How to Find the Best Robot Vacuum

If you can live without advanced features such as mapping, and you don't mind cleaning the trash bin every 60 days or then, a basic robot vacuum could be a good choice for you. Select a model with clean and tidy base that is compatible with voice assistants.

It is the best rated robot vacuum and mop vacuum we have tested for cleaning up pet hair on tiles, hardwood floors, and carpeting with low pile. It also maps and set virtual no-go zones for rooms and areas.

1. Powerful Suction

A robot vacuum will assist you in keeping up with the pet fur, dust and dander that settles on your floor every day. It can also decrease the frequency of deep cleaning, saving you time and effort. The most effective models have powerful suction that will easily tackle most messes and leave your home clean.

You can take care of more space by using a robot vacuum as well as a mop, which is especially beneficial if you live in an extensive home. You can find a model with a water tank either in the chassis itself or as an extra piece that you can take out after vacuuming. You'll have to empty it and refill it, however, so this is an additional task that requires some extra effort on your part.

In a perfect world you would clean your floors first before you use your robot vacuum to stop it from running into anything. But in most homes, this isn't feasible or desirable. The majority of models let you utilize an app for your smartphone to build virtual barriers that the robot will see. Some models include no-go areas that you can mark areas you don't want the robot to enter. For instance, a child's room or a pile cords in an area.

This model is a great choice if you want an easy robot cleaner that doesn't have all the bells and whistles. It's quiet, it is able to work on hard floors as well as carpets with low pile and can be programmed through the app to vacuum and mop at your leisure. It comes with a battery life of up to 180 minutes.

2. Easy to operate

In general robot vacuums require little input from you. They utilize navigation tools like sensors, lasers and cameras to move around obstacles and suck up food particles, dust and pet hair from flooring, tile, hardwood and low-pile carpets. Many models come with boundary strips to help them stay inside a room. More expensive models can be programmed to start up at a certain time and begin cleaning. Some even come with fall detection technology that helps them avoid falling down stairs or becoming tangled in electrical cords.

Look for models that allow you to control from the comfort of your sofa using voice assistants, such as Alexa or Google Assistant. You can also look for Wi-Fi-connected models that let you start a cleaning session from anywhere via an app. You may prefer an option with a long-lasting battery, as well as a large dustbin, depending on the size of your home.

Some robot vacuums double as mops, using reservoirs of water to clean your floors. This is helpful for everyday mopping, but will not be effective for messes that are more difficult to clean, such as pet poop or other spills that are wet. You can pick hybrids that have an able mopping pad made of microfiber or a self-emptying option that allows you to stay for up to 60 days before emptying the base.

3. Smart Mapping

Some robots employ advanced mapping technology to create a precise map while they clean. This helps them avoid hitting furniture and getting caught on cords or chair legs. This feature is only available on top-of-the-line models, but it lets your robot get a complete understanding of your home's layout and to know where it should go when the battery is out.

If you do not want your robot to go into areas of your home you'd prefer it to stay clear from (like your children's toys or the mess of device cords in the corner), most robots offer some way to create virtual barriers, either through their apps or physical boundary strips. You can block off areas that you don't want your robot to go into, so that it can concentrate on rooms that need the most attention.

Many robots will also automatically change floors depending on the type of floor they are cleaning. This can be accomplished by switching from carpet to hard flooring or by focusing on specific areas of your house, such as corners and baseboards. In our tests, this was a useful feature that helped improve their performance in picking up carpeting that is low-pile and hardwood. It's nevertheless important to secure furniture and cords that are loose prior to running your robot vacuum so that it doesn't become stuck or come into contact with something it shouldn't.

4. Remote Control

Most robot vacuums have WiFi connectivity and work with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri Shortcuts that enable users to control them with voice commands or from your smartphone. Many robot vacuums are connected to smart home systems, and generate an outline of the area they clean after each session. This lets them "learn" how your home is laid out and to plan more efficient routes for future cleaning sessions. Certain models have obstacle avoidance built in that prevents them from damaging furniture and getting stuck on things like loose charging cables or pet hair.

Most robots have the ability to control them with a remote that you can use to navigate them around your house. Most robots can be controlled via a mobile application, which offers more features. You can typically set up multiple cleaning schedules, build a list of favorite rooms and even manually guide your robot around specific areas using directional arrows on the screen.

Some models provide no-go zones These are virtual barriers that you can configure within the app to prevent the robot from entering certain areas (like toys for kids or dog bowls and beds). Other apps let you set up a map of your home and give the robot detailed information about your floors. The app on our top pick Roborock S7+, the Roborock S7+, has numerous options to help you clean your house, but its interface isn't as polished as those from iRobot and Shark.

5. Long Battery Life

Robotic vacuums that can sweep a whole house without stopping to recharge or empty their trash bins save you time and effort. Certain robot vacuums can work with smart home devices like Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri Shortcuts to allow hands-free operation. They can also make an outline of the space to allow you to program them to specific areas or rooms, and to stay clear of obstacles.

The majority of robot vacuums can detect objects, however the iRobot J7 has advanced features such as "home mapping" and obstacle avoidance. These features can make your life easier (although one of our test bots did "eat" a couple of socks). If you're looking to push your home cleaning to the next level opt for a robotic mop that comes with an water tank that can be filled and then empty.

While no of the models we tested could match the dirt-picking ability of a standup vacuum, they did an excellent job cleaning hard floors and carpets with a low pile. They excel at picking up food crumbs and dirt that has been tracked into. They can even tackle some stray cat litter and metal screws and nuts. The top robot vacuums can easily maneuver through furniture, and they excel at cleaning edges and corners as well. Eufy 11S is a relatively inexpensive and basic model.

6. Convenient Self-Charging

With the right setup, a robot vacuum can help you keep your home looking and feeling cleaner every day with minimal effort. You can schedule cleanings through the app, and set up no-go areas to ensure that your robot does not walk on your favorite chair or plants. A majority of our top picks empty their dustbins for you and clean their docking station.

The top robot vacuums are programmable to clean your floors regularly for weeks or even months at a time, which saves you the time and effort of manually sweeping or mopping your floors each week or day. This allows you to take more time doing the things you enjoy and reduces the time it takes to clean your floors manually.

During testing the Q Revo was able to pick up fine particles like baking soda and oatmeal, heavier debris such as nails and screws made of metal, and fluffy stuff like hair of pets. It's not equipped with the sophisticated mapping and objects avoidance features of our top picks, however it works well enough for most families.

The most impressive feature of the j7 is its ability to recognize and avoid obstacles like power cords, shoes and socks as well as pet waste. This means that you don't need to spend time tidying up before running your robot, but cluttered rooms will mean that your robot could get stuck and not do the job as well.