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Best Rated Robot Vacuum Cleaner

Robot vacuums are fantastic for keeping your floors clean but they cannot replace a regular intelligent vacuum cleaner. Even the best robots can struggle to penetrate carpets or rugs, and can often get caught in cords and socks.

Being on top of routine maintenance (replacing filters cutting hair that is tangled from brushes and emptying the dust bin) will make your robot last longer.

Battery Life

Most robot vacuums can handle just a few cleaning sessions before requiring a charge. The second-placed model in our top 10 robot vacuum cleaner picks, the Ecovacs Deebot Q30S Combo is rated to last up to 180 minutes (3,230 square feet) of cleaning time on a single charge. That amount of runtime is more than enough to clean the majority of smaller homes that have a mix of hard floors and carpets with low pile, or a larger home with rooms that are roughly the same size.

A longer battery life also means that the robot will spend more time cleaning and less time charging its dock. You should choose one with an auto-emptying bin. These models are more efficient in picking up debris and returning to docks to recharge. It is important to clean or replace filters and wipe down sensors and camera regularly so that they can see clearly.

Smart mapping technology can be a useful feature, as you can program your robot to ensure that it only cleans specific rooms or avoids areas where it's likely to bump into furniture and other obstacles. This feature is also useful to ensure that your robot is able to reach under and around furniture like beds, sofas and other large objects. Some cheap robovacs offer boundaries that you can put on the floor to block off certain areas, while others utilize sensors and cameras for this purpose.

Even the most powerful robot vacuums cannot substitute a traditional vac for heavy-duty dirt and debris. It's advisable to keep a conventional power vac on standby for those tasks, and to schedule robot vacuums regularly for cleaning up light chores throughout the week.

Navigation

A robot must be able to navigate around your home without getting stuck or crashing into objects like metal screws or pet hair that is loose, or sand. In our tests, we employ a tracking device to track the robot as it goes through a multiroom lab. It shows its surroundings. We also look for the way it manages to avoid obstacles, including furniture legs, power cords, and pet waste.

The best robots are able to identify different floors and identify landmarks, such as doors and windows. The most advanced ones such as the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra, feature a dual-sensor navigation system which uses the LIDAR sensor to map the room, and a light camera on the front of the bot to detect objects in real-time. The S8 can avoid obstacles such as cables for power and furniture legs. It also has the capability to store up to four floor maps.

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 were able to see through dog poop and cords, as well as a pair of shoes placed in the middle. The best amazon vacuum value pick the Dreametech D10+, is an exception to this. It is a great carpet, hard floor, tangle and hair pickup. It also has a near-perfect auto empty score.

A large onboard dustbin that doesn't need to be emptying manually is another feature that is essential. For models that mop the floor, this tank will hold enough water for several weeks of cleaning sessions. Karcher's RCV 5 is a good robot vacuum example of this. It has a wide enough footprint to fit under furniture but not too big that it can't fit into the nook between your bathtub and toilet.

Apps

Robot vacuums are a lot like upright vacuums, and it takes a lot of tech to get them up to speed. The result is a pretty mature market full of options. However, even the most advanced models require interaction with their users - particularly when cleaning schedules are being planned and establishing a floor plan and setting up virtual barriers.

You might consider a model with its own app that can recognize the layout of your house and save these settings for later use. This will let the robot vacuum begin where it left off on subsequent runs, instead of having to start the mapping process every time.

It's important to look out for a model that offers zones or spot cleaning options. You can instruct the vacuum cleaner to focus on a specific area, for example, under the table after a huge family meal. You can typically do this using the app or by voice commands.

Many models also provide objects avoidance. It permits the robot, when it spots objects in its path such as a box of shoes or a crate filled with dog toys, to coach itself around. This prevents it from crashing into things that could harm its sensors or cause jams.

Some of the more expensive models we've tested have this feature. They rely on bump sensor technology to do this however they did not always keep things out of my test home.

Pet Hair

When it comes to picking up pet hair, choose the right model designed to handle this type of debris. The top models feature powerful suction, a brush that avoids the tangling and an emptying mechanism that will automatically empty hair into the bin when needed. Some are also able to detect dirt levels and adjust the cleaning intensity in line with the level of dirt. They also can detect objects that aren't part of your flooring in your home, such as furniture, toys and food bowls.

Some robot vacuums include features that are pet-friendly, such as a water dispenser that can be used for mopping floors, and a HEPA filter that can help reduce allergens, such as pet dander. They may also have a quieter mode of operation to reduce the amount noise that is generated during cleaning.

Robot vacuums that include maps are a great option for pet owners since they're designed to evaluate your home and develop a plan of attack according to the layout and obstacles in each room. Shark Matrix Plus is a two-in-one robot vacuum that can create a map of a room, and navigate through furniture, and over other obstacles with the help of accelerometers and gyroscope sensors.

Other advanced models let you create no-go zones, which are areas that the robot is meant to stay clear of, such as fragile items or pet feeding spots--by adjusting settings through an app. This feature can be especially useful for a busy household because it allows you to schedule cleaning time and adjust settings without having to be in the same room with the remote vacuum. Another feature that is extremely useful is spot cleaning which gives you the option to control the vacuum to clean a particular area that may be particularly dirty or brimming with pet hair.

Dust Bin

If you don't need something small, consider a robot with a large bin or even a self-emptying trash bin. We recommend choosing one with a large bin, or even a dustbin that automatically emptys. The one will let you keep up with emptying your bin often enough to keep it functioning. The latter will help you save time and effort by automatically dropping the contents into an inside container after every cleaning.

Regardless of the size of your home, most robots can easily move around and up to furniture, and almost all can recognize and navigate around household obstacles like loose cords, shoes and dog urine. Find models with smart mapping capabilities that allow them to "learn" the layout of your home and plan more efficient routes, as well as ones that can sense and avoid objects that could block their paths (like shoelaces or the tangled charging cables).

Some models provide spot cleaning. This lets you select an area of your house for intensive cleaning. In our tests, we found that the top models are able to remove small particles like baking soda, sand, orzo, screws made of metal and pet hair, as well as heavier debris like oatmeal, orzo, and metal screws.

According to the company the manufacturer, robots last for a long time and continue to perform well, as long as they are properly maintained. For example cleaning hair tangled of brushes and emptying dust bins after each use and wiping sensors and cameras down as required. The best-performing robots also tend to be more modular which makes them simpler and less expensive to repair or replace components like batteries and wheels when they wear out.