Best Rated Robot Vacuum Cleaner
Robot vacuums can be great for keeping your floors clean but they cannot replace a traditional vacuum. Even the best robots aren't able to get deep into carpets and rugs and they can become tangled in cords and socks.
Maintaining a regular schedule of maintenance (replacing filters, cutting tangled hair from brushes, and emptying the dust bin) will make your robot last longer.
Battery Life
Most robot vacuums are equipped to handle a couple of cleaning sessions without needing to be charged. The Ecovacs Q30S Combo is a close second in our overall selections. It comes with a battery that can last for up to 180 minutes (3,230 square foot) on a single charge. This should be more than enough for most small homes with the combination of hard floors and carpets with low pile or larger homes where the rooms are similar in size.
A longer battery life means that the robot will spend less time charging and spend more time cleaning. It's worth opting for models that have a self-emptying dust bin, as they are more efficient in picking up debris and returning to the dock for charging. It is important to clean or replace filters and wipe down sensors and cameras regularly so they can be seen clearly.
Smart mapping technology can be a useful feature, as you can program your robot to ensure that it only cleans certain rooms or stays clear of areas where it is likely to bump into furniture and other obstacles. It's also useful for ensuring that your robot can get under and around sofas, beds and other furniture with a high height. A few robovacs that are cheap come with boundary strips you can use to block off specific areas. Other high-end models depend on sensors and cameras.
Even the most powerful robot vacuums can't replace a conventional vacuum for heavy-duty large-pile dirt and debris. It's advisable to keep a traditional power vac on standby for those tasks, and to schedule robot vacuums regularly for light cleanups throughout the week.
Navigation
A robot must be able to navigate your home without getting stuck or crashing into things such as metal screws or loose pet hair or sand. In our tests, we use an instrument to track the robot as it goes through a multiroom lab and determine its surroundings. We also examine how well it avoids obstacles, including furniture legs, power cords, and pet waste.
The top robots are able to map out multiple floors, and recognize landmarks such as doors and Windows. The most advanced ones such as the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra, have a dual-sensor navigation system that uses a LIDAR sensor to map the room, and a light camera on the front of the robot to identify objects in real-time. This lets the S8 to avoid common obstacles like power cords and furniture legs, and it can store up to four different floor maps within its internal memory.
The majority of the models that are affordable depend on bump sensors that aren't as accurate. In my tests, they were able to detect dog poop through cords as well as a pair shoes placed in the middle. The Dreametech D10+ is the most value-for-money option. It is a great carpet and hard floor pickup, good tangle and hair pickup, and a near perfect auto empty score.
A large onboard dustbin, that doesn't need to be empty manually is another aspect that's crucial. If you have models that mop the floor, this water tank is able to provide enough water for several weeks of cleaning. self cleaning vacuum has this and a big enough footprint that it can be placed under furniture but not so big that it doesn't fit into the space between your toilet and bathtub.
Apps
Robot vacuums are a lot like their upright counterparts, and it takes an enormous amount of technology to get them up to speed. The result is a mature market full of options. But even the best models require some interaction with their users - especially when it comes to scheduling cleanings and establishing a floor plan, and setting up virtual barriers.
To lessen the chance of this interaction, consider looking for a model with its own app to recognize the layout of your home and save those settings for the future. This will allow the robot vacuum to continue where it began in subsequent runs, rather than having the mapping process restarted each time.
You should also look for models that offer spot or zone cleaning. You can instruct the robot vacuum cleaner to concentrate on an area, like under the table after a large family meal. You can choose to use the app or by voice commands.
Object avoidance is another feature that's available with many models. It allows the robot to observe something in its path, such as a box of shoes or a crate full of dog toys, and then guide itself around it. This prevents it from hitting objects that could harm its sensors or cause jams.
Some of the more expensive models in our tests have this feature. However, they typically rely on bump sensors to accomplish this, and they weren't always able to avoid things in my test homes.
Pet Hair
Choose an upright vacuum cleaner specifically designed to remove pet hair. The most effective models will have the highest suction, a brush which stops tangling, and an automatic emptying mechanism. Some are also able to detect dirt levels and adjust cleaning intensity accordingly. They can also detect objects that aren't part your flooring in your home, such as furniture, toys, and food bowls.
Certain robot vacuums come with pet-friendly features, like a water dispenser that can be used for mopping floors, and a HEPA filter that helps reduce allergens like pet dander. They may also have a quieter mode of operation to reduce the amount noise that is generated during cleaning.
Robot vacuums with the ability to map are a great option for pet owners, since they are designed to analyze your home and develop an action plan based on the layout and obstacles in every room. For instance, the Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 Vacuum is a smart vacuum that has an impressive ability to map a room and navigate around furniture and other obstructions with gyroscope and accelerometer smart sensors that work together to learn the layout of your home.
Other models that are more advanced 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 via an app. This feature can be especially beneficial for families with a lot of activity as it permits you to schedule cleaning sessions and make adjustments without having be in the same space as the vacuum. Another excellent feature is spot cleaning which allows you to control the vacuum to clean a specific area that is particularly filthy or full of pet hair.
Dust Bin
If you don't need something small, go for a model with a large bin, or even a self-emptying dustbin. This is why we suggest opting for a model that has a large bin, or perhaps self-emptying bins. The former will enable you to keep track of cleaning the bin regularly enough to keep track of its performance and the latter will help you save time and effort by automatically dumping its contents into an internal bin every few cleans.
No matter the size of your home, most robots can easily move around and up to furniture, and almost all can detect and navigate around household obstacles like shoes, cords that are loose and dog urine. Make sure you choose models with smart mapping capabilities. This lets them "learn the patterns of your house and design a an efficient route.
Some models also offer spot cleaning, which allows you to manually target specific areas of your home for thorough cleaning. We've found that most of the top performers in our tests can remove fine particles such as baking soda and sand, as well as heavier debris like oatmeal, orzo pasta, metal screws, and pet hair.
Based on the manufacturer, most robots can last for years and will continue to perform so long as you keep up with maintenance tasks, such as cleaning tangled hair from brushes and emptying the dust bin after every use and wiping down cameras and sensors when needed. The most reliable robots are more modular. This makes it easier to replace or repair parts such as wheels and batteries when they get worn out.