Pros
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Self empties
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Smart maps
Cons
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Not as slim as advertised
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UV light doesn't sanitize
About the TCL Sweeva 6500
- Dimensions: 13.5" x 3.7" (W x H)
- Weight: 6.7 pounds
- Battery life: up to 180 minutes
- Dirt capacity: 500 ml
What we like
The Sweeva 6500 is self-emptying
When the Sweeva 6500 self-empties, all the debris goes into a self-sealing bag.
The Sweeva 6500 joins the lauded ranks of self-emptying vacuums, a feature that is important because robot vacuums are supposed to be about convenience. The more autonomous a robot vacuum can be, the better.
If you’re unfamiliar with a self-emptying system, it’s pretty simple.
When the Sweeva 6500 finishes a cycle, it goes back to its dock, which contains a secondary vacuum that suctions up everything in the robot’s dust bin and places it into a self-sealing bag located in the dock.
This means that you never have to smell, see, or touch anything unpleasant. That’s the real win.
It cleans fairly well
The Sweeva 6500 is not the best floor cleaning on the market, and it’s beaten out by similarly priced robot vacuums like the iRobot Roomba i3+. But, still, it cleans fairly well.
On our obstacle course, the Sweeva 6500 picked up an average of 8.2 grams of dirt. Anything above 10 grams is the gold standard, so this TCL isn’t that far behind. We also tested this robot vacuum’s ability to deal with pet hair. In this test, the Sweeva 6500 was able to clean tufts of dog hair from bare floors and medium-pile carpets.
Usually, robot vacuums have to trade good cleaning for safer navigation. The 6500 avoided some of our trickier obstacles, like narrow furniture legs. While it also missed some of the testing dirt we laid out for it, it also means it never got trapped or stuck.
Its smart functions are mostly good
The Sweeva 6500’s app is well developed. It has your standard, start, stop, and schedule features, but it also comes with the ability to create smart maps. With smart maps, you can tell your robot vacuum to clean specific areas and avoid others. From what we can see, the smart maps on the 6500 are on par with competitors like Ecovacs, but less well integrated than those of iRobot.
What we didn’t like
Sometimes the smart functions are janky
During testing, we experienced a series of bugs with the app that was perplexing.
One time, when using the app, all the voice alerts changed from English to Turkish. So, that was weird.
Not all the features are what they’re cracked up to be
The 6500 is advertised as slim, but there are slimmer robot vacuum models out there.
The Sweeva 6500 has a UV light that it uses to “sanitize” the floor, but in reality, this is simply a gimmick. Yes, UV rays can be used to kill bacteria, but to do so takes much longer and a much higher intensity than what the 6500 offers.
Technically, the TCL’s UV light is helping combat germs, but based on our understanding of the science, probably not in any major way.
TCL also claims that the 6500 has a slim design. Any opportunity to bust out a tape measure gets us excited, however, the measurements we took indicate that the Sweeva stands over 3.7 inches tall—this is taller than average. A Roomba measures around 3.6 inches tall and the actually-slim Eufy 11S is 2.8 inches tall.
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What are consumers saying
We tested this robot vacuum really early in its lifecycle, so there are only a handful of user reviews. Of the few that we found, people seem to like the cleaning ability and build quality of the Sweeva 6500. However, they are less enthused by the connectivity.
Should you buy the TCL Sweeva 6500
Yes, if you’re a TCL fan
There is a lot of convergence in the robot vacuum world right now. Every manufacturer is getting on the self-emptying bandwagon and smart maps concept. That means the TCL Sweeva 6500 isn’t doing anything new, but it’s also not falling behind.
Talking performance, features, and usability, the Sweeva falls firmly in the middle of the pack.
If you already own a TCL smart TV and want something you can control while you’re watching your favorite shows, the Sweeva 6500 is a solid buy. Otherwise, you might as well get an iRobot Roomba i3+, which offers better cleaning for a similar price.
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Prices were accurate at the time this article was published but may change over time.
Meet the tester
Jonathan Chan currently serves as the Lab Manager at Reviewed. If you clean with it, it's likely that Jon oversees its testing. Since joining the Reviewed in 2012, Jon has helped launch the company's efforts in reviewing laptops, vacuums, and outdoor gear. He thinks he's a pretty big deal. In the pursuit of data, he's plunged his hands into freezing cold water, consented to be literally dragged through the mud, and watched paint dry. Jon demands you have a nice day.
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