What to Look For in a Good Robot Vacuum

A quality robot vacuum will assist you in keeping track of pet hair, lint, and dust on a regular basis. Many robot vacuums are compatible with apps that allow you to schedule cleaning times. You can also set virtual boundaries, or 'walls,' to ensure that the vacuum is kept away from areas that you don't want to be cleaned.

This smart vacuum and mop creates a home map after its first run, memorizing your space for future jobs. It comes with a huge dust bin that automatically emptys and self-cleaning, self-cleaning brush roll.

Object Detection

When choosing a robot vacuum, choose one that can pick up large objects, such as lamps and toys as well as fine dirt. This will help ensure they don't become entangled in the roller brush, and aren't left on your floors. This is especially important if your robot will be regularly cleaned by pets or children.

A model that has a powerful engine and lots of suction is an ideal choice. This will allow it to be more efficient in eliminating pet hair, dust and lint from carpets as well as hardwood floors.

The size of your house is another important consideration. If you have a large home, you may prefer a model with multiple cleaning zones that can cover your entire house in one session. Some models also have mopping functions that can be used to keep your floors looking fresh and clean.

Robot vacuums are long-lasting, but they need to be cleaned properly and regularly. Cleaning the rotating brushes, emptying the dust bin and wiping the sensors clean on a regular basis will keep your machine running efficiently for years to be. Many robot vacuum owners who we talk to have been using their machines for 10 years or longer (and have replaced motors, brushes and batteries with time).

A basic robot will cost less than a full-sized vacuum cleaner, but they'll do a fantastic job at removing surface dirt, pet hair and dust. You can use them to sweep your floors several times per day. The drawback is that they don't offer as much advanced technology, and could be prone to getting stuck or needing human intervention.

Object Avoidance

The best robot vacs use sensors, lasers or cameras to guide them around your home without getting stuck or falling down the staircase. Some models will return to their base or dock when their batteries are low. They also can avoid obstacles such as furniture cords and legs. The most expensive models usually have mapping capabilities that allow them to memorize the arrangement of your home, and lessen the time you spend hitting walls.

You don't have to spend a lot of money on the most expensive robotic vacuums. You can still find models that do a great job of removing pet hair and dirt from hard surfaces, such as tiles, wood and low-pile rug. They also do a decent job of removing larger debris such as metal screws, rusty staples or abandoned toys. Some have a base that automatically empty itself, which is a great feature when you don't need to empty it after each cleaning session.

Some robotic vacuums have smart features, making the look of a stick vacuum outdated. They include scheduling, zone-targeting and the ability to control them via an app or a voice assistant, such as Alexa. You can also create cleaning zones and virtual walls to block off areas you don't wish the robot to enter.

Some robotic vacuums, like the Eufy 11S or my former top pick, Roborock S8, come equipped with obstacle avoidance technology to stop them from falling over furniture or cords. Others, such as the iRobot Roomba j7+, have more sophisticated AI obstacle avoidance, which uses cameras and processor-powered smarts to see and avoid items like shoes, lamp cords, socks and pet waste. It's more expensive than the other bots I've tried, however, it did a fantastic job of avoiding obstacles in my home. It also didn't get stuck or tangled when I was working on my floors.

While the iRobot j7+ was a good obstacle avoidance robot but it wasn't always able to do well in removing dirt and crumbs from my carpets. It also tends to over-vacuum some areas, which resulted in a lot of extra dust in the filter, and an unclean home.

Smart Mapping

The best robot vacuums come with an app that helps you to customize cleaning settings and schedules, as well as view the flooring area that the machine covers. This is an extremely useful feature that other models don't have. This allows you to create profiles that will automatically start the robot at specific times and run it regularly. For example, cleaning the living room each day, or just before dinner.

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

To have a hands-free experience, choose a model with a large dust bin that can withstand several cleaning sessions before having to be empty. There are also models that are self-emptying that take some of the work out of emptying the machine after each cleaning run.

If you're looking for a robotic that is more than a vacuum, you should consider a model with mopping capabilities. They are typically larger than robotic vacuums and include a tank of water that can store multiple cleaning sessions' worth of dust and dirt before needing to emptied.

Robots that are more sophisticated can develop their own maps and remember the plan of your house from one cleaning session to the next, which prevents them from getting lost or stuck. This can make a huge difference in how efficiently your robot vacuums, as it won't need to spend time returning to the beginning of the room when it encounters furniture or walls.

Our testers who used robots with this capability found it to be very efficient. They could easily watch TV or do other chores while the robot was cleaning. Some of these models use laser navigation and can make an exact map of your entire house, which means you can program them to clean just the bedroom after dinner or every room in the house while you're working.

App Control

It's best to choose the vacuum that comes with an app for mobile devices for those who want to modify the frequency of cleaning and select cleaning mode. Within the app, you can examine the status of your vacuum as well as its dust bin. Some of the best robotic vacuums can be controlled by Alexa, Google Assistant, or Siri Shortcuts.

It is simple to maintain a robot that has a washable filter and a self-emptying container, particularly when the filter is easily removed and rinsed. Another excellent feature is a powerful brush that is able to reach into corners and along baseboards making it much easier to remove dirt and hair. Certain robots are better in avoiding chairs' legs than others, and some even have an auto-cleaning sensor that helps prevent the obstruction of brushes that may happen in other machines.

Certain robo-vacs come with navigational tools to help them navigate around obstacles and robotvacuummops to learn about your home. High-end models use sensors and cameras to detect obstacles like furniture, stairs and cords. Cheaper models may utilize boundary strips to mark areas you don't want it to go. Avoidance of objects is particularly important for families with young children who leave socks and toys scattered around the house, since it allows your robot to grab those items instead of scattering them.

More robots are coming with mop heads. This is beneficial for those with hard floors who need to clean regularly. They come with an integrated water tank into the chassis or a separate piece you can put in when it's time to clean. They might need to be refilled more frequently than other kinds of robots, but they're perfect for homes with floors made of wood that aren't easily cleaned using a vacuum.

We've seen some amazing technology packed into these little robots, and they're a lot cheaper than you imagine. In fact, you can get a decent one for less than $200 that does a decent job of removing pet hair and crumbs from hard floors, and also navigating the edges of lightweight carpets or area carpets. You can program the robot to sweep a room on a regular basis, and it can be controlled remotely via the app or by pressing buttons on its side.