Save £300 on this robot vacuum with built-in handheld – and it actually works

We all know robot vacuums are a great time saver. You just click a button on an app, bark an order at Alexa, or wait for a timed schedule to kick in, and they dash around cleaning your floors for you. You don't have to lift a finger.

But the dirty little secret is, that even if you have the most expensive robot vacuum in the world, it can only do so much. There's always going to be a nook or cranny it can't get to, and then there's the thorny issue of steps and stairs. It just can't get up elevations.

This is perhaps why a few manufacturers are flirting with the concept of adding handheld vacuums into their design templates. It sounds daft, but it's actually quite clever.

I recently tested the Eufy E20, which carries around a little handheld vacuum on its back. And SwitchBot has also come up with a potential solution, the K10+ Pro "Combo" - a robot vacuum with a handheld vacuum hanging from the base station.

And, on the face of it at least, this is a really clever idea. The robot vacuum is free to get on with its duties, but when the time comes for a deeper clean, a human can just unhook the handheld and top up.

Cards on the table, I really like the SwitchBot K10+ Pro. I've got one on my first floor, and it leaves my office twice a week to pick up the dog hairs and detritus from my landing and bedrooms. It's said to be the smallest robot vacuum in the world, and that makes it ideal for getting under the bed, around my wife's dressing table, and in and out of our bathroom.

And the new handheld element of the K10+ Pro Combo does nothing to impede its progress. It just sits on the back of the compact base station, charging up, ready to be put to work. The robot isn't connected to it.

What is clever, is the way the handheld vacuum empties its waste container into the robot vacuum's base station, so there are two tools feeding into the same waste bag. It's all done automatically, and you only have to empty the bag (or replace it) every few months or so.

As with any good handheld vacuum, it comes with an array of accessories, including crevice tools that turn into brushes, and a spinning smaller head that's ideal for cars, stairs, and other small spaces. They all stack onto a neat little plate which can sit alongside the main unit.

That main unit, incidentally, is pretty much the same as the base station in the K10+ Pro, but it has the protrusion above it to host the handheld. It makes it quite tall, which can be an issue if you want to put it in an alcove, for example, but it does mean you don't need to reach down to access the vacuum.

The robot itself is no different to the standard K10+ Pro, it's absolutely remarkable how well it performs for its size, and that's why it's still in use in my house.

The handheld vacuum, the new bit, works very well on carpets, with an anti-tangle beater, and it puts in a solid performance on hard floors.

I'm not going to pretend it's the best handheld I've ever used, because it isn't, but it's incredibly light and easy to use, although the smooth plastic vertical handle isn't as ergonomically pleasing as a pistol-shaped handle we see on other handhelds.

That said, it allows for a removable battery, which is nice to see, and that battery lasts really well. You won't find yourself needing to do a mid-clean charge unless you live in a massive house. And most of us don't.

When I first saw the pictures of the Eufy E20 I didn't really get it. It seems like an over-engineered gimmick until you actually get to use it.

And that's true of the K10+ Pro Combo, to some extent. If you're looking at it and thinking "why bother?" I get that, I was the same. But having all your cleaning tech in one place, all charging off the same power cable, and all automatically emptying into the same waste container is a bit of very clever thinking from a brand that's always had a reputation for very clever thinking.

Of course, if either the robot vacuum or the handheld vacuum (or both) were poor performers, I'd probably not recommend it, but the simple fact is they're both really, really good.

So it's another resounding success from SwitchBot. And a product I'd be proud to have in my home.