For a few years now, I’ve been testing more and more inventive devices from the smart-home category. Many of them turned out to be genuinely practical “everyday improvers”, while some ended up in a cupboard after the first wave of excitement. I’ve been working with the MOVA brand for quite some time, so when they offered me the chance to test their new model – the X4 Pro – I was curious whether it would fix what I still considered compromises in previous 3-in-1 vacuums (wet, dry, liquid pickup). I put the device through three different “test ranges”: a family house with pets and hard floors, a hair salon where there are hairs everywhere plus styling product residue, and an apartment in a block where there are lots of laminate floors. How did it perform in practice? Enjoy the video.
First impressions
The Mova X4 Pro costs 470 euro. The box turned out to be much smaller than I expected. Inside I found the main unit, the user manual, the vacuum handle, the docking station, and a floor-cleaning solution branded with the manufacturer’s logo. Everything was well protected, and the main box itself looked quite elegant – a good gift idea. Putting it together requires no tools.
The body feels chunky, but well balanced; matte anthracite pairs with glossy black. The handle is shaped really well. It feels good in both the left and right hand. The only flexible element is a small rubberized strip on the underside of the handle. It lets you safely rest the vacuum on the floor when the arm is fully extended, without leaving scratches.
The central part of the device (facing the user) is taken up by a large, split dirty-water tank with a maximum capacity of 730 ml. You release it with a single, nicely protruding lever. Once pressed, the module pops out immediately. From the top you can see the filter seated in a separate cover – you can easily remove it and rinse it under the tap, and pour out the water separately. On the transparent wall there are two “MAX” markings: the first applies when the vacuum is laid flat, the second – when it’s working in normal mode. This double scale quickly shows whether you’re getting close to the limit, even during aggressive maneuvering near a sofa. One extra note here. If you use a heavily foaming detergent or vacuum foam, the foam can also trigger the “tank full” sensor and MOVA will ask you to empty the excess water.
Just above the tank there’s a small wheel that helps guide the device at maximum tilt, plus a speaker with a button to adjust voice notifications. With one click you can lower the volume or completely mute the Polish voice. That’s a huge relief, because it was one of my main complaints about a similar vacuum I tested earlier.
The handle hides three buttons. Closest to the thumb, with an icon of two arrows and a wave, there’s the self-cleaning button. Pressing it during cleaning triggers a message telling you to place the vacuum in the station to run the cleaning cycle. Because the button is so close, I accidentally press it fairly often while cleaning. That’s the only ergonomic hiccup. Above it sit the power button and the mode switch: Smart, Ultra, Suction, and Hot Water.
On the underside of the handle there’s a gold-colored trigger. In hot-water mode it activates a spray of water heated up to 80°C, and at the same time, above the transparent roller cover, a green laser beam lights up to precisely indicate the hot-water cleaning area. The hot water sprays for a few seconds, then needs a short moment to heat up again.
The floor-cleaning module is made up of several elements. You get the roller, the laser, a special nozzle for spraying the cleaned surface with hot water, and the transparent roller cover. A big plus is the improved design: the manufacturer minimized the “dead zone” on the sides and at the front of the device. It’s still there, but small, which I really liked because I can get closer to edges than with other designs of this type.
At the back of this module there’s also a removable clean-water tank with a capacity of 760 milliliters. Structurally it’s one piece, but it’s flattened in the middle, so you can pull it out using a movable handle. After removing it, you simply open the sealed latch, add water (plus a mild detergent if needed), and slide it back into place. With this separation, dirty and clean water never mix, and access to both tanks is equally quick.
Overall, it feels solid and well thought out. After five minutes of assembly – without a single screwdriver – I had a vacuum ready to work, and from the very first pull on the handle it suggested it might stay in the house longer than previous models.
MOVA X4 Pro in real use
The very first passes over oak boards on the ground floor showed that Smart mode reacts sensibly. The dirt sensor doses water and changes suction power, keeping noise at the level of a normal conversation. Pet hair, hair from the salon, and dried traces of hair spray caused no problems for the Mova X4 Pro, but I always add regular floor-cleaning liquid to the clean-water tank because it leaves a pleasant scent in the room. The Tangle-Free system worked, because during inspection I didn’t find a single hair wrapped around the brush. The battery – six 5000 mAh cells – easily lasted around 45 minutes of intensive cleaning before the display dropped to 15%.
I tested the vacuum in different conditions and scenarios. From dried sauce stains and food residue on the floor, to spilled liquids, and even potting soil scattered from a plant. After switching on hot-water mode, the trigger released a hot mist that softened the stain while not soaking the laminate. One pass was enough; the floor was slightly warm, but dry after less than a minute. This option works great for washing kitchen tiles.
What surprised me most was how comfortable it is to push. Although the body weighs “dry” just over a kilogram, the roller’s self-propulsion practically pushes the device forward. In a long hallway, the X4 Pro could turn around on the spot. You get a turning angle of up to 60 degrees, which is a much better result than with other models I tested earlier. Only on stairs did the weight become noticeable – here a regular mop still wins, because you don’t have to carry it step by step.
Once you place the MOVA X4 Pro onto the ramp, a five-stage “spa ritual” for the roller begins: first a hot bath at 100°C, then vigorous washing, squeezing, suctioning out the dirty water, and finally two-way scrubbing. If the built-in sensors decide something is still trapped in the fibers, the station simply adds an extra rinse – I don’t need to press anything or monitor progress. After the rinse finishes, you get a message that you can empty the dirty-water tank, and the device immediately moves on to the next step.
After the bath, the device switches to drying, and you can choose between two scenarios. In intelligent mode, the station decides whether 15 minutes is enough or whether it needs the full 30 minutes of hot (around 90°C) airflow. In practice, the noise doesn’t exceed the level of a normal conversation. If I pick the quick option, the fan runs a bit louder, but it still doesn’t bother me. The roller first spins at high speed to fling off excess water with centrifugal force. Only then does warm air kick in, so when the cycle ends I remove a roller that’s dry and free of that characteristic damp smell. The self-cleaning passed with flying colors!
What I liked
I like the effectiveness of the hot water the most. An 80°C spray quickly dissolves dried sauce or coffee, and the green laser precisely marks the spray zone. The head cuts sucked-in hair on the fly, so over two months of tests I didn’t have to take the roller out once for manual cleaning. The automatic drive makes the device’s weight disappear on flat surfaces, and the improved turning radius helps maneuvering between furniture. The wash-and-dry station works fast and quietly; my role is basically limited to pouring out dirty water, because after the cycle the roller comes out completely dry. I also appreciate the ability to adjust voice notification volume. Smart mode is surprisingly clever: it evenly wets the roller in several spots using hot water, so I don’t have to “pre-wet” the floor ahead of time. When I stand the vacuum upright, it automatically locks the position, switches to moisture suction, and turns off; tilting it again instantly resumes the motor. Thanks to that, no puddle forms under the vacuum, and I don’t have to power it off every time I set it down for a moment.
What I didn’t like
In hot-water spray mode, the tank empties faster than I expected. For 75 square meters, I had to refill fresh water up to two times. The tank is characteristically “pinched” in the middle, and its side wings are widened to hold more liquid – as a result, the head grew in height. Sure, you can lay it flat at 180°, but under low drawers or near baseboards, the plastic housing picks up scratches very quickly. After two months of tests, my unit looks like I was driving it with my eyes closed. In hot mode the green laser turns on, but it only shines during spraying, so you can’t leave it on permanently like on some stick vacuums. The auto-clean button is placed right near the base of the hand – during tight maneuvers it’s easy to click it unintentionally. On top of that, the station with its ramp is sizable and feels like something straight out of robot vacuums – in a narrow hallway you need to plan a spot for it in advance, because while it makes docking easier, it clearly takes up more space.
