Best Rated Robot Vacuum Cleaner

Robot vacuums are fantastic for keeping your floors tidy however they aren't a replacement for a regular vacuum. Even the best vacuums struggle to get into carpets or rugs and often get caught in cords and socks.

Staying on top of routine maintenance (replacing filters cutting hair that is tangled from brushes and emptying the dust bin) will help your robot last longer.

Battery Life

Most robot vacuums are able to handle a couple of cleaning sessions without having to be charged. The Ecovacs Q30S Combo is the runner-up of our top picks. It comes with an energy-efficient battery that can last for up to 180 minutes (3,230 square foot) on a single charge. This should suffice for homes that have carpets, hard flooring and carpets with low pile or larger homes where the rooms are about the same size.

A longer battery life also means that the robot is able to spend more time cleaning and less charging its dock. You should select one with a self-emptying bin. These models are more efficient at cleaning up debris and bringing it to docks to recharge. It's important to clean or replace filters and wipe down the sensors and the camera regularly so that they can be seen clearly.

Smart mapping technology is an important feature to look for, as it allows you to program your robot to only clean certain rooms or avoid areas where it's likely to hit furniture or other obstacles. It's also useful for ensuring that your robot can get under and around beds, sofas and other furniture with a high height. Some cheap robovacs offer boundary strips you can place on the floor to block off certain areas, and other models with higher-end features make use of sensors and cameras to accomplish this.

Even the most powerful robot vacuums can't replace a conventional vacuum when it comes to heavy-duty large-pile dirt and debris. It's best to keep an electric vacuum in your home to tackle these tasks, and also schedule robot vacs for light cleanings throughout the week.

Navigation

A robot should be able to navigate around your home without getting stuck or crashing into objects such as metal screws, loose pet hair, or sand. In our tests, we use a tracking device to follow the robot as it goes through a multi-room lab and maps out its surroundings. We also examine the way it manages to avoid obstacles, including furniture legs, power cords, and best vacuums pet waste.

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

More affordable models don't have this kind of object detection and rely on bump sensors, which aren't as precise. In my tests they were able to rip through cords, dog poop and even shoes that were placed in the middle of the room. The most cost-effective choice the Dreametech D10+, is one exception to this. It has excellent carpet and hard floor pickup, good tangle and hair pickup, and a near perfect auto empty score.

Another feature worth mentioning is a large onboard dustbin that doesn't need to be manually empty, and for those models that mop, a water tank that can last for weeks of mopping. Karcher's RCV 5 is an excellent example of this. It has a wide enough footprint to fit under furniture, but not so large that it cannot fit in the space between your bathtub and toilet.

Apps

Robot vacuums are like upright vacuums, and it takes an enormous amount of technology to get them up and running at speed. There are many choices available in a market that is maturing. 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.

You might consider a model with its own app that can recognize the layout of your home and save these settings for future use. This will let the vacuum begin where it left off on subsequent runs, rather than having to start the mapping process each time.

You should also look for models that provide zones or spot cleaning. These allow you to tell the robot robotic vacuum cleaner best to concentrate on a particular area like under the dining room table after a big family meal. You can usually choose to use the app or via voice commands.

A lot of models also offer objects avoidance. It permits the robot, when it sees something that is in its path, like a box of shoes or a crate filled with dog toys, to coach itself around. This will prevent it from hitting objects that could damage its sensors or cause jams.

Some of the most expensive models we've tested include this feature. However, they typically rely on bump sensors for this and weren't always able to stay clear of things in my test homes.

Pet Hair

When it comes to removing pet hair, look for one that is specifically designed to handle this type of debris. The top models feature powerful suction and a brush that is free of the tangling and an emptying mechanism that will automatically dump hair into the bin when it is needed. Certain models can detect levels of dirt and alter the level of cleaning. They also can detect objects that aren't part your home flooring, like furniture, toys, and food bowls.

Some robot vacuums have extra pet-friendly features, such as a water dispenser that can be used to mop floors and an HEPA filter that can reduce allergens such as pet dust. They could also provide a quieter operation that can reduce the amount of sound that's produced during cleaning sessions.

Robot vacuums that have mapping capabilities are an excellent option for pet owners, as they're engineered to assess your home and create a plan of attack based on the layout and obstacles in every room. For example the Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 Vacuum is a smart vacuum that has the amazing ability to map the room and navigate around furniture and other obstacles using gyroscope and accelerometer smart sensors that work together to learn the layout of your space.

Apps allow you to create no-go zones. These are areas that the robot should not be allowed, for instance, areas with delicate objects or pet feeding areas. This feature is particularly useful for households with busy schedules, as it allows you to schedule cleaning time and make adjustments without having to be in the same room as the vacuum. Spot cleaning is a fantastic feature. You can direct the vacuum cleaner to clean an area that is particularly filthy or is brimming with pet hair.

Dust Bin

Unless you're looking for a small size You should pick a robot that can carry at least a full bag of trash from one cleaning session. This is why we suggest opting for a model with an enormous bin or self vacuum near me-emptying garbage bin. The one will let you keep up with emptying your bin often enough to maintain its performance. The second will save you time and effort by automatically dumping the contents into an inside container each time you clean it.

Look for models that have smart mapping capabilities, which allow them to "learn" the layout of your home and plan more efficient routes. They also can detect and avoid objects that may block their paths (like shoelaces or tangled charging cables). Find models with smart mapping capabilities that permit them to "learn" the patterns of your house and plan more efficient routes, and ones that are able to detect and avoid objects that could hinder their path (like shoelaces or tangled charging cables).

Some models provide spot cleaning. This lets you choose a specific area of your home to be targeted for thorough cleaning. We've found that most of the top 5 robot vacuum performers in our tests are able to take in fine particles such as baking soda and sand together with larger debris such as oatmeal, orzo pasta, metal screws and pet hair.

According to the manufacturer, robots can last years and perform as well, so long as they are maintained. For instance, cleaning tangled hair out of brushes, emptying dust bins after each use and wiping cameras and sensors down as needed. The most efficient robots tend to be more modular and therefore easier and cheaper to repair or replace components like batteries and wheels when they get worn out.