The Kitfort KT-577 robot vacuum cleaner refers to modern devices equipped with a lidar sensor. Recall, lidar is a device that, based on a system of laser beams, calculates the distance to objects through the reflection of light beams by objects. Thanks to the presence of such a sensor, the robot vacuum cleaner can navigate in space with high precision.
Thus, we expect to see increased efficiency and high cleaning speed during testing. Such devices do not tend to waste time: instead, they quickly and accurately map the room, and then clean the apartment by going over each zone once.
Features
| Manufacturer | Kitfort |
|---|---|
| Model | KT-577 |
| Type | Robot vacuum cleaner |
| Country of manufacture | China |
| Guarantee | 1 year |
| Lifetime* | 2 years |
| Cleaning type. | Dry and wet |
| Automatic cleaning | Yes |
| Automatic return to base | yes |
| Dust container capacity | 0,6 л |
| Water container capacity | 0,36 л |
| Noise level | Not more than 65 dB |
| Maximum power | 32 W |
| Battery life | 60-120 minutes, wet cleaning 100-180 minutes |
| Battery charging time | 5-6 hours |
| Battery | Lithium-ion, 3200 mAh, 14.8 V |
| Remote control | is, IR |
| Weight | 3.7 kg |
| Dimensions | diameter 330 mm, height 76 mm |
| Mains cable length | 1,5 м |
| Retail offers |
* Contrary to popular misconception, this is not a deadline after which the device will necessarily break down. However, after this period, the manufacturer ceases to bear any responsibility for its performance and has the right to refuse to repair it, even for a fee.
Kit
The robot vacuum cleaner came to our test lab packed in two boxes. The outer one – made of brown “technical” cardboard – is designed to protect the device during transportation, and contains minimal information about the contents.
The inner box, though made of brown cardboard, is “ceremonial”: it has a plastic handle for carrying, the box itself bears a vector image of the robot, and its main technical characteristics and merits are noted.
The contents of the box turned out to be protected from shocks by anti-shock tabs and plastic bags.
Upon opening the box, inside we found:
- The robot vacuum cleaner itself.
- charging station with AC adapter
- Brush for cleaning and grooming the robot
- Containers for dry and wet cleaning and a lid-latch for the container
- microfiber cleaning pads (rags)
- spare HEPA filter
- two sets of side brushes
- remote control
- instruction manual with warranty card
- collection magnet and promotional materials
At first glance
Visually, our robot vacuum cleaner looks solid and heavyweight: more than three and a half kilograms of weight, solid and durable (at least in appearance) plastic, glossy surface – all this gives the impression that this is a serious and professional device.
Let’s now take a closer look at the device.
The upper part of the device is glossy. On the top we see a miniature control panel, consisting of two buttons with LED backlighting.
In the center there is a lidar turret with the Kitfort logo on it.
The whole structure looks sturdy, reliable and convincing.
As usual, the body rests on three wheels: two drive wheels and one guide wheel. The drive wheels are equipped with rubber treads with pronounced “grousers,” the purpose of which is to prevent slippage on a smooth floor and improve cross-country ability on carpeting.
On the opposite side is a speaker, through which the robot communicates with the user.
The spring-loaded suspension has a stroke of about 33-34 mm, which is slightly above average.
The guide wheel is plastic. It is encased in a plastic sphere, allowing 360° free rotation. On either side of the wheel are the charging contacts on the base. Also in the front of the housing you can see the sockets for fixing the side brushes, and in the center and on the sides – the windows of the optical (infrared) surface sensors.
The side brushes on our robot vacuum cleaner are divided into left and right. The brushes and the body of the device are marked accordingly. The brushes are set by light pressure.
In the center of the bottom panel is the main power brush with V-shaped rubber blades alternating with rows of synthetic bristles. It is secured by a conventional plastic frame with two latches.
The grille has two cross wires to protect the brush from winding wires.
The left axis of the brush rests on a round bearing, the right axis is inserted into a quadrangular drive hole. Thus, there is only one way to install the brush in the vacuum cleaner (the right way).
Next to the charging contacts on the base is a battery compartment cover that closes with two screws. The power supply is an assembly of four 18650 form factor batteries. The nominal capacity of the battery is 3200 mAh.
We always note the use of a battery assembly of one of the standard form factors to power the vacuum cleaner: even if the manufacturer stops producing ready-made assemblies for this model after some time due to its obsolescence, you can always repair the exhausted battery with your own hands.
In the back of the case there is a place to install a dust collector or water container.
The front half of the side of the device is occupied by a movable spring-loaded bumper with a stroke of 4-5 mm. Pressing it triggers the mechanical proximity sensors. Behind the tinted bumper glass, infrared sensors are located to allow the cleaner to detect obstacles, find the base, and receive signals from the remote control. An additional IR sensor is located on the right: its task is to monitor what is happening to the side of the vacuum cleaner, and not to let the device “rub” against the wall. On the same side, there is a power button for the device and a socket for charging the robot bypassing the “base”.
The dry cleaning module slides into place with a light click and is secured with a latch-button.
It has a hinged (removable) cover under which there is a removable synthetic pre-filter and a HEPA filter. The special attention is attracted by the metal filter-grid, behind which the turbine is hidden. The power to the turbine is supplied by means of several contacts.
The hinged lid is secured with a latch. You can find a sticker on the container with the rules for cleaning the dust canister, so that you don’t have to look at the instructions too much.
The wet-cleaning module is installed in the same slot and is also secured with a latch button.
The filling hole is on the side and closed with a rubber plug.
The microfiber cloth is secured to the module with four rather large Velcro strips. On the side of the module we see the graduations corresponding to 100, 200 and 300 ml. On the top there is a sticker with information about the care of the module.
The water, which moistens the rag, comes from the tank through five miniature holes. Note that the Velcro strips are not perfectly glued to the body of the module: in some places they are not glued well enough, and we are afraid that this could be a problem in the future (the strips will peel off).
The charging unit turned out to be quite standard. The length of the cord was 1.5 meters.
You can charge the robot either by using the base or by connecting it directly to the charging unit. The base is made of IR-transparent plastic, under which there are sensors that ensure the positioning of the robot when it returns to the charging unit. The base has an LED to indicate the progress of the battery charge. The contacts are spring-loaded and have about 3 mm of travel. There are anti-slip stickers on the bottom of the base.
The infrared remote control is made of black plastic. It has 13 buttons, is powered by two AAA batteries and looks quite standard (we have repeatedly seen similar remotes in Xiaomi products, so the size and location of the buttons corresponds to the now popular “standard”).
In the box with the vacuum cleaner you can also find a spare rag, a spare HEPA filter and a special plastic brush with a knife for cleaning all elements of the device. The appearance and design of the brush-blade is more than standard: with its help you can effectively fight the threads and hair that tend to get wrapped around the brushes of the device.
To summarize the visual inspection: before us is quite a standard, qualitatively assembled and stylish-looking device, which, in our opinion, looks in full compliance with its price. We estimate the quality of materials as high, the design as strict and laconic. We did not have any complaints to the device after our examination (if not to mention the velcro on the wet cleaning module).
Instructions
The vacuum cleaner user manual is a weighty brochure printed on high quality matte paper. The booklet contains a total of 34 pages that describe everything you need to know when using the vacuum cleaner.
The content of the manual is standard: technical specifications, equipment, assembly and use, selection of operating mode and management care of the appliance, working with the mobile app, etc.
All the necessary actions and manipulations to be encountered during the use of the device are illustrated in black and white pictures, so that to understand the rules of operation and maintenance of the vacuum cleaner will be easy and simple.
The manual will take a little time to read, and promises to be an easy and unstressful read.
Managing
Use the buttons on the instrument body to perform basic tasks:
- On the left is the button to return to the charging station
- On the right is the on/off button, cleaning start button
- In the center is the Wi-Fi network connection indicator
There are not many things we can do with these buttons: send the vacuum cleaner to recharge at the base, start or pause a standard cleaning job, and “friend” the vacuum cleaner with the local WiFi network.
Remote Control
Our robot vacuum cleaner can be controlled by remote control.
The functionality of the remote control allows you to switch to manual control mode (using the navigation buttons), start or pause automatic cleaning, select suction power (normal or reduced), and start local cleaning mode (SPOT) to clean a spiral area of approximately 1 square meter.
In general, the remote extends the user’s capabilities somewhat, but to access all the features you’ll have to use the mobile app.
Smartphone control
In order to control the vacuum cleaner from your smartphone, you will need to install a special WeBack app. The mobile app will give the user a whole range of advanced features and settings. Let’s list the main ones:
- Resetting the map.
- Monitoring the cleaning process and tracking cleaning history
- Editing cleaning maps (setting virtual walls and areas forbidden for cleaning on maps)
- Setting cleaning zones on the map, selecting rooms to clean
- Directing the robot to any zone on the map for local cleaning
- Adjusting suction power
- Humid Cleaning Adjustment
- Setting the mode to resume cleaning after recharging (in case the charge ran out before cleaning was completed)
- Controls the robot’s audio and voice signals (including the choice of voice pack – Russian or English)
- Remote control of the robot
- Selecting units of measure (default is square meters)
- Ability to share access to the robot with another WeBack account
Setting up the application is quite traditional. First, you need to create an account.
Then – reset the settings and add a new device and transfer the Wi-Fi-network data (only 2.4 GHz networks are supported).
After that the app will find the vacuum cleaner (if something goes wrong – you can add the device manually by selecting it from the list of models). In case of any problems, you can always refer to the “help” section.
After a successful connection, a settings tab will appear allowing you to get information about the vacuum cleaner, update the firmware, give other users access to the appliance, etc.
Here you can also configure the control of the robot with the help of third-party services (their list is quite small). Alexa and Google Home are supported, but Alice and Marusya are not. There is also a tab for creating advanced cleaning schedules.
As for mapping, our robot is all right here.
At the beginning of cleaning, the device looks around, determines its position relative to the base, and proceeds to build a map – it highlights an area to be cleaned of a suitable size and passes it in a snaking pattern.
Then it moves to the un-cleaned area and serpentines through the next area.
This is how the robot cleaned our test room with as few obstacles as possible.
While the robot is charging, the user can draw right on top of the map – placing virtual walls, or designating areas that need cleaning on their own.
What can we say from the results of studying the app? On the whole, we liked it: all the functions turned out to work, and the user gets quite an extensive set of tools at his disposal, with the help of which it is possible to adjust all kinds of cleaning parameters.
The number of complaints turned out to be minimal and mostly concerned typos and localization problems. Sometimes it is simply impossible to guess what the app wants from us. “The machine works and can’t work” – what does that even mean?
Exploitation
Before using the robot for the first time, remove the shipping liners and protective films, install the side brushes, and make sure that the robot has a waste container with a filter. The container must be pre-assembled with a hinged lid with a dust window.
The charging station should be placed near the wall. There should be no obstacles nearby (1 meter on the sides and 2 meters in front of the station). When you connect the base to the power supply, the green indicator on the base will light up.
To start charging, simply place the robot vacuum at the station, or send it there using the button on the top panel, on the remote or through the app. While charging, the indicator light on the robot vacuum will blink. When charging is complete, the light will be on continuously. It is recommended that you charge the robot vacuum for at least 6 hours before using it for the first time.
Our robot was 55% charged when taken out of the box. It took 2 hours and 30 minutes to charge to 100%. So we can say that the robot will restore 100% charge in a little more than 5 hours – exactly as stated in the manual.
During storage, you need to recharge the battery about once every 2 months. And if the manufacturer recommends charging the battery to 50-60% before cleaning for long term storage.
As usual, it is highly recommended that you remove clothing, sheets of paper, cords from curtains and blinds, electrical cords, charger wires, fragile or unstable objects, and spilled liquids from the floor before starting.
All actions (beginning and end of cleaning, charging, etc.) the robot accompanies with voice messages (male voice for Russian users). Messages can be disabled in the application.
When cleaning the floor, the robot leaves behind an evenly wet – without streaks, drips or smudges – trail, which dries rather quickly. Do not leave the vacuum cleaner on charge with the wet-cleaning module to avoid over-wetting and damaging the flooring.
We rate the navigation system as very good. During the tests, the robot did not get lost or get its position wrong even once. Some difficulties are possible only if there are reflective surfaces in the room, but this applies to all vacuum cleaners equipped with a laser sensor (we did not encounter such problems during the test).
Here’s how the robot handled mapping in a three-room apartment: as we can see, it confidently went around all the rooms without missing a single corner it could reach.
Note that the actual height of the robot is slightly higher than the claimed 76 mm: the manufacturer forgot to count the height of the lidar tower. So if the height is important for you – safely add about 2 cm to be sure that the robot will get under low furniture.
Care
The plastic parts of the appliance can be wiped down with a damp cloth or tissue.
It is recommended to clean the dust canister of the device after each cleaning or when it is 50% full. If it is not too dirty, it is enough to shake out the debris. If it is very dirty, the filters can be rinsed under running water, but the fine filter must be rinsed gently, without applying mechanical force.
It is allowed to wash the washing module with water and detergent. After such cleaning it must be dried thoroughly. The cloth may be washed in soapy water followed by a thorough rinse.
It is recommended to wipe the surface sensors with a dry cloth. Center wheel – remove with a screwdriver and clean from dirt if necessary.
Threads, wool and hair wrapped around the turbo brush can be cut with the special cutter that comes with the device.
The wheel axles can be lubricated with absorbent cotton soaked in machine oil.
Our measurements
We present the results of testing the device using our methodology, described in detail in a separate article.
The video below was shot from a single point with full coverage of the area being cleaned, while processing part of the video sequence was accelerated sixteen times. The vacuum cleaner was on in automatic mode during the entire cleaning.
Note that the robot does not map, but moves in random directions.
Within the first 10 minutes, our robot entered the center of the room, looked around, and then walked around the entire test site, confidently determining a cleaning route for itself. Not a single area was passed twice, not a single corner was missed. The only exception was the area near the base.
The test area the robot was able to clean faster than its allotted 10 minutes. The actual cleaning time (not including the time to return to the base) was 7 minutes and 30 seconds. The volume of garbage collected was 89.8%.
Also note that by the end of the first ten minutes, the trash container was practically full: not only was the container itself filled with rice, but also the duct leading to it.
Over the next ten minutes, the vacuum cleaner continued cleaning without much incident. The cleaning algorithm was about the same and the cleaning time was 7 minutes and 8 seconds.
The amount of debris cleaned increased by 5.2%.
The third cycle did not give us any surprises. In 7 minutes and 33 seconds, the robot improved the result by another 1%, after which, as usual, it went to recharge.
The fourth stage of the test, a 30-minute cleaning in automatic mode, was not performed for obvious reasons: we can say that the main part of the test area was already cleaned in the first 8 minutes, after which the percentage of collected debris fell sharply – the robot picked up individual grains of rice and improved the result around the base.
Incidentally, it was around the base that the bulk of the unharvested grains ended up being concentrated.
According to the results, the robot cleaned 96% of the test site, which we consider a very good result for such a device. Especially considering how fast the device managed to clean it.
| Interval | Total cleaning time, min. | % (total) |
|---|---|---|
| First 10 min. | 10 | 89,8 |
| Second 10 min. | 20 | 95 |
| Third 10 min. | 30 | 96 |
The device, when connected to the charger at the end of its automatic operation, charges for approximately 5.5 hours. During this time the charger consumes approximately 1.4 W, in standby mode its power consumption is less than 0.1 W.
The weight of the vacuum cleaner without the modules installed was, according to our measurements, 3700 g. The dust collector unit weighs 375 g.
The noise level on standard mode in the vicinity of the vacuum cleaner did not exceed 65 dBA.
Conclusions
We liked the Kitfort KT-577 robot vacuum cleaner. Like other devices equipped with a lidar-sensor, it is perfectly oriented in space, which affects both the speed of cleaning and its quality: the robot does not waste extra time, confidently passes all the room and does not leave any untidy areas.
Our test room was done in just 7.5 minutes, and the three-bedroom apartment was able to clean in about 1 hour and 40 minutes, using just under 50% of the charge.
The price of the device was generally in line with our expectations. From the advantages we will also note the possibility of wet cleaning, and from the disadvantages – insufficiently high-quality localization of the mobile application. Here the developers have something to work on.
As for the quality of cleaning, we were more than satisfied with it. We didn’t have any complaints or complaints.
Pros:
- adequate price
- Wet cleaning capability
- map construction
- mobile app
Minuses:
- application localization contains errors