Best Rated Robot Vacuum Cleaner

Robot vacuums can be great for keeping your floors clean but they are not a substitute for a regular vacuum. Even the most powerful robots have trouble getting deep into rugs and carpets, and they can become tangled with cords and socks.

Being on top of routine 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 one or two cleaning sessions before requiring a charge. The Ecovacs Q30S Combo is the second-best of our top selections. It comes with batteries that last up to 180 minutes (3,230 square foot) on one charge. This will suffice for the majority of small homes with the combination of hard flooring and carpets with low pile or larger homes where the rooms are about the same size.

A longer battery life also means that the robot is able to spend more time cleaning and less charging on its dock. You should select the model with an automatic floor cleaning machine emptying bin. These models are more efficient in collecting debris and then returning back to the dock to recharge. It is essential to clean or replace filters and wipe down the sensors and the camera regularly so they can see clearly.

Smart mapping technology is a great feature to look for, as it allows you to program your robot to only clean certain rooms or avoid areas that it's likely to hit furniture or other obstacles. It's also helpful for ensuring your robot is able to go under and around beds, sofas and other furniture that is tall. Some robovacs that are inexpensive have boundary strips you can place on the floor to block off certain areas, and other models with higher-end features use cameras and sensors to achieve this goal.

Even the best robot vacs cannot replace a traditional vacuum when it comes to heavy-duty, large-pile dirt and debris. It's recommended to have a power vacuum available for these chores and plan robot vacs for light cleanings throughout the week.

Navigation

A robot should be capable of traveling around your home and not being caught or running into objects like metal screws, pet hair or sand. In our tests we used a tracking device used to track the robot's movements 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 can recognize landmarks like doors and Windows. The most advanced robots such as the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra have a dual sensor navigation system which utilizes an LIDAR to create a floor plan and a structured-light camera mounted on the front to identify objects in real-time. This allows the S8 to stay clear of common obstacles such as power cords and furniture legs, and it can store up to four floor maps in its internal memory.

The majority of the models that are affordable depend on bump sensors that aren't as accurate. In my tests they were able see through dog poop and cords as well as a pair of shoes placed in the middle. The best value pick the Dreametech D10+, is one exception to this. It is a great carpet and hard floor pickup, excellent hair and tangle pickup, and an auto empty score.

Another important feature is a large dust bin which doesn't have to be manually empty, and for those models that mop, a water tank that can last for weeks of mopping sessions. Karcher's RCV 5 is an excellent example of this. It has a wide enough footprint to be able to be placed under furniture, but not so large that it can't fit into the space between your toilet and bathtub.

Apps

Robot vacuums are similar to their upright counterparts and require an array of technologies to keep them up to date. The result is a pretty mature market with plenty of options. But even the top models require some interaction with their users - particularly when it comes to scheduling cleanings, establishing a home floor plan and setting 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 recognize the layout of your home and save those settings for the future. This will let the robot vacuum start where it left off on subsequent runs, rather than having to restart the mapping process each time.

It's also worth keeping an eye out for a vacuum that comes with spot or zone cleaning modes. These allow you to tell the robot vacuum to focus on a specific area for example, like under the dining table following a big family meal. You can do this using the app or voice commands.

The ability to avoid objects is another option that is available on many models. It lets the robot see something in its path, such as the shoe box or a crate filled with dog toys, and guide itself around it. This prevents it from crashing into objects that could damage its sensors or cause a jam.

This feature is offered on some of the more expensive models we test. They rely on the technology of bump sensors for this, but they didn't always stay clear of things I tested at home.

Pet Hair

When you're looking to remove pet hair, choose a model that's designed specifically to handle this type of debris. The top models feature powerful suction and a brush that is free of tangling, and an emptying mechanism that will automatically dump hair into the dust bin when necessary. Some can also detect dirt levels and adjust cleaning intensity in line with the level of dirt. They can even spot items that aren't part of your flooring like furniture toys, food bowls, toys cords, and so on.

Certain robot vacuums have additional features that are pet-friendly. These include a water dispenser that is used to mop floors and a HEPA filtering system that eliminates allergens such as pet dust. They could also provide the option of a quieter operation, which will reduce the amount of sound that's produced during cleaning sessions.

Robot vacuums that include mapping capabilities are an excellent option for pet owners, as they're engineered to assess your home and devise plans of attack according to the layout and obstacles in every room. For instance, the Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum is a smart vacuum with an amazing ability to map a room and navigate around furniture and other obstructions with accelerometer and gyroscope smart sensors which work in tandem to understand the layout of your home.

Other advanced models allow you to set no-go zones, which are areas that the robot is meant to avoid, such as items that are fragile or pet feeding spots--by adjusting settings through an app. This feature is particularly useful for a busy household, as it allows you to schedule cleaning time and make adjustments without having to be in the same space as the robotic vacuum cleaner commercial. Spot cleaning is another fantastic feature. You can instruct the vacuum cleaner to clean a spot that is especially dirty or is brimming with pet hair.

Dust Bin

If you're not looking for something small You should pick an item capable of holding at least a large bag of garbage from a single cleaning session. We suggest choosing the one with a large bin or a trash bin that self-empties. The one will let you keep up with the process of emptying your bin regularly enough to ensure its efficiency. The latter will save time and effort by automatically emptying the contents into an inside container every few cleanings.

Look for models with smart mapping capabilities that permit them to "learn" the layout of your home and devise more efficient routes. They also can detect and avoid objects that may hinder their routes (like shoelaces or tangled charging cables). Find models with intelligent mapping capabilities. This allows them to "learn the patterns of your house and devise a more efficient routes.

Some models provide spot cleaning. This lets you choose a specific area of your home for thorough cleaning. We've found that most of the top robot vacuum performers in our tests are able to remove fine particles such as baking soda and sand, as well as heavier debris such as oatmeal, orzo pasta, metal screws, and pet hair.

Depending on the brand, most robots can last for years and will continue to perform well as long as you are on top of maintenance tasks, such as cleaning hair that is tangled from brushes, emptying the dust bin after each use, and wiping down sensors and cameras whenever needed. The most efficient robots tend to be more modular and therefore easier and cheaper to repair or replace parts like batteries and wheels when they wear out.