What to Look For in a Good Robot Vacuum

A good robot vacuum can help you stay on top of pet hair, lint, and dust on a regular basis. Many use apps that allow you to schedule cleaning times and define virtual boundaries or "walls" to keep them from areas that you don't want to be cleaned.

This smart vac-mop will create a map of your home using its first run. It then remembers the space to be used for cleaning tasks in the future. It comes with a huge dust bin that automatically emptys and self-cleaning, self-cleaning brush roll.

Object Detection

When selecting a robot vacuum cleaner, pick one that can clean up large objects like lamp cords and good robot vacuum toys as well as dust particles that are fine. This will ensure they don't get caught in the roller brush and aren't left behind on your floors. This is especially crucial if the robot vacuum and mop will be regularly cleaned by pets or children.

A model with an efficient engine and plenty of suction is a good option. This will help it be more effective in removing pet hair, lint and dust from your hardwood and carpet floors.

The size of your house is another important consideration. If you have a large house it is possible to pick models that have multiple cleaning zones, so you can clean your entire home in a single session. Some models also come with mopping functions that can be used to keep your floors fresh and clean.

Robot vacuums are long-lasting, but they need to be maintained and cleaned regularly. Cleaning the rotating brushes and emptying the dust container and wiping the sensors clean regularly will ensure that your robot is running efficiently for the years to come. Many of the robot vacuum owners we speak to have owned their machines for 10 years or longer (and have replaced motors, brushes and batteries as time went by).

A basic robot is much less costly than a larger vacuum cleaner. They will still do an excellent job of cleaning surface dirt as well as pet fur and lint. You can use them to sweep your floor several times a day. However, they don't come with as advanced technology, and could be prone to becoming stuck or needing human intervention.

Object Avoidance

The most effective robot vacuums utilize sensors, lasers or cameras to guide them around your home without falling off or getting stuck on the staircase. They are also able to avoid obstacles such as cords and furniture legs and some models automatically return to their base or dock when they are running low on power. The more expensive ones often come with mapping capabilities that permit them to remember the arrangement of your home, and lessen the time you spend hitting walls.

If you don't want to spend a lot of money on the latest robotic vacuums, you could locate a model that is capable of picking up pet hair, dirt, dust and crumbs from hard floors like tiles and wood, as well as carpets with a low pile. They can also do a decent job of handling larger debris like metal screws and staples that are rusty or even discarded toys. Some come with an auto-emptying base that is handy in the event that you don't wish to empty your trash bin after every cleaning session.

Certain robotic vacuums come with smart features that make the traditional stick vacuum look outdated. These include zones-targeting, schedules, and the ability for you to control them using an app or voice assistant, such as Alexa. You can also create cleaning zones as well as 'virtual walls to block off areas you do not want the robot to go.

Certain robotic vacuums like the Eufy 11S and my former favorite the Roborock S8, have obstacle avoidance technology that keeps them from getting sucked into furniture or tangling cords. Some robot vacuums, such as the iRobot Roomba j7+ have more sophisticated AI obstacle-avoidance technology that uses a camera, processors and smarts to avoid items like lamp cords as well as pet waste. It's a bit more expensive than other bots I've tried, but it did an impressive job of avoiding obstacles around my home. It also didn't get derailed or trapped while working on my flooring.

While the iRobot's j7+ was a good obstacle avoidance bot, it didn't always do an excellent job of avoiding dirt and crumbs from my rugs. It also was prone to over-vacuum specific areas, which resulted in dust accumulating in the filters, and an unclean house.

Smart Mapping

Some of the best robot vacuums come with an app that helps you customize cleaning modes and schedules, as well as view an outline of the floor area that the machine covers. This is an extremely useful feature that some competitors do not have. This makes it easy to create profiles that automatically start your robot at specified times and continue to run on regularly, for example, cleaning the living room before dinner or on a regular basis.

A good app can allow you to control your robot using voice commands. Certain models can be controlled by Amazon's Alexa or Google Assistant and can work completely hands-free, so you can say "start cleaning" or "change cleaning mode" without the need for an app.

For a truly hands-free experience, look for a model with a large dust bin that can hold several cleaning sessions before having to be emptied. You can find models that self-empty, eliminating the need to empty the machine after every vacuuming session.

If you want a robot that is more than just vacuum, you'll want to look at the possibility of a model which can mop your floors. These are typically larger than the robotic vacuums and include an internal water tank which can store many cleaning sessions of dirt and debris prior to having to be empty.

The most advanced robots create their own maps of your home. They can even keep track of the arrangement between cleanings which can help them avoid getting lost or stuck in corners. This can make a significant difference in the effectiveness of your robot vacuum because it won't need to go back to the beginning when it encounters furniture or walls.

Our test participants who utilized the robot that has this capability found it to be extremely efficient, and could sit back and watch TV or perform other chores while the robot was cleaning. Some of these models use laser navigation, and can create an exact map of your entire house, which means you can program them to clean just the bedroom after dinner or each room of the house while you're working.

App Control

If you're looking to change the frequency at which the robot cleans your home and select the cleaning mode it is recommended to purchase one that has a mobile app. You can also see the status of the vacuum as well as the condition of its dust bin using the app. Some of the most effective robot vacuums are operated by voice using Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri Shortcuts.

It is easy to maintain a robot equipped with the ability to wash the filter and a self-emptying container, especially if the filter can be easily cleaned and washed. Another feature that is great is a high-powered brush that can be found in corners and along baseboards which makes it easier to clean up dirt and hair. Some robots are more adept in avoiding chairs' legs than others, and some also have an auto-cleaning sensor that helps prevent the clogging of brushes that can be a problem in other machines.

Certain robo-vacs utilize navigation tools that help them discover your home and navigate around obstacles. The top models utilize sensors and cameras to recognize obstacles such as furniture, stairs, and cords. Less expensive models might utilize boundaries to mark areas that you don't wish to see it go. Avoidance of objects is particularly useful for families with children who scatter toys and socks all over the house. This allows your robot to gather these items instead of scattering.

More robots are coming with mop attachments. This is useful for those with hard floors who need to clean regularly. They have a reservoir of water built into their chassis or as a separate piece you swap in when they're ready to mop. They might need to be filled more frequently than other types of robots, however they're ideal for homes with floors made of wood that can't be easily cleaned using a vacuum.

We've seen some impressive technology incorporated into these tiny robots and they're cheaper than you expect. You can find a decent one for less than $200, and good robot vacuum it does a decent cleaning job on hard floors and can be scoured around the edges of carpets and area carpets. It is possible to schedule the robot to vacuum rooms on a regular basis and can be controlled remotely via the app or by pressing buttons on its side.