The Best Robot Vacuums

A good robot vacuum does most of the work and removes pet hair, lint, and surface dirt before it adheres to furniture or be sucked into carpets. Many also work with smart assistants like Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant to provide the convenience of hands-free operation.

Many models include maps, which allows them to create a map of your home. This helps them to avoid falling off ledges or navigating around clusters if device cords.

What to Look For

Certain robots come with advanced features that allow users to control them with voice assistants like Alexa or Google Assistant. These include smart mapping as well as spot and zone cleaning, and the ability to avoid objects. They might also have longer battery lives and bigger dust collection bins.

Find a model that has a a wide brush that is able to sweep up large pieces of debris and one that is slim enough to fit under furniture. Check if the robot vacuum is able to clean different types of floors without having to change brushes or suction settings. This can decrease its effectiveness in cleaning and decrease its life span.

The best robot vacuums have high-quality filters that sift out tiny particles to safeguard the interior of your house and an ample, easy-to-access collection bin that allows you to empty it often. Certain robot vacuums come with an additional side brush to clean pet hair or debris in difficult-to-access places like under and behind furniture. The bins are typically transparent, allowing you to 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 that you don't want it entering. Some models also register what kind of floor they're cleaning, and automatically adjust their suction and brush settings accordingly.

There are also robots that recharge and continue cleaning right where they left off in case their batteries are running low. There are some that have an inbuilt camera that allows you to track the route of your robot vacuum and see what it has collected.

Some robots are controlled by voice commands however, not all. Be sure that the robot you select is compatible with the voice assistant of your choice, and test out how it responds to different commands during the buying process. Some robots can even empty their trash bins or clean their docking stations, which can reduce the chore list. This feature is expensive, as are a larger collection container and more rapid charging speeds.

Cleaning Performance

While robots cannot substitute for a full-on vacuum cleaner or broom, they provide a practical and efficient alternative to the everyday chore of cleaning your floors. If you're looking to keep track of dirt, crumbs and pet hair or nab bigger debris like metal screws and wood shavings, most top-rated robotic cleaners are adept at picking up various materials in the first pass and without causing any damage to your floor surfaces or furniture.

Most of the time, they'll detect what type of surface they're cleaning and adjust their suction or brush features accordingly so that they can more thoroughly clean your floors. This is especially important if you have a variety of flooring across your home. A lot of models come with a wide range of options to set up virtual boundaries, allowing you to instruct the robot to stay away from certain areas of your home. This is helpful for preventing your kids or pets from stepping into areas where they shouldn't, and also helps ensure that your home is cleaned at the end of each scheduled session.

It is also important to consider the amount of autonomy you're comfortable with giving your robot. Some models require your presence and attention while others work on their own and can change cleaning modes and schedules using a mobile application or voice commands through an integrated smart assistant. Certain models map and learn your home's layout and allow you to create zones, and tell the robot to clean specific areas within your home on a daily or weekly basis.

In our tests, the iRobot J7+ proved to be the most effective robot for "set it and leave it". It was the best at mapping, creating virtual boundaries and eliminating obstacles better than the other robots we tested. It can also completely empty itself so you don't have to do that manually and has side brushes that can help sweep debris out of corners and edges that a vacuum may not reach.

Its slim design and infrared sensor enable it to clean under and behind furniture which allows it to perform better than other robots. And its advanced navigation system allows it to sweep the entire floor of your house on a single battery charge. With its low cost you'll find it hard to beat for everyday use.

Battery Life

A quality robot vacuum will help keep your floors tidy and feel less like a chore, and more like a treat. The difference between a clean home and a dirty one can be achieved by getting rid of dirt that has been tracked in, as well as crumbs pet hair, and other messes. A basic robot can take care of the majority of cleaning tasks. However those who prefer a more relaxed experience might want to look for a model which also can be used as a mop.

The Ecovacs Deebot T10 OMNI is among the best models for both, since it offers great performance in both vacuuming and mop modes, and is able to handle dirt debris, pet hair and even cat litter. Its object avoidance feature is awe-inspiring, allowing it to steer clear of objects and not become stuck on them.

It comes with a huge dustbin and a battery that lasts for a long time, so it can cover a significant amount of space in just one go. It's also a smart vacuum, which means it can map your home, and it works with apps such as the ones offered by Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant to allow you to control the vacuum using voice commands.

The application that comes with the robot allows you to create schedules, assign specific rooms for cleaning or pause/resume sessions. It can even alert you to the moment that its battery is low and then return to its docking station to recharge.

Another great feature of this robot is that it can distinguish between carpets and hard floors and adjust its settings accordingly, which prevents the machine from getting bogged down in one type of surface or accidently tearing up furniture. But, it's not yet able to discern high pile carpeting or the seams between rooms, so you'll still have to be careful about picking up large items.

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

Cost

The top robot vacuums are not cheap, but they're far cheaper than a professional carpet cleaner, or Good Robot vacuum even an entire stand-up vacuum. They also require less maintenance than a traditional vacuum, with most requiring only that you empty (and sometimes rinse) their dust bin after each cleaning session and periodically wiping down their cameras or sensors.

Many robot vacuums come with clever features that make them more effective for your home, for instance mapping technology, which allows you to instruct the vacuum on the layout of your home via an app so that it knows not to run through the stairs or under the furniture, where there could be the possibility of a mess. Other robot vacuums can recognize the type of floor they are cleaning, so they can adjust their suction and brush features to achieve the most effective results.

Some models feature object avoidance, which uses sensors (or even cameras) to detect objects like toys and other things on the floor Good Robot Vacuum and coach the robot to move around them, rather than running through them. This is a great option when your pets or children tend to leave toys all over the home.

One other smart feature that might be important to you is voice control, which lets you operate the robot vacuum deals using your voice instead of using the buttons on the board. This is a great option for children who aren't old enough to operate the robot, or if it's just convenient for you.

How often you should use your robot vacuum for pets will be contingent on how much dirt or debris has accumulated on your floor. The majority of experts suggest using your robot vacuum at least every week in order to keep your floors clean and to get rid of pet hair, lint, and surface dirt.

If you have limited floor surfaces and don't plan to use your robot for other tasks, a low-cost model like our top choice the Eufy 11S, is a great option. It's user-friendly, affordable, and does the job without creating any noise while you work or watch television.