Best Rated Robot Vacuum Cleaner
Robot vacuums are great for keeping your floors tidy however they aren't a replacement for the regular vacuum. Even the most powerful robots struggle to penetrate carpets or rugs, and can often get caught in cords and socks.
Being on top of routine maintenance (replacing filters, cutting tangled hair from brushes, and emptying the dust bin) will make your robot last longer.
Battery Life
The majority of robot vacuums can manage one or two cleaning sessions before requiring a charge. The Ecovacs Q30S Combo is a close second in our top choices. It comes with a battery that can last up to 180 minutes (3,230 square feet) on a single charge. This will be more than enough for homes that have the combination of hard flooring and carpets with low pile or larger homes where the rooms are roughly the same size.
A longer battery life means that the robot can spend less time charging and can spend more time cleaning. It's a good idea to choose an auto-emptying dust bin, since they are more efficient in cleaning up debris and returning to the dock for recharging. It is essential to clean or replace filters and clean the sensors and cameras on a regular schedule so they can see clearly.
Smart mapping technology is a useful feature to look for since it permits you to program your robot to clean certain rooms or avoid areas where it's likely to crash into furniture or other obstacles. It's also helpful for ensuring your robot is able to go under and around beds, sofas and other furniture that is tall. Some robovacs are inexpensive and have boundary strips that you can use to block off certain areas. Other models of higher quality rely on cameras and sensors.
Even the best robot vacuums can't replace a conventional vacuum when it comes to heavy-duty large-pile dirt and debris. It's best to keep an electric vacuum in your home for these tasks and schedule robot vacuums for light cleaning throughout the week.
Navigation
A robot should be capable of moving around your home without getting caught or crashing into things like metal screws or pet hair, or sand. In our tests we used a tracking device used to track the robot through an entire lab. It then tracks its surroundings. We also test how the robot avoids obstacles such as power cords, furniture leg, and pet waste.
The top robots are able to map out multiple floors, and recognize landmarks such as doors and Windows. The most advanced models, like the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra, come with a dual-sensor navigation device that uses a LIDAR sensor to map the room, and a light camera on the front of the bot to detect objects in real time. The S8 can evade obstacles like power cords and legs of furniture. It also has the ability to store up to four floor maps.
Most affordable models use bump sensors, which are not as accurate. In my tests, they were able to detect dog poop and cords as well as a pair of shoes placed in the middle. The most affordable choice the Dreametech D10+, is one exception to this. It has excellent carpet and hard floor pickup, good tangle and hair pickup, and a near perfect auto empty score.
Another important feature is a large onboard dustbin that doesn't require manually emptied, and for the models that mop, a water tank that can last for weeks of mopping. The Karcher RCV 5 has this, and a large enough footprint to be tucked away under furniture but not so big that it doesn't fit into the nook between your bathtub and toilet.
Apps
Robot vacuums are like their upright counterparts and require lots of technology to keep them current. There are a lot of choices available in a market that is maturing. However, even the most advanced models still require some interaction with their users - especially when cleaning schedules are being planned and establishing a floor plan, and setting up virtual barriers.
Think about a model that has its own app that can identify the layout of your home and save these settings for later use. This will allow the robot vacuum to continue where it began in subsequent runs, rather than having the mapping process restarted every time.
It's worth looking out for a vacuum that comes with zones or spot cleaning modes. You can instruct the vacuum cleaner to focus on a specific area, such as under the table after a large family meal. You can do this by using the app or voice commands.
The ability to avoid objects is another option that is available on many models. It allows the robot to observe something in its path, for instance the shoe box or a crate full of dog toys, and then guide itself around it. This will stop it from hitting objects that could damage its sensors or cause jams.
Some of the most expensive models we've tested include this feature. They depend on bump sensor technology to do this, but they didn't always keep things out of my test home.
Pet Hair
When it comes to picking up pet hair, choose one that is specifically designed to handle this type of debris. The top models feature high suction power and a brush that prevents getting caught in a knot, and an emptying mechanism that can automatically empty hair into the trash bin when needed. Some can also detect dirt levels and adjust the intensity of cleaning accordingly. They can even spot objects that aren't part of the flooring in your home like furniture and toys, food bowls cords, and much more.
Some robot vacuums include pet-friendly features, like a small water dispenser that can be used for mopping floors and a HEPA filter that can help reduce allergens such as pet dust. They could also feature a quieter mode of operation to reduce the amount noise produced during cleaning sessions.
Robot vacuums with the ability to map are a great option for pet owners. They're designed to evaluate your home and develop an attack plan based upon the arrangement of each room and obstacles. For instance the Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum is a smart vacuum with an amazing ability to map rooms 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 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 areas--by altering settings through an app. This feature is particularly beneficial for families with a lot of activity as it permits you to schedule cleaning sessions and make adjustments without having to be in the same room as the vacuum. Spot cleaning is another great feature. You can use the vacuum cleaner to clean an area that is particularly filthy or stuffed with pet hair.
Dust Bin
Unless you're looking for something tiny, you'll want to choose an item capable of holding at least a large bag of garbage from one cleaning session. This is why we suggest opting for a model with a large bin or even self-emptying garbage bin. The former will allow you to keep track of emptying the bin frequently enough to stay on top of its performance, while the latter will help you save time and hassle by automatically dumping its contents into an internal bin every few cleanings.
Find models that have smart mapping capabilities, which allow them to "learn" the layout of your home and plan more efficient routes. They can also sense and avoid objects that could hinder their travel (like shoelaces or tangled charging cables). Consider models that have smart mapping capabilities that permit them to "learn" the layout of your home and design more efficient routes, and ones that can sense and avoid objects that could hinder their path (like shoelaces or tangled charging cables).
Some models also offer spot cleaning. This lets you manually target an area of your home for intensive cleaning. We've observed that the majority of the top performers in our tests can remove fine particles such as sand and baking soda, together with larger debris like oatmeal, orzo pasta, metal screws, and pet hair.
According to the manufacturer the company, robots can last for years and continue to perform as well, so long as they are maintained. For instance cleaning hair that is tangled out of brushes cleaning dust bins after each use and wiping sensors and cameras down when needed. The best-performing robots also tend to be more modular which makes them simpler and cheaper to replace or repair parts such as wheels and batteries when they wear out.