Mint Robotic Swiffer Gets An Upgrade

I reviewed the Mint floor cleaning robot just about a year ago, and found it a delightful little device as long as you know what you’re getting. While it doesn’t have the capabilities of the Neato (or Smarbo) or the fire-and-forget simplicity of the Roomba, it’s great for hardwood floors, and it’s quiet, compact, and cute.

Evolution Robotics has put together an upgraded model of the little guy, and while it’s not bringing it to Roboking Triple Eye levels, it does make the device more practical for multi-room houses.

Previously, the Mint was more or less restricted to cleaning one room at a time. It has a little cube that helps it track its position, and the cube only maps out one room at a time. My Mint definitely left the theatre of action and went to check out the hallway and kitchen before, but generally it stayed in the room. Now you can use more than one cube, and the bot will travel from one room to the next.

It also has a reservoir for wet mopping now as well. Previously, you just wetted the cloth it came with and let it go to town. I found this inadequate, it was more like giving the floor a damp wipe than mopping. But now it has a little internal tank for filling with water, or juice if you want to make your floors sticky.

Last, it has an upgraded battery and a new charging cradle that brings it to full power in two hours. I’m still waiting for the version that parks itself, though. And it’s black!

The new Mint Plus will set you back $300 – the old one can be picked up for $200 now.