What to Look For in a Good Robot Vacuum

A robot vacuum will help keep you on the top of pet hair and lint on a regular basis. Many use apps that allow you to schedule cleaning sessions and create virtual boundaries, or 'walls' to keep them from areas you don't want cleaned.

This smart vac-mop will create the map of your home's layout with its initial run. It then stores the area to help you with future cleaning tasks. It comes with a large dust bin that automatically emptys, as well as a self-cleaning, brush roll.

Object Detection

When choosing a robot vacuum cleaner, pick one that can clean up big items such as lamp cords and toys as well as dust particles of fine size. This will ensure that they do not get stuck in the roller brush or left on your floor. This is especially important when you have pets or children, and you may have to clean the robot regularly.

A model that has an engine that is powerful and lots of suction is also an ideal choice. This will help it to be more efficient in getting rid of dust, pet hair and lint from carpets as well as hardwood flooring.

Another crucial aspect to consider is the size of your space. If you live in a large house you might want to select models that have multiple cleaning zones so you can clean your entire home in a single session. Some models come with a mopping feature that can be utilized to keep floors clean and fresh.

Robot vacuums are durable but they need to be cleaned properly and regularly. Cleaning the rotating brushes and emptying the dust bin and wiping the sensors clean regularly will keep your robot functioning efficiently for many the years to be. Many of the robot vacuum owners who we talk to have owned their machines for ten years or longer (and have replaced motors, brushes, and batteries with time).

A basic robot will cost you less than a full-sized vacuum cleaner, but they'll still do an excellent job at removing dirt on the surface, pet hair and dust. You can use them to clean your floors multiple times per day. The drawback is that they don't offer as much technological innovation, and may be prone to becoming stuck or requiring human intervention.

Object Avoidance

The best robot vacs use sensors, lasers or cameras to help them navigate your home without getting stuck or falling down the staircase. They can also stay clear of obstacles such as cords and furniture legs and some models can automatically return to their base or dock when they are running low on energy. The more expensive ones often have mapping capabilities that allow them to memorize the design of your home and reduce the amount of time you're running into walls.

If you don't want to splurge on the most advanced robotic vacuums, you could find one that does a great job of picking up pet hair dirt, dust, and crumbs from hard floors like wood and tile and carpets with a low pile. They can also do a good job of handling larger debris like metal screws, rusty staples or discarded toys. Some come with a self-emptying base that is handy if you don't want to empty the trash bin after every cleaning session.

Many robotic vacuums also come with innovative features that make a standard stick vacuum seem prehistoric, including 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 do not want the robots to enter.

Certain robotic vacuums, such as the Eufy 11S and my former top pick, the Roborock S8, have obstacle avoidance technology that stops them from derailing by running into furniture or tangling with cords. Some robot vacuums, such as the iRobot Roomba j7+ have more advanced shark ai robot vacuum obstacle-avoidance technology that uses cameras, processors and intelligent algorithms to avoid objects like lamp cords as well as 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 and rarely got derailed or trapped when I was working on my floors.

While the iRobot's j7+ was a solid obstacle avoidance robot however, it wasn't always doing well in removing dust and crumbs from my carpets. It also was known to over-vacuum certain areas resulting in a lot of dust in the filters, and a less tidy home.

Smart Mapping

Some of the best robot vacuums come with an app that lets you customize cleaning modes and schedules, as well as view the flooring area that the machine covers. This is a very useful feature that some competitors don't have. This allows you to create profiles that automatically start your robot at certain time intervals and vacuums run it on a regular basis, like cleaning the living area prior to dinner or on a regular basis.

A good app will also allow you to control your robot via voice commands. Some models support 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.

Find models with a large dustbin. This will allow you to do many cleaning sessions without having empty it. There are models that self-empty. This eliminates the need to empty the robot after every vacuuming session.

If you're looking for a machine that is more than simply vacuum, you'll need to look into one that can mop floors. These are usually bigger than robotic vacuums and include a water tank inside that can hold many cleaning sessions of dirt and other debris prior to having to be empty.

Robots that are more sophisticated can create their own maps and remember 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 how efficiently your robot vacuums, since it won't be spending time going back to the beginning of the room whenever it comes into contact with walls or furniture.

Our test participants who utilized robots with this capability discovered it to be extremely efficient, and could watch TV or do other chores while the robot was cleaning. Some of these models utilize laser navigation and can make an exact map of your home, which means that you can program them to clean just the bedroom after dinner, or every room in the house while you're at work.

App Control

It's best to choose one that comes with an app that is mobile in case you wish to alter the frequency of cleaning and select a cleaning mode. Through the app, you can check the status of your vacuum as well as its dust bin. The best vacuums that are robotic can be controlled by Alexa, Google Assistant, or Siri Shortcuts.

A robot that has a self-emptying bin and washable filters is easy to keep clean, especially when you are able to access the filter and take it off it to rinse it. A high-powered brush is another fantastic feature that allows you to reach into corners and along baseboards to remove hair and dirt. Certain robots are better in avoiding chair legs than others. Others have sensors that automatically clean brushes to avoid obstruction.

Some robot vacuums come with navigation tools that assist them in navigating around obstacles and help you understand your home. The top models come with sensors and cameras that can detect obstacles like furniture, stairs and cords, while cheaper models sometimes utilize boundary strips that you place on the floor to mark areas you don't want to enter. Object avoidance can be especially beneficial for families with young kids who scatter toys and socks all over the house. This can help your robot to collect these items, instead of scattering them.

More robots are coming with mop heads. This is beneficial for those with floors that are hard and need to mop frequently. These robots have a reservoir of water built into their chassis or as a separate piece that can be swapped in when ready to mop and vacuum combo robot. They may require to be refilled more often than other kinds of robots, however they're great for homes with hard floors which aren't easy to clean using a vacuum.

These robots are packed with some amazing technology, and cost much less than you'd think. In fact, vacuums you can find a good one for under $200 that does a good job of removing pet hair and crumbs off hard floors while also moving around the edges of light carpets or area carpets. The robot can be programmed to vacuum the room on a regular schedule. It can also be controlled remotely via an app or by pressing buttons.