Best Rated Robot Vacuum Cleaner
While robot vacuums are excellent in keeping your floors spotless, they can't replace a large-sized vacuum. Even the best robots have difficulty getting deep into carpets and rugs, and they can become tangled up in cords and socks.
Being on top of routine maintenance (replacing filters, cutting tangled hair from brushes, and emptying the dust bin) can help your robot last longer.
Battery Life
The majority of 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 choices. It has an energy-efficient battery that can last up to 180 minutes (3,230 square feet) on one charge. That amount of runtime is more than enough to clean most smaller homes with carpets that are hard and low-pile carpets, or a larger home in which the rooms are about the same size.
A longer battery life means the robot can spend less time charging and spend more time cleaning. It's a good idea to choose a model with a self-emptying dust bin because those models are more efficient in picking up debris and returning to the dock to recharge. It's important to clean or replace filters and clean the sensors and the camera regularly so they can be seen clearly.
Smart mapping technology is a useful feature to look for, as it allows you to program your robot to only clear certain rooms or areas where it's more likely to crash into furniture or other obstacles. It's also beneficial for ensuring your robot is able to go under and around beds, sofas and other furniture with a high height. A few robovacs that are cheap come with boundary strips that you can use to block off specific areas. Other models of higher quality rely on sensors and cameras.
Even the best robot vacs aren't able to replace a traditional vacuum when it comes to heavy-duty large-pile dirt and other 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 must be able to navigate around your home without getting stuck or running into things like metal screws or loose pet hair or sand. In our tests, we employ a tracking device to track the robot as it travels through a multi-room lab and shows its surroundings. We also check how well the robot can avoid obstacles like power cords, furniture leg, and pet waste.
The top robots can map out several floors and can recognize landmarks like doors and Windows. The most advanced robots, like the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra have a dual sensor navigation system, which uses an LIDAR to create a floor plan and a structured-light camera on the front to spot objects in real-time. This lets the S8 to avoid common obstacles such as furniture legs and power cords and can also store up to four floor maps within its internal memory.
The 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 see through dog poop and cords as well as a pair of shoes placed in the middle. The most affordable choice the Dreametech D10+, is an exception to this. It is a great carpet and hard floor pickup, great tangle and hair pickup, and an almost perfect auto empty score.
A large onboard dustbin which doesn't have to be manually empty is another feature that's important. For models that mop the floor, this water tank will provide enough water for several weeks of cleaning. The Karcher RCV 5 has this and a big enough footprint that it can be placed under furniture, but not so large that it won't fit in the nook between your toilet and bathtub.
Apps
Robot vacuums are like their upright counterparts and require a lot of technology to keep them up to date. There are many options in a market that is maturing. Even the top models require interaction from their customers, especially when it comes to plan cleaning schedules, design an outline of your home and set up virtual barriers.
Consider a model with its own app that can determine 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, without having to restart the mapping process every time.
It's also worth keeping an eye out for a model that offers zones or spot cleaning modes. They let you tell the robot vacuum to focus on a specific spot, such as under the dining room table after the family's big meal. You can typically do this using the app or voice commands.
Many models also offer objects avoidance. It lets the robot see something in its path, like the shoe box or a crate of dog toys, and guide itself around it. This will prevent it from crashing into objects that could harm its sensors or cause jams.
Some of the most expensive models we tested come with this feature. However, they usually rely on bump sensors to accomplish this and weren't always able to stay clear of things in my test homes.
Pet Hair
When it comes to picking up pet hair, choose a model that's designed specifically to handle this kind of debris. The top models feature powerful suction capabilities, a brush that avoids tangling, and an emptying mechanism that can automatically dump hair into the dust bin when needed. Some models can also determine dirt levels and adjust the cleaning intensity in line with the level of dirt. They can also detect items that aren't a part of your flooring at home, such as toys, furniture and food bowls.
Some robot vacuums have extra features that are pet-friendly, such as small water dispensers that can be used to mop floors, and a HEPA filter that can reduce allergens such as pet dust. They may also have an operation that is quieter to reduce the amount noise generated during cleaning sessions.
Robot vacuums with the ability to map are a great option for pet owners. They're designed to assess your home, and create an attack plan based on the layout of each room as well as obstacles. For example the Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 Vacuum is a smart vacuum that has an impressive capability to map the room and navigate around furniture and other obstacles using gyroscope and accelerometer smart sensors that work in conjunction to learn the layout of your home.
Other models that are more advanced let you create no-go zones, which are areas that the robot is expected to avoid--like fragile items or pet feeding areas--by altering settings through an app. This feature is particularly useful for households with busy schedules as it permits you to plan your cleaning schedule and adjust settings without having to be in the same room with the vacuum. Spot cleaning is an additional great feature. You can direct the vacuum cleaner to clean an area that is particularly filthy or filled with pet hair.
Dust Bin
If you don't need something tiny, choose a robot with a big bin or even a self-emptying trash bin. That's why we recommend opting for a model that has a large bin or even self-emptying garbage bin. The former will help you keep track of emptying the bin frequently enough to ensure you are on top of its performance and the latter will save you time and hassle by automatically emptying its contents into an internal bin every few cleans.
Find 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 could hinder their routes (like shoelaces or tangled charging cables). Find models with smart mapping capabilities. This allows them to "learn the structure of your home and plan an efficient route.
Some models offer spot cleaning. This allows you to select an area of your house for intensive cleaning. In our tests, we discovered that the top models can remove small particles like baking soda, sand, orzo, metal screws and pet hair, as well heavier debris like oatmeal, orzo, and screws made of metal.
According to the manufacturer the company, robots can last for years and continue to perform as well, so long as they're maintained. For instance cleaning hair tangled of brushes and emptying dust bins after each use and wiping cameras and sensors down when needed. The most efficient robots tend to be more modular and therefore easier and less costly to replace or repair parts such as wheels and batteries as they wear out.