What to Look For in a Good Robot Vacuum

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

This smart vacuum and mop creates a home map with its first trip, and then it will remember your space for future use. It comes with a self-cleaning brush roll and an extra-large dust bin that empties automatically.

Object Detection

When you are choosing a robotic vacuum, look for one that is able to pick up big items, such as lamps and toys as well as dust particles. This will help ensure they don't get caught in the roller brush, and aren't left on your floors. This feature is particularly important when you have children or pets and you may have to clean the robot regularly.

It's also a good idea to select a model that has a powerful motor and plenty of suction power. This will make it more efficient at getting up pet hair, lint, and dust off your carpets and hardwood floors.

Another factor to consider is the size of your room. If you have a huge house, you may choose models with multiple cleaning zones that cover your entire house in a single session. Some models come with a mopping feature that can be utilized to keep floors clean and fresh.

Robot vacuums last a long time however, they must be maintained regularly and in a proper manner. Cleaning the rotating brushes, emptying the dust bin and wiping the sensors clean regularly will ensure that your robot is functioning efficiently for many years to come. Many of the owners of robot vacuums that we have spoken with have owned the same machine for a period of 10 years or more (and changed motors, brushes and batteries as they went along).

A basic robot is much less expensive than a large vacuum cleaner. They will still be able to do a fantastic job of cleaning the surface of dirt as well as pet fur and lint. They're an excellent maintenance cleaner that you can distribute every week to keep your floors free of dirt. The downside is they don't come with as technological innovation, and may be prone to getting stuck or requiring human intervention.

Object Avoidance

The top rated robot vacuum robot vacuums make use of sensors, cameras or lasers to help you navigate your home and avoid getting stuck or falling on the stairs. Some models can return to their dock or base when their battery is depleted. They can also avoid obstacles like furniture cords and legs. The more expensive ones often come with mapping capabilities that permit them to remember the design of your home and lessen the time you spend running into walls.

If you don't want spend a lot of money on the latest robotic vacuums, you can locate a model that does an excellent job of removing pet hair dirt, dust, and crumbs from hard floors like tiles and wood, as well as low-pile carpets. They can also handle larger debris such as nails that are rusty, metal screws or even toys that have been discarded. Some come with self-emptying bases, which is useful in the event that you don't wish to empty the dustbin after every cleaning session.

Some robotic vacuums have smart features that make the traditional stick vacuum look quaint. They include scheduling, zone-targeting and the capability to control them via an app or voice assistants, such as Alexa. You can also set up cleaning zones and virtual walls to block off areas that you don't want robots to access.

Some robotic vacuums, like the Eufy 11S or my former top pick, Roborock S8, come with obstacle avoidance technology to keep them from tripping over cords or furniture. Certain robot vacuums, such as the iRobot Roomba j7+ have more advanced AI obstacle-avoidance technology which uses cameras, processors and intelligent algorithms to avoid objects like lamp cords and pet waste. It's a little more expensive than other bots that I've tried, but it does an excellent job of avoiding obstacles and rarely gets stuck or derailed when working on my floor.

While the iRobot j7+ was a good obstacle avoidance tool but it wasn't always able to do an excellent job of removing dirt and crumbs off my rugs. It also tends to over-vacuum some areas, which resulted in an abundance of dust in the filter and Commercial robot vacuum an unclean home.

Smart Mapping

Some of the top robot vacuums come with an app that allows you to customize cleaning modes, create schedules, and see an image of the area covered by the machine. This is a handy feature that some competitors lack altogether. This makes it easy to create profiles that will automatically start your robot at specific times and continue to run on an ongoing basis, such as cleaning the living room before dinner or every other day.

A good app will also allow you to control your robot via voice commands. Certain models are compatible with Amazon's Alexa and Google Assistant, which allows you to control your robot with voice commands.

Look for the model with a large dust bin. This will allow you to do many cleaning sessions without having to empty it. You can also find models that are self-emptying that take some of the work out of emptying the machine after each vacuuming run.

If you're looking for a robot that can do more than vacuum, consider the models that have mopping functions. They're usually bigger than robotic vacuums, and come with a water tank which can hold several cleaning sessions' worth of dirt and dust before it needs to be empty.

Robots that are more sophisticated can make their own maps and keep track of the layout of your home from one cleaning session to the next, which prevents them from getting lost or stuck. This can make a significant difference in the efficiency of your robot vacuum since it won't have to go back to the beginning when it comes across walls or furniture.

Our test participants who utilized the robot that has this feature found it to be extremely efficient, and could easily sit back and watch TV or perform other chores while the robot cleaned. Some of these models use laser navigation, and can create an exact map of your entire home, meaning you can program them to clean only the bedroom after dinner or every room in your home while you're working.

App Control

If you're looking to change the frequency with which the robot cleans your home and choose a cleaning mode, it's best to get one that is compatible with an app for mobile devices. You can also view the state of the vacuum and the condition of its dust bin in the app. Some of the best robot vacuums are controlled via voice with Alexa, Google Assistant or Siri Shortcuts.

It is simple to maintain a robot with a washable filter and a self-emptying container, especially when the filter can be easily cleaned and washed. A high-powered brush is another excellent feature that can reach into corners and along baseboards for removal of hair and dirt. Certain robots are better at avoiding chair legs than others, and some also have a self-cleaning sensor that prevents the blockage of brushes that could happen in other machines.

Certain robo-vacs come with navigational tools to assist them in navigating around obstacles and to learn about your home. High-end models have sensors and cameras that detect obstacles such as furniture, stairs and cords, while cheaper models sometimes use boundary strips that you put on the floor to mark areas you don't want it to go. Object avoidance can be especially useful for families with children who scatter socks and toys all over the home. This allows your robot collect these items, instead of scattering them.

Robots are increasingly equipped with mop heads. This is useful for those with hard floors who require to mop regularly. These robots come with a water tank built into the chassis, or an additional piece that you can swap in when it's time to clean. They might need to be filled more frequently than other types of robots, but they're perfect for homes with hard floors that aren't easily cleaned by vacuum.

These robots are packed with some impressive technology, and they are priced significantly less than you'd expect. You can find a quality one under $200, which does a decent cleaning job on hard floors while navigating around the edges of carpets and area rugs. You can program the commercial Robot Vacuum to vacuum a room on a regular basis, and it can be controlled remotely with the app or by pressing buttons on its side.