Best Rated Robot Vacuum Cleaner

Robot vacuums are great for keeping your floors clean however they aren't a replacement for the regular vacuum. Even the most powerful robots struggle to get into carpets or rugs, and can often get tangled in cords and socks.

Maintaining a regular schedule of maintenance (replacing filters cutting hair tangled from brushes, and emptying the dust bin) will make your robot last longer.

Battery Life

Most robot vacuums are capable of handling just a few cleaning sessions before requiring a charge. The runner-up of our overall selections, the Ecovacs Deebot Q30S Combo is capable of lasting up to 180 minutes (3,230 square feet) of cleaning time on one charge. The runtime is more than enough time 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 also means the robot can spend more time cleaning, and less time charging its dock. It's recommended to select a model with a self-emptying dust bin because they are more efficient when it comes to cleaning up debris and returning to the dock for charging. It's also important to clean or replace the filter and wipe down sensors and cameras on a regular basis to ensure they are able to see your home clearly.

Smart mapping technology can be a useful feature, as you can program your robot to ensure it only cleans certain rooms or areas it's likely to bump into furniture and other obstacles. This feature is also helpful for ensuring that your robot is able to reach under and around furniture such as beds, sofas and other high-height items. Some robovacs are inexpensive and come with boundary strips that you can use to block off specific areas. best home vacuum cleaner of higher quality rely on cameras and sensors.

Even the best robot vacuums can't replace a conventional vac when it comes heavy-duty dirt and debris. It is recommended to keep a traditional power vac in reserve for those tasks and to schedule robot vacuums regularly for light cleanups throughout the week.

Navigation

A robot should be capable of traveling around your home and not getting caught or running into things like metal screws pet hair, sand or. In our tests the tracking device is used to track the robot through an entire lab. It then maps its surroundings. We also check how well the robot avoids obstacles such as power cords, furniture legs, and pet waste.

The most advanced robots are able to map out multiple floors and recognize landmarks, such as doors and windows. The most advanced models, like the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra, have a dual-sensor navigation system that utilizes a LIDAR sensor to map out the room and a structured light camera on the front of the robot to detect objects in real-time. The S8 is able to avoid obstacles like power cords as well as legs of furniture. It can also store up to four floor maps.

The majority of the models that are affordable use bump sensors, which are not as accurate. In my tests, they were able to see through dog poop and cords, as well as a pair of shoes placed in the middle. The most cost-effective choice the Dreametech D10+, is an exception to this. It has excellent carpet and hard floor pickup, good hair and tangle pickup and a near perfect auto empty score.

A large onboard dustbin that doesn't need to be empty manually is another feature that is essential. For models that sweep the floor, this tank can provide enough water for several weeks of cleaning. The Karcher RCV 5 comes with this feature and has a large enough footprint to be tucked away under furniture but not so big that it can't fit into the space between your bathtub and toilet.

Apps

Robot vacuums are similar to their upright counterparts and require an array of technologies to keep them current. There are a lot of options in a market that is mature. Even the most advanced models require interaction from their users, especially when it comes to plan cleaning schedules, design the floor plan of your home, and set up virtual barriers.

To lessen the chance of the impact of this interaction, you should look for a model that has its own app to identify the design of your home and save these settings for the future. This will let the vacuum begin where it left off in subsequent runs, instead of having to restart the mapping process every time.

It's important to look out for a model that has 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 usually choose to use the app or via voice commands.

The ability to avoid objects is another feature that's available with several models. It allows the robot, when it comes across something in its way such as a box of shoes or a crate containing dog toys, to instruct itself around. This will keep it from running into things that could harm its sensors or cause jams.

This feature is available on some of the more expensive models we test. However, they tend to rely on bump sensors to accomplish this, and they weren't always able to avoid obstacles in my test homes.

Pet Hair

When it comes to removing pet hair, look for the right model designed to handle this type of debris. The best models will have a high suction, a brush which stops tangling, and an automatic emptying mechanism. Some models can also determine dirt levels and adjust the intensity of cleaning in line with the level of dirt. They can even spot objects that aren't a part of your home's flooring, such as furniture and toys, food bowls cords, and much more.


Certain robot vacuums come with 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 might also have an operation that is quieter to minimize the amount of noise generated during cleaning sessions.

Robot vacuums that have the ability to map are a great option for pet owners, as they're engineered to assess your home and develop an action plan in accordance with the layout and obstructions in every room. Shark Matrix Plus is a two-in-one robot vacuum that can map a room, and navigate through furniture, and over other obstacles by using accelerometers and gyroscope smart sensors.

Apps allow you to create no-go zones. These are areas that the robot should not be allowed, such as fragile items or pet feeding areas. This feature is particularly beneficial for families with a lot of activity as it permits you to schedule cleaning time and make adjustments without having be in the same space as the vacuum. Spot cleaning is another fantastic feature. You can use the vacuum cleaner to clean a space that is especially dirty or is brimming with pet hair.

Dust Bin

Unless you're looking for a small size You should pick a robot capable of holding at least a complete bag of garbage from a single cleaning session. We recommend going for a model with a large bin, or perhaps self-emptying garbage bin. The former will allow you to keep up with cleaning the bin regularly enough to stay 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 house Most robots are able to climb up and around furniture, and most can recognize and navigate around household obstacles such as loose cords, shoes, and dog poop. Make sure you choose models with intelligent mapping capabilities. This allows them to "learn the structure of your home and devise a more efficient route.

Some models provide spot cleaning. This allows you to manually target an area of your home for intensive cleaning. We've found that most of the top performers in our tests are able to take in fine particles such as sand and baking soda, as well as heavier debris such as oatmeal orzo pasta, metal screws, and pet hair.

Based on the manufacturer, the majority of robots last for a long time and continue to perform well as long as you are on top of maintenance, like cleaning out hair that has become tangled from brushes, emptying the dust bin after every use, and wiping down cameras and sensors as required. The best robots are also more modular. This makes it easier to repair or replace parts like wheels and batteries when they get worn out.