When I took the MOVA Z50 Ultra out of the box, I didn't expect it to shake up my routine so much. We're talking about a robot vacuum cleaner that doesn't just vacuum and wet mop: it introduces the HydroSync , a technology that continuously feeds its roller with clean water, a process reminiscent of the best vacuum cleaners. No more mopping with a dirty water-soaked floor again and again: here, each pass is clean, almost surgical.
Over the weeks, I put this Z50 Ultra to the test: parquet floors, tiles, shoe marks, sticky leftovers under the table... and each time, the robot came out with astonishing efficiency. Its 19,000 Pa of suction power makes the difference, the navigation is almost military-like, and the Clean Shop has proven that it can handle hair and fur without getting tangled up.
It's not all perfect: the roller, which only lifts 6.5 mm, is still too limited for thick carpets, the small side mop leaves a 2 mm border uncleaned , and the proprietary detergent cartridge somewhat restricts freedom of use. But in a house with mostly hard floors, these concessions take a back seat.
3-year warranty , the MOVA Z50 Ultra doesn't just tick the boxes: it reinvents the way a robot vacuum cleans our floors. After weeks of testing, I can honestly say that it's one of the best current models for anyone who wants impeccable cleaning, without compromising on hygiene.
| Characteristic | Detail |
|---|---|
| Robot dimensions | Ø 35 cm x H 11.1 cm |
| Basic dimensions | 39 x 55 x 46 cm (with robot) |
| Suction power | 19,000 Pascal |
| Battery | 6,400 mAh (4h charge) |
| Clean water tank (base) | 4.5 L |
| Dirty water tank (base) | 4 L |
| Water tank (robot) | 160 ml |
| Robot dust bin | 300 ml |
| Dust bin base | 4 L with bag |
| Navigation | Lidar + dual front laser + RGB camera |
| Self-cleaning | 75°C |
| Drying mops | 45°C for 4 hours |
| Washing water temperature | 36°C |
| Roller lifting height | 6.5 mm |
| Guarantee | 3 years |
Table of Contents
Unboxing: simple but effective
When I opened the MOVA Z50 Ultra's box, I didn't find any unnecessary showmanship or superfluous items. Everything is understated, well-placed, and designed primarily to protect the device rather than impress. The contents are straightforward, with a bilingual quick start guide in English and German, and a comprehensive multilingual manual that, I admit, I completely ignored given my experience handling this type of product.
What really catches your eye is the included 400ml detergent solution cartridge. It slides behind the clean water tank and is surprisingly easy to install. Simply push it in and it automatically pierces the hole thanks to the integrated self-piercing system. It's practical, efficient, and instantly gives you the impression that the robot is ready to go.
But this convenience has a downside. MOVA has chosen a proprietary system, and once the cartridge is empty, you'll have to replace it with a brand-name model. Of course, a DIY user can refill it with a syringe, but for most users, you'll have to pay. This is where the manufacturer's clever side comes in: the robot already comes with its own ecosystem of consumables. A well-thought-out strategy, but one that won't necessarily please everyone.
Design and ergonomics: a redesigned and (truly) revolutionary base
The first time I installed the MOVA Z50 Ultra in my living room, I immediately understood that this base wasn't there to make up the numbers. It's large, imposing even (39 cm wide, 55 cm high and 46 cm deep including the robot), but it immediately gives off an impression of seriousness. Unlike traditional stations that hide everything behind a cover, here the tanks are visible, aligned vertically. And I can tell you that this detail changes the game: when the indicator tells me there's little water left, it really means there's nothing left. No more waste from horizontal models where there's always an unusable bottom.
4.5 L clean water tank . Enough to run several complete cleaning cycles without having to refill. The dirty water goes into a 4 L that is emptied almost only once a week. The same goes for the 4 L dust bag: after several days of testing, I haven't had to worry about it once. And a small detail that made me smile: MOVA has finally added storage for the maintenance brush in the dust compartment. The first time I discovered it, I said to myself "finally, they thought of that!"
On the maintenance side, the completely smooth and removable base can be cleaned in a few seconds. No need to scrape off residue stuck to the plastic like on other models. After each cycle, I also had a little demonstration: the base starts drying with hot air at 45 °C . The noise is discreet, but the effect is radical: no smell of damp, even after several days without restarting the wash.
And then there's that famous Clean Genius . The first time I saw it in action, I was surprised: in the middle of cleaning, the robot stopped, returned to the base to wash its mops, then went back to exactly the same spot to go over the area again. The system relies on a dirt sensor in the base , and frankly, it gives a real feeling of intelligence. We're no longer in a robot that stupidly follows its program: we have the impression that it knows when it needs to recharge its cleanliness to better finish the job.
Finally, a quick word on the overall ergonomics: the cable winder at the back prevents the wire from trailing, and standby power consumption is capped at 2 W. Suffice to say that I left it plugged in without ever thinking about it. After several weeks of testing, I can say that this base, as massive as it is, is a real control center designed to last. And honestly, it's hard to go back once you've tried it.
The robot: a concentrate of technology
When I first placed the MOVA Z50 Ultra on the floor, I immediately felt that this robot wasn't in the same league as conventional models. At 35 cm in diameter and 11.1 cm in height, it looks a bit larger than some of its competitors, and I quickly understood why: three microphones are housed above the Lidar. It's a questionable choice, as it loses a few millimeters of compactness, but in exchange, you gain voice control and even a two-way video surveillance function. Not bad for a vacuum cleaner that's supposed to "only" clean.
Once launched, it's a real spectacle. The Lidar maps the room with impressive fluidity, even in total darkness. The two front lasers cross their beams to detect small obstacles, while a side sensor manages the 4 cm extendable brush that deploys only when necessary. The first time I saw it stretch out to retrieve dust stuck under a door, I smiled: it looked like it knew exactly what it was doing.
At the front, an RGB camera adds an almost "living" dimension to its navigation. It recognizes puddles, solid objects, even takes photos if you wish, and adjusts its path accordingly. An integrated LED illuminates dark corners: in my dark hallway, the robot dodged a cable left on the floor as if it had eyes. It's amazing.
But it's when you turn the robot over that you discover the real star of this Z50 Ultra: its six-stage HydroSync system. The water is first heated to 36°C, then sprayed by 12 nozzles across the entire width of the roller. This vigorously scrubs the floor before a rotating strip squeezes out the dirty water, which is immediately sucked into a separate tank. Two combs straighten the roller so that it always remains absorbent. The result is clear: you only wash with clean water, never with recycled water. During my test, I even measured a temperature difference of 0.5°C between the cleaned area and the rest of the tiles. The proof was right in front of me.
What's also surprising is the ground pressure. When the mop lowers, the robot lifts its rear end slightly, a sign that it's really pushing hard. A mini rotating mop completes the system for following walls, only deploying where needed.
Of course, not everything is perfect. The roller only lifts 6.5 mm. On my thick carpets, the margin remained too small, and moisture got through. If your house is full of carpets, this won't be its ideal playground. However, on tiles and parquet floors, it proves formidable.
Finally, in terms of numbers, the Z50 Ultra has plenty to impress: 19,000 Pa of suction power, a 300 ml dust bin and a 6,400 mAh battery that gives it nearly 4 hours of autonomy. And thanks to its smart charging, it automatically prioritizes off-peak hours. A discreet detail, but one that makes a difference on a daily basis.
Ultimately, it feels like this robot thinks almost as much as it cleans. It observes, it analyzes, it adjusts its strength and strategy according to each situation. More than just a vacuum cleaner, it's a small concentration of technology that adapts to your home with astonishing precision.
Mapping: millimeter precision
When I opened the app and launched the Z50 Ultra onto my floor, I almost felt like I was watching it analyze every corner of the room. No rush, it moves slowly, scans walls, detects obstacles, and plots its path with almost surgical precision. The corners of furniture, the legs of tables—everything is recognized and recorded on the map in real time. It's fascinating to see how the Lidar interprets the space around it.
I quickly understood a subtlety: if the robot starts mapping without being on its base, it searches for its station like a lost dog, circling for several minutes before finally lifting its foot. This is not a bug, just the logic of its system. Placed on the base, it immediately resumes its path and completes the map without problem.
The automatic room recognition is surprisingly effective, but there are still a few glitches. A bedroom that's confused with the bathroom, or my veranda misinterpreted from the French window. Nothing insurmountable; everything can be corrected with a few clicks on the app, by hiding inaccessible areas and separating small, misidentified rooms.
During this phase, I took care to remove the main brush, the rear roller, and the side pad. Since the robot isn't vacuuming at this time, I wanted to prevent these elements from accumulating dust or getting tangled. A simple precaution, but one that makes the first mapping much cleaner and more precise. And watching the map fill up, room by room, knowing that the robot "understands" the space around it, is almost hypnotizing.
The aspiration crash test: a test of truth
To test the MOVA Z50 Ultra's capabilities, I decided to pull out all the stops. I emptied a vacuum bag onto the floor, scattered rice on a rug, and threw some lentils along the baseboards. I wanted to see if the robot could really handle real-life dust, with disparate and sometimes unpredictable debris.
The standard vacuum mode with x3 routing was my first playground. And from the first pass, I was amazed: all the lenses were collected, perfectly, without being thrown to the other end of the room. The side brush rotates more slowly than on other models, which avoids scattering dust and grains. On the carpet, the suction power increases automatically thanks to the ultrasonic sensor. The Z50 starts at the edges and ends in the center, truly vacuuming every inch of fibers. In the end, there is absolutely nothing left, neither on the hard floor nor in the carpet pile. A first for a MOVA robot in my tests!
After vacuuming the entire floor, which hadn't been cleaned for a week, the dust bin was full and compacted. You could clearly see hair and fur stuck inside, proof that the Clean Shop brush was doing its job. The filter before self-emptying remained clean on the motor side, with only a little dust stuck in the gaps. Under the brush, a few hairs were slightly curled, but nothing was blocking it. Self-emptying would show me if the system really lived up to its promises.
And then, surprise: the Z50 Ultra takes a different approach. The suction hole is located under the brush, which means that the dust goes back the other way to empty into the bin. After self-emptying, the Clean Shop brush is almost spotless, with only a hair stuck by static electricity, which will disappear the next time you pass over the carpet. The bin is completely empty, and the EPA filter seems much better cleaned than usual. This reverse-emptying technique does a real job on trapped dust and should extend the filter's life.
One small drawback, however: if you leave the bin cover open, the robot tends to throw dust in front and behind it during self-emptying. It's a shame there's no sensor to prevent this minor accident. But in normal use, the efficiency remains impressive, and I admit to being pleasantly surprised by the precision and cleanliness of this system.
Crash test wash: chocolate won't pass
For this test, I decided not to do things by halves. Thick patches of dried chocolate were spread all over the floor. The goal: to see if the MOVA Z50 Ultra could actually tackle this kind of stubborn dirt. I started the robot in mop-only mode, maximum moisture, and deep routing, ready to observe every move.
From the very first meters, I was surprised: the mini side rotating mop proved almost more effective than the central brush. On thick stains, the main roller attacks seriously, but several passes are necessary to get rid of the ingrained dirt. After the first pass, the result is already convincing; after the second, the center of the floor is almost impeccable.
There are still a few details, however: a small trace remains in the space between the mini mop and the main brush, about 2 mm uncleaned. Along the edges, the robot only passes once, unlike in the center where the close parallel lines ensure multiple passes. After five cycles, the line between the two mops finally disappears, probably thanks to slight trajectory adjustments. The mini mop, however, leaves 3-4 mm along the wall, lacking a little pressure to perfectly reach the floor.
The results in the center of the floor are impressive: the main roller stays clean, proof that the HydroSync system really works, and the chocolatey dirty water ends up in the dedicated tank. The edges could still do with a double automatic pass, but overall, the efficiency is worthy of a high-end vacuum cleaner.
Another notable point: even at maximum humidity, the floor doesn't get soaked. Unlike other models where tile grout darkens under water, the Z50 Ultra delivers just enough moisture to clean without leaving puddles. This choice avoids excess water but may require a few extra passes on very stubborn stains.
After this intensive cleaning, I launched the self-cleaning cycle from the app. The robot returns to its base, and this time, I forced the operation to observe each step. Hot water circulates in the base and the roller is carefully scrubbed, while the mini rotating mop also participates in the cleaning. Several washing and dirty water vacuuming cycles follow one another, the power consumption climbs to nearly 1,000 W to heat the water.
With my thermal camera, I measured between 50° and 54°: slightly below the 75° advertised by MOVA, but more than enough for effective cleaning. Then, the hot air drying starts, lasting nearly 4 hours, with consumption dropping to 90 W. The temperature reaches almost 60°, which completely dries the mops, including the mini rotary. The base is completely dry, with no trace of water.
The end result is stunning: the chocolate mini mop is back to its original color, and the main roller is perfectly clean. The cleaning is impeccable, and you can tell the HydroSync system isn't letting anything through. A real success for a demanding test.
Maintenance: simplicity and smart storage
After several weeks of intensive use, I finally took the time to focus on maintaining the MOVA Z50 Ultra. And the first impression is clear: everything has been designed to be simple and quick. The base requires almost no effort. Simply wipe a paper towel through the suction hole to loosen any small bits of dust or stuck residue. The bottom plate can be removed in one easy step for rinsing in the sink, once a week or once a month depending on your usage.
I particularly appreciated one clever detail: the included cleaning brush stores directly in the base. No more risk of losing it at the bottom of a drawer. It makes it easy to scrub the washboard and all accessible areas. A small touch that makes all the difference in everyday life.
The dust bin was a pleasant surprise. Even after several cycles, it remains remarkably clean. The paper filter, responsible for capturing dust, cleans itself almost entirely with each self-emptying thanks to the reverse-path emptying system. Honestly, I've never seen a filter so uncluttered with residue after several weeks of intensive use. The bin is truly spotless, with no trapped dust, and it's a real relief for those who hate spending time cleaning these elements.
The robot itself is just as easy to maintain. Its standby power consumption is only 2W, so you can leave it plugged in all the time without worrying about draining the battery unnecessarily. Between cleanings, simply dust the front camera, the infrared laser windows, the side sensor, and the rear charging contacts as needed. On the underside, a quick wipe over the four anti-fall sensors and the carpet sensor is all that's needed. The front caster is easy to remove if hair gets tangled in it, but honestly, that almost never happens.
Ultimately, maintaining the Z50 Ultra is almost a no-brainer. It seems that MOVA really wanted the user to waste as little time as possible on these tasks, so that everything remains focused on cleaning and everyday comfort.
Obstacle detection: effective… but it has its stubborn streaks
To test the Z50 Ultra's alertness, I pulled out my classic arsenal: a black cable, a white cable, a solitary sock, a lace-up shoe, a low cube, a remote control, and a pen. Right from the start, the dual crossed front laser showed its talent: the cables were spotted and navigated like slalom champions. The sock and shoe passed through without a hitch, and even the laces slipped past its nose with a comfortable margin. It was almost like a robot agility competition.
But there's always a grain of sand in the machine. The remote control placed too low becomes invisible and gets hit. The pen also pays the price for its discretion: despite my efforts to position it at the center of the action, the robot doesn't see it and charges at it. These little mishaps are almost classic for MOVA, but they remind us that, as in real life, it's best not to leave anything lying around on the ground if you don't want to see your robot play demolitionist.
In the end, we laugh a little at these little blunders, but overall, the Z50 Ultra proves to be very reliable at avoiding everyday obstacles. The moral? A clear floor, and you will have an almost perfect robot...
Major HydroSync System: Always washing with clean water heated to 36°C lifts stains and really makes a difference.
Excellent navigation and cleaning: Ultra-precise Lidar and Clean Shop brush that is incredibly effective against hair and pet fur.
High-performance self-cleaning base: The base remains clean after self-cleaning at 75°.
Improved Emptying: The new dust bin emptying system cleans the filter better.
Practical features: Adding detergent to the robot's tank, surprising efficiency of the mini rotating mop.
Minimal Maintenance: Built-in brush storage in the base and minimal maintenance required.
Filter at risk: The absence of a micro-grid on the EPA filter risks clogging it more quickly.
Excessive height: 11.1 cm, the three microphones above the Lidar could have been repositioned.
Proprietary consumable: The proprietary solution cartridge requires the repurchase of MOVA consumables.
Insufficient roller lift: 6.5 mm, insufficient for interiors with a lot of carpets or rugs.
Cleaning Design Flaw: The 2mm gap between the mini mop and the main roller leaves an uncleaned line.
Low water flow: The amount of water delivered to the floor remains too low even at maximum (can be corrected by firmware).
Conclusion of our tests: the future of washing is here
After several weeks of pushing the MOVA Z50 Ultra to its limits, following it like a fascinated and sometimes worried spectator when it gets too close to my remote control, it's clear that this robot marks a real technological breakthrough HydroSync system , which always cleans with clean water, is a complete game-changer. No more mop saturated with grime: here, the water is constantly renewed, and on hard floors, it's almost magical. We find ourselves smiling at the spectacle of this conscientious robot that leaves no crumbs behind.
The suction is impressive . In my tests, the first pass is enough to vacuum up all the crumbs, hair, and dust, even those hidden in thin carpets. The navigation is ultra-precise, the Clean Shop definitely solves the problem of tangled hair, and the self-emptying system leaves the bin spotless, almost too clean to touch.
But not everything is perfect. The robot's height ( 11.1 cm ) makes it less suitable for low furniture, the roller lift remains limited for thick carpets ( 6.5 mm ), and there is a small gap of 2 mm between the two mops. The edges sometimes require an extra pass, the water flow could be a little more generous for tough stains, and the proprietary detergent cartridge makes you smile... or cringe if you're the DIY type.
In short, for **hard floors**, the **Z50 Ultra** is an excellent choice: efficient, intelligent and almost “gently obsessive” about cleanliness. For fans of thick carpets or those who want even warmer water (50°C), the **V50 Ultra** with its detachable mops remains the more suitable option.
This clean water mopping innovation is clearly the **way of the future** for robot vacuums and mops. MOVA has laid the foundation for a smart, high-performance system with just the right amount of character and humor to make it fun to watch. A few updates would be enough to bring it close to perfection... but in the meantime, we can already admire it in action.
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