Best Rated Robot Vacuum Cleaner
While robot vacuums are great in keeping your floors clean but they aren't able to substitute for a larger vacuum. Even the best robots can struggle to get deep into carpets or rugs and often get tangled in cords and socks.
Your robot will last longer if you perform routine maintenance. This includes replacing filters, cutting hairs that are tangled from brushes, and emptying the dustbin.
Battery Life
Most robot vacuums are equipped to handle a few cleaning sessions without having to be charged. The Ecovacs Q30S Combo is a close second in our overall picks. It has batteries that last for up to 180 minutes (3,230 square feet) on one charge. This is more than enough time to clean most smaller homes with the combination of hard floors and low-pile carpets, or a larger home in which the rooms are about the same size.
A longer battery life also means that the robot will spend more time cleaning and less time charging on its dock. You should select the model with a self-emptying bin. These models are more efficient in cleaning up debris and bringing it back to the dock to recharge. It's important to clean or replace filters and wipe down the sensors and cameras regularly so that they can see clearly.
Smart mapping technology can be a valuable feature, as it allows you to program your robot to ensure that it only cleans certain rooms or stays clear of areas where it is likely to bump into furniture or other obstacles. It's also helpful for ensuring your robot can get under and around sofas, beds and other furniture that is tall. Some robovacs that are inexpensive have boundary strips you can place on the floor to block off areas while others use cameras and sensors for this purpose.
Even the top robot vacuums can't replace a traditional vacuum when it comes heavy-duty dirt and debris. It's best to keep a power vacuum on hand for these tasks and schedule robot vacs to do light cleaning throughout the week.
Navigation
A robot must be able to navigate your home without getting stuck or running into things like metal screws or loose pet hair or sand. In our tests, we employ a tracking device to follow the robot as it moves through a multiroom lab. It maps out its surroundings. We also test how the robot is able to avoid obstacles like power cords, furniture legs, and pet waste.
The best robots can map out several floors and can recognize landmarks such as windows and doors. The most advanced ones, like the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra, have a dual-sensor navigation system that uses an LIDAR sensor to map the room and a structured light camera on the front of the robot to identify objects in real time. This lets the S8 to stay clear of common obstacles, such as 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 type of object detection and rely on bump sensors, which aren't as precise. In my testing they were able to rip through dog poop, cords, and even shoes that were placed in the middle of the room. The most cost-effective choice Dreametech D10+, is one exception to this. It is a great carpet and hard floor pickup, great hair and tangle pickup and a near perfect auto empty score.
Another feature that is important is a large dust bin which doesn't have to be manually empty, and for those models that mop, a water tank which can store weeks of mopping. Karcher's RCV 5 is an excellent illustration of this. It has a wide enough footprint to fit under furniture but not so big that it can't fit into the space between your toilet and tub.
Apps
Robot vacuums are like upright vacuums and require lots of technology to bring them up to speed. There are a lot of alternatives available in a marketplace that is maturing. But even the best models require some interaction with their users - especially when it comes to scheduling cleanings as well as establishing a home floor plan and setting up virtual barriers.
You might consider a model with its own app that can determine the layout of your home and save these settings for later use. This will allow the robot vacuum to continue where it began when it runs again, instead of having the mapping process restarted every time.
Also, look for models that provide spot or zone cleaning. You can tell the robot vacuum cleaner to focus on a specific area, such as under the table after a huge family meal. You can usually choose to use the app or by voice commands.
A lot of models also offer objects avoidance. It lets the robot observe something in its path, for instance shoes, a crate of dog toys or a crate full of dog toys, and guide itself around it. This will stop it from hitting objects that could harm its sensors or cause jams.
This feature is offered on some of the more expensive models we tried. They depend on the technology of bump sensors for this, but they didn't always keep things out of my test home.
Pet Hair
Look for a vacuum cleaner that is specifically designed to collect pet hair. The top models feature high suction power, a brush that avoids the tangling and an emptying mechanism that will automatically dump hair into the bin when needed. Some models can detect levels of dirt and adjust the intensity of cleaning. They are able to detect objects that aren't part of the flooring in your home, such as furniture and toys, food bowls, cords, and more.
Some robot vacuums include pet-friendly features, like a small water dispenser that can be used for mopping floors, and an HEPA filter that can reduce allergens such as pet dust. They could also provide the option of a quieter operation, which will minimize the amount of noise generated during cleaning.
Robot vacuums that have mapping capabilities are a great option for pet owners. They're designed to evaluate your home, and create an attack plan based upon the layout of each room as well as obstacles. Shark Matrix Plus is a dual-purpose robot vacuum that can map a room, and navigate around furniture, and other obstacles using accelerometer and Gyroscope smart sensors.
Apps let you create no-go zones. These are areas where the robot should not be allowed, for instance, areas with delicate items or pet feeding areas. This feature is especially useful for households with busy schedules, as you can schedule cleaning sessions without needing to be in the room in which the vacuum is. Spot cleaning is another great feature. You can use the vacuum cleaner to clean an area that is particularly dirty or filled with pet hair.
Dust Bin
If you don't want something tiny, choose a robot with a large bin or even a self-emptying trash bin. We recommend picking the one with a large bin, or even a dustbin that automatically emptys. The first will let you keep up with the process of emptying your bin regularly enough to keep it functioning. The second will save you time and effort by automatically dumping the contents into an inner container after every cleaning.
Whatever the size of your house, most robots can easily get up to and around furniture, and they are able to detect and navigate around household obstacles like shoes, loose cords and dog puke. Consider models that have smart mapping capabilities that allow them to "learn" the patterns of your house and devise more efficient routes, as well as ones that are able to detect and avoid objects that may hinder their routes (like shoelaces or strangling charging cables).
Some models also offer spot cleaning, which lets you to manually target a particular area of your house for intensive cleaning. We've found that most of the top performers in our tests are able to take in fine particles such as baking soda and sand along with heavier debris such as oatmeal orzo pasta screws and pet hair.
The brand you choose will determine the longevity of the robot. most robots can last for a long time and continue to perform well as long as you are on top of maintenance tasks, such as cleaning tangled hair from brushes and emptying the dust bin after each use and wiping down sensors and cameras when needed. The top robots are more adaptable. This makes it easier to replace or repair parts like batteries and wheels, as they wear out.