DJI Romo: The Transparent Robovac That Exposes Your Dirt and Privacy

Hello everyone. Today we’re going to talk about DJI’s latest attempt to turn your living room into a laboratory window display — the Romo robovac series. Yes, the same DJI that gave us drones capable of stalking the neighbour’s barbecue is now pushing household floor cleaners that have just enough drone DNA to make you suspicious about who’s really watching whom.

The Gimmick: Transparency — Because Apparently, You Needed to See the Dust

Let’s start with the headline act: transparency. The Romo P ships with a fully see-through body and docking station. Why? So you can marvel at the cat-hair-and-toast-crumb ecosystem building up inside your robo-maid. This is like putting a window on your appendix just so you can watch it inflame. From an MD’s perspective, it’s morbid curiosity turned into industrial design. Brilliant in concept, horrific in reality after a month of use. You think cable clutter is bad? Wait till you have to explain to dinner guests why your “premium” $947 vacuum looks like a dust storm in a fish tank.

The Versions: Pick Your Level of Voyeurism

• Romo S — fully opaque shell for those who prefer ignorance.
• Romo A — a see-through panel on top, so you can pretend you’re only mildly nosy.
• Romo P — full exhibitionist mode, dock included, for those with nothing to hide (except thick layers of grime).

This product lineup is less a tech differentiation strategy and more like selecting your difficulty setting in a video game. Easy Mode: don’t look. Nightmare Mode: witness every grimy second.

Drone DNA in a Floor Mop

In fairness, DJI did bring some drone smarts here. The Romo packs a binocular fisheye vision sensor and three wide-angle lasers tied to a ‘machine learning perception algorithm’. Translation: “Yes, it knows your sock from a shoelace.” It can apparently even detect obstacles as thin as a 2mm charging cable and alter cleaning strategies to deal with them. Impressive—until you remember humans have been successfully avoiding cables since we learned to walk.

Strategy examples? It’ll skirt socks like they’re biohazards (which, depending on your flatmates, they might be) and treat pet urine like a toxic spill response game mode. It adds a whiff of realism—this vacuum knows when it’s in a boss fight it can’t win.

Firepower & Cleaning Kit

If suction were measured in overcompensation, the Romo would top the charts: 25,000Pa, almost double some rivals. It’s packing an anti-tangle double roller brush, dual side brushes on extendable robot arms, and mop pads that rise when hitting carpet. This is clearly designed by someone who plays real-time strategy games – deploy correct units for the right terrain. Also, in what I assume is a nod to precision strike missions, it slows down and gently brushes around scatterable debris like cat food before ramping up power. Tactical hoovering, ladies and gents.

Bloat—or Features, Depending on Your Level of Cynicism

• Dock empties, cleans, refills, and recharges in 2.5 hours — because self-reliance is overrated.
• Romo P comes with an extra tank for custom mop solutions — antibacterial for the bathroom, degreaser for the kitchen.
• Drone-tier path planning stored locally for “privacy” – translation: we’re not shipping your floorplan to the mothership… yet.
• Voice commands and remote camera control – perfect for surveilling pets, spouses, or evidence of pizza theft.

Global Launch… But Not for You, America

And here’s the kicker: it’s launching first in China, with a global release “expected later this year.” Whether the US is on the guest list is anyone’s guess. So if you’re in the States and reading this thinking “I want a see-through robot mop spying on my family,” you might have to sit in the corner until DJI decides you’ve earned it. Or just import one and enjoy explaining it to customs.

Final Diagnosis

As a doctor, I can appreciate the transparent design for educational purposes—just like anatomy models. As a gamer, I love the tactical flexibility and drone-like pathfinding. As a cynic, I see pure marketing fluff hiding behind clear plastic. It’s a technically impressive robovac, sure, but the design choice means it’s basically a live feed of your dirt problem. The Romo is equal parts engineering marvel and dust-filled metaphor for unnecessary luxury.

Overall? A solid product wrapped in a gimmick. If you absolutely must overshare with your own vacuum cleaner, the Romo P awaits. Otherwise, buy something opaque and spare yourself the visual trauma.

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is entirely my opinion.

Article source: DJI’s first robovac features drone tech and a transparent design, https://www.theverge.com/news/754168/dji-romo-robot-vacuum