Best Rated Robot Vacuum Cleaner

While robot vacuums are great at keeping your floors clean, they can't replace a large-sized vacuum. Even the most powerful robots have difficulty getting deep into rugs and carpets, and they can get tangled with cords and socks.

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

Battery Life

The majority of robot vacuums can manage a few cleaning sessions before needing to recharge. The runner-up of our overall picks is the Ecovacs Deebot Q30S Combo is capable of lasting up to 180 minutes (3,230 square feet) of cleaning time on one charge. The runtime is enough to clean smaller homes with carpets that are hard and low-pile carpets or a larger house where the rooms are roughly the same size.

A longer battery life also means that the robot will spend more time cleaning, and less time charging its dock. It's recommended to select a model with a self-emptying dust bin, since those models are more efficient when it comes to cleaning up debris and returning to the dock to recharge. It is also essential to empty or change the filter and wipe down sensors and cameras regularly so that they are able to see your home clearly.

Smart mapping technology is an important feature to be looking for because it allows you to program your robot to only clear certain rooms or areas where it's likely to crash into furniture or other obstacles. This feature is also useful for ensuring that your robot can reach under and around furniture like sofas, beds and other high-height items. Some robovacs are inexpensive and come with boundary strips that you can use to block off specific areas. Other models of higher quality depend on sensors and cameras.

Even the top robot vacuums cannot substitute a traditional vac when it comes heavy-duty dirt and debris. It's recommended to have a power vacuum available to tackle these tasks, and also schedule robot vacuums for light cleaning throughout the week.

Navigation

A robot vacuum cleaner best must be able to navigate around your home without getting stuck or crashing into things like screws made of metal or pet hair that is loose, or sand. In our tests, we employ a tracking device to track the robot as it moves through a multiroom lab and determine its surroundings. We also test how the robot avoids obstacles like power cords, furniture legs, and pet waste.

The most advanced robots are able to create different floors and identify 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 map out a room and a structured-light camera at the front to detect objects in real-time. This allows the S8 to avoid common obstacles like power cords and furniture legs and can also store up to four different floor maps within its internal memory.

The most affordable models use bump sensors, which aren't as accurate. In my testing, they plowed right through cords, dog poop and even a pair of shoes placed in the middle of the room. The most affordable choice Dreametech D10+, is an exception to this. It is a great carpet as well as a hard floor, tangle and hair pickup. It also has an auto empty score that is near-perfect.

A large dust bin onboard, that doesn't need to be empty manually is another feature that's important. For models that mop the floor, this water tank is able to hold enough water to last for several weeks of cleaning sessions. The Karcher RCV 5 comes with this, and a large enough footprint that it can be tucked away under furniture however, it's not so huge that it won't fit in the space between your bathtub and toilet.

Apps

Robot vacuums are like their upright counterparts and require a lot of tech to get them up and running at speed. The result is a pretty mature market that is brimming with options. But even the best robot vacuum for vinyl plank floors models still require some interaction with their users - particularly when cleaning schedules are being planned, establishing a home floor plan and establishing virtual barriers.

Consider a model with its own app that can recognize the layout of your home and save these settings for later use. This will allow the robot vacuum to continue where it began when it runs again, instead of having the mapping process restarted each time.

It's important to look out for a model that has zones or spot cleaning options. They let you tell the robot vacuum to concentrate on a particular area for example, like under the dining table after the family's big meal. It is possible to do this via the app or by voice commands.

Many models also provide objects avoidance. It allows the robot when it sees something that is in its path such as a box of shoes or a crate containing dog toys, to instruct itself around. This will stop it from hitting objects which could harm its sensors or cause jams.

This feature is available on some of the more expensive models we test. However, they tend to rely on bump sensors for this and didn't always manage to stay clear of things in my test homes.

Pet Hair

Choose the best vacuum cleaner specifically designed to remove hair from pets. The most effective models will have an extremely high suction, a brush that prevents tangling and an automatic vacuum emptying mechanism. Some models can also determine dirt levels and adjust cleaning intensity accordingly. They can even spot items that aren't part of the flooring in your home like furniture toys, food bowls, toys cords, and much more.

Some robot vacuums have extra pet-friendly features, such as a small water dispenser that can be used to mop floors, and an HEPA filter that can help reduce allergens such as pet dust. They could also provide an operation that is quieter, which can minimize the amount of noise generated during automated cleaning sessions.

Robot vacuums with the ability to map are a great option for pet owners. They're designed to assess your home and devise an attack plan based on the layout of each room as well as obstacles. For example, the Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum is a smart vacuum that has an impressive capability to map a room and navigate around furniture and other obstacles using accelerometer and gyroscope smart sensors that work in conjunction to learn the layout of your room.

Apps let you establish zones that are not allowed. These are areas where the robot is not permitted, such as areas that contain delicate objects or pet feeding areas. This feature is particularly beneficial for families with a lot of activity, as it allows you to plan your cleaning schedule and adjust settings without having to be in the same space as the vacuum. Spot cleaning is a fantastic feature. You can instruct the vacuum cleaner to clean a spot that is particularly dirty or filled with pet hair.

Dust Bin

If you're not looking for something small, you'll want to choose one that can carry at least a full bag of garbage from a single cleaning session. We recommend choosing one with a large bin or a bin that self-empties. The first will let you keep up with emptying your bin frequently enough to keep it functioning. The second will save you time and effort by automatically emptying the contents into an inner container each time you clean it.

Look for 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 travel (like shoelaces or tangled charging cables). Make sure you choose models with intelligent mapping capabilities. This allows them to "learn the layout of your house and devise a more efficient route.

Some models provide 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 take in fine particles such as sand and baking soda, as well as heavier debris such as oatmeal, orzo pasta, metal screws and pet hair.

Based on the manufacturer, most robots will last for a long time and remain in good working order so long as you keep up with maintenance, like cleaning out hair that has become tangled from brushes, emptying the dust bin after every use, and cleaning cameras and sensors as needed. The best robots are also more adaptable. This allows you to replace or repair parts such as wheels and batteries when they wear out.