Best Rated Robot Vacuum Cleaner
Robot vacuums are great for keeping your floors clean however they aren't a replacement for a regular vacuum. Even the best robots can struggle to get into carpets and rugs. They also often get caught in socks and cords.
Being on top of routine maintenance (replacing filters cutting hair tangled from brushes, and emptying the dust bin) will make your robot last longer.
Battery Life
Most robot vacuums are able to handle a few cleaning sessions without needing to be charged. The second-placed model in our top picks, the Ecovacs Deebot Q30S Combo, has a battery rated to last up to 180 minutes (3,230 square feet) of cleaning time on one charge. This is more than enough to clean smaller homes with a mix of hard floors and carpets with low pile, or a larger home in which the rooms are about the same size.
A longer battery lifespan also means the robot can spend more time cleaning, and less time charging its dock. It is recommended to choose a model that has a self-emptying bin. These models are more efficient at picking up debris and returning back to the dock to recharge. It is essential to clean or replace the filters and wipe down the sensors and cameras regularly so that they can see clearly.
Smart mapping technology is a great feature to be looking for, as it allows you to program your robot to only clean certain rooms or avoid areas where it's more likely to hit furniture or other obstacles. It's also beneficial for ensuring your robot is able to get under and around sofas, beds and other tall furniture. Some cheap robovacs offer boundary strips you can place on the floor to block off certain areas, and other models with higher-end features use cameras and sensors to accomplish this.
Even the top robot vacuums cannot replace a traditional vacuum when it comes to heavy-duty dirt and debris. It's wise to keep a traditional power vac in reserve for these tasks and to schedule robot vacuums regularly for light cleanups throughout the week.
Navigation
A robot must be able to navigate around your home without getting stuck or running into things such as metal screws or pet hair that is loose, or sand. In our tests, we employ an instrument to track the robot as it moves through a multiroom lab and determine its surroundings. We also check how well the robot can avoid obstacles like power cords, furniture leg and pet waste.
The most advanced robots are able to create multiple floors and identify landmarks, such as doors and windows. The most advanced robots, like the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra have a dual sensor navigation system that uses the LIDAR to create a floor plan and a structured-light camera on the front to identify objects in real-time. This lets the S8 to stay clear of common obstacles like furniture legs and power cords and can also store up to four different floor maps in its internal memory.
The more affordable models don't have this kind of object detection and rely on bump sensors which aren't as accurate. In my tests they were able to rip through dog poop, cords, and even the shoes that were placed in the middle of the room. The Dreametech D10+ is the best value choice. It is a great carpet and 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 need to be manually emptied, and for those models that mop, a water tank that can last for weeks of mopping sessions. The Karcher RCV 5 comes with this, and a large enough footprint to be placed under furniture but not so big that it doesn't fit into the space between your bathtub and toilet.
Apps
Robot vacuums are like their upright counterparts and require lots of technology to keep them current. The result is a mature market with plenty of options. Even the top models require interaction from their customers, especially when it comes to schedule cleanings, create the floor plan of your home, and set up virtual barriers.
To reduce the impact of this kind of interaction, look for a model with its own app to determine the location of your home, and save the settings for future use. This will allow the robot vacuum to continue where it began on subsequent runs rather than having the mapping process restarted each time.
You should also look for models that provide zones or spot cleaning. They allow you to instruct the robot vacuum to focus on a specific area like under the dining table after the family's big meal. best home vacuum cleaner can usually choose to use the app or via voice commands.
Object avoidance is another feature that's included in many models. It allows the robot when it spots something that is in its path such as a box of shoe or a crate with dog toys, to coach itself around. This will keep it from running into things that might damage its sensors or cause a jam.
Some of the most expensive models we tested have this feature. However, they usually rely on bump sensors for this and didn't always manage to stay clear of things in my test homes.
Pet Hair
Find the best vacuum cleaner specifically designed to remove hair from pets. The best models have high suction power, a brush that avoids tangling, and an emptying mechanism that will automatically dump hair into the bin when needed. Some models are able to detect levels of dirt and adjust the intensity of cleaning. They are able to detect items that aren't part of your home's flooring like furniture and toys, food bowls cords, and much more.
Some robot vacuums include additional features that are pet-friendly. They include the water dispenser that can be used to mop floors and an HEPA filtering system that eliminates allergens, such as pet dust. They might also offer a quieter operation that can minimize the amount of noise that's produced during cleaning sessions.
Robot vacuums that have the ability to map are a great option for pet owners since they're designed to evaluate your home and develop an action plan according to the layout and obstructions in each room. For instance, the Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum is a smart vacuum that has an impressive capability to map the room and navigate around furniture and other obstructions using gyroscope and accelerometer smart sensors which work in tandem to understand the layout of your home.
Other advanced models allow you to define no-go zones that are areas that the robot is supposed to stay clear of, such as fragile items or pet feeding spots. You can adjust these settings using an app. This feature is particularly beneficial for families with a lot of activity as it permits you to plan your cleaning schedule and make adjustments without having be in the same space as the vacuum. Spot cleaning is a excellent feature. You can use the vacuum cleaner to clean a space that is especially dirty or is brimming with pet hair.
Dust Bin
If you don't want something small, consider a robot with a large bin or even a self-emptying dustbin. We recommend choosing a model that has a large bin or a trash bin that self-empties. The first will let you keep up with the process of emptying your bin regularly enough to ensure its efficiency. The second will save you time and effort by automatically dropping the contents into an inner container each time you clean it.
Look for models that have smart mapping capabilities, which allow them to "learn" the layout of your house and plan more efficient routes. They also detect and avoid objects that may block their paths (like shoelaces or tangled charging cables). Make sure you choose models with smart mapping capabilities. This allows them to "learn the patterns of your house and plan more efficient routes.
Some models offer spot cleaning. This lets you choose a specific area of your home for intensive cleaning. We've observed that the majority of the top performers in our tests are able to pick up fine particles like baking soda and sand as well as heavier particles like oatmeal orzo pasta screws and pet hair.
According to the brand the manufacturer, robots last for a long time and continue to perform well as long as they're maintained. For example cleaning hair that is tangled out of brushes and emptying dust bins after each use, and wiping sensors and cameras down when needed. The most efficient robots tend to be more modular which makes them simpler and cheaper to repair or replace components such as wheels and batteries as they wear out.