Philips Steam Plus 2-in-1 Sweep and Steam Cleaner review

So the last time, I had a chance to review Phil, Philips' steam cleaner. This time, I got a chance to try out his more... multifunctional cousin, the Steam Plus 2-in-1 Sweep and Steam cleaner and I am quite excited to review this unit because it could be the answers to all my household woes.

There is a weekly routine in my household that I absolutely loath and that is sweeping and mopping the floor. My house is quite big with a lot of hard-to-reach corners that gather dust quite easily. Navigating a ratty old broom can be quite a challenge as I always had to make sure I got every bit of dust there is before mopping otherwise it would be giant wet ball of hair, fur and dirt. Other than that, there is the issue of re-dipping the mop into a bucket of dirty water. Is that like, mopping the floor with dirty water anyway? My mom says the floor detergent will take care of that but ew. 

Enter the Philips 2-in-1. It is as its name suggests. It can both sweep and steam the floor all at one go. How is this possible? 

The flat rectangular head offers two functions. The front part is where every bit of dust is swept up with a roll of brush into a container before the steamer part, similar to Phil the stream cleaner, applies piping hot steam to the now dust-free area thus riding it of germs and bacteria. 

No floor detergent is needed although a freshly steamed floor doesn't quite have that smooth post-mopping feel against my bare feet. There is a water container at the neck that can be removed to be filled with water. 

Turning it on is simple. Just plug it into a power outlet in the room, press the button and wait for the steamer to heat up (in about two minutes). Unlike Phil that comes with a separate resting dock, the neck of the 2-in-1 can be locked into a standing position. To disengage, simply step on the foot press on the head and it's ready to go. 

Here's a video of it cleaning my dining room which has been dirty to unseen fur and cat food. 

Cleaning the device can be another chore on its own but it was designed to make it as easy and as hassle-free as possible. To clean out the dirty compartment, just lift the top flap and empty out the contents over a dustbin. The brush can easily be removed and washed under flowing water. I had to manually remove all the tangled hair strands though so that's an ew in my department. 

 As for the steamer, just pull off the microfibre pad and toss it in the wash. Hang out to dry. The unit comes with an extra so rotate between both would prolong its usage life. 

The Philips Stream Plus 2-in-1 Sweep and Steam does save time and the hassle of waiting for a wet floor to dry. Cleaning it is quick and easy provided you don't let the dirt inside accumulate. It comes with a coil hook for you to wrap up its cable when not in use although moving around the cable when trying to clean the floor can be tricky. Also, finding a strategic power outlet in a room to minimize changing time depends on each room and house.

Its head has difficulty reaching hard-to-reach places and corners as it does not have the movability as Phil. But that being said, it does wonders to sweep and steam the floor all at once, slashing down cleaning time by at least half.

The Philips Steam Plus 2-in-1 is priced at a whooping RM699 and is available at selected departmental stores and can be ordered on Blip.my, a Philips exclusive online store.