Mova V50 Ultra Complete robot vacuum is a handy 2-in-1 beast

The Mova V50 Ultra Complete robot mopvac surprised me in ways both good and bad. On the one hand, it’s got significantly more features than the last robotic vacuum I reviewed, the iRobot Roomba i7, in 2021.
But on the other, there are some frustrating aspects to how it operates. Overall, though, it’s been really handy to have.

First and foremost, the Mova V50 Ultra’s vacuum/mop combo is just such a welcome feature. In the past couple of months especially, I’ve been travelling a lot, whether it was to Germany for Gamescom, Burnaby for Fortinet or Toronto for Fan Expo and TIFF. Therefore, the last thing I want to do when I am home is to spend a lot of time cleaning. Naturally, then, the Mova V50 Ultra Complete takes care of a big part of that for me.

The Mova V50 Ultra Complete’s great versatility extends beyond the mopping functionality. Part of this includes more sophisticated AI, as well as the ability to elevate its front (not unlike standing on tippy toes) and shine a surprisingly bright light. These two features work well together to help the device better learn about the environment. As a result, the map that it generates of your home can be quite accurate, even down to correctly labelling a pair of Crocs by the door to our deck as “shoes” and adding a corresponding icon.

But despite that intelligence, the Mova V50 Ultra Complete can also be, well, kind of stupid. I live in a townhouse, which means the main floor on which I’ve been using the Mova has stairs leading to the garage, front door and two other floors. I didn’t think that would be a problem for this supposedly smart machine, though, given that it literally stopped at the top of the stairs during the initial mapping processes to survey what was below.

But while it had no problem stopping at the top of the garage stairs, it was the steps to the front door that threw it off. To better observe it for review purposes and take some photos, I was at the bottom of the stairs. Once I came up and skirted around the Mova, it stopped for a minute, seemingly puzzled. Then, to my complete and utter shock, the damn thing went right over the stairs. It’s a handful of steps followed by hard flooring, which resulted in a rough tumble that actually dislodged the charging port slightly.

Thankfully, I was able to pop it back in, and the device seemingly still works fine without a hitch, but something that costs over $1,500 and is supposedly so advanced shouldn’t have made such a grave error to begin with. I’m not sure if it got confused by me momentarily stepping in front of it, but if that’s the case, then that doesn’t bode well for households with many people, including kids or dogs, who could get in the way.

Like other robot vacuums, you can manually set off-limits zones, which I immediately did after this accident. But still, I didn’t have this issue with the Roomba, and you’d think something that’s even more expensive and powerful wouldn’t make such a mistake. Really, I’m just lucky that this particular flight of stairs isn’t that steep, or the damage could have been more significant.

It’s an especially unfortunate issue because otherwise, the vacuum has been really good. Above all else, it’s very efficient in its cleaning, both from a noise perspective (it’s oh-so wonderfully quiet as it drives along) and how seamlessly it switches from vacuuming and mopping. As long as you have enough water already loaded into the base, the Mova will return to the base, empty its dirt, clean its mop pads and then return for washing. It even cleans the mop pads beforehand – perhaps not needed every single time, but certainly thorough.

I should note that I did notice one instance of the Mova missing a spot while mopping. While it’s smart and agile enough to be able to lift its mop pads to glide along grooves on the edges of walls, it kept missing one particular stretch between the stairs leading to the garage and the ones going up to the next floor. Perhaps it got spooked by the stairs, even though these weren’t the ones where it tumbled. Thankfully, I was able to turn on deep cleaning, and it did eventually get that spot.

I also appreciate how the camera on its top can automatically slide up and down to get below low-hanging ceilings, like an entertainment stand. All the while, it would accurately map objects underneath, like cables behind the back of the TV.

Other handy features include a voice assistant, customizable widgets in the app and scheduled software updates between 2am and 6am that won’t make any sounds when you’re sleeping. While the app can be a bit awkward to use at first (some of the wording in the app is clearly translated from what appears to be Chinese), you eventually get the hang of it.

Ultimately, the Mova V50 Ultra Complete is an impressive cleaner in a lot of ways, from its versatility during vacuuming and cleaning to various app-based customization options. While I wish it was better at scanning the environment (especially for stairs) and had more natural language in its app, it’s still a great cleaner on the whole.

The Mova V50 Ultra Complete Robot Vacuum normally costs $1,899 but is on sale for $1,699 at the time of writing. It’s also available from Amazon Canada and Best Buy Canada at the same sale price (though Best Buy notes the sale ends on September 21).