r/RobotVacuums

So I was about to buy the Narwal, but then saw a daily deal on the Ecovacs which I haven't done a ton of research for. I liked the Narwal for its minimum maintenance and apparently great, hygienic cleaning especially with the mop.

Thoughts?

A few weeks ago, I posted here about my brand-new Eufy Omni S2 making an insanely loud whistle during mop washing:

Eufy Omni S2 – extremely loud high-pitched whistling noise during mop washing

Here’s the ending to that story, because somehow Anker managed to make it even more ridiculous.

I sent Anker a video of the whistle right at the beginning.

Their first answer:

“Within product specifications.”

I didn’t buy that, especially because Eufy’s own global troubleshooting page specifically mentions a “high-pitched whistling sound” during mop washing/wastewater draining and says it can be caused by vibration of a duckbill valve in the dirty-water system.

So I tried Eufy’s recommended adjustment.

No change whatsoever. Still WHISTLEEEEEEEEE.

I contacted Anker again. They sent my video to their headquarters for further review.

Headquarters came back with:

“Normal operating sound during water intake.”

Apparently my ¥200,000 flagship robot vacuum had simply decided that mop washing should include a free musical performance.

Meanwhile, another S2 owner in my original thread was kind enough to record his own mop-washing cycle for comparison.

His S2?

No whistle.

After more back-and-forth, something interesting happened.

Anker’s position changed from “normal operating sound” to “the product is likely to have a fault.”

They collected the entire S2 and base station.

Then I waited.

And waited.

For about two weeks I had no S2 and essentially no useful status information.

Then a large package unexpectedly arrived.

I opened it.

Brand-new S2.

Not my repaired unit. A completely new one.

Naturally, there was only one thing I cared about.

I charged it, started the same mop-washing operation, and waited for the supposedly “normal” whistle.

...

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

No whistle.

Not a quieter whistle.

Not an improved whistle.

Not a whistle that became acceptable after some adjustment.

There is no fucking whistle.

So, just to recap:

Brand-new S2 #1: WHISTLEEEEEEEEE
Me: This seems wrong.
Anker: Within specifications.
Me: Here’s your own documentation about this exact kind of whistle.
Anker HQ: Normal operating sound.
Other S2 owner: Mine doesn’t do that.
Anker later: Actually, yours is likely faulty.
Anker: takes the whole machine away
Two weeks later: Brand-new S2 #2 appears.
Brand-new S2 #2: ...

Silence.

So yes, I eventually got a working replacement.

But I started this adventure with a brand-new S2, spent weeks convincing Anker that my brand-new S2 had a problem, went without the machine while they dealt with it, and eventually received...

a brand-new S2.

Incredible upgrade.

I didn’t need compensation. I didn’t need an upgrade. I didn’t need weeks of troubleshooting and arguments over whether an ear-piercing whistle was somehow a feature.

I just needed the brand-new machine I paid for to work like a normal one.

And apparently that took a month.