Best Rated Robot Vacuum Cleaner
While robot vacuums are excellent in keeping your floors clean, they can't replace a full-size vacuum. Even the best robots can struggle to get into carpets or rugs, and can often get tangled in cords and socks.
Your robot will last longer if you perform routine maintenance. This includes replacing filters, cutting hairs that are tangled from brushes and emptying the dust bin.
Battery Life
The majority of robot vacuums are able to handle a couple of cleaning sessions without having to be charged. The second-placed model in our top picks is the Ecovacs Deebot Q30S Combo comes with a battery that is designed to last for up to 180 minutes (3,230 square feet) of cleaning time on a single charge. The runtime is more than enough time to clean the majority of smaller homes that have carpets that are hard and low-pile carpets or a bigger home where the rooms are roughly the same size.
A longer battery lifespan also means that the robot will spend more time cleaning and less time charging its dock. You should choose the model with an auto-emptying bin. These models are more efficient at picking up debris and returning back to the dock to recharge. It is also essential to empty or change the filter and clean cameras and sensors regularly so that they can clearly see your home.
Smart mapping technology is a beneficial feature, since you can program your robot to ensure it only cleans specific rooms or areas it's likely to crash into furniture or other obstacles. It's also useful for ensuring that your robot is able to get under and around beds, sofas and other tall furniture. A few robovacs that are cheap have boundary strips that you can use to block certain areas. Other models of higher quality rely on sensors and cameras.
Even cleaning robots aren't able to replace a traditional vacuum when it comes to heavy-duty large-pile dirt and debris. It's recommended to have an electric vacuum in your home for these chores and plan robot vacs for light cleanings throughout the week.
Navigation
A robot should be able to navigate around your home without getting stuck or crashing into objects like screws made of metal, loose pet hair, or sand. In our tests we used a tracking device used to follow the robot around a multi-room lab. It then tracks its surroundings. We also examine how the robot avoids obstacles like power cords, furniture leg, and pet waste.
The most advanced robots can create multiple floors and identify landmarks, such as doors and windows. The most advanced models, like the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra, feature a dual-sensor navigation system that uses the LIDAR sensor to map out the space and a structured light camera at the front of the robot to detect objects in real time. This lets the S8 to stay clear of common obstacles like 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 testing they were able to rip through dog poop, cords, and even shoes that were placed in the middle of the room. The Dreametech D10+ is the best value pick. It is a great carpet, hard floor, tangle and hair pickup. It also has an auto empty score that is near-perfect.
A large onboard dustbin which does not need to be empty manually, is also a feature that is essential. For models that mop the floor, this water tank is able to hold enough water for several weeks of cleaning. The Karcher RCV 5 has this, and a large enough footprint that it can be tucked away under furniture, but not so large that it won't fit in the space between your toilet and bathtub.
Apps
Robot vacuums are a lot like their upright counterparts, and it takes a lot of tech to get them up to speed. There are plenty of choices available in a market that is a mature. Even the best models require interaction from their customers, especially when it comes time to plan cleaning schedules, design a floor plan for 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 later use. This will allow the robot vacuum to continue where it left off on subsequent runs rather than having the mapping process restarted each time.
You should also consider models that offer zone or spot cleaning. These allow you to tell the robot vacuum to focus on a particular area for example, like under the dining room table after a big family meal. It is possible to use the app or by voice commands.
A lot of models also offer object avoidance. It allows the robot, when it sees objects in its path, like 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 offered on some of the more expensive models we test. However, they tend to rely on bump sensors to accomplish this and weren't always able to avoid obstacles in my test homes.
Pet Hair
Look for an upright vacuum cleaner designed to pick up pet hair. The top models feature powerful suction capabilities, a brush that avoids the tangling and an emptying mechanism that will automatically empty hair into the bin when necessary. Some models can detect dirt levels to adjust the intensity of cleaning. They also can detect objects that aren't part your flooring in your home, such as furniture, toys and food bowls.
Certain robot vacuums have extra pet-friendly features. These include the water dispenser that can be used to clean floors, and a HEPA filtering system that helps to reduce allergens, such as pet dander. They might also have an operation that is quieter to minimize the amount of noise generated during cleaning sessions.
Robot vacuums that have maps are a great option for pet owners, since they're engineered to assess your home and create plans of attack based on the layout and the obstacles in every room. Shark Matrix Plus is a dual-purpose robot vacuum that can map a room, navigate around furniture, and other obstacles with the help of accelerometers and gyroscope sensors.
Apps let you establish no-go zones. These are areas where the robot shouldn't be permitted, such as areas that contain delicate items or pet feeding areas. This feature can be especially useful for households with busy schedules, as it allows you to plan your cleaning schedule and make adjustments without having 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 especially dirty or filled with pet hair.
Dust Bin
If you're not searching for something small, you'll want to choose a robot capable of holding at least a complete bag of garbage from one cleaning session. We recommend going for a model with an enormous bin or self-emptying bins. The former will enable you to keep up with emptying the bin often enough to keep track of its performance, while the latter will help you save time and effort by automatically dumping its contents into an internal bin every few cleans.
Look for models with smart mapping capabilities that permit them to "learn" the layout of your house and plan more efficient routes. They can also sense and avoid objects that could hinder their routes (like shoelaces or tangled charging cables). Find models with smart mapping capabilities. This lets them "learn the patterns of your house and design a an efficient route.
Some models offer spot cleaning. This allows you to select an area of your home for intensive cleaning. We've observed that the majority of the top performers in our tests are able to take in fine particles such as baking soda and sand, along with heavier debris such as oatmeal orzo pasta, metal screws and pet hair.
Based on the manufacturer, most robots can last for a long time and continue to perform as long as you keep up with maintenance tasks, such as cleaning hair that is tangled from brushes, emptying the dust bin after every use and wiping down sensors and cameras whenever needed. The best-performing robots also tend to be more modular and therefore easier and less expensive to repair or replace parts like batteries and wheels when they wear out.