Best Rated Robot Vacuum Cleaner

While robot vacuums are great in keeping your floors clean but they aren't able to replace a full-size vacuum. Even the most advanced robots have difficulty getting deep into carpets and rugs, and they may get caught with cords and socks.

Your robot will last longer if you perform regular maintenance. This includes replacing filters, cutting hairs that are tangled from brushes, and emptying the dust bin.

Battery Life

Most robot vacuums are capable of handling just a few cleaning sessions before needing to recharge. The runner-up in 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 to clean the majority of smaller homes that have a mix of hard floors and low-pile carpets or a larger house where the rooms are roughly the same size.

A longer battery life means that the robot will be able to spend less time charging and more time cleaning. It's worth opting for an auto-emptying dust bin, since these models are more efficient in picking up debris and returning to the dock for charging. It is also essential to clean or replace the filter and clean cameras and sensors on a regular basis to ensure they can clearly see your home.

Smart mapping technology is a useful feature to be looking for because it allows you to program your robot to only clean certain rooms or avoid areas where it's likely to crash into furniture or other obstacles. This feature is also useful for ensuring that your robot is able to reach under and around furniture such as sofas, beds and other large objects. A few robovacs that are cheap come with boundary strips that you can use to block off specific areas. Other high-end models rely on sensors and cameras.

Even the most powerful robot vacuums cannot replace a traditional vacuum when it comes to heavy-duty large-pile dirt and debris. It's recommended to have a power vacuum available for these tasks and schedule robot vacuums for light cleaning throughout the week.

Navigation

A robot must be able to navigating your home without getting caught or running into objects like metal screws or pet hair, or sand. In our tests, we employ an instrument to track the robot as it goes through a multi-room lab and maps out its surroundings. We also look for the extent to which it can avoid obstacles like furniture legs, power cords and pet waste.

The best robot vacuums robots are able to create different floors and recognize landmarks like windows and doors. The most advanced robots such as the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra have a dual sensor navigation system that uses an LIDAR to create a floor plan and a structured-light camera at the front to detect objects in real-time. This allows the S8 to avoid common obstacles such as furniture legs and power cords and can also store up to four different floor maps in its internal memory.

More best affordable robot vacuum models don't have this kind of object detection and rely on bump sensors which aren't as precise. In my testing they cut right through dog poop, cords, 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 tangle and hair pickup, and an auto empty score.

Another important feature is a large onboard dustbin which doesn't have to be manually empty, and for those models that mop, a tank of water that can hold weeks worth of cleaning sessions. Karcher's RCV 5 is a good example of this. It has a wide enough footprint to fit under furniture, but not so big that it can't fit into the nook between your bathtub and toilet.

Apps

Robot vacuums are similar to their upright counterparts and require an array of technologies to keep them up to date. The result is a mature market with plenty of options. Even the top models require interaction from their users, especially when it comes to schedule cleaning, make a the floor plan of your home and install virtual barriers.

Consider a model with its own app that can recognize the layout of your house and save these settings for future use. This will let the vacuum begin where it left off on subsequent runs, rather than having to start the mapping process each time.

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

Many models also offer objects-avoidance. It lets the robot observe something in its path, such as the shoe box or a crate filled with dog toys, and guide itself around it. This will keep it from crashing into things that might damage 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 to accomplish this, and they weren't always able to stay clear of things in my test homes.

Pet Hair

Choose a vacuum cleaner that is designed to pick up pet hair. The best automatic vacuum cleaner models have powerful suction and a brush that prevents the tangling and an emptying mechanism that will automatically dump hair into the bin when needed. Some models can also determine dirt levels and adjust the cleaning intensity in line with the level of dirt. They are able to detect objects that aren't a part of your flooring like furniture toys, food bowls, toys cords, and so on.

Some robot vacuums include pet-friendly features, like small water dispensers that can be used to mop floors, and an HEPA filter that can help reduce allergens, such as 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 that include mapping capabilities are an excellent option for pet owners since they're engineered to assess your home and devise plans of attack based on the layout and obstructions in every room. Shark Matrix Plus is a two-in-one robot vacuum that can map a room, and navigate around furniture, and other obstacles by using accelerometers and Gyroscope smart vacuum sensors.

Apps let you create zones that are not allowed. These are areas that the robot shouldn't be allowed, such as fragile items or pet feeding areas. This feature is especially useful for families with busy schedules, since you can schedule cleaning times without having to be in the space in which the vacuum is. Another excellent feature is spot cleaning which lets you control the vacuum to clean a specific area that may be particularly filthy or full of pet hair.

Dust Bin

If you don't want something small, go for a model with a big bin or even a self-emptying bin. We suggest choosing the one with an enormous bin or a trash bin that self-empties. The former will enable you to keep track of emptying the bin frequently enough to keep track of its performance while the latter will save you time and hassle by automatically emptying its contents into an internal container after every few cleanings.

No matter the size of your house Most robots are able to move around and up to furniture, and they can recognize and navigate around household obstacles such as shoes, cords that are loose and dog urine. Find models with smart mapping capabilities, which enable them to "learn" the layout of your home and devise more efficient routes, and ones that are able to detect and avoid objects that may block their paths (like shoelaces or strangling charging cables).

Some models also offer spot cleaning. This lets you choose a specific area of your home for thorough cleaning. In our tests, we found that the top models can take out small particles like baking soda, sand orzo, metal screws and pet hair, in addition to heavier debris like oatmeal, orzo, and screws made of metal.

The brand you choose will determine the longevity of the robot. most robots will last for years and will continue to perform so long as you maintain them with regular maintenance tasks, such as cleaning hair that has become tangled from brushes, emptying the dust bin after every use, and wiping down cameras and sensors when required. The best affordable robot vacuum robots are also more modular. This allows you to replace or repair components such as wheels and batteries when they wear out.