Best Rated Robot Vacuum Cleaner
While robot vacuums are great in keeping your floors clean but they aren't able to replace a full-size vacuum. Even the best robots have trouble getting deep into carpets and rugs, and they may get caught in cords and socks.
Maintaining a regular schedule of maintenance (replacing filters cutting hair that is tangled from brushes, and emptying the dust bin) will make your robot last longer.
Battery Life
Most robot vacuums are equipped to handle a couple of cleaning sessions without having to be charged. The Ecovacs Q30S Combo is the second-best of our overall choices. It has batteries that last for up to 180 minutes (3,230 square foot) on a single charge. This is enough to clean the majority of smaller homes that have a mix of hard floors and carpets with low pile or a larger house in which the rooms are about the same size.
A longer battery life also means that the robot is able to spend more time cleaning and less time charging its dock. It's recommended to select a model with a self-emptying dust bin, since those models are more efficient when it comes to picking up debris and returning to the dock for recharging. It is also essential to empty or replace the filter and wipe down cameras and sensors regularly so that they can see your home clearly.
Smart mapping technology can be a valuable feature, as it allows you to program your robot so that it only cleans specific rooms or avoids areas where it's likely to bump into furniture or other obstacles. It's also useful for ensuring that your robot is able to get under and around sofas, beds and other furniture that is tall. Some cheap robovacs offer boundaries that you can put on the floor to block off areas, and other models with higher-end features use cameras and sensors to accomplish this.
Even the most powerful robot vacuums can't replace a traditional vacuum when it comes heavy-duty dirt and debris. It's recommended to have a power vacuum on hand to tackle these tasks, and also schedule robot vacs for light cleanings throughout the week.
Navigation
A robot must be able to navigate you home without getting stuck or running into things like screws made of metal or pet hair that is loose, or sand. In our tests, we use a tracking device to track the robot as it travels through a multiroom lab and shows its surroundings. We also examine the way it manages to avoid obstacles, including furniture legs, power cords, and pet waste.
The most advanced robots can map out several floors and recognize landmarks like doors and windows. The most advanced robots, like the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra have a dual sensor navigation system, which utilizes an LIDAR to draw a room's layout and a structured-light camera at the front to identify 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 different floor maps in its internal memory.
The most affordable models rely on bump sensors which aren't as accurate. In my testing, they plowed right through cords, dog poop and even shoes that were placed in the middle of the room. The best value pick the Dreametech D10+, is one exception to this. It is a great carpet, hard floor, tangle, and hair pickup. It also has an auto empty score that is near-perfect.
Another feature worth mentioning is a huge onboard dustbin that doesn't require manually empty, and for the models that mop, a water tank that can hold weeks worth of mopping sessions. The Karcher RCV 5 comes with this feature and has a large enough footprint that it can be tucked away under furniture but not so big that it can't fit into the nook between your bathtub and toilet.
Apps
Robot vacuums are similar to upright models, and it takes a lot of tech to get them up to speed. The result is a mature market full of options. Even the top models require interaction from their customers particularly when it comes to schedule cleanings, create an outline of your home, and set up virtual barriers.
To help reduce the impact of this interaction, you should look for a model with its own app to determine the design of your home and save the settings for the future. This will let the vacuum start where it left off on subsequent runs, rather than having to start the mapping process every time.
It's worth looking out for a model that offers spot or zone cleaning modes. They allow you to instruct the robot vacuum to concentrate on a specific spot for example, like under the dining table following a big family meal. You can do this by using the app or voice commands.
Object avoidance is another option that is available on many models. It lets the robot detect objects in its path, like the shoe box or a crate filled with dog toys, and guide itself around it. This prevents it from running into objects which could harm its sensors or cause jams.
This feature is available on a few of the more expensive models we tested. They depend on bump sensor technology for this however they did not always avoid things in my test home.
Pet Hair
Look for a vacuum cleaner that is specifically designed to collect pet hair. The most effective models will feature an extremely high suction, a brush that keeps hair from tangling and an automated emptying mechanism. Some are also able to detect dirt levels and adjust the cleaning intensity accordingly. They are also able to detect items that aren't a part of your home flooring, like furniture, toys, and food bowls.
Some robot vacuums include extra pet-friendly features. These include the water dispenser that can be used to mop floors and a HEPA filtering system that eliminates allergens such as pet dander. They could also feature a quieter mode of operation to minimize the amount of noise generated during cleaning sessions.
Robot vacuums that have maps are a great option for pet owners, as they're engineered to assess your home and develop an action plan according to the layout and obstructions in each room. Shark Matrix Plus is a dual-purpose robot vacuum that can map a room, and navigate around furniture and other obstacles by using accelerometers and Gyroscope smart sensors.
Other models that are more advanced let you define no-go zones that are areas that the robot is meant to avoid, such as items that are fragile or pet feeding spots. You can adjust these settings using an app. This feature can be especially beneficial for families with a lot of activity as it permits you to schedule cleaning sessions and make adjustments without having be in the same room with the vacuum. Another feature that is extremely useful is spot cleaning that lets you use the vacuum to clean a specific area that is dirty or full of pet hair.
Dust Bin
If you don't want anything small, go for a model with a large bin or even a self-emptying trash bin. We recommend choosing one with a large bin, or even a dustbin that self-empties. The former will allow you to keep up with emptying your bin frequently enough to ensure its efficiency. The latter will help you save time and effort by automatically dropping the contents into an inner container each time you clean it.
Find cleaning robots that have smart mapping capabilities that permit them to "learn" the layout of your home and devise more efficient routes. They can also sense and avoid objects that could hinder their routes (like shoelaces or tangled charging cables). Find models with intelligent mapping capabilities. This allows them to "learn the structure of your home and design a an efficient route.
Certain models also offer spot cleaning, which lets you to choose specific areas of your house for intensive cleaning. In our tests, we discovered that the top models are able to remove fine particles such as sand, baking soda, orzo, metal screws, and pet hair, as well as heavier debris like oatmeal orzo, and screws made of metal.
According to the brand the company, robots can last for years and continue to perform as well, so long as they're maintained. For example cleaning hair that is tangled out of brushes, emptying dust bins after each use, as well as wiping cameras and sensors down as needed. The most reliable robots are more modular. This allows you to replace or repair components such as wheels and batteries as they wear out.