Best Rated Robot Vacuum Cleaner

While robot vacuums are great in keeping your floors clean but they aren't able to replace a full-size vacuum. Even the most powerful robots have difficulty getting deep into carpets and rugs, and they can become tangled with cords and socks.

Your robot will last longer if it is maintained with regular maintenance. This includes replacing filters, cutting hairs that have become tangled off brushes and emptying the dust bin.

Battery Life

Most robot vacuums are equipped to handle a couple of cleaning sessions without needing to be charged. The Ecovacs Q30S Combo is the runner-up of our top picks. It comes with a battery that can last up to 180 minutes (3,230 square feet) on one charge. This should be more than enough for most small homes with carpets, hard floors and carpets with low pile or larger homes where the rooms are similar in size.

A longer battery lifespan also means that the robot will spend more time cleaning and less charging its dock. You should select a model that has an auto-emptying bin. These models are more efficient at picking up debris and returning back to the dock to recharge. It is important to clean or replace filters and clean the sensors and cameras on a regular schedule so they can be seen clearly.

Smart mapping technology can be a valuable feature, as it allows you to program your robot so that it only cleans certain rooms or stays clear of areas where it's likely to bump into furniture and other obstacles. This feature is also helpful to ensure that your robot is able to reach under and around furniture such as sofas, beds and other tall items. Some cheap robovacs offer boundaries that you can put on the floor to block off areas and other models with higher-end features use cameras and sensors for this purpose.

Even the best robot vacs can't replace a conventional vacuum for heavy-duty large-pile dirt and other debris. It's advisable to keep a standard power vac on standby for those tasks and to schedule robot vacs regularly for light cleaning throughout the week.

Navigation

A robot should be able to navigate around your home without getting stuck or crashing into things such as metal screws, loose pet hair, or sand. In our tests, we use a tracking device to track the robot as it moves through a multiroom lab. It shows its surroundings. We also check the way it manages to avoid obstacles, including power cords, furniture legs and pet waste.

The top robots can map out several floors, and recognize landmarks like windows and doors. The most advanced ones, like the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra, have a dual-sensor navigation system that uses the LIDAR sensor to map out the room, and a light camera at the front of the bot to detect objects in real time. This allows the S8 to stay clear of common obstacles, such as power cords and furniture legs and can also store up to four different floor maps in its internal memory.

The most affordable models depend on bump sensors that aren't 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 Dreametech D10+ is the best value choice. It has excellent carpet and hard floor pickup, good hair and tangle pickup, and a near perfect auto empty score.

A large onboard dustbin, which doesn't have to be emptying manually, is also a feature that's important. If you have models that mop the floor, this tank can hold enough water to last 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 space between your toilet and bathtub.

Apps

Robot vacuums are like their upright counterparts, and it takes a lot of tech to get them up to speed. There are a lot of options in a market that is mature. But even the best models require some interaction with their users, particularly when it comes to scheduling cleanings as well as establishing a home floor plan and setting up virtual barriers.

To reduce the impact of this interaction, consider looking for a model with its own app to determine the location of your home, and save those settings for the future. This will let the vacuum start where it left off in subsequent runs, instead of having to restart the mapping process each time.

You should also look for models that offer zone or spot cleaning. You can instruct the vacuum cleaner to concentrate on an area, like under the table after a big family meal. You can use the app or voice commands.

Object avoidance is another feature that's included in several models. It lets the robot see something in its path, such as shoes, a crate of dog toys or a crate of dog toys, and coach itself around it. This will stop it from hitting objects which could harm its sensors or cause jams.

This feature is offered on some of the more expensive models we tried. They depend on the technology of bump sensors for this however they did not always stay clear of things I tested at home.

Pet Hair

Look for an upright vacuum cleaner specifically designed to collect hair from pets. The most effective models will feature a high suction, a brush that prevents 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 also detect items that aren't a part of your flooring in your home, such as toys, furniture and food bowls.

Certain robot vacuums come with features that are pet-friendly, such as a small water dispenser that can be used to mop floors and an HEPA filter that can help reduce allergens like pet dust. They may also have a quieter mode of operation to cut down on the amount of noise that is generated during cleaning.

Robot sweeper vacuums that have the ability to map are a great option for pet owners. They are designed to analyze your home, and create an strategy based on the arrangement of each room and obstacles. Shark Matrix Plus is a two-in-one robot vacuum that can map a room, and navigate through furniture, and over other obstacles with the help of accelerometers and gyroscope sensors.

Apps allow you to establish zones that are not allowed. These are areas that the robot should not be allowed, for instance, areas with fragile objects or pet feeding areas. This feature is particularly useful for households with busy schedules because it allows you to schedule cleaning sessions 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 a space that is particularly dirty or is brimming with pet hair.

Dust Bin

If you're not looking for something tiny it is recommended to select a robot that can carry at least a complete bag of garbage from a single cleaning session. We suggest choosing the one with an enormous bin or a trash bin that automatically emptys. The former will allow you to keep up with the process of emptying your bin regularly enough to keep it functioning. The second will save you time and effort by automatically dropping the contents into an inside container every few cleanings.

No matter the size of your home, most robots can easily climb up and around furniture, and they can detect and navigate around household obstacles such as shoes, loose cords and dog poop. Find models with smart mapping capabilities, which permit them to "learn" the patterns of your house and devise more efficient routes, and ones that can sense and avoid objects that may hinder their routes (like shoelaces or tangled charging cables).

Some models also offer spot cleaning. This lets you choose a specific area of your home for thorough cleaning. We've observed that the majority of the top performers in our tests can remove fine particles such as sand and baking soda, as well as heavier debris like oatmeal orzo pasta screws, and pet hair.

According to the company the manufacturer, robots last for a long time and perform well, as long as they are properly maintained. For example cleaning hair that is tangled out of brushes, emptying dust bins after each use and wiping sensors and cameras down when needed. The best-performing robots also tend to be more modular which makes them simpler and cheaper to replace or repair parts like batteries and wheels when they wear out.