But if you can live without that level of control, the Roomba i3 is clever enough to get the job done in almost any home. However, the biggest drawback for a robot vacuum cleaner is its price tag. While there are some available under the $500 threshold, you’ll find that they lack adequate suction and the smart technology that higher-end models feature. For instance, expensive models can be programmed to stop and start to any schedule you set, mop your floors and do a better job sucking up dirt from carpets.
On its strongest suction setting , the S4 Max has enough oomph to suck up almost anything from a bare floor, but even the Balanced suction setting is fine for common debris like crumbs or pet hair. Its single brush can pick up surface-level debris from most types of carpets, but it won’t dig up hair like a dual-brush Roomba can. These higher-end Roomba models have some disadvantages compared with other smart-map robots that rely on laser navigation, including our other top pick, the Roborock S4 Max. Laser-nav bots can learn your home’s layout in a single session, whereas these Roombas typically need two or three sessions of training.
The S7+ can be trusted to find your selected zones, decipher between floor type, and get back to its dock (though its three-hour battery life should rarely die on you). But iRobot and Shark are hardly the only two brands in this group chat. Roborock, Eufy, and Yeedi pose serious competition, offering attractive features like mopping or suction that rivals that of the Big Brands for hundreds of dollars less. A tech expert explains how to find the best Roomba robot vacuum for your needs and budget. The most essential function of a vacuum is suctioning up unwanted spills and debris.
Compatible with your smartphone through the iRobot HOME app, you can conveniently control and schedule your Roomba e5’s cleaning sessions. Thanks to its intelligent sensors, including a cliff sensor, the Roomba e5 is capable of making up to 60 decisions per second to sufficiently navigate your home. Through the app, you can even set no-go areas for the Roomba to avoid. However, we find that the battery is the shortest-lived part of a robot vacuum. Both nickel and lithium batteries have hard limits on the number of times they can recharge.
You might even prefer the simplicity of leaving everything to the bot, and never having to think about an app. And again, we think the Roomba i3’s rug-cleaning ability and expected sturdiness are very good reasons to consider this robot at this price. In another test, I pour out about an eighth of a cup of all-purpose flour across an area rug and bare floor and let the bot try to suck it up for a couple of minutes. This dust-pickup test gives me a visual gauge for each bot’s raw cleaning power. At 77 dB on high suction power, the s9+ was by far the loudest model we tested, and even in quiet mode, the vacuum is not unnoticeable.
In general, the more power, the better, especially if you have carpet, but battery life and obstacle avoidance capabilities are also a factor. The Roomba e5 can effectively clean up dirt, dust, hair and your cat’s fur trail — all without its brushes getting tangled. This robot vacuum cleaner was designed with pet owners in mind, especially those who can’t get a handle on their beloved fur babies’ constant shedding. Tested against other popular brands such as Ecovacs, iLife and Neato , this model has been proven to pick up more pet hair than any other robot vacuum.
When the dustbin is full, the unit will dispose of its contents in the included automatic dirt disposal base. Its hands-off, corner cleaning, self-emptying features make it a prime pick if doing one more pass for dog and cat hair tumbleweeds brings tears. The suction on this unit shark cordless is 10 times higher than models in the 600 series and can be automatically increased to clean deep into carpets. The 981 Roomba vacuum cleans with pet-friendly features, including multisurface brushes and power-lifting suction with five times the air power of traditional vacuums.