Best Rated Robot Vacuum Cleaner

While robot vacuums are excellent in keeping your floors clean, they can't replace a large-sized vacuum. Even the best vacuums struggle to penetrate carpets or rugs, and can often get tangled in socks and cords.

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

Battery Life

The majority of robot vacuums can manage one or two cleaning sessions before needing a charge. The Ecovacs Q30S Combo is a close second in our top picks. It has an energy-efficient battery that can last up to 180 minutes (3,230 square feet) on one charge. This amount of runtime will suffice for most 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 means the robot will be able to spend less time charging and spend more time cleaning. You should choose a model that has a self-emptying bin. These models are more efficient at collecting debris and then returning to docks to recharge. It's also important to empty or replace the filter and wipe down cameras and sensors regularly so that they are able to see your home clearly.

Smart mapping technology can be a useful feature, as it allows you to program your robot to ensure it only cleans certain rooms or areas it is likely to bump into furniture or other obstacles. This feature is also useful to ensure that your robot is able to get under and around furniture such as sofas, beds and other large objects. Some robovacs are inexpensive and have boundary strips that you can use to block off specific areas. Other high-end models rely on sensors and cameras.

Even the best robot vacuums cannot replace a traditional vacuum for heavy-duty dirt and debris. It's recommended to have an electric vacuum in your home to tackle these tasks, and also schedule robot vacs to do light cleaning throughout the week.

Navigation

A robot should be able to navigate you home without getting stuck or running into things like metal screws or pet hair that is loose, or sand. In our tests, a tracking device is used to follow the robot around the multi-room lab. It then analyzes its surroundings. We also look for the way it manages to avoid obstacles like power cords, furniture legs and pet waste.

The most advanced robots can create several 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 uses the LIDAR sensor to map the space and a structured light camera at the front of the robot 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 floor maps within its internal memory.

More affordable models don't have this kind of detection and rely on bump sensors which aren't as accurate. In my testing they cut right through cords, dog poop, and even a pair of shoes placed in the middle of the room. The Dreametech D10+ is the most value-for-money option. It has excellent carpet and hard floor pickup, good hair and tangle pickup and an almost perfect auto empty score.

Another feature that is important is a large dust bin that doesn't need to be manually emptied, and for models that mop, a water tank which can store weeks of cleaning sessions. The Karcher RCV 5 has this, and a large enough footprint to be placed 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 a lot of technology to keep them current. The result is a pretty mature market full of options. However, even the most advanced models require interaction with their users, particularly when it comes to scheduling cleanings and establishing a robotic floor scrubber plan and setting up virtual barriers.

You might consider a model with its own app that can identify the layout of your home and save the settings for future use. This will allow the robot vacuum to continue where it started when it runs again, instead of having the mapping process restarted every time.

It's important to look out for a vacuum that comes with zones or spot cleaning options. They allow you to instruct the robot vacuum to focus on a specific spot, such as under the dining table after an enormous family meal. It is possible to do this using the app or voice commands.

Many models also offer objects avoidance. It allows the robot to observe something in its path, such as a box of shoes or a crate filled with dog toys, and coach itself around it. This prevents it from running into objects which could harm its sensors or cause jams.

Some of the more expensive models we tested come with this feature. However, they typically rely on bump sensors to accomplish this and didn't always manage to stay clear of things in my test homes.

Pet Hair

When you're looking to remove pet hair, choose one that is specifically designed to handle this type of debris. The top models feature powerful suction and a brush that prevents tangling, and an emptying mechanism that can automatically dump hair into the dust bin when it is needed. Some models are able to detect levels of dirt and adjust the intensity of cleaning. They can even spot objects that aren't a part of the flooring in your home like furniture, 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 a HEPA filter that helps reduce allergens such as pet dust. They might also offer the option of a quieter operation, which will minimize the amount of noise generated during cleaning.

Robot vacuums that have mapping capabilities are a great option for pet owners. They're designed to assess your home, and create an strategy based on the layout of each room as well as obstacles. For example, the Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 Vacuum is a smart robot vacuums vacuum with an amazing ability to map rooms and navigate around furniture and other obstructions using accelerometer and gyroscope sensors that work together to learn the layout of your home.

Apps allow you to establish zones that are not allowed. These are areas that the robot is not allowed, such as fragile objects or pet feeding areas. This feature is especially useful for households with busy schedules, as it allows you to schedule cleaning sessions and make adjustments without having to be in the same space as the vacuum. Spot cleaning is an additional great feature. You can instruct the vacuum cleaner to clean a space that is particularly dirty or is brimming with pet hair.

Dust Bin

Unless you're looking for something tiny it is recommended to select one capable of holding at least a complete bag of trash from one cleaning session. We suggest choosing the one with a large bin or a bin that automatically emptys. The former will enable you to keep track of cleaning the bin regularly enough to stay 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.

Regardless of the size of your house the majority of robots are able to move around and up to furniture, and they are able to detect and navigate around household obstacles like shoes, loose cords and dog urine. Find models with intelligent mapping capabilities. This allows them to "learn the patterns of your house and plan an efficient route.

Some models also provide spot cleaning, which allows you to manually target a particular area of your home for thorough cleaning. In our tests, we discovered that the best robot vacuum black friday models can remove small particles like baking soda, sand orzo, screws made of metal and pet hair, as well as heavier debris like oatmeal, orzo, and metal screws.

According to the brand, robots can last years and still perform well as long as they're maintained. For instance, cleaning tangled hair out of brushes and emptying dust bins after each use as well as wiping cameras and sensors down when needed. The most reliable robots are more flexible. This makes it easier to repair or replace parts such as wheels and batteries as they wear out.