The floor maintenance market is not experiencing the crisis. An increased presence at home due to the Covid-19 pandemic is pushing one in five French people to take more care of their soil, according to the Gifam 2021 Trajectory Studies barometer.
At the same time, the suction market continues to innovate. After robot vacuum cleaners and cordless stick vacuum cleaners, here is X-Ô160, the world’s first cordless canister vacuum cleaner. Cocorico, we owe it to Rowenta (SEB group), and it is manufactured in Normandy (and announced with a repairability of 15 years)! 20 minutes was able to clean up with this vacuum cleaner made in France. A gift in the sleigh?
58 wheels for 360 ° movements
Rowenta wanted to dust off the world of aspiration. Unpacking X-Ô160, we see that the device hardly looks like a traditional canister vacuum cleaner.
Under its large carrying handle, a surprise. We can see, arranged laterally on the circumference on its two large wheels, fifty-six tiny gray wheels. Vocation: to ensure the movements of the machine at 360 °. We also note that the X-Ô160 does not need a bag. Instead, a removable dust container located on the front. Its one liter capacity is generous, much more than that of most stick vacuums (but less than that of bagged canister vacuums with 4.5 liters).
Under the device, an opening hatch to slide in a battery. With this model, Rowenta provides two, allowing the device to display a cumulative autonomy of 2h40.
By default, the flexible suction hose has a sofa brush. Depending on needs, it fits onto the tube of the X-Ô 160 at the end of which can be installed either the classic suction brush for floors (hard and carpets) supplied, or a mini-brush called “turbo” for animal hair.
230 air watts at full power
For our first test, one observation: the switch on the back of the device seems rather badly placed. Its handling requires you to hold the vacuum cleaner with one hand and turn it on with another.
At the top of the handle are several buttons: Pause, Eco, High, Max and Boost. Their trigger modulates the suction power as needed (up to 230 air watts, the equivalent of the power of a Dyson V15 Detect Absolute Extra stick vacuum). “This power is the most important that one can currently find on a cordless vacuum cleaner” specifies to 20 minutes Emilie Péché, Rowenta product manager.
And a new surprise: the module where these operating keys are grouped together is nothing more than a removable remote control… We quickly understood the value of this. When you remove the flexible hose and its brush from the rigid tube of the vacuum cleaner, there is no longer any way to control the suction power.
A remote control for better suction
The user can therefore either determine this power before placing the tube, or deposit the tube and go remote control in his pocket.
Practical, of course, when you want, for example, to clean the interior of a car and gently vacuum the dashboard, and more vigorously the carpet in the trunk. But a little restrictive. “This remote control is not there to interfere with use but to overcome all situations”, defends Emilie Péché at Rowenta.
However, we appreciate the Pause button. At any time, it is thus possible to interrupt the aspiration before resuming it. It is quite convenient when it comes to changing brushes. It also limits the perceived noise, although that of the X-Ô160 remains moderate.
Soils in Boost mode
For vacuuming floors, our repeated tests then revealed an efficient vacuum cleaner. Agile, the X-Ô160 adapts easily to all situations and moves with ease. Being able to precisely modulate its power is a real guarantee of successful cleaning. We switch from Eco mode to gently vacuum dust on furniture and around objects. Then in Boost mode for the entryway carpet encrusted with dirt. And we go through High mode for tiles and Max for carpets which require more muscles to be rid of crumbs, animal hair, etc.
And Rowenta came up with a trick to help us get under the furniture. The vacuum tube can bend in half, forming a bend. It is thus much easier to get dust under a sideboard or a sofa (as long as the brush, which is 6.5 cm thick, is not a handicap). In short, no more posturing to vacuum really everywhere. “We developed this collapsible tube for the first time three years ago. What was at the base a little more has become something that has entered into our codes, ”recounts Emilie Péché.
Textbook case: the suction of a staircase which is a real hassle with a classic canister vacuum cleaner, heavy and cluttered with its power cable, becomes child’s play here. One hand carries the X-Ô160 (4.5 kg), the other handles flexible hose and brush on each step. For its part, the weighted tube of its brush can wait for us quietly in “parking” mode, that is to say vertically. No need to put it on the ground.
Sold for 549.99 euros, the X-Ô160 remains a very expensive canister vacuum cleaner for a brand that offers the most classic (wired) from 99 euros, like the Power XXL. However, it has a little brother, the X-Ô90, sold for 449.99 euros. Difference: the latter is only sold with a battery and dispenses with its so-called “turbo” mini-brush. Remains a versatile, flexible and efficient device that would almost transform the household chore into real pleasure.