Stick Vac + Robotic Vacuum COMBO – worth the buy?

Modern robotic vacuums can handle about 95% of your daily cleaning needs, but for that other 5% a cordless stick vac is a great tool to have around. But does it make sense to get a combo unit instead of buying a robot and stick vac separately? Let’s find out.

In this unsponsored video I’ll be testing vacuuming performance on carpet and hard floors, then I’ll test battery life on different settings. After that I’ll see if they can avoid tangles when cleaning pet hair and long human hair, I’ll test their auto empty base stations and included accessories, and last, I’ll look at their object avoidance, mapping quality, and apps.

Vacuums and Pricing

The least expensive vacuum we’ll be testing today is the $399 SwitchBot K10+ Pro Combo. The K10+ is SwitchBot’s mini robotic vacuum, and the entire unit has an extremely small footprint with the stick vac able to hang upright from its charger dock and auto empty base even with its brush roller attached.

After that for $449 is the eufy E20 which has a unique design that integrates the handheld unit into the robotic vacuum itself. As a result, the auto empty base is very small, but the accessories will need to be stored somewhere else, like the E20’s wall mount.

Next for $499 is the Yeedi C12 Combo, which combines a more traditional looking base station and a bagless auto empty system, with a dock for the handheld vacuum, a side mount for the brush roller, and a compartment for the rest of the accessories.

Last, the largest and most expensive unit is the $999 Ecovacs T30S Combo, that looks very similar to the C12 but substitutes a more premium robotic vacuum with spinning mopping pads and an automatic mop washing station, while including a similar side mount for the brush roller and pull out drawer for the vacuuming accessories.

Vacuuming Performance – Carpet

Starting with vacuuming performance, I prepared a mixture of 10 grams each of flour, salt, flax seed, and rice to simulate different dust and dirt particles and sprinkled that mixture on my high pile carpet. I weighed each robot’s dust bin before and after the run and in between rounds I vacuumed the area thoroughly with a corded upright. Of the robots in this video, the Ecovacs T30S picked up the most debris, collecting 24 grams or 60% of the mixture, followed by the eufy with 22.7 grams, the Yeedi with 22.2 grams, and the SwitchBot K10+ Pro picked up the least debris at 20 grams or 50% of the total mixture.

Here’s where those rank among other popular vacuums that I’ve tested.

I repeated the tests with the stick vacuums using that same 40-gram flour, salt, flax, and rice mixture, passing over the debris four times total from two different directions. In this test the Ecovacs T30S and SwitchBot handhelds both picked up 34 grams or 85% of the mixture, the Yeedi C12 handheld picked up 32 grams, and the eufy E20 picked up a surprisingly low 26 grams, or 65% of the flour, salt, flax, and rice mixture. As a reference point, I ran the same test with my Dyson DC41 corded upright, which picked up all 40 grams of the mixture plus an additional 4 grams of carpet fluff.

Vacuuming Performance – Hard Floors

Moving on to hard floor performance, I again spread 40 grams of the flour, salt, flax, and rice mixture on my LVP flooring and ran each vacuum on a two pass, maximum suction run. In this test the eufy E20 came out on top with 38 grams or 95% pickup, followed by the Yeedi with 37.5 grams, the Ecovacs with 36.3 grams, and the SwitchBot finished in last again with just 33.8 grams picked up, leaving visible piles of debris at each spot that it turned around.

Here’s how those scores compare to the hard floor performance of some of the other vacuums that I recommend.

Instead of just repeating the same test for the handhelds I wanted to see how well they handled each individual size of debris on hard flooring, starting with 10 grams of flour. All the vacuums except the eufy were able to clean 100% of the flour off of the surface and out of the cracks. Moving up to the larger and more dense flax seed, none of the vacuums had any issues at all. Fifteen grams of rice was mostly not a problem, but I did slow down the footage and watched for any grains getting launched out of the pile and the SwitchBot did the best with just one stray grain, the Ecovacs had two, the Yeedi had four, and the eufy had five stray grains of rice pushed away by its brush roller. Last, in a single pass cleaning of 5 grams of rice Krispies, the best performer by a significant margin was the SwitchBot due to its larger front suction gate, the Ecovacs was in 2^nd, the Yeedi came in 3^rd with a fairly large pile built up in front, and the eufy was solidly in last place and isn’t designed to vacuum larger debris.

Vacuuming Results

Combining all the vacuuming scores, the eufy, Ecovacs, and Yeedi robotic vacuums were all extremely close in performance with the eufy coming out just barely on top, and the SwitchBot was quite a bit worse finishing last for both carpet and hard floor pickup.

In contrast, the SwitchBot stick vac was firmly in first place, followed by the Ecovacs and Yeedi which had very similar performance, and the eufy stick vac was quite a bit worse finishing in last place.

The combo scores were also extremely close with the most expensive Ecovacs T30S coming in first, beating the SwitchBot by one point, the Yeedi C12 was just one point behind that, and the eufy E20 was in last due to its poor stick vacuum performance.

Battery Life

I also tested the battery life of each of the vacuums. Starting with the stick vacs on carpet, I selected the maximum amount of suction that would still smoothly roll on high pile carpet and then vacuumed until the battery completely died. The Yeedi died first at 14 minutes and 41 seconds, the SwitchBot died after 14 minutes and 43 seconds, the Ecovacs automatically lowered its maximum suction at 7, 9, 11, and 15 minutes before finally stopping at 15 minutes and 50 seconds, and the eufy maintained its medium suction power for 18 minutes and 31 seconds.

I also tested each vacuum on maximum power settings on a hard surface where the Yeedi lasted just 8 minutes and 20 seconds, the eufy died after 12 minutes and 55 seconds, the SwitchBot lasted 15 minutes and 15 seconds, and the Ecovacs stayed on for a total of 18 minutes and 56 seconds but only maintained maximum power for the first 5 minutes.

To judge the battery life of the robots I sent them on a single pass full clean of my entire downstairs on their 2^nd highest suction power. The Yeedi performed by far the best, cleaning for 59 minutes using just 27% of its battery, the Ecovacs cleaned for 63 minutes and used 34% of its battery, the SwitchBot had the longest cleaning time of 68 minutes due to its smaller size, but still only used 44% of its battery, and the eufy cleaned for 59 minutes just like the Yeedi, but used 61% of its battery, meaning it’s overall cleaning range would be less than half of the Yeedi.

Hair Pickup and Tangle Avoidance

I also tested their hair pickup and anti-tangle performance by shredding a cotton ball to simulate pet fluff and placing 30 individual strands of 16” synthetic hair on my high pile carpet and then sending each robot on a one pass maximum suction run. Afterwards I collected all the remaining hair and fluff and examined the vacuum for tangles.

On the left side you can see the hair that remained on the carpet after the cleaning, and on the right is the hair that was wrapped and tangled on the main and side brushes of the vacuum. You can see that the top performer was the Yeedi that cleaned for 15 minutes and left just three small pieces of fluff on the carpet, and it had just a few pieces of hair wrapped around the main brush and a couple more on the side brush. The Ecovacs also did alright, but unfortunately its object detection system caused it to skip over some of the fluff on the carpet, however the brush roller itself was fairly clean due to the detangling teeth inside the brush roller housing. The SwitchBot did a decent job cleaning fluff and hair off of the carpet, but basically none of it made it into the dustbin, and instead it was all wrapped around the inside of the brush roller. The eufy left the most fluff and hair on the carpet, and also had a decent amount wrapped around its brush.

I did the same tests on the handheld vacuums and the Yeedi, which confidently says “tangle free” right on the brush roller, did not disappoint and left zero hair or fluff on the carpet and had zero tangles on the brush roller, exactly as advertised. The SwitchBot and Ecovacs picked up all the hair and fluff on the carpet, but quite a bit of it was stuck on the brush roller afterwards, and eufy not only left hair on the carpet, but the brush roller was an absolute mess after this test with both cotton fluff and hair tangled around the beater bar.

So, for hair pickup and tangle avoidance the Yeedi C12 Combo was the best by far for both robotic vacuum and handheld performance, followed by the Ecovacs, then the SwitchBot, and the eufy was last.

Auto Empty Systems

After each of my tests I also used the auto empty function of the base stations, which I think is the biggest selling point of these combo units, and for the most part they work great. I visually inspected the dust compartments after every auto empty and all of them cleared the bin every time and also unclogged their filters of any fine dust and debris.

The Ecovacs, SwitchBot, and Yeedi automatically trigger an auto empty for their handhelds anytime they run for more than 30 seconds, which always works perfectly, but the eufy is a little more complicated since it needs to spin around to collect dust. As a result, the eufy will always auto empty after a robotic cleaning, but if you want to auto empty the handheld you need to first reattach it to the robot, then wait for the robot to power on completely, then press and hold the home button for 2 seconds, which triggers the process and the robot will take care of the rest, spinning around, docking, and emptying the bin. This process ultimately works, but it’s much less convenient than the other three systems.

Stick Vac and Attachments

On the subject of convenience, the SwitchBot K10+ Combo is the only one of these vacuums that docks with the handheld unit fully assembled, which is a huge plus for me since 90% of the time I want to use the extension and standard beater bar. But the downside is that there’s no designated place to store the vacuuming head when you’re using one of the other attachments.

Speaking of attachments, the Yeedi and eufy both come with a crevice tool and combination dust brush, while the Ecovacs and SwitchBot come with a motorized upholstery brush tool in addition to the standard crevice tool and combination brush. The Ecovacs has a drawer to store accessories, the Yeedi has a storage area with a door, the eufy has a wall mount, and the SwitchBot has a tray that sits on top of the base, but someone on their design team really missed the mark not making the corner radius the same on the base and accessory holder.

As for the main beater bar and general comfort of the handheld units, the SwitchBot is by far the most comfortable to use with a very well balanced stick handle and great turning radius. The Ecovacs and Yeedi feel very similar to each other with good build quality and decent balance, but I personally prefer a stick handle to a pistol grip for maneuverability. I’m guessing eufy needed to make some ergonomic compromises to fit the suction unit onto the robot, and it definitely feels the least comfortable and most unbalanced to me. Another slightly irritating thing is that you need to press and hold the on button for 2 seconds to get it to power on, rather than just a short press like the other vacuums.

The other area where the SwitchBot shines is the green LEDs on the front of the unit, which are more concentrated and better aimed than the blue LEDS on the front of the Ecovacs and Yeedi, and as a result I found it much easier to find dust and debris on the ground with the SwitchBot handheld than with any of the others. Unfortunately, eufy really missed the mark on this as well with no lights at all on the front of the standard vacuum attachment.

The Yeedi handheld also has a mopping base that sticks to the main brush roller with a magnet, but I don’t really understand why you would ever choose to use the mop attachment over just a paper towel to clean up a wet mess, especially since the handheld unit has a sticker on it specifically warning against using it with wet messes.

Mopping Performance

Also, on the subject of mopping, the Ecovacs T30S robotic vacuum has the same mopping system found on a lot of flagship robots with dual spinning pads that can extend from the back to reach into corners, and a self-cleaning station, while the SwitchBot K10+ Pro has a sort of wet wipe mopping system, that to be honest I don’t think is worth using. 

I tested both units using my standard 10 mL of Florida mud on hard flooring test, and both performed about as expected with the spinning mopping pads doing a good job visually cleaning the spot but leaving quite a bit of residue as shown on the paper towel test, and the SwitchBot’s wet wipe system was able to visually reduce the mud stains, but it also left clumps of mud at the corners of the kitchen. You can see that the paper towel test also had a few clumps on it because the small wet wipe quickly became saturated with dirt. For comparison’s sake I also ran my flagship 3i S10 Ultra with that same batch of mud to show what a current flagship vacuum with a roller style mop can do on this test, and the paper towel test speaks for itself.

Object Avoidance

In addition to better mopping performance, the other thing that you get when you spend more money on a robotic vacuum is better object avoidance. To test that I set out a pair of shoes, an extension cord, a sleeping dog, and a pile of rubber dog poop and sent each vacuum on a one pass cleaning.

As expected, the best performance came from the Ecovacs, which has their structured light TrueDetect 3D 3.0 system, but it definitely wasn’t perfect. Overall, it got way too close to every object and nudged the shoes and dog poop and ran directly over the extension cord, almost getting stuck. However, there is an option in the app to be more conservative with obstacle avoidance, which you’ll need to decide whether to turn on, because remember the T30S avoided some of the pet fluff in the earlier test due to its obstacle avoidance system.

The eufy also did surprisingly well for a robot without a camera, and its front facing triple line lasers were able to detect and mostly avoid the dog poop, though it did still brush up against it enough that it would have been problematic, and like the Ecovacs it did end up touching every object, but it didn’t get stuck.

The SwitchBot avoided the dog and the shoes, but ran directly over the wire and dog poop multiple times, which certainly would have resulted in a poo-pocalypse, but it never got completely stuck and still did a much better job than the Yeedi which not only ran over the poop and cord, but it also violently tried to free itself from the cord tangle and managed to pull my daughters desk chair across the room, which was an impressive feat of strength, but I can only imagine the disaster it would have cause if that cord was attached to a lamp, or something on top of a table. 

Apps and Smart Home

Last, talking about apps, I think in 2025 we’ve pretty much got this figured out and all the apps have the ability to create no go zones, combine and divide rooms, place carpet and other flooring types, and create schedules. The Ecovacs, eufy, and SwitchBot apps support Google Home and Amazon Echo commands, but only the Ecovacs supports specific room cleaning and only through Google Home, while SwitchBot is committed to supporting Matter on their devices, but there’s not a whole lot you can do with Matter on a robotic vacuum yet other than start and stop a full cleaning. But as the Matter standard matures it will be a welcome change to finally have a robotic vacuum that doesn’t require a cloud connection.

Conclusions

So, taking everything into account, are any of these combo units worth getting over just buying a separate robotic vacuum and stick vac? I think the answer is yes, and the killer feature on these things is their auto empty systems that keep the smaller handheld bins empty and filters clean, and if you want that feature on your stick vac even an entry level model like the Shark clean and empty will run you around $299.

So, for $100 more, at $399, the SwitchBot K10+ Pro Combo gets you a high performing, comfortable, and easy to use stick vac, plus the mini K10+ robotic vacuum. In all honesty, performance-wise, it is a below average robotic vacuum, but it’s still better than any other vacuum you could get for $100, and it does have the unique advantage of being able to fit into tight spaces like under stools, chairs, and around toilets. Personally, I really like the compact, upright setup of the base station that easily tucks into a corner and stores the stick vac with the main brush attached.

At $499 the Yeedi C12 Combo also has a high performing stick vac with extremely good hair tangle resistance, and an auto empty robot with performance similar to the budget friendly $250 Dreame D10 Plus, but again with better hair tangle resistance. The C12 Combo is also a bagless system which I know is a huge upside for some people even though I personally prefer bags for their ease of use. At $499 I think the C12 Combo is fairly priced and a decent deal, but at its occasional $450 lightning deal price, its value is undeniable. If the price hits $399, it would be an amazing value and a no brainer recommendation.

The Ecovacs T30S Combo is $999, and for that you get a higher end vacuum with mop lifting and extension and a mop washing base station, but with Dreame selling the similarly performing L10S Ultra for $299, you could buy that instead and still have $450 left in the budget for a higher end stick vacuum like the Tineco Pure One, or the Dreame Z10 if you bought them separately. So, while the T30S Combo performed well, I don’t think it makes sense from a value perspective unless having a combo unit is really important to you.

Lastly, in my opinion the eufy E20 is not priced correctly. Using the same suction motor and electronics for both the handheld unit and robot vacuum seems like it should result in a less expensive overall product, especially given the compromises in stick vacuum performance, but the E20 is more expensive than the SwitchBot, and just $50 less than the Yeedi with a lot less performance. So, unless there is a significant price drop, I think the Yeedi and SwitchBot are much better options.

As always there are no sponsored reviews on this channel, but I do have links below for all the vacuums in this video and as always, I appreciate it when you use those links since as an Amazon Affiliate I do earn a small commission on the sale at no cost to you.

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