If you can't decide between the best robot vacuums and the best robot mops, combi devices can do the job of both – but they can often be expensive, so for example the Roomba Combo J7+ has an RRP of £999.
Fancy a similar spec for less than half the price? That's what Proscenic offers. Its X1 has a £100-off launch offer and a £100-off discount on Amazon UK, bringing the price down to £399.
Who on earth are Proscenic?
Proscenic has been around for a decade making components for household names including Philips, Panasonic and Hitachi, so it's not exactly new to the high tech appliance game. And the spec here is impressive: 3,000 Pa suction, laser assisted navigation, a mopping pad that vibrates at 3,000 RPM to scrub away stubborn stains and a fully sealed dust bag that only requires emptying once a month. There's also a UV light in its charging dock to help sterilise bacteria and reduce odours.
I haven't tested Proscenic's home hardware but its M8 vacuum has attracted good reviews for its navigation prowess and ability to shift pet hair; its mopping performance wasn't so good, but the vibrating pad in the X1 is designed to address that. And previous models have scored hundreds of positive online reviews, so buyers seem to be largely happy with the value they're getting.
Is it as good as a nine hundred quid Roomba? Probably not. But then, it doesn't cost nine hundred quid, so if you lower your expectations somewhat you're getting an impressive specification for an impressively low price.
The Proscenic X1 is available now at Amazon UK.
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Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).