Olsen & Smith RV04 Review: a no-fuss robot vacuum that actually makes life easier (most of the time)

I’ve been using the Olsen & Smith RV04 robot vacuum with mop and self-empty station for a few weeks now in a pretty normal UK setup: three-bed house, mix of laminate, tiles and medium-pile carpets, plus a cat that sheds constantly. I bought it because I was tired of sweeping every day and dragging out a big corded vacuum twice a week. I wasn’t expecting miracles, just something that could keep floors under control without babysitting it all the time.

In practice, this thing sits somewhere between budget Chinese no-name robots and the big-brand models that cost twice as much. It’s got proper laser navigation, a self-empty base, app control, and it can mop at the same time as it vacuums. On paper, it looks pretty stacked for the price. What mattered to me though was simple: does it actually clean well, and do I have to mess with it all the time or can I ignore it for days?

After living with it, I’d say it does what it says on the tin most of the time. It keeps up with pet hair and crumbs, it doesn’t ping around randomly, and the self-empty station means I’m not constantly emptying a tiny dust bin. But it’s not perfect. There are some quirks with docking, the mop is more of a maintenance wipe than a deep clean, and the app setup is a bit fiddly if you’re not used to smart home stuff.

If you’re expecting a robot that scrubs your floors spotless and never needs attention, you’ll be disappointed. If you want something that knocks 70–80% off your daily floor cleaning effort and you’re okay with the odd hiccup, it’s actually pretty solid. I’ll break down what worked well for me and what was a bit annoying so you know what you’re getting into.

Price-wise, the Olsen & Smith RV04 often sits well below the big names like Roomba, Roborock or Ecovacs, especially considering it includes a self-empty station and LiDAR navigation. That’s the main reason I went for it. For what I paid, I basically wanted something that did the core robot vacuum stuff (mapping, scheduling, reliable cleaning) without me paying premium-brand tax. On that front, it delivers. You get proper room-based cleaning, app controls, and a base that means you’re not emptying the robot bin every couple of days.

Compared to cheaper, random-navigation bots without a base, this is a clear step up. Those cheaper ones tend to wander until the battery dies, miss spots, and need constant emptying. Here, the cleaning feels more systematic, and the 3L base bag actually lets it run for weeks before you need to touch it. That’s the main value: less faff. You still have to top up the water tank and occasionally clean hair from the roller, but that’s standard for any robot vac.

Against more expensive models, you obviously miss a few fancy extras. The mop is basic and doesn’t do Y-shaped scrubbing patterns, there’s no automatic water refill dock, and the app is functional but not as polished as some of the big brands’ apps. Also, some premium models handle carpets a bit better and have smarter obstacle avoidance (e.g. shoes, cables, pet mess). If those things matter a lot to you and you’ve got a bigger budget, you might want to look higher up the range.

For a normal household that just wants cleaner floors with minimal effort, the value is good. It’s not the cheapest robot on the market, but for a LiDAR robot with a self-empty base, it’s at the lower end of the price range. You’re basically trading some brand polish and top-end features for a decent set of core functions that work well enough. If you’re okay with the odd quirk (like babying the dock placement and accepting the mop as a light wipe), it’s money well spent. If you expect premium reliability and flawless docking every single time, you might feel a bit short-changed.

The robot itself is pretty standard in shape: round, 35 cm diameter, and the key part is the 9.8 cm height. That low profile actually matters. In my house it slides under the sofa and under the TV unit where my normal vacuum head doesn’t reach unless I move furniture. First time it went under the sofa, the base station bag filled faster than I expected because it dragged out a nice collection of dust bunnies that had clearly been there a while. So if you’ve got low furniture, this height is genuinely useful.

The finish is basic black plastic, nothing fancy, but it doesn’t feel flimsy. The bumper on the front has a bit of give, and it doesn’t slam into things hard. It nudges table legs and then corrects itself. The LiDAR turret on top is the only thing you have to watch out for with very low furniture; if something is just under that 9.8 cm mark, it might scrape or get stuck. In my case, it only struggled under one low sideboard, so I just set a virtual wall in the app to keep it away from that area.

The self-empty base is where you need to plan ahead. It’s not huge compared to some other brands, but it’s not tiny either. You need a bit of wall space and access to a plug, and you have to leave some clearance around it so the robot can dock straight. In my hallway, I had to shift a shoe rack a few centimetres because the robot kept coming in at a slight angle. Once I gave it enough space, docking became more reliable. Some people online mentioned docking issues, and I can see how that would happen if the base is squeezed into a tight corner.

Overall, the design is practical rather than pretty. It’s not something you’ll admire, but it blends in and doesn’t scream for attention. The top lid lifts up to give access to the small onboard dustbin and water tank, which is convenient when you want to fill it quickly. The buttons on top (start/pause and home) are clear and simple, so guests can start it without needing the app. No flashy LEDs or gimmicks, which I actually prefer.

The RV04 comes with a 5200mAh battery, which is on the larger side for this type of robot. The spec sheet says it can cover up to 120m² on a single charge. In my real-world use, it’s hard to measure exact square metres, but I can tell you what it actually does in one go. On standard suction with mopping off, it easily cleans my entire ground floor (around 60m² of actual mapped area) and still has roughly 50–60% battery left when it returns to the dock. When I add mopping and higher suction in the kitchen, it uses a bit more, but I’ve never seen it drop below about 30% on that floor.

On a full-house clean (ground floor plus a smaller upstairs area, I carry the robot up and start a separate map), it gets closer to 20–25% remaining if I run it on higher power more often. So I’d say the 120m² claim is not totally out of line if you’re talking about a single level with a balanced mix of suction levels and not too many obstacles. If you crank it to max suction everywhere, obviously the runtime will drop, but I haven’t needed max suction except for the first deep clean in a very hairy area.

The nice part is the auto-recharge and resume. If the battery ever did run low mid-clean, it’s supposed to go back to the dock, charge up, and then continue where it left off. I tested this by starting a full clean at low battery on purpose. It went back to the dock at about 15%, charged for a while (not all the way to 100%, more like a partial boost), and then headed out again to finish the remaining rooms. That feature works, though it’s slower than just doing it all in one go of course.

Charging from almost empty to full takes a few hours, so it’s more of a “once or twice a day run” kind of device, not something you’ll spam ten times in a row. For a normal household schedule, the battery is plenty. The only people who might find it limiting are those with very large open-plan houses who want every run at max power. For most flats and average houses, it’s more than enough and you can just set a daily schedule and forget about it.

Durability is always a bit of a guess with these things, but after a few weeks of daily use, plus reading through a bunch of owner reviews, I can give a decent picture. Physically, the robot feels sturdy enough for the price. The wheels haven’t shown any odd wear, the side brushes are still in good shape, and the main brush hasn’t lost bristles yet. I’ve had it bump lightly into chair legs and skirting boards quite a lot, and there are no cracks or loose bits. The lid hinge still closes fine even with me opening it almost every day at the start to check the dustbin and water tank.

The self-empty base also feels solid. The 3L dust bag fills slowly, especially if you don’t have pets. In my place with one cat and daily runs, I’m guessing I’ll change the bag every 4–6 weeks. Swapping the bag is simple and not messy; you just slide the old one out and it seals itself. That’s handy if you’re dust-sensitive. The suction from the base into the bag is loud for a few seconds, but that’s normal for any self-empty system.

On the reliability side, there are some scattered reports of docking issues and occasional faulty units. One reviewer mentioned theirs lined up with the dock but then shot off instead of connecting, and another person had to return their first unit because it just didn’t work. My own unit has been mostly fine with docking as long as I keep the area around the base clear and don’t bump the base out of position. The one time I pushed the base accidentally while hoovering, the robot started missing the contacts until I re-aligned it properly. So it’s a bit sensitive to placement, but not unusable.

Long-term durability is hard to judge yet, but the fact that it uses standard-style consumables (HEPA filters, side brushes, mop cloths) and they include spares in the box is a good sign. At worst, you can source generic replacements later. I wouldn’t treat this as a ten-year appliance, but for a few years of regular use, the build quality feels decent. If you’re unlucky and get a duff unit, Amazon returns seem to sort it, but obviously that’s a hassle. So I’d call durability and reliability pretty solid but not bulletproof: good for the price bracket, with the usual risk of the odd faulty unit.

On the vacuuming side, the 6500Pa suction figure sounds big on paper, but the real question is whether it picks up what you can see. On hard floors (laminate and tiles), it does a very good job. It grabs crumbs, cat litter scatter, dust and pet hair without leaving visible streaks. Along skirting boards, the side brushes help, though occasionally they flick a bit of debris outwards; usually the robot comes back over it on the next pass. On carpets, it’s solid but not mind-blowing. My medium-pile living room carpet looks clean after a run, but if I go over it with my corded vacuum afterwards, that still pulls up more deep dust. So I’d say it’s great for daily maintenance, but not a full replacement for a powerful upright if you’re fussy about carpets.

The mopping function is more of a maintenance wipe than a deep scrub, which is pretty standard for these combo robots. The water tank is 175ml, and you can adjust the water flow in the app. I used low to medium and it was enough to keep the kitchen floor looking fresh, but it won’t remove dried-on sauce or muddy paw prints in one go. Think of it as something that stops the floor from getting grimy, not something that will handle a big spill. One thing to note: just like one of the Amazon reviewers said, when the mop pad is attached, it avoids carpets. That’s good (no wet carpets), but it also means you can’t just send it everywhere at once if you have mixed floors; you need to plan zones a bit.

Navigation-wise, it’s pretty efficient. It doesn’t waste much time wandering. It goes around the edges and then fills in the middle in straight lines. It rarely got stuck in my place. The only times it struggled were with a very light rug that bunched up and a tangle of cables under my desk (that one is on me). After I tidied up the cables and used a bit of rug tape, it’s been fine. It also handles door thresholds and small transitions between rooms without drama.

Noise is rated at up to 75dB on max, which is noticeable but not crazy. On standard suction, I can still watch TV with subtitles and not go mad. I usually run it when I’m out or upstairs anyway, so it’s not a huge deal. Overall, for daily cleaning in a home with pets and mixed floors, I’d say the performance is good value for the price. It doesn’t replace a deep clean, but it keeps the place looking presentable with way less effort.

Out of the box, the RV04 feels fairly complete. You get the robot, the self-empty base, spare HEPA filter, extra side brushes, several mop cloths and a couple of dust bags for the base. So you’re not immediately hunting down consumables, which I appreciated. Setup is straightforward: plug in the base, charge the robot, download the Smart Life app, and let it do a first full run to map the house. That first mapping run took about an hour on my ground floor (roughly 55–60m² of actual reachable area), and after that the map in the app looked pretty accurate.

The big thing to know: this is a LiDAR robot, so it doesn’t just bump around randomly. It goes in straight lines and splits rooms logically. In my case, it correctly identified kitchen, hallway, living room and a small office area as separate zones. I could then rename them and set different cleaning intensities. For example, I set the kitchen to higher suction and double-pass, and the living room to normal suction, single pass. This is the kind of control you usually only see on pricier models, and here it actually works pretty well once you’ve done the initial setup.

In day-to-day use, I run it on a schedule: every morning at 9am it does the kitchen and hallway, and every other day it also does the living room. It connects over 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi and has been stable so far; I only had to reconnect it once when I changed my router. You can also trigger it with Alexa/Google if you’re into that, but I mostly just let the schedule handle it. It’s nice to come back from work and not see tumbleweeds of fur in the hallway.

Overall, from a feature list perspective, it’s pretty stacked: vacuum + mop in one pass, self-emptying, room zoning, no-go zones, app control, and multi-floor mapping. The reality matches the spec sheet fairly well, but you do need a bit of patience with the app mapping and some trial and error to get the zones and no-go areas right. Once dialled in, though, it behaves fairly predictably and doesn’t feel like a toy.