I would like a robot vacuum cleaner, any reliable, non-data-hungry EU options out there?
Not exactly what you asked but just in case, you can free some robot from cloud using valetudo List of supported device can be found here
If your priority is not to benefit to Chinese giving them data it’s great but you’d still give them money instead of directing it European manufacturers (if they exist).
Which is why you buy used. No money exchanged to companies you don’t approve of and less e-waste too! Valetudo supports many older models as well…
Yes, although some models only work if they’ve never been updated (often the vulnerabilities which enable rooting have been patched in later releases).
(They probably don’t exist)
The product companies may have European owners but I believe pretty much all if their electronics and plastics manufacturing will be in China. For those small motors probably also in China. Europe has mostly industrial motors and industrial/medical electronics fab/assembly and plastics (maybe some of the chips would be infineon/stm/NXP though).
I hear this excuse a lot: “it’s all built there anyway!” forgetting that company XYZ may have their stuff built in China, but they also have quality control… So yeah, I prefer giving only part of the money there instead of the whole price tag.
Completely agree, but did think it was worth sharing in case OP or others already have supported devices
Motivation isn’t “anti-anyone” to be perfectly honest. I don’t see the absolute necessity to have a vacuum cleaner connected to the net, but if it is I would want that to be in a minimal data exchange setting regardless.
Self-hosting a vacuum cleaner wasn’t on my bingo card for this year, but I will definitely give it a go :)
Took me some time to understand the processes, but this is even better than I was expecting. What an awesome project!
I have no personal experience and they are quite expensive, but you could have a look at Vorwerk.
According to their FAQ, they at least produce partly in Germany and France (and China).
https://support.vorwerk.com/hc/de/articles/8651947948316-Wo-wird-der-VR7-produziert
I looked at a lot of options, including European and valetudo, but ended up buying a 200 euro roborock thing that I never connected to the internet.
They still need a little bit of care every cycle, so I can also just go ahead and start out myself
What do you mean by a little bit of care and which model specifically if I may ask?
I got a roborock q10, which empties it’s dust hold onto the base, but each or almost each run you have to refill the water tank or change or clean the mop or do some other little maintenance task like clean a filter or the brush.
I have a kercher. The app does try to connect to the internet, but you can use it just by pressing a button.
So mine has no idea what the WiFi code is. I can recommend it, but bear in mind that I got the cheaper model (why would I want AI on a hoover?). I have it easy as I have a hard floor, so performance might be different on carpet
Which model do you have if you don’t mind me asking? I see a few with a very wide price range…
When I bought it there were only 2: the chapper one at around £250 and an AI enabled with a more powerful engine at around £500. I have the cheapest one
I went for Bosch Spotless MAX (without camera) cause they were supposedly made in Germany but it’s written made in China on it’s back… I hope it harvest as little data as possible but I can’t know for sure.
It works, I can’t compare with anything else but it works.
For the record it’s a joint venture with Chinese ecovacs introduced at IFA 2025. Bosch could benefit from Ecovacs experience but I believe there was a few hiccups cause when I received the robot its software was incomplete and buggy, and also although it was available the ads campaign seemed it have been pu my on hold.
The SW has been coming together little by little and now we can program the robot for regular cleaning (which is what I expected a year ago…).
Their german website claims it doesn’t give data to thirdparties
I know Tefal has robot vacuums, but I don’t have any experience with them.
