Best Rated Robot Vacuum Cleaner

Robot vacuums can be great for keeping your floors tidy but they cannot replace a regular vacuum. Even the best robots have trouble getting deep into carpets and rugs and they can become tangled up in cords and socks.

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

Battery Life

The majority of robot vacuums are able to handle a few cleaning sessions without needing to be charged. The runner-up of our overall selections is the Ecovacs Deebot Q30S Combo comes with a battery rated to last up to 180 minutes (3,230 square feet) of cleaning time on a single charge. The runtime is more than enough time to clean the majority of smaller homes that have the combination of hard floors and carpets with low pile or a larger house where the rooms are roughly the same size.

A longer battery life means the robot will spend less time charging and more time cleaning. You should choose the model with an auto-emptying bin. These models are more efficient in cleaning up debris and bringing it back to the dock to recharge. It is also essential to empty or change the filter and wipe down cameras and sensors on a regular basis so they can see your home clearly.

Smart mapping technology is a great feature to look out for because it allows you to program your robot to only clear certain rooms or areas where it's more likely to hit furniture or other obstacles. This feature is also beneficial for ensuring that your robot is able to reach under and around furniture, such as beds, sofas and other tall items. Some cheap robovacs offer boundaries that you can put on the floor to block off areas while other high-end models utilize sensors and cameras for this purpose.

Even the most powerful robot vacuum reviews vacuums aren't able to replace a traditional vacuum when it comes to heavy-duty, large-pile dirt and debris. It's best to keep a power vacuum on hand to tackle these tasks, and also schedule robot vacs to do light cleaning throughout the week.

Navigation

A robot should be able to navigate your home without getting stuck or crashing into objects like screws made of metal or loose pet hair or sand. In our tests the tracking device is used to track the robot through a multi-room lab. It then tracks its surroundings. We also check how well the robot can avoid obstacles such as power cords, furniture leg and pet waste.

The most advanced robots can map out 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 that utilizes a LIDAR sensor to map the room and a structured light camera on the front of the bot to detect objects in real-time. This allows the S8 to stay clear of common obstacles, such as power cords and furniture legs and can store up to four floor maps within its internal memory.

The most affordable models rely on bump sensors which aren't as precise. In my tests, they were able to detect dog poop and cords as well as a pair shoes placed in the middle. The Dreametech D10+ is the best value pick. It has excellent carpet, hard floor, tangle and hair pickup. It also has an auto empty score that is near-perfect.

A large onboard dustbin, which does not need to be manually empty is another aspect that's crucial. For models that mop the floor, this tank will hold enough water to last for several weeks of cleaning. The Karcher RCV 5 comes with this feature and has a large enough footprint that it can go under furniture however, it's not so huge that it won't fit in the space between your bathtub and toilet.

Apps

Robot robotic vacuums are a lot similar to upright models and require lots of technology to get them up and running at speed. The result is a mature market that is brimming with options. But even the best budget robot vacuum models require some interaction with their users - particularly when cleaning schedules are being planned, establishing a home floor plan and establishing virtual barriers.

To help reduce this kind of interaction, look for a model that has its own app to determine the layout of your home and save the settings for future use. This will allow the robot vacuum to continue where it started when it runs again, instead of having the mapping process restarted every time.

It is also recommended to look for models that offer zones or spot cleaning. You can instruct the robot vacuum cleaner to focus on a specific area, such as under the table after a big family meal. You can choose to do this by using the app or by voice commands.

Avoidance of objects is a different feature that's available with several models. It permits the robot cleaner, when it spots objects in its path such as a box shoe or a crate with dog toys, to guide itself around. This will prevent it from hitting objects that could harm its sensors or cause jams.

This feature is available on some of the more expensive models we test. However, they typically rely on bump sensors to accomplish this and weren't always able to stay clear of things in my test homes.

Pet Hair

Look for an upright vacuum cleaner designed to pick up pet hair. The most effective models will have the highest suction, a brush which stops tangling, and an automatic emptying mechanism. Some can also detect dirt levels and adjust the cleaning intensity accordingly. They can also detect items that aren't a part of your home flooring, like furniture, toys and food bowls.

Certain robot vacuums come with features that are pet-friendly, such as a small water dispenser that can be used to mop floors, and a HEPA filter that can reduce allergens, such as pet dust. They may also offer a quieter operation that can reduce the amount of noise generated during cleaning sessions.

Robot vacuums that have maps are an excellent option for pet owners. They're designed to evaluate your home and develop an attack plan based on the layout of each room and obstacles. For instance, the Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum is a smart vacuum with an impressive ability to map a room and navigate around furniture and other obstructions with accelerometer and gyroscope smart sensors that work together to learn the layout of your home.

Other advanced models let you define no-go zones that are areas that the robot is supposed to stay clear of, such as fragile items or pet feeding areas--by altering settings using an app. This feature is particularly useful for households with busy schedules, as you can schedule cleaning times without having to be present in the room in which the vacuum is. Another feature that is extremely useful is spot cleaning, which allows you to direct the vacuum to clean a specific area that may be particularly dirty or full of pet hair.

Dust Bin

If you don't want something tiny, choose a robot with a large bin or even a self-emptying trash bin. We recommend choosing one with an enormous bin, or even a dustbin that self-empties. The former will help you keep track of emptying the bin frequently enough to ensure you are on top of its performance and the latter will save you time and effort by automatically dumping its contents into an internal container every few cleanings.

No matter the size of your home, most robots can easily get up to and around furniture, and almost all can recognize and navigate around household obstacles like shoes, loose cords, and dog poop. Make sure you choose models with smart mapping capabilities. This allows them to "learn the layout of your house and design a an efficient route.

Some models also offer spot cleaning, which lets you to manually target an area of your house for intensive cleaning. We've observed that the majority of the top performers in our tests can pick up fine particles like baking soda and sand, along with heavier particles like oatmeal, orzo pasta, metal screws and pet hair.

Based on the manufacturer, most robots will last for a long time and remain in good working order in the event that you keep up with maintenance, such as cleaning hair that has become tangled from brushes and emptying the dust bin after every use, and wiping down sensors and cameras whenever needed. The best robots are also more modular. This allows you to replace or repair parts like wheels and batteries when they wear out.