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 deep into carpets or rugs and often get caught in socks and cords.
Your robot will last longer if it is maintained with regular maintenance. This includes replacing filters, removing hairs that have become tangled off brushes, and emptying the dustbin.
Battery Life
Most robot vacuums can handle just a few cleaning sessions before needing to recharge. The second-placed model in our overall picks, the Ecovacs Deebot Q30S Combo comes with a battery capable of lasting up to 180 minutes (3,230 square feet) of cleaning time on one charge. This amount of runtime will suffice for most small homes with carpets, hard floors and low pile carpets or larger homes where the rooms are similar in size.
A longer battery life means that the robot can spend less time charging and can spend more time cleaning. You should select the model with a self-emptying bin. These models are more efficient in picking up debris and returning to docks to recharge. It is essential to clean or replace the filters and wipe down sensors and cameras on a regular schedule so they can see clearly.
Smart mapping technology is a beneficial feature, as you can program your robot to ensure that it only cleans specific rooms or stays clear of areas where it is likely to bump into furniture or other obstacles. This feature is also beneficial to ensure that your robot is able to reach under and around furniture like sofas, beds and other tall items. Some cheap robovacs come with boundary strips that you can use to block off certain areas. Other high-end models rely on cameras and sensors.
Even the best robot vacs can't replace a conventional vacuum when it comes to heavy-duty large-pile dirt and other debris. It's wise to keep a traditional power vac on standby for these tasks, and to schedule robot vacs regularly for light cleaning throughout the week.
Navigation
A robot should be able of navigating your home without getting caught or running into objects like metal screws or pet hair, or sand. In our tests the tracking device is used to follow the robot around a multi-room lab. It then maps its surroundings. We also check the way it manages to avoid obstacles like power cords, furniture legs, and pet waste.
The top robots are able to map out multiple floors, and recognize landmarks like windows and doors. The most advanced ones such as the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra, come with a dual-sensor navigation device which uses the LIDAR sensor to map the room and a structured lighting camera in front of the bot to detect objects in real-time. This lets the S8 to avoid common obstacles like power cords and furniture legs 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 accurate. In my tests they were able detect dog poop and cords as well as a pair shoes placed in the middle. The best value pick the Dreametech D10+, is one exception to this. It has excellent carpet and hard floor pickup, great hair and tangle pickup, and an auto empty score.
A large onboard dustbin, which does not need to be manually empty, is also a feature that is essential. If you have models that mop the floor, this water tank will provide enough water for several weeks of cleaning sessions. Karcher's RCV 5 is a great example of this. It has a large enough footprint to be able to be placed under furniture, but not so big that it can't fit into the nook between your toilet and tub.
Apps
Robot vacuums are like their upright counterparts and require an enormous amount of technology to get them up and running at speed. There are auto vacuum of choices available in a market that is mature. But even the top models require some interaction with their users, particularly when cleaning schedules are being planned and establishing a floor plan and setting up virtual barriers.
To help reduce the impact of this interaction, you should look for a model that uses its own app to identify the layout of your home and save the settings for the future. This will let the vacuum start where it left off in subsequent runs, rather than having to restart the mapping process every time.
It's worth looking out for a model that offers zones or spot cleaning options. They allow you to instruct the robot vacuum to concentrate on a particular area like under the dining table after an enormous family meal. You can choose to do this using the app or by voice commands.
A lot of models also offer objects-avoidance. It allows the robot to observe something in its path, like shoes, a crate of dog toys or a crate full of dog toys, and coach itself around it. This prevents it from running into things that might damage its sensors or cause a jam.
Some of the most expensive models in our tests include this feature. They rely on bump sensor technology to do this however they weren't always able to avoid things in my test home.
Pet Hair
Find an upright vacuum cleaner designed to pick up pet hair. The most effective models will feature a high suction, a brush which stops tangling, and an automatic emptying mechanism. Some are also able to detect dirt levels and adjust the cleaning intensity in line with the level of dirt. They are also able to detect objects that aren't part of your flooring at home, such as furniture, toys and food bowls.
Some robot vacuums include extra pet-friendly features. They include a water dispenser which is used to mop floors, and a HEPA filtering system that helps to reduce allergens like pet dander. They could also provide an operation that is quieter, which can reduce the amount of noise generated during cleaning sessions.
Robot vacuums that have mapping capabilities are a great option for pet owners. They are designed to analyze your home and devise an attack plan based on the layout of each room as well as obstacles. Shark Matrix Plus is a dual-purpose robot vacuum that can map a room, navigate around furniture, and other obstacles using accelerometer and gyroscope smart sensors.
Apps allow you to set up zones that are not allowed. These are areas that the robot should not be allowed, for instance, areas with fragile items or pet feeding areas. This feature is particularly useful for families with busy schedules, since you can schedule cleaning times without having to be in the space in which the vacuum is. Another feature that is extremely useful is spot cleaning that allows you to direct the vacuum to clean a specific area that may be particularly filthy or full of pet hair.
Dust Bin
If you're not searching for something small You should pick an item capable of holding at least a complete bag of trash from one cleaning session. We recommend picking one with an enormous bin, or even a dustbin that self-empties. The former will enable you to keep track of emptying the bin frequently enough to stay on top of its performance, while the latter will save you time and effort by automatically dumping its contents into an internal container every few cleanings.
Regardless of the size of your home, most robots can easily move around and up to furniture, and they can detect and navigate around household obstacles like loose cords, shoes and dog puke. Look for models that have intelligent mapping capabilities. This lets them "learn the patterns of your house and plan more efficient routes.
Some models provide spot cleaning. This allows you to manually target an area of your home to be targeted for thorough cleaning. We've found that most of the top performers in our tests can take in fine particles such as baking soda and sand, together with larger debris like oatmeal orzo pasta, metal screws and pet hair.
Depending on the brand, the majority of robots last for years and will continue to perform well as long as you maintain them with regular maintenance, such as cleaning tangled hair from brushes, emptying the dust bin after each use and wiping down cameras and sensors whenever needed. The most efficient robots tend to be more modular, which makes them easier and less expensive to repair or replace components such as batteries and wheels when they wear out.