Because our goal is not just to create a home that’s smarter—it’s to create a home that takes care of itself. But they’ve slowly become an everyday appliance that can help you stay on top of your housekeeping. Replace filters and side brushes a few times per year, the brush roll about once a year, and the battery as needed—probably every second year, though that depends on how often you use the bot. The next important task for a robot vacuum is to cover as much ground as possible, as efficiently as possible. They’re basically fine, but they won’t match the agility of the Eufy or the durability of the Roomba. We bought one of the Goovi models, and lo and behold, we found that it is functionally identical to the 11S, with many of the same components and even the same beep and boop sounds.
Like most budget robot vacs, the V5s Pro lacks a smartphone app, and doesn’t work with any smart home devices or virtual assistants like Alexa or Google Assistant. It’s also one of the slowest robot vacuums we’ve tested, taking even longer than the iLife V3s Pro. Still, for the money, it’s a very effective, and very inexpensive robot vacuum. The name “Roomba” has almost become synonymous with robot vacuums — and iRobot’s automated house-cleaners are still the best in their class. With so many models to choose from, though — about a dozen, depending on how you keep count — it’s hard to know which Roomba is right for you.
You can also use ‘virtual wall barriers’ to stop the Roomba from going into a space. Place a virtual barrier next to the dog’s water and food bowls, for example, and the Roomba will keep at least 4ft away. Two virtual barriers and the required AA batteries are included in the box. Eschewing a standard circular design, the Neato Botvac D8 uses a “D” shape intended to clean corners far more thoroughly. Derek specialises in home and outdoor wares, from coffee machines, white appliances and vacs to drones, garden gear and BBQs. He has been writing for more years than anyone can remember, starting at the legendary Time Out magazine – the original, London version – on a typewriter!
The S9 Plus can navigate and map multiple rooms and floors, while avoiding “keep-out zones” that you can designate. The app also lets you use Alexa or Google Assistant commands to tell it to begin cleaning a room. For more, see our lists of the best robot vacuums for pet hair and the best robot mops. If you have both carpet and hard flooring throughout your home, you might want to consider a hybrid that can do double duty as a vacuum and a mop, such as the Deebot Ozmo T8 AIVI or the Bissell SpinWave Wet and Dry. Standalone robot mops aren’t eligible for this list because they don’t suck up dirt and debris, but they will get your hard floors nice and shiny.
More expensive models have auto-emptying docking stations, which only require emptying the dock — not the vacuum — after several weeks. You may or may not have to buy disposable bags for such a dock, but even if so, the convenience may be worth it. Here’s what you need to know about robot vacuums, and which ones you should buy. If you have predominantly hard floors, you should also consider sonething from our best robot mops list. The sensors and navigational aids the robot vacuum uses to move and assess floor surfaces and condition.
A possible side effect of the Roomba i3 EVO’s design is that it may be relatively slow compared with other smart-mapping bots, like our other top pick, the Roborock S4 Max. Although those other bots use lasers or cameras to help them map and clean areas, the i3 EVO still utilizes gyroscopes to help it navigate. Laser-nav bots can learn your home’s layout in a single session, whereas the i3 EVO and higher-end Roombas typically need two or three sessions of training. The laser-nav bots also tend to bump into less stuff than the Roombas do and complete their jobs faster as a result. However, we still predict that Roomba bots on average will last longer than any of their competitors and work better at getting hair out of rugs.
Depending on the model you are using, your robot cleaner can run a total of 60 to 120 minutes on a single charge. Roomba models that do not have the VSLM feature move in a random pattern. According to the company’s test lab, a unit with VSLM can clean up to 2,000 square feet on a 120-minute charge. Clean your home without lifting a finger with one of these affordable and smarter-than-ever robot vacuum. Connected bots also typically generate statistics and maps of the areas they’ve cleaned. Many even create personalized floor plans, allowing for targeted room cleanings and eliminating the need for you to use physical “virtual walls” to cordon off sections of your home.
You can even pair it with the iRobot Braava Jet M6 to mop after it finishes its vacuum cycle. It picked up all of the coffee grounds, kitty litter, and pet hair we laid out on carpeting and hardwood. It had a more challenging time with flour, leaving 10% of the flour on hardwood and a disappointing 40% of the flour on the carpeting. The most promising vacuums are then sent to a reviewer to see how well they perform in a real-world environment. Here, we look at things such as how easily it navigates around an apartment, if it gets stuck under furniture or on carpets, how difficult it is to set up, and how messy it is to empty its dustbin.
Robot vacuums can help you dispose of dust, pet hair, and other debris in your home without requiring you to lift a finger. With the ability to empty its own dustbin and wash its own mop, the Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra is one of the most self-sufficient two-in-one robot floor cleaners we’ve tested. Robot vacuums are more capable and affordable than ever, and we’ve bissell crosswave cordless rounded up the best models we’ve tested to help you pick the perfect one for your home. In most homes, we think a bot will stay in good shape if you do about 15 minutes of maintenance per month, maybe a little more if the bot has a heavy workload. On that note, there is still a place in the world for cheaper robots that rely on semi-random navigation.