Best Rated Robot Vacuum Cleaner

While robot vacuums are great in keeping your floors spotless however, they're not able to replace a large-sized vacuum. Even the best rated robot vacuum robots have difficulty getting deep into carpets and rugs, and they may get caught in cords and socks.

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

Battery Life

The majority of robot vacuums can manage just a few cleaning sessions before needing a charge. The Ecovacs Q30S Combo is a close second in our top selections. It has a battery that can last up to 180 minute (3,230 square feet) on one charge. This is more than enough to clean most smaller homes with carpets that are hard and carpets with low pile or a larger house with rooms that are roughly the same size.

A longer battery life means the robot will spend less time charging and can spend more time cleaning. It is recommended to choose the model with an automatic emptying bin. These models are more efficient in picking up debris and returning back to the dock to recharge. It is essential to clean or replace the filters and wipe down sensors and the camera regularly so that they can see clearly.

Smart mapping technology is a useful 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 crash into furniture or other obstacles. This feature is also beneficial for ensuring that your robot is able to reach under and around furniture like beds, sofas and other high-height items. Some robovacs are inexpensive and have boundary strips that you can use to block off specific areas. Other high-end models depend on sensors and cameras.

Even the best combo vacuum robot vacuums cannot replace a traditional vacuum for heavy-duty 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 of moving around your home without being caught or running into things such as metal screws, pet hair or sand. In our tests we used a tracking device used to follow the robot around an entire lab. It then analyzes its surroundings. We also examine how the robot is able to avoid obstacles such as power cords, furniture leg and pet waste.

The top robots can map out multiple floors and can recognize landmarks like doors and windows. The most advanced robots, like the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra have a dual sensor navigation system, that uses the LIDAR to draw a room's layout and a structured-light camera on the front to identify objects in real-time. The S8 can avoid obstacles such as cables for power and legs of furniture. It also has the capability to store up to four floor maps.

Cheaper models don't come with this kind of detection and rely on bump sensors, which aren't as precise. In my testing, 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 best value choice. It is a great carpet and hard floor, tangle, and hair pickup. It also has a near-perfect auto empty score.

Another feature that is important is a large dust bin that doesn't need to be manually empty, and for those models that mop, a water tank which can store weeks of cleaning sessions. Karcher's RCV 5 is a great illustration of this. It has a big enough footprint to be able to be placed under furniture, but not too big that it cannot fit in the space between your bathtub and toilet.

Apps

Robot vacuums are like upright vacuums and require a lot of tech to get them up to speed. There are plenty of options in a market that is mature. But even the best robot vacuum models require some interaction with their users - especially when it comes to scheduling cleanings, establishing a home floor plan and setting up virtual barriers.

To lessen the chance of the impact of this interaction, you should look for a model with its own app to recognize the location of your home, and save those settings for future use. This will allow the robot vacuum to continue where it started in subsequent runs, rather than having the mapping process restarted every time.

It is also recommended to consider models that offer zone or spot cleaning. These allow you to tell the robot vacuum to concentrate on a specific spot for example, like under the dining room table after a big family meal. It is possible to use the app or voice commands.

Many models also provide objects avoidance. It lets the robot detect objects in its path, for instance the shoe box or a crate full of dog toys, and guide itself around it. This will stop it from running into objects that could harm its sensors or cause jams.

This feature is available on a few of the more expensive models we tested. 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 removing pet hair, choose the right model designed to handle this type of debris. The top models feature high suction power and a brush that is free of getting caught in a knot, and an emptying mechanism that will automatically dump hair into the trash bin when needed. Some models are able to detect dirt levels and adjust the intensity of cleaning. They also can detect items that aren't a part of your home flooring, like toys, furniture and remote vacuum food bowls.

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

Robot vacuums with maps are an excellent option for pet owners. They are designed to analyze your home, and create an attack plan based on the layout of each room and obstacles. Shark Matrix Plus is a dual-purpose robot vacuum that can map a room, and navigate around furniture and other obstacles with the help of accelerometers and Gyroscope smart sensors.

Other models that are more advanced allow you to define no-go zones that are areas that the robot is expected to avoid--like fragile items or pet feeding spots--by adjusting settings through an app. This feature is particularly useful for families with busy schedules, since it allows you to schedule cleaning sessions without needing to be in the space where the vacuum is. Spot cleaning is another fantastic feature. You can direct the vacuum cleaner to clean a space that is particularly dirty or stuffed with pet hair.

Dust Bin

If you're not searching for something tiny it is recommended to select one that can carry at least a complete bag of trash from one cleaning session. We recommend choosing one with a large bin, or even a dustbin that self-empties. The former will enable you to keep up with emptying the bin often enough to stay on top of its performance while the latter will save you time and effort by automatically dumping its contents into an internal container every few cleans.

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

Some models also provide spot cleaning, which lets you to manually target specific areas of your home for intense cleaning. In our tests, we discovered that the best models can remove fine particles such as baking soda, sand orzo, metal screws and pet hair, as well as heavier debris such as oatmeal, orzo, and metal screws.

Depending on the brand, the majority of robots last for a long time and remain in good working order so long as you keep up with maintenance tasks, such as cleaning tangled hair from brushes and emptying the dust bin after each use and wiping down sensors and cameras when needed. The most reliable robots are more modular. This makes it easier to repair or replace parts like wheels and batteries as they wear out.