Proscenic M9 robot vacuum review: The perfect help for a clean freak like me

That’s where you’ll also find the brand’s other robot vacuum with a mop, the , which costs more at £599.

If you’re dead-set on a robot vacuum with a mop function, it’s worth also reading my fellow writer Kieran Ahuja’s Roomba i5+ robot vacuum review to see how that compares.

Proscenic M9 review: Design and build

The M9 has a modern and sleek aesthetic - if you ask me, it looks a bit futuristic. It’s slim, though quite bulky with it, and comes with a charging station and self-emptying dock that’s 12 inches tall, so hard to keep out of sight.

It comes in the typical round shape, with a glossy, dark grey gradient finish on the top and a silver logo that gives it an elegant look. The M9 measures 3.5 inches in height, meaning it could vacuum under my TV unit and sofas with any problems.

It’s equipped with a power and home button, which light up green when connected to the charging dock. I found both these useful: they mean if you need to bring the M9 to a sudden halt, you can do so without scrabbling for your phone to load the app.

Proscenic M9 review: Features and performance

Vacuum Function

I was not expecting the vacuum function of the M9 to be as powerful as it was.

After a week of trying out the app, I realised there were actually three different suction levels, with the vacuum arrived defaulted to level two. 

Even at that second level, the M9 effortlessly swept up everything from hair to unexpectedly larger items, such as a stray metal screw we left after some DIY.

The highest suction power level made a huge difference on my carpets: after a month, I still haven’t had to use my old cordless vacuum. 

It was easy to set customised suction levels for each room through the app - I set the highest level for the two bedrooms, and the mid level for my hardwood floors.

But the M9’s vacuum isn’t without flaws. It operates at a leisurely pace, taking 32 minutes to navigate and vacuum my 30-square metre living room and kitchen. This is something that takes me 10 minutes to complete by hand with my cordless vac.

So really, what it lacks in speed it makes up for in sheer convenience: you might have to wait long for clean floors, but you won’t have lifting a finger during the process.

That said, I’ve needed to be on cable and chair-clearing duty before each clean - these are things you’ll need to consider before you set the M9 to work without any obstacles in its path.

Mop Function 

Proscenic includes dual mopping pads that, according to the marketing copy, spin at 120 revolutions per minute. 

It did an excellent job of cleaning my hardwood floors, and got rid of all spills and stains. But the edges of the floor are an issue: it did not effectively get to these, meaning I had to manually mop these to finish the job.

Also, the water is very small, with a 180ml-capacity tank - I had to fill it twice in order to clean both my kitchen and living room floors.

The app doesn’t inform you when water levels, so I had to keep pausing the task to check.

If you’re thinking it might be easier to simply pull out the good old-fashioned mop and bucket to get the job done - well, me too.

But it proved useful when I was busy with other housework - I set a 15-minute alarm in order to check the water tank, and let it do its thing.

Navigation and Self Emptying

When it comes to the Proscenic M9’s laser system, here’s where things get impressive - it scanned and mapped my home with high levels of accuracy.

As mentioned, it didn’t get the terrain entirely right with my built-in wardrobe, but this was easily corrected in the app.

One thing that worried me - and I’m sure this is something lots of people in the market for a robot vacuum are worried about too - is the vac colliding into furniture and leaving damage.

Luckily, with the exception of low-level items like cables, the vacuum’s LiDAR systems guarantees it will dodge any obstacles without bumping into them.

On top of that, I noticed the M9 will start cleaning the edges of the room before it moves inward and proceeds to clean the rest of it.

Once a clean is finished, the Proscenic will return back to its charging station, and - here’s the kicker - it will empty itself automatically.

I absolutely hate emptying my cordless vacuum, so this is the feature I enjoyed the most. 

Proscenic states that the dust bag needs emptying after 60 days of use - based on the last five weeks that I’ve been using the robot vacuum, this makes sense. The bin bag still isn’t full.

Noise Levels

Another exceptional feature of the Proscenic M9 is its noise levels. Honestly, I payed barely any attention to them - it’s no noisier than my cordless vacuum.

However, when the M9 self-empties, it start to get really loud, but these is something that only lasts for a few seconds.

As you would probably expect, it also gets louder when it’s set to the highest suction levels, something that I only used on the carpeted areas in my home.

Proscenic M9 review: App

The Proscenic app comes with an array of smart features including scheduling, cleaning modes, no-clean zones and real-time tracking of cleaning progress.

The scheduling feature, in particular, I found really useful: you can essentially build a cleaning strategy into the app. 

For example, the app lets you not only schedule a timed routine for the M9 in advance, but also adjust the suction strength depending on which room it’s going to clean.

The fact I could programme it to clean my carpeted areas at max strength, and lower for the hard flooring, has been a game-changer for me.

A word of caution however: I went away for a weekend and forgot to turn off the M9’s cleaning schedule, and it got tangled in some wires.

As soon as it got stuck, the app sent me and alert, and I was able to retrieve it when I got home - just a reminder to power it down when you’re away for extended periods.

Another thing worth mentioning about the app: each user can save up to five maps. I didn’t need this, as I live in a single-floor flat, but it would no doubt be particularly useful for split-level homes.

Proscenic M9 review: Battery life

Proscenic advertises an average running time for the M9 as four hours and ten minutes. However, when I tested it, I found the runtime to be around two hours and 30 minutes.

That was more than enough for my 70-square-metre flat, which I would say takes about 45 minutes to be cleaned by this robot vacuum.

You can check the battery level in the app, so when it’s running low you can send it back to its charging station. This is something, luckily, it will automatically do when it runs out of power.

Proscenic M9 review: Verdict

Honestly: if you are a clean freak like me, and you need some additional help, I would that this robot vacuum cleaner is worth the investment against its price.

The Proscenic M9 is easy to use, and does a great job vacuuming all areas of the flat. I still use my cordless vacuum every now and again, but no as often.

It is really a powerful vacuum and even though I still have to mop and vacuum myself once or twice a week, it does save me a lot of time, especially because of my busy schedule. 

The app is so easy to use, that I barely used the remote control that’s included with the M9.

Now that I own a robot vacuum, I don’t think I’ll ever be able to live without one. The older I get, it seems that I’m turning into my mum, another clean freak. I love having R2-D2 ‘rescuing’ me from the endless chores.

Can Proscenic now launch a robot oven cleaner, please? I hate cleaning my oven.

Proscenic M9 Robot Vacuum, £439 £499

Head to our shopping tech hub for all the latest news, discount and tech deals.

For more hands-on robot vacuum verdicts, read our Eufy G30 review, Eufy Robovac X8 review and Roomba i5+ review.