Eufy 11s Max Review

The 11S Max is a refreshingly offline offering from gadget giant, Eufy. Their winning track record of prior robot vacuum hits shows through here, but they may just have stripped out a little too much tech at the end of the day, depending on your preferences.

Cleaning Performance

The 11S Max showed up where it counts the most — getting my floors nice and clean. For a product lacking many of the smart features of others on the market, I found myself quietly impressed.

To start, the 11S Max handled carpet cleaning a bit better than average, picking up 69% of our distributed messof Cheerios, rice, and sand. With its lack of mapping technology and its randomized approach to cleaning, we had a spot in the center of our floor that was completely untouched, as shown by the single Cheerio left behind. However, the carpet ended up noticeably cleaner, with clear clean lines showing where it vacuumed.

Hard surface flooring, in our case, a concrete shop floor, showed improved performance with 90% of the mess cleaned. I saw no struggles at all. Cheerios and rice were swiftly cleaned, and only a few grains were left across the whole testing floor. Sand was also managed well, with just a few very small sections of a light dusting remaining.

For both tests, I did notice that more attention was paid to perimeters than the center of each space. Several passes make all the difference for robot vacuums, and the extra time spent edging made for solid results. The 11S hugged the walls, skirting deftly within a half inch consistently, and allowing the spinning edge brush to do an effective job.

The onboard dust bin is a respectable 0.6L, so even though this budget model doesn't have an auto-emptying dock, you won't need to bend over and empty the bin more than every few runs.

Maintaining your robot butler will be necessary from time to time. Accessing the center roller brush and replacing other components is thankfully easy-peasy, because removing hair knots and the like will need to be done relatively often. And unfortunately, the hair removal isn't as fun. After a month of heavy-duty testing, the spinning brush was visibly deformed and separated. It still spins without struggle, but it absolutely needed to be replaced.

Navigation

This Eufy doesn't have a LiDAR laser-ranging system like many competitors. Instead of building a concise map of each room and sticking to a grid, the cleaning approach is seemingly random, pong-like bouncing off of walls and furniture. It isn't as efficient as other vacuums tested, but all said and done, no obvious trouble spots, except for a few center areas, were ever missed.

Many competitors with LiDAR technology have a pop-top head that houses the spinning laser on other models, making them much taller than the Eufy. At 2.9" tall, this is the shortest vacuum in our tested lineup, meaning this is a great option if your home has low couches. That said, the 11S was fairly aggressive and persistent, pushing against furniture, so mind any teetering vases perched on end tables.

The series of under-chassis sensors it relies on doesn't do a great job of avoiding common objects you may leave lying around. Larger or floppier items like hats and shoes were pushed around instead of rolled over, which can be seen as a win depending on how you look at it. Cords and cables were a mixed bag — they were often run over, but not captured.

Smaller items like socks were unceremoniously plowed over. Worse, our simulated dog poo piles were also paid no heed. This in mind, I can't recommend this product for homes with accident-prone or skittish pets. This is the only vacuum that actively bumped into me without a care in the world. It cleans well, but needs a pre-clean tidy up and adult supervision.

Pet Hair

Hair and fur pickup paints a better, but still a mixed picture. Where the vacuum ran, I was happy to see very effective hair removal, better than many of its peers. This is a tough ask of a self-contained, low-powered vacuum, and the 11S Max did a reasonable job.

As seen in earlier tests, the issue tended to be the randomized cleaning approach, so the hair missed was simply not encountered at all. The other concern I had was that while an incredible 86% of our heavily fur-dosed carpet was picked up, only 60% ended up in the bin. The rest ended up tangled on the roller or spinning brushes.

Both are pretty easily removable, so detangling and cutting the knots away wasn't what I would call a terrible process, but you'll still need to get your hands dirty every few cleanings. That alone should be enough to turn some users away from a product meant to improve convenience.

App Performance

Hate fighting your smart TV? This product is for owners who want a simple, no-hassle experience running and training their robot cleaner.

The 11S Max has no app, a very rare feature (or lack thereof) for this product category. There is no WiFi needed at all, in fact; all operations are controlled entirely through an old school remote.

The feature set is understandably a little limited as a result — no smart or multi-floor mapping, no video monitoring, no virtual barriers. But it does allow for suction level setting, and will even automatically change suction based on flooring type if you like. Schedules can be set, and there's a small screen to keep track of basic things like current settings and cleaning times.

Mopping

The Eufy 11S Max is not mopping capable. Diverse mop head styles, with varying (and often poor) results, are being included by a growing segment of the market, but not on simple models like the 11S.

Noise

On the bright side, the 11S Max is the quietest vacuum we measured in our entire lineup. The pitch is pleasant and somewhat low, compared to others in the lineup, and can almost be considered white noise. There's no mechanical clicks or clangs, no rattly wheels, no strange squeaks.

Unlike other robot vacuums, which talk to you with a dozen or so recorded vocal cues, the 11S only communicates with a series of beeps. It'll beep often, though, when it gets stuck, hits a barrier too hard, or vacuums up something it shouldn't have, which can be annoying. Though this can help you find it if it is in need of a hand.

The dock isn't auto-emptying, so you won't have to listen to this loud exchange. The dock is also small and very lightweight, so you'll want to back it against a wall or tape it down. The vacuum itself does have issues finding the dock at times, too, so be prepared to go on the occasional search and rescue mission.

Should You Buy the Eufy 11S Max?

The 11S is affordable and simple, a perfect entry into the robot vacuum market for someone who doesn't want to spend much time or effort getting things set up or troubleshooting issues. It'll absolutely be a reliable cleaning companion to prolong the time between deep cleans with your manual vacuum, which is a decent value at this price point.

What Other Robot Vacuum Should You Consider?

A few Roborock options on the next price tier up are worth consideration. They scored significantly higher on nearly all metrics, including our Editor's Choice winner, the Roborock Q5 Max+, or the impressive mopper Roborock Q7 Max+.