What to Look For in a Good Robot Vacuum

A robot vacuum can keep you on top of pet hair and lint on daily bases. Many robot vacuum and mop combo vacuums work with applications that allow you to schedule cleaning sessions. You can also set virtual boundaries, or walls, to keep the vacuum away from areas you don't want to be cleaned.

This smart vac-mop makes an outline of your home using its first run. It then stores the space to be used for cleaning tasks in the future. It has self-cleaning brush rolls as well as an large dust bin that is empty automatically.

Object Detection

When picking a robot vacuum, make sure you choose one that is able to pick up large items, like lamp cords and toys, and also dust particles. This will ensure that they don't become entangled by the roller brush and aren't left behind on your floors. This is particularly crucial if the robot will be cleaned regularly by children or pets.

It's also a good idea to select a model that has an efficient motor and lots of suction power. This will make it more effective in removing pet hair, lint, and dust from your hardwood and carpet floors.

Another factor to consider is the size of your space. If you have a large home, you may want to opt for one with multiple cleaning zones that can cover the entire home in one go. Certain models have mopping features that can be used to keep floors clean and fresh.

Robot vacuums are durable however, they must be maintained in a timely and efficient manner. Regularly cleaning the rotating brushes, emptying your dust bin, and wiping the sensors will keep your robot running smoothly for a long time. Many of the robot vacuum owners who we talk to have owned their machines for 10 years or longer (and have replaced brushes, motors, and batteries along with time).

A basic robot will cost less than a full-size vacuum cleaner, but they'll do a fantastic job at removing surface dirt, pet hair, and dust. They're a great maintenance cleaner that you can send out every week to keep your floors tidy. They don't have as much technology and are more susceptible to becoming jammed or requiring manual intervention.

Object Avoidance

The best affordable robot vacuum robot vacs use sensors, lasers or cameras to help them navigate your home without getting stuck or falling down the stairs. Some models will return to their base or dock when the battery is low. They can also avoid obstacles like furniture cords and legs. The ones that are more expensive usually come with mapping capabilities that permit them to memorize the arrangement of your home, and reduce the amount of time you're hitting walls.

If you don't want to spend a lot of money on the latest robotic vacuums, you can find one that does an excellent job of picking up pet hair dirt, dust, and crumbs from hard floors like tile and wood as well as carpets with low pile. They can also do a good job of handling larger debris like metal screws and staples that are rusty or even the remains of toys. Some have a base that automatically empties itself, which is great when you don't need to empty it after each cleaning session.

Most robotic vacs also offer smart features that make your ordinary stick vacuum appear old-fashioned, including schedules, zone targeting and the ability to control them with an app or voice assistant like Alexa. You can also create cleaning zones and virtual walls to block off areas you don't want the robot to get into.

Certain robotic vacuums, best Affordable robot vacuum such as the Eufy 11S or my former top choice, Roborock S8, come equipped with obstacle avoidance technology to stop them from falling over furniture or cords. Other models, like the iRobot Roomba j7+, have more sophisticated AI obstacle avoidance that uses sensors powered by processors to detect and avoid objects like shoes, lamp cords, socks and pet waste. It's a little more expensive than other bots I've tested, but it does a fantastic job of avoiding obstacles and never gets stuck or derailed when working on my floor.

While the iRobot j7+ was a solid obstacle avoidance bot, it didn't always do an excellent job of removing dirt and crumbs off my carpets. It also was known to over-vacuum certain areas, leading to dust accumulation in the filters, and an unclean home.

Smart Mapping

Some of the top robot vacuums have an app that allows you to alter cleaning modes, create schedules, and see an image of the area covered by the machine. This is an extremely useful feature that some competitors don't have. It allows you to create profiles that will automatically start the robot at specified times, and keep it running regularly. For instance, you could clean the living area every morning or prior to dinner.

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

For a truly hands-free experience, choose models with a large dust bin that can withstand many cleaning sessions before needing to be emptied. There are models that are self-emptying that take some of the labor out of emptying the robot after each run of vacuuming.

If you're looking for a robot that can do more than just vacuum, you'll want to consider a model which can mop your floors. These are typically larger than robotic vacuums and have a water tank inside that holds many cleaning sessions of dirt and other debris prior to needing to be emptied.

The most advanced robots create their own maps of your home and can even remember the arrangement from one cleaning to another and help them avoid getting lost or trapped in corners. This can make a huge difference in the efficiency of your robot vacuum, because it won't need to go back to where it started when it comes across furniture or walls.

Our test subjects who tested the robot that has this capability found it to be very efficient. They could comfortably watch TV or complete other chores while the robot was cleaning. 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 the house when you're at work.

App Control

If you'd like to alter the frequency with which the robot cleans your home and choose the cleaning mode you should choose one that has an app that can be downloaded on mobile. Through the app, you can also monitor the condition of your vacuum and its dust bin. Some of the top robotic vacuums can be controlled using Alexa, Google Assistant, or Siri Shortcuts.

It is simple to maintain a robot with the ability to wash the filter and a self-emptying container, especially when the filter can be easily cleaned and washed. Another feature that is great is a high-powered brush that is able to reach into corners and along baseboards, making it easier to get rid of dirt and hair. Certain robots are more adept in avoiding the chair's legs than others, and some even have self-cleaning sensors that can prevent the obstruction of brushes that may happen in other machines.

Certain robo-vacs come with navigational tools that aid them in navigating obstacles and learn your home. The top models utilize sensors and cameras to identify obstacles such as furniture, stairs, and cords. Cheaper models may use boundary strips to mark areas that you don't wish it to go. Avoidance of objects is particularly important for families with young children who leave socks and toys scattered across the house, because it allows your robot to grab those objects instead of scattering them.

Robots are increasingly equipped with mop heads. This is beneficial for those with hard floors who need to mop frequently. 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 need to be refilled frequently, but are ideal for homes that have hard floors and can't be cleaned easily with vacuums.

These robots come with some impressive technology, and they cost much less than you'd think. You can find a decent one under $200, which does a decent cleaning job on hard floors, while also navigating around the edges of carpets and area rugs. The robot can be programmed to vacuum the room on a regular basis. It can be controlled remotely through an app or by pressing buttons.