Best Rated Robot Vacuum Cleaner

While robot vacuums are excellent in keeping your floors spotless, they can't substitute for a larger vacuum. Even the best smart vacuum robots can struggle to get into carpets or rugs and often get caught in socks and cords.

Maintaining a regular schedule of maintenance (replacing filters cutting hair tangled from brushes, and emptying the dust bin) can help your robot last longer.

Battery Life

Most robot vacuums are capable of handling just a few cleaning sessions before needing to recharge. The second-placed model in our top picks, the Ecovacs Deebot Q30S Combo is capable of lasting up to 180 minutes (3,230 square feet) of cleaning time on one charge. That amount of runtime is more than enough time to clean most smaller homes with carpets that are hard and carpets with low pile or a larger house in which the rooms are about the same size.

A longer battery lifespan also means that the robot will spend more time cleaning robot price and less charging on its dock. You should select one with an auto-emptying bin. These models are more efficient in collecting debris and then returning back to the dock to recharge. It is important to clean or replace filters and wipe down sensors and cameras regularly so they can see clearly.

Smart mapping technology is a great feature to look for, as it allows you to program your robot to only clean specific rooms or areas where it's more likely to crash into furniture or other obstacles. It's also beneficial for ensuring your robot can get under and around beds, sofas and other furniture that is tall. Some robovacs are inexpensive and come with boundary strips you can use to block off specific areas. Other high-end models depend on sensors and cameras.

Even the best roborock vacuum robot vacs aren't able to replace a traditional vacuum when it comes to heavy-duty, large-pile dirt and debris. It is recommended to keep a traditional power vac in reserve to handle these chores and to schedule robot vacuums regularly for light cleanups throughout the week.

Navigation

A robot must be able to navigate around your home without getting stuck or crashing into objects such as metal screws or loose pet hair or sand. In our tests we used a tracking device used to track the robot's movements through a multi-room lab. It then analyzes its surroundings. We also examine how well it avoids obstacles like furniture legs, power cords and pet waste.

The best robovac robots can identify different floors and recognize landmarks like windows and doors. The most advanced robots, like the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra have a dual sensor navigation system, which uses a LIDAR to create a floor plan and a structured-light camera mounted on the front to detect objects in real-time. The S8 can avoid obstacles like cables for power and furniture legs. It also has the capability to store up to four floor maps.

The more affordable models don't have this type of object detection and rely on bump sensors, which aren't as accurate. In my tests, they plowed right through cords, dog poop and even a pair of shoes placed in the middle of the room. The Dreametech D10+ is the most value-for-money option. It is a great carpet and hard floor pickup, great hair and tangle pickup and a near perfect auto empty score.

A large dust bin onboard, which doesn't have to be empty manually is another feature that's important. If you have models that mop the floor, this tank will hold enough water for several weeks of cleaning. Karcher's RCV 5 is an excellent example of this. It has a big enough footprint to fit under furniture, but not so large that it can't fit into the nook between your toilet and bathtub.

Apps

Robot vacuums are like upright vacuums and require lots of technology to get them up and running at speed. There are plenty of choices available in a market that is mature. Even the most advanced models require interaction from their users, especially when it comes time to plan cleaning schedules, design a floor plan for your home, and set up virtual barriers.

To help reduce the impact of this interaction, you should look for a model that has its own app to determine the layout of your home and save those settings for the future. This will allow the robot vacuum to continue where it started on subsequent runs rather than having the mapping process restarted each time.

You should also consider models that offer spot or zone cleaning. They let you tell the robot vacuum to focus on a specific area for example, like under the dining table after an enormous family meal. You can choose to do this by using the app or voice commands.

Many models also offer objects avoidance. It allows the robot when it spots objects in its path, like a box of shoes or a crate containing dog toys, to instruct itself around. This prevents it from crashing into objects that could harm its sensors or cause a jam.

This feature is offered on some of the more expensive models we tested. However, they typically rely on bump sensors for this and didn't always manage to avoid things in my test homes.

Pet Hair

When you're looking to remove pet hair, you should choose the right model designed to handle this kind of debris. The most effective models will feature the highest suction, a brush that prevents tangling and an automatic floor cleaner emptying mechanism. Some models are able to detect dirt levels to adjust the intensity of cleaning. They can also detect objects that aren't part of the flooring in your home, such as furniture and toys, food bowls cords, and much more.

Some robot vacuums include features that are pet-friendly, such as a small water dispenser that can be used to mop floors and an HEPA filter that helps reduce allergens like pet dander. They could also feature an operation that is quieter to cut down on the amount of noise generated during cleaning sessions.

Robot vacuums that have the ability to map are a great option for pet owners. They're designed to evaluate your home, and create an attack plan based on the layout of each room and obstacles. Shark Matrix Plus is a 2-in-1 robot vacuum that can map a room, navigate through furniture, and over other obstacles with the help of accelerometers and gyroscope sensors.

Other models that are more advanced allow you to create no-go zones, which are areas that the robot is meant to stay clear of, such as fragile items or pet feeding areas--by altering settings using an app. This feature is particularly useful for busy households, as you can schedule cleaning sessions without needing to be in the space in which the vacuum is. Spot cleaning is another fantastic feature. You can instruct the vacuum cleaner to clean an area that is especially dirty or stuffed with pet hair.

Dust Bin

If you don't want something tiny, choose a robot with a large bin or even a self-emptying dustbin. This is why we suggest opting for a model that has a large bin, or perhaps a self-emptying dustbin. The former will help you keep up with cleaning the bin regularly enough to stay on top of its performance, while the latter will help you save time and effort by automatically dumping the contents into an internal container after every few cleanings.

Look for models with smart mapping capabilities that enable them to "learn" the layout of your house and plan more efficient routes. They can also sense and avoid objects that could hinder their travel (like shoelaces or tangled charging cables). Find models with smart mapping capabilities, which permit them to "learn" the structure of your home and devise more efficient routes, and ones that can sense and avoid objects that could hinder their path (like shoelaces or strangling charging cables).

Certain models also offer spot cleaning, which allows you to choose a particular area of your house for intensive cleaning. We've found that most of the top performers in our tests can remove fine particles such as baking soda and sand, together with larger debris such as oatmeal, orzo pasta, metal screws, and pet hair.

According to the company, robots can last years and perform as well, so long as they're maintained. For instance cleaning hair tangled of brushes, emptying dust bins after each use and wiping cameras and sensors down when needed. The most efficient robots tend to be more modular and therefore easier and cheaper to replace or repair parts like batteries and wheels when they wear out.