The best kind of gadgets are those that you don’t need, but once you have used them you can no longer imagine your life without them. The Haier Civic X11, which is an automatic and smart robot cleaner like Roomba, is one such gadget. The fact that it is available at a market price of just Rs 17,999 — the MRP is Rs 29,999 — makes it all the more impressive. At least that is what I feel after using it for over 10 days and after giving it commands, which are followed promptly, to keep my house spick and span.

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The Civic X11 is not the first robot cleaner I have tried. But it is the first one that I find fuss-free and focussed on fundamentals, instead of gimmicks. It works and cleans and works and cleans. And because it focuses on fundamentals it also, surprisingly, has a selling price that makes it a good value for money product.

But enough words, let me give you a closer look at the device. And tell you what it does best as well as the areas where it is lacking.

Civic X11: Setting it up, Haier app, and build quality

If you have seen an automatic robot cleaner earlier, you have seen them all. This is because these are round machines, around 2-3 inches thick, with some wheels and brushes under their belly. The Civic X11 is as simple as it gets when it comes to design. It comes in one colour — white. The top part of it is dual-toned: white matte plastic in half portion, and white glossy in the other half.