Tumbleweeds of pet hair, dust, dirt and kiddie debris are an ever-present feature in my busy household.
With a family that includes a fluffy golden retriever dog and two young boys, I’ve always known a robotic vacuum would be a useful cleaning upkeep device for our light timber veneer floors.
A few years ago, my husband bit the bullet and invested several hundred dollars in a fancy robo vac. And it was every bit as glorious as I’d hoped it would be.
Unfortunately, the burning desire to use the robo vac as a toy proved irresistible to my then very young children – and one too many ‘games’ of ‘trying to catch and step on the robo vac’ resulted in its demise. RIP.
With the original robo vac out of warranty and not worth the cost of repair, I’ve since been making do the old fashioned way with a dustpan and broom.
That is, until now.
Although I was already a rusted-on fan of robotic vacuums, the expensive initial outlay cost had made me fearful of repurchasing.
But when I heard that Kmart had come through with an own-brand Anko version of the appliance, it was time to jump back on the robotic vacuum bandwagon.
Kmart’s Anko Robotic Vacuum retails for just $169 – and videos reviewing and unboxing it have already gone viral on TikTok.
Excited shoppers have taken to TikTok to share their excitement over the arrival of Kmart Australia’s Anko Robotic Vacuum, which retails at the entry-level price of $169
It’s no surprise then then that the website product listing confirms it has ‘sold out online’ – and when I try to search for it at my local Sydney Kmart stores, it’s listed as either ‘Out of stock’ or ‘Low stock’.
Online reviewers who have managed to get their hands on it have heralded it as a great value entry-level robotic vacuum that works well on smooth surfaces like hard floors and light messes, and is ideal for small households.
The product also boasts that it can operate for 90-minutes on a full charge and has a ‘simple bin and filter system’.
This device is around half the price of my first robotic vacuum cleaner – and I’ll admit, the drastic price difference had me approaching this product trial with some skepticism.
Spoiler alert: it lived up to all my expectations and even surprised me with a few additional features. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
Upon opening the product box, my initial thoughts were that it looked almost identical in appearance to my original more expensive robotic vacuum. Even the button noises sounded the same!
In addition to the device itself, you’re also supplied with a charging dock and cord, a remote (it needs two triple A batteries), a spare filter and four side brushes – two as spares.
You’re also supplied with a mop attachment water tank and a couple of mop pads – but more on that later.
Daily Mail lifestyle reporter Sharon Hunt trialed the Anko Robotic Vacuum on her on the floors of her bustling family home, noting the easy assembly (left) and remote control functionality (right)
The straight forward instruction manual recommended charging the device for a full eight hours before the first use. It was then simply a matter of clicking on the side brushes and the robo vac was ready to get down to some dirty work.
After hitting the power button on the appliance, there are three ways to get the robotic vacuum started: by pressing the ‘start/pause’ button on the device, using the supplied remote or by downloading an app and then pairing the robotic vacuum with the wifi.
I know tech-lovers adore this kind of mobile pairing functionality, but I personally have enough apps in my life already and felt the remote and on-machine buttons were more than sufficient. I’d also be unlikely to operate my robo vac remotely when not at home – but I understand that this is a big selling point for some people.
As I sent my device off on its maiden voyage, I was highly impressed with the way it maneuvered its way around the house with the aid of its bumper sensors and driving wheels. The wheels were actually bigger and sturdier than my previous model, which from my observations helped it get ‘unstuck’ from any unexpected ridges it encountered.
Those in the robotic vacuum know had already expressed concern that the Anko model’s vacuum specs were lower than most other models. Indeed, it has a 1200-2200 Pascals (Pa) adjustable suction power, whereas some online sources suggest 2000-2500 Pa should be the minimum.
Nevertheless, I put it to the test by offering up my dirt and dog hair filled floors – and I can honestly say it happily ate it all up. Hit play on the video at the top of this article to watch it in action.
I was pleased to see that while the vacuum sucked up dirt, dust and hair, it omitted to pick up bigger non-rubbish kiddie items it rolled over on the floor, like pencils.
The sensors also helped it smoothly navigate its way around other various floor-bound items like furniture, backpacks, sneakers and even the dog!
The robotic vacuum offers several different cleaning modes. I personally found the default ‘normal’ mode adequate, but there’s a ‘turbo’ mode that offers higher suction, a ‘spot cleaning’ mode that instructs the device to continuously clean within a small area and a ‘wall following’ mode that sees the robot following the edge of a room. You can toggle between these settings on the remote or the app.
Because our household has high volumes of dog hair and debris, the dust canister filled up quicker for me than it would for most people. After about 40 minutes of whizzing around, it was full. This also meant that the 90 minute battery life is unlikely to ever be an issue for me.
The underside of the device around the suction entry flap and side brushes did get tangled with dog hair, which I easily was able to remove. (Pet-free households probably wouldn’t have this issue.) The dust canister then clicked out easily and could be tipped into the bin, although it was smaller than I’d like and did require a bit of reaching in with your hands to fish out all the debris.
The Kmart Robotic Vacuum cleaner markets itself as a 3-in-1 device, that can ‘sweep, vacuum and mop’ – all at once. The addition of a mop function was an unexpected surprise – and I set about giving that a go.
The water tank attachment needs to be filled with water and if you have it, a robotic-friendly cleaning product. On top of the water tank attachment is a removeable mop pad – they give you a spare too.
All you need to do is lightly wet the pad, and then click the entire attachment piece onto the robotic vacuum.
Then, you simply set the vacuum into motion as you normally would and the sweeping brushes, vacuum and dripping mop all work simultaneously.
Although the mop function is a ‘nice to have’ feature, my floors generally require a bit more elbow grease to clean, whereas this device does more of a light touch mop finish.
Ending your cleaning session can happen in a couple of ways. If the robot is low on battery, it will sound four beeps and then manoeuvre its way back onto the charging dock. (I never get tired of how clever that is!)
Daily Mail lifestyle reporter Sharon Hunt reviewed the cleaning gadget, knowing it was in for a big test against the dog hair of her golden retriever Remy, as well as general household floor debris from having a young family
Otherwise, you can end the cleaning session by pressing the pause or power button – or simply by clicking the ‘home’ button to send the robot off to find the charging dock.
Sometimes the excited proclamations by TikTokers about the next must-have home item can be overblown. But in this instance, I think this affordably priced cleaning appliance lives up to the hype.
This robotic vacuum, like the one I’ve had before, is like that helpful extra pair of hands for doing chores around the house.
When I’m in full house-cleaning-frenzy-mode, I can confidently hit start on the robotic vacuum cleaner with the knowledge that the floors are being taken care of while I simultaneously set about doing other chores like wiping benchtops or cleaning the bathroom. It’s like 2-for-1 cleaning.
In my high-level floor debris household, a robotic vacuum will never realistically be able to pick up 100 per cent of dirt, dust and dog hair off the floor. (Frankly, even my top quality normal vacuum cleaner struggles to do it too!)
But this gadget absolutely gives you a massive leg up on cleaning the floor, reducing the amount of time needed for a final manual clean-up.
The real test though is whether this device can survive the attentions of my curious and playful children. (I can assure you that rules have been much more firmly laid down this time around acceptable ways to interact with the robot!)
But whether this device can survive the unintentional knocks of a bustling young family household remains to be seen. Watch this space!
