • Standard – Used for daily cleaning
  • Max speed – good for cleaning rugs and carpet
• Ask it to go “Full Go” which means that after the first cleaning, robot will return to dock to charge fully and then will continue a second cleaning automatically.

It seems to have a very long run time – longer than I remember our Roomba ever being. The cleaning time is 120 minutes and the charging time is 300 min.

When I did first have it go – I probably hadn’t vacuumed under my beds in a year or more – my cats don’t go under my beds but once or twice a year, so it’s not necessary. Or so I thought.  The little robot vacuum’s brush roll has a ton of cat hair wrapped around it.

And that’s what’s cool – it can go under beds, chairs and couches (if there is enough clearance) and vacuum without you having to lift a finger and move the chair or bed out of the way – hallelujah.

If you want to prevent it going into a specific room or space, you can close a door or purchase their MOOSOO Robot Vacuum Boundary Strip (says it’s for the MT501, but it compatible with all ‘MT’ serial robot vacuums).

How It Performed

Say goodbye to loose dust bunnies and cat hair.

The Moosoo picked up so much hair that I had to peel it off the brush roll – 2x. So not only do I wish it had a self-cleaning brush roll, but also think it’s important to fully vacuum an area before setting this up to run.

Sounds counterintuitive, I am sure – however, if you think about it – and see in our videos, there is a small compartment to gather dust and debris. I think of this as a maintenance product – keeping litter scatter, cat hair, dust and debris out of the carpets and off my floors – not a deep clean. I will always need to pull out my upright for a deep clean.

I think it’s important to think of this vacuum as a maintenance vacuum, but not a heavy duty one – it will help to keep debris, dust and hair off the floor – but nothing will ever take the place of a good hardy upright with a human behind it.

Let’s be clear – the MOOSOO robot vacuum is a budget option – it doesn’t come with all the features of a Roomba – but it can certainly get the job done.  But the quality vs. price ratio is pretty darn great.

At first, I thought the vacuum was disorientated – but turns out that the mapping feature is really great. The first few times I used it, it kept getting caught in my bathroom or would do an area over and over again. But since I was reviewing it, I just kept trying – and well, now it has my second floor mapped out and returns to the docking station without me taking it there.

The MOOSOO does get stuck and lost – so sometimes you have to intervene and help.  When it does get stuck or something gets caught in it, it will call out for help.

You can also just bring the Moosoo to the area in your home that you want cleaned and press the button to have it start cleaning.

The best part? Charlie isn’t terrified of it. Charlie hates my Oreck upright and my Dyson stick vacuum – he runs to the basement and hides behind the furnace. Trigg isn’t as scared of them – is usually a floor away. However, both of them stay in the room, but away from this vacuum – so they aren’t terrified which is nice -and the rooms get vacuumed still.

What’s More

Some reviews on Amazon revealed that their allergies improved because the air quality improved with having everything “swept up” everyday.

Cautions with Robot Vacuums and Pets:

There are thing to consider with pets that are important to consider when it comes to pets, and are reasons why I do not set the vacuum on an automatic cycle.  I always manually press the button for it to run.

• Diarrhea – several years ago there was a viral post on social media about a robotic vacuum that was scheduled to run when the homeowners were away running errands or something.  Unbeknownst to them, their dog had had a diarrhea attack – so the robotic vacuum ended up running and literally spread the diarrhea everywhere through the house
• Cat Food/Water – what is described above could happen with cat food/water – if the robotic vacuum ended up knocking over the food or water bowl
• Cat vomit – again, it could spread it around the house
• Cat Tails – A reader told me that her cat was never scared of their robotic vacuum, so if the cat was laying on the floor – the vacuum would come up and bump into the cat and then go in the opposite direction, as it does when it hits a wall or something.  Well, unfortunately, one time, the vacuum found the cat’s tail and ended up vacuuming it up.  A traumatized cat and a huge medical bill later,  it was a hard lesson learned.  My cats do not let the vacuum to get close enough to them for me to ever have to worry about this – so I just let it run without being in the room.

MOOSOO MT-720 Robot Vacuum Cleaner Unboxing Video

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MnogeVVtac[/embedyt]

Replacement Brushes and Filters

Moosoo said they usually recommend brush replacement every 3 months, but ultimiately it depends on how many hours the vacuum works.  They sell MOOSOO MT-720 replacement brushes and filters on Amazon.

Should you need a replacement battery, you have to contact the company.  Consumers can reach out to our service team at usa@imoosoo.com for a replacement.

Buy the MOOSOO MT-720 Robot Vacuum Cleaner

The MOOSOO MT-720 Robot Vacuum Cleaner is sold on Amazon.

Maintenance/Cleaning of the MOOSOO Robot Vacuum MT-720

[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UY06O8XvJ8g[/embedyt]

You can see in our final review video that there is some weekly maintenance – and maybe some monthly maintenance as well.  This is especially true for long-haired cat owners as the hair can get wrapped around various parts on the underside of the vacuum.  As you can see in our final review video, however, they are super easy to clean and get the hair out, so not too much trouble there.

Warranty

It comes with a 1-year limited warranty.

FAQs

Reader Reviews:

We received the MOOSOO Robotic Vacuum for review from the manufacturer and also asked that they pay a small review fee.  Receiving the free product and the review fee did not influence this honest post.

Check out our other cat product reviews

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Jenny Dean

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Hi, I’m Jenny Dean, creator of Floppycats! Ever since my Aunt got the first Ragdoll cat in our family, I have loved the breed. Inspired by my childhood Ragdoll cat, Rags, I created Floppycats to connect, share and inspire other Ragdoll cat lovers around the world,

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