Best Rated Robot Vacuum Cleaner

Robot vacuums are great for keeping your floors tidy but they are not a substitute for a regular vacuum. Even the best robot vacuum for the money robots have difficulty getting deep into carpets and rugs and they may get caught 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

The majority of robot vacuums can manage a few cleaning sessions before needing a charge. The Ecovacs Q30S Combo is the second-best of our top picks. It has an energy-efficient battery that can last up to 180 minutes (3,230 square foot) on one charge. This is more than enough to clean most smaller homes with a mix of hard floors and low-pile carpets or a larger house where the rooms are roughly the same size.

A longer battery life means the robot can spend less time charging and more time cleaning. It's worth opting for a model with a self-emptying dust bin, as these models are more efficient when it comes to picking up debris and returning to the dock to recharge. It is essential to clean or replace filters and wipe down the sensors and cameras regularly so they can see clearly.

Smart mapping technology can be a valuable feature, since you can program your robot to ensure it only cleans specific rooms or stays clear of areas where it's likely to crash into furniture or other obstacles. This feature is also beneficial for ensuring that your robot can reach under and around furniture like sofas, beds and other high-height items. A few robovacs that are cheap come with boundary strips that you can use to block off certain areas. Other models of higher quality rely on cameras and sensors.

Even the best robot vacuums can't replace a traditional vacuum for heavy-duty dirt and debris. It's best to keep a power vacuum on hand for these chores and plan robot vacuums for light cleaning throughout the week.

Navigation

A robot should be able to navigate your home without getting stuck or crashing into things like screws made of metal, loose pet hair, or sand. In our tests, we employ a tracking device to track the robot as it travels through a multiroom lab and maps out its surroundings. We also look for the way it manages to avoid obstacles, including power cords, furniture legs, and pet waste.

The top robots can map out multiple floors and can recognize landmarks such as doors and Windows. The most advanced robots like the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra have a dual sensor navigation system, which utilizes a LIDAR to draw a room's layout and a structured-light camera mounted on the front to spot objects in real-time. The S8 can evade obstacles such as cables for power and legs of furniture. It can also store up to four floor maps.

Cheaper models don't come with this kind of object detection and rely on bump sensors, which aren't as precise. In my tests, they plowed right through dog poop, cords, and even shoes that were placed in the middle of the room. The Dreametech D10+ is the most value-for-money option. It has excellent carpet and hard floor pickup, excellent hair and tangle pickup and an almost perfect auto empty score.

Another feature worth mentioning is a huge onboard dustbin which doesn't have to be manually emptied, and for models that mop, a water tank that can hold weeks worth of mopping. Karcher's RCV 5 is a good illustration of this. It has a large enough footprint to fit under furniture but not too big that it cannot fit in the nook between your toilet and bathtub.

Apps

Robot vacuums are a lot like upright vacuums, and it takes lots of technology to get them up to speed. The result is a mature market full of options. However, even the most advanced models require interaction with their users - especially when it comes to scheduling cleanings and establishing a floor plan and setting up virtual barriers.

Think about a model that has its own app that can determine the layout of your home and save these settings for later use. This will let the robot vacuum begin where it left off in subsequent runs, instead of having to start the mapping process each time.

It's also worth keeping an eye out for a vacuum that comes with zones or spot cleaning modes. You can instruct the vacuum cleaner to focus on a specific area, such as under the table after a large family meal. You can typically do this using the app or by voice commands.

Many models also provide objects-avoidance. It allows the robot, when it sees something that is in its path such as a box of shoes or a crate filled with dog toys, to instruct itself around. This will keep it from crashing into objects that could damage its sensors or cause a jam.

This feature is offered on some of the more expensive models we tested. They depend on bump sensor technology for this however they did not always avoid things in my test home.

Pet Hair

When you're looking to remove pet hair, look for a model that's designed specifically to handle this kind of debris. The best models will have an extremely high suction, a brush which stops tangling, and an automatic hoover robot emptying mechanism. Some are also able to detect dirt levels and adjust cleaning intensity according to the amount of dirt. They can also detect items that aren't part of the flooring in your home like furniture, toys, food bowls cords, and much more.

Certain robot vacuums have additional features that are pet-friendly. They include a water dispenser that is used to clean floors, and an HEPA filtration system that reduces allergens such as pet dust. They may also have an operation that is quieter to cut down on the amount of noise produced during cleaning sessions.

Robot vacuums that include maps are a great option for pet owners, as they are designed to analyze your home and develop an action plan according to the layout and obstacles in every room. Shark Matrix Plus is a dual-purpose robot vacuum that can create a map of a room, and navigate through furniture, and over other obstacles using accelerometer and gyroscope sensors.

Other advanced models 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 because it allows you to schedule cleaning time and make adjustments without having to be in the same room as the automatic vacuum. Spot cleaning is an additional fantastic feature. You can use the vacuum cleaner to clean a spot that is especially dirty or is brimming with pet hair.

Dust Bin

Unless you're looking for something small You should pick an item capable of holding at least a large bag of garbage from a single cleaning session. We suggest choosing one with a large bin or a bin that self-empties. The former will help you keep track of cleaning the bin regularly enough to ensure you are on top of its performance and the latter will save you time and hassle by automatically dumping its contents into an internal container every few cleans.

Regardless of the size of your home Most robots are able to climb up and around furniture, and most can recognize and navigate around household obstacles such as shoes, loose cords, and dog puke. Make sure you choose models with smart mapping capabilities. This allows them to "learn the patterns of your house and design a more efficient routes.

Some models provide spot cleaning. This lets you manually target an area of your home to be targeted for intensive cleaning. In our tests, we found that the top models are able to remove fine particles such as baking soda, sand, orzo, screws made of metal and pet hair, in addition to heavier debris like oatmeal, orzo, and metal screws.

Depending on the brand, most robots can last for years and will remain in good working order in the event that you maintain them with regular maintenance, such as cleaning hair that is tangled from brushes, emptying the dust bin after each use, and cleaning cameras and sensors when required. The best automatic floor cleaner robots are also more flexible. This makes it easier to repair or replace parts like wheels and batteries as they wear out.