In testing, it had no problem traversing hard flooring and carpet, and thoroughly collected dog hair from both, so it’s also a strong budget-friendly choice for pet owners. From its companion app, you can move the robot around and view a live video stream of what’s happening inside your home. It also has the longest battery life of any robot vacuum we’ve tested, cleaning for up to 170 minutes on a charge. For even greater convenience, Ecovacs makes an Auto-Empty Station that allows the Deebot Ozmo T8 AIVI to empty its bin into a disposable dust bag without your help.
This feature-rich hybrid vacuums and mops while using AI to successfully detect and avoid many obstacles other floor-cleaning robots would get stuck on. To put its obstacle-evasion technology to the test, we intentionally placed dog toys that have tripped up other robot vacuums in its path. Without fail, the Ozmo T8 AIVI detected the toys in its way and changed directions accordingly. The best robotic vacuums Consumer Reports tested are great for touch-ups and spot cleaning, which can be especially helpful in keeping up with pet hair. Their built-in and app-enabled smarts allow them to find their way out of tight spots and around some obstacles, but keep in mind that connecting any device to an app entails privacy concerns. To learn more, see our full ratings of robotic vacuums, as well as additional CR coverage like our picks of the best robotic vacuums for pet hair and the best robotic vacuums under $300.
The iRobot Roomba S9+ is part of the Vacuum Cleaners test program at Consumer Reports. In our lab tests, Robotic Vacuums models like the Roomba S9+ are rated on multiple criteria, such as those listed below. A measure of how the device and its service provider collect, share and use your data, and the user’s shark cordless ability to control the flow of their data. Analysis is based on evaluation of user interfaces, network traffic and publicly-available material. Indicates the vacuum’s ability to remove surface debris from a bare laminate floor. Wirecutter is the product recommendation service from The New York Times.
Brian Bennett is a senior writer for the home and outdoor section at CNET. These include everything from cordless and robot vacuum cleaners to fire pits, grills and coffee makers. An NYC native, Brian now resides in bucolic Louisville, Kentucky where he rides longboards downhill in his free time. Liam McCabe is a former senior staff writer for Wirecutter, and has covered the wild world of appliances since 2011. After testing dozens of robot vacuums, he is neither worried about AI nor holding his breath for self-driving cars.
We also tested the ease of setup, charging, and operation to determine how easy or difficult each product is to use. While we rated each robot in the same category of usability, we considered how they stacked up against dyson robot vacuum the old methods of manual cleaning as well. Roombas are powered by a user-replaceable rechargeable battery; older models used NiMH batteries, while newer models use lithium-ion batteries, and a few models support both.