The Hobot Legee D8 and the 4-in-1 Legee Lulu cleaning station is now available in South Africa through its distributor Solenco. The latest D8 robovac model and its cleaning station, the Lulu, are available to purchase separately, so you don’t have to fork out upfront for the combo.

The Legee D8 is priced at R11 499, and the Legee Lulu cleaning station is R6 499. If you’ve been following my newsletter and social updates, this is indeed the smart home product I was teasing, worth R18 000, that I will be giving away later this week via Instagram. Keep an eye for that.

I’ve been playing with the Legee D8 and Lulu, which is an upgrade to the D7. New features include a wiping platform that moves 1300 times per minute (previous model was not moving); a more powerful suction power of 5000Pa (up from 2700Pa); and of course the addition of the self-cleaning station with an Eco Compactor feature to minimise the trash occupancy.

Legee D8 and Lulu Quick Look:

  • Legee D8 4-in-1 cleaner (vacuum, sweep, water spray, mop)
  • 5000Pa tangless suction
  • Lidar sensor and SLAM navigation
  • 8 cleaning modes
  • D8: 500ml dirt container; 320ml water tank
  • Lulu: 3.2L clean tank; 2.8L waste tank
  • 7mm auto-lift mop to clean floors and carpets
  • 5x Eco Compactor to conserve up to five times the capacity
  • Legee app controls + WiFi + voice control

Features on the D8 

The Legee D8 uses its signature D-shaped design to reach corners and edges, and to be honest, this is one of the most fascinating things to watch when it cleans. It is so precise and really gets into the grooves. I love watching it clean, ha!

It pairs using the Hobot Legee app, which worked seamlessly on iOS. It’s the same app that I have the Legee D7 connected to, so both show up. The app is the central control system despite the actual unit having a few buttons on it. I barely touch them unless I want to send it back ‘home’ to its base station.

The new D8 has a “5x Eco Compactor” feature that uses its mini trash truck to minimise the trash occupancy in the unit, which conserves up to five times the capacity, which results in less time and effort spent emptying the dustbin.

The first thing you should do once paired is send the D8 to map your home, which saved onto the app. You can then go into it, select zones, name the rooms, create virtual barriers, etc. It also gives you a basic overview like battery percentage, size of area cleaned, cleaning time, etc. And importantly, the status of the machine: water tank, trash bin, sensors, child lock, etc.

When you’re mapped out, you can choose which room to send it to, and choose between eight cleaning modes: standard; power suction; eco; deep cleaning; stain; tangless; dry; and custom. I also love that you can send it to specific area by dragging your finger on the app to choose the spot – even if it’s one area in a large room.

Legee uses its SLAM navigation system to clean, which uses its technologies built-in to determine the best cleaning route, identify obstacles, etc. It also uses AI for other things like lifting the mop to climb on carpets (7mm); mop when necessary; an AI smart spray to use the right amount of water that won’t stain; and its map memory is made up of five layers: auto room divider, virtual barrier, virtual box, curtain zone, climbing control.

First impressions of the D8 and Lulu

It was easy to unbox and set-up the D8, but when it came to the Lulu, I didn’t think to check inside the water tank, but I eventually found its power cable in there. You can totally set-up the D8 independently, and then purchase the Lulu a few months after (if you are not able to put down the R18 000 initially).

Once you have the Lulu docking station, the D8 will return to this base, and not the one you initially set-up. I set it up all together, so I didn’t need the D8’s dock. I like that you get two extra mop pads and two extra brushes in the box, so if you need to eventually change from wear and tear, it’s there. I also received a 220ml Legee Floor Detergent. It uses 1:50 ratio of 5ml detergent with 250ml water.

I like that the Lulu is not a massive appliance that needs tons of space, but you need to leave some room around it, according to the manual, so that it can return to its dock without obstruction.

You need to set aside time for the mapping of your home, and this is dependent on how large your space is. Make sure you are happy with the mapping, naming of rooms, etc, which makes it easy to operate and send it to each room as needed.

Once it’s set-up, it is so easy to use. You open the app, and choose where to send it, and how deep a clean you want. I always use a power suction or stain mode for the kitchen, and something standard for my office, and deep cleaning for the bedrooms.

The Legee D8 works great on short-hair carpets

I also want to point out something astonishing, the Legee D8 unit uses 19.95W of power; and the Lulu draws 60W of power – these are not typos! It is so efficient and low-powered, you can use it on your portable power stations. Also, the Legee has its own battery, and if you send it to one room at a time, it will not run out of battery while cleaning a room.

In addition to its low wattage, it has very energy efficient, with quick drying (40 degrees), instant draining, etc, which sure, works a bit loudly but this is my experience with all robovacs that cleans itself – loud yes but efficient.

I look forward to testing it properly in the coming weeks, and stay tuned for my give away that includes both the Legee D8 and the Lulu cleaning station, worth R18 000!

Buying the Legee D8 and Lulu

The Hobot Legee D8 can be purchased on Solenco South Africa at R11 499 and the Hobot Legee Lulu cleaning station at R6 499. Solenco also offers the option to pay within three months, with interest-free instalments directly on its website. The product is also available on Yuppiechef in-store and online.