The Best Robot Vacuums

A quality robot vacuum does most of the work and removes pet hair, lint and dirt before it can cling to furniture or get ground into carpets. They also have smart assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant to provide an unrestricted experience.

Many models have mapping capabilities that allow them to create an interactive map of your home. This helps them to avoid falling off ledges or navigating around clusters of devices if cords are.

What to Do You Look For?

Some robots have advanced features, which allow you to control them via voice assistants like Alexa or Google Assistant. These include smart mapping as well as cleaning zones and spots, and objects avoiding. These machines might also have larger dust bins as well as longer-lasting batteries.

Select a model with a wide brush to remove large particles, and is thin enough to fit underneath furniture. Also, make sure that the vacuum can move over multiple kinds of floors without having to change brushes or change suction settings, which can make it less effective in cleaning and decrease its lifespan.

The top robot vacuums come with top-quality filters that can catch fine particles and safeguard your home. They also have a large, easily accessible bin for collecting so that you can empty it frequently. Certain robot vacuums come with an additional side brush that can clean pet hair or debris in difficult to reach areas, such as under and behind furniture. The bins are typically transparent, which means you can see the amount of dirt in the bin and when to empty it.

You can also make use of the app to establish the boundaries of furniture and rooms you don't want it to enter. Some models also recognize the kind of floor they're cleaning, and automatically adjust their brush and suction settings accordingly.

There are also robots that recharge and continue cleaning right where they left off when their battery runs low. There are some that have an inbuilt camera that allows you to see your robot vacuum's route and view what it's taken in.

Certain robots can be operated by voice commands but not all. Make sure the model you pick is compatible with the voice assistant of your choice and test it out to see how well the robot responds to commands prior to purchasing. Some robots can even empty their bins and clean their docking stations which will reduce your chore list. This feature is expensive, as are a larger collection container and faster charging speed.

Cleaning Performance

While robots cannot replace a full-on vacuum or broom, they can provide an effective and efficient alternative to the everyday chore of cleaning your floors. The most effective robotic cleaners clean up small particles such as dust, pet hair and crumbs, or larger objects like metal shavings and wood shavings. They do this without causing damage to furniture or floors.

They usually detect the type of surface that they are cleaning and adjust their suction/brush features accordingly to clean your floors more thoroughly. This is especially important if your home is surrounded by different kinds of flooring. There are many models that offer many options to set up virtual boundaries, allowing you to tell the robot to stay away from certain areas of your home. This helps prevent your children or pets from getting in areas they shouldn't. It also ensures that your entire house is cleaned at the end of every scheduled session.

You should also consider how much autonomy you're comfortable with giving your robot. Certain models require your presence and attention while others operate independently with the capability to alter cleaning schedules and cleaning modes using a mobile application or voice commands using an integrated smart assistant. Some models map and learn your home's layout and allow you to create zones, and instruct the robot only to clean certain areas in your home on a daily or weekly basis.

In our tests, the iRobot j7+ proved to be the top robot to "set it and forget it". It was more adept in mapping the virtual boundaries and avoids obstacles than the other robots we tested. It can also empty itself, so you don't need to manually do it. And, the side brushes are used to sweep debris off edges and auto Mopper corners that a vacuum might not reach.

Its slim profile and infrared sensors permit it to go behind and under furniture for a deeper clean than most robots, and its advanced navigation system is more capable of cleaning the entire floor of your home on a single charge than other models we've tested. For a price that is affordable, you'll find it tough to beat for daily use.

Battery Life

A good robot vacuum can help keep your floors tidy and feel less like a chore, and more like a luxury. Quickly removing dirt, crumbs and shedding pet hair can make all the difference in the cleanliness of your home every day. While a simple robot can keep up with most cleaning tasks, those who want more of a hands-free experience should consider models that double as a mop.

Ecovacs' Deebot T10 OMNI is a top performer in both mopping and vacuuming modes. It can take care of dirt, pet hair, and even cat litter. Its object avoidance feature is particularly impressive, allowing it to avoid objects and not get stuck on them.

It comes with a huge dust bin and a battery that lasts for a long time, so it can cover a significant amount of space in one session. It's also a smart vacuum, which means that it can track your home and can be used with apps like those offered by Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant to let you control the vacuum using voice commands.

The application that comes with the robot allows you to create schedules, define specific rooms for cleaning, or pause/resume sessions. It will alert you when its battery is depleted and then return to the docking station for recharging.

Another good thing about this robot is that it can distinguish between carpets and hard floors and adjust its settings accordingly, which prevents the machine from being bogged down in one type of surface or damaging furniture. However, it isn't yet able to detect high pile carpeting or seams in rooms, so you'll still have to be careful about picking up large objects.

To keep robot vacuums in top condition, they require maintenance. This includes cleaning brushes of hair and emptying the dust bin (and sometimes washing it) after every cleaning session. Cameras and sensors must also be cleaned between each use. The manufacturer will provide specific instructions for these steps and others, which can vary according to the model.

Cost

The best robot vacuums might not be inexpensive, but they're much less expensive than a professional carpet cleaner or even a stand-up vacuum cleaner with mop. They require less maintenance than traditional vacuums as most only require that you empty and occasionally rinse their dust bins following every cleaning session.

Many robot vacuums have clever features that help them be more effective in your home, for instance mapping technology which lets you instruct the vacuum on the layout of your space by using an app, so it is aware not to go into the stairs or under the furniture where there could be the possibility of a mess. Others can identify what flooring type they are working on, so they can alter their suction or brush features for the best results.

Some models feature object avoidance, which uses sensors (or even cameras) to spot toys and other items on the floor and Auto Mopper instruct the robot to go around them instead of running into them. This is a great benefit when you have children or pets who tend to throw toys around the home.

One other smart feature that may be important to you is voice control that lets you control your robot with your voice instead of using the buttons on board. This is useful if your children aren't yet old enough to operate the robot or when it's convenient for you.

How often you need to use your robot will depend on the amount of dirt and dust is usually found on your floors. The majority of experts recommend using a robot vacuum several times a week to keep your floors looking good and nabbing pet hair, dirt and lint before it can get crushed or become difficult to get rid of.

If you're working with limited floor surfaces and don't plan to utilize your robot for other purposes, a budget model, such as our top pick the Eufy 11S, is a good choice. It's inexpensive, simple to install and operate, and gets the job done with little noise interference while you watch TV or work.