What to Look For in a Good Robot Vacuum

A quality robot vacuum will help you stay on top of pet hair, lint and dust on a regular basis. Many use apps that let you schedule cleaning sessions and create virtual boundaries, or "walls" to keep them out of areas that you don't want to be cleaned.

This smart vac-mop will create the map of your home using its first run. It then remembers the area for future cleaning jobs. It has self-cleaning brush rolls and an large dust bin that is empty automatically.

Object Detection

When choosing a robot vacuum cleaner, choose one that is able to pick up large items like lamps and toys as well as dust particles that are fine. This will ensure that the items don't get caught in the roller brush or end up on your floor. This feature is especially important if your robot will be cleaned regularly by children or pets.

A model with an efficient engine and plenty of suction is also an excellent option. This will allow it to be more effective in getting rid of dust, pet hair, and lint off carpets and hardwood floors.

The size of your home is a different factor to consider. If you have an area that is large you might want to select models that have multiple cleaning zones so you can clean your entire house in one session. Some models also have mopping capabilities, which can be used to keep your floors fresh and clean.

Robot vacuums are durable but they need to be maintained and cleaned regularly. Cleaning the rotating brushes and emptying the dust bin and wiping the sensors clean regularly will keep your robot running smoothly for the years to come. Many owners of robot vacuums we speak with have had the same machine for a period of 10 years or more (and have replaced motors, brushes and batteries in the process).

A basic robot is less expensive than a full size vacuum cleaner. They will still perform a great job of cleaning the surface of dirt pet fur, lint and other debris. You can use them to scrub your floors multiple times per day. They do not have as much technology and are more prone to get stuck or require manual intervention.

Object Avoidance

The most effective robot vacuums utilize cameras, sensors or lasers to navigate your home, avoiding getting stuck or falling down the stairs. They also can avoid obstacles such as furniture legs and cords, and some models can automatically return to their dock or base when they run low on energy. The ones that are more expensive usually feature mapping capabilities that allow them to remember the layout of your home and spend less time running into walls.

You don't need to spend lots of money on the most expensive robotic vacuums. You can still find models that do an excellent job of picking up pet hair and dirt from hard surfaces such as tiles, wood, and low-pile rugs. They also do a decent job of removing larger debris such as metal screws, rusty staples or the remains of toys. Some come with a base that automatically empties itself, which is ideal when you don't need to empty it after each cleaning session.

Most robotic vacs also offer innovative features that make a regular stick vacuum appear ancient with features like schedules, zone targeting and the capability to control them using an app or voice assistant like Alexa. You can also create cleaning zones and virtual walls to block off areas you don't wish the robot to enter.

Certain robotic vacuums like the Eufy 11S and my former top 10 pick Roborock S8 Roborock S8, have obstacle avoidance technology that stops them from crashing into furniture or tangling cords. Some robot vacuums, such as the iRobot Roomba j7+ have more sophisticated AI obstacle-avoidance technology that uses a camera, robot cleaner and Mop processors and intelligent algorithms to avoid objects like lamp cords and pet waste. It is a little bit more expensive than other bots that I've tried, however 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 great obstacle avoidance tool, it didn't always do an excellent job of avoiding dust and crumbs from my carpets. It also had a tendency to over-vacuum certain areas, leading to dust accumulating in the filters, and a less tidy house.

Smart Mapping

The best robot vacuums come with an app that lets you alter cleaning modes, create schedules, and look at an image of the floor area covered by the machine. This is a very useful feature that other models do not have. This makes it easy to create profiles that will automatically start your robot at certain times and keep it running on regularly, for example, cleaning the living room before dinner or every other day.

A good app will also allow you to control your robot using voice commands. Some models support Amazon's Alexa or Google Assistant and can work completely hands-free. You can say "start with a clean" or "change cleaning mode" without having to use the app.

To have a hands-free experience, look for a model with a large dust bin that can accommodate numerous cleaning sessions before needing to be emptied. There are models that self-empty which takes a portion of the work out of emptying the robot after each cleaning run.

If you're looking for a robotic that can do more than vacuum, consider one that has mopping functions. These are usually larger than robotic vacuums, and come with a water tank that can hold multiple cleaning sessions worth of dust and dirt before it needs to be empty.

The most advanced robots create their own maps of your home. They can even keep track of the layout from one cleaning to another and help them avoid getting lost or trapped in corners. This can make a big difference in the efficiency of your robot vacuum, as it will not have to go back to where it started when it encounters walls or furniture.

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

App Control

It is best to select one that comes with an app for mobile devices if you want to customize the frequency of cleaning and choose cleaning mode. Through the app, you can also examine the status of your vacuum as well as its dust bin. The best vacuums that are robotic can be controlled using Alexa, Google Assistant, or Siri Shortcuts.

It is easy to maintain a robot equipped with the ability to wash the filter and a self-emptying bin, particularly when the filter is easily removed and rinsed. Another feature that is great is a high-powered brush that can be found in corners and along baseboards, making it easier to remove hair and dirt. Some robots are more adept at avoiding chair legs than others, and some also have a self-cleaning sensor that prevents the clogging of brushes that can happen in other machines.

Some robo-vacs have navigation tools that assist them in navigating around obstacles and learn your home. The most expensive models employ sensors and cameras to identify obstacles such as stairs, furniture, and cords. The cheaper models could utilize boundaries to mark areas that you don't wish it to go. Avoidance of objects can be particularly useful for families with young kids who scatter toys and socks all in one vacuum and mop over the house. This allows your robot to gather these items, instead of scattering them.

More robots are equipped with mop attachments. This is beneficial for those with hard floors who require to mop regularly. These robots come with a reservoir of water built into their chassis or as a separate component that you can swap in when ready to mop. They may require to be refilled more frequently than other kinds of robots, however they're ideal for homes with hard floors which aren't easy to clean by vacuum.

We've seen some incredible technology packed into these little robots, and they're a lot less expensive than you might think. In fact, you can get an affordable robot vacuum model for less than $200 that does a decent job of removing pet hair and crumbs off hard floors, and also moving around the edges of light carpets or area carpets. You can schedule the robot to clean the room regularly and can be controlled remotely via the app or by pressing buttons on its side.