Best Rated Robot Vacuum Cleaner

Robot vacuums are great for keeping your floors clean but they cannot replace a traditional vacuum. Even the best auto vacuum vacuums struggle to get deep into carpets and rugs. They also often get tangled in socks and cords.

Maintaining a regular schedule of maintenance (replacing filters cutting hair tangled from brushes and emptying the dust bin) will help your robot last longer.

Battery Life

Most robot vacuums can handle one or two cleaning sessions before needing a charge. The Ecovacs Q30S Combo is the second-best of our overall choices. It comes with an energy-efficient battery that can last up to 180 minutes (3,230 square foot) on a single charge. The runtime is more than enough to clean the majority of smaller homes that have carpets that are hard and carpets with low pile or a bigger home where the rooms are roughly the same size.

A longer battery life means that the robot can spend less time charging and spend more time cleaning. It's a good idea to choose models that have a self-emptying dust bin, as they are more efficient in cleaning up debris and returning to the dock for charging. It is also essential to empty or change the filter and wipe down cameras and sensors regularly so that they are able to see your home clearly.

Smart mapping technology can be a useful feature, as it allows you to program your robot to ensure it only cleans certain rooms or areas it is likely to bump into furniture or other obstacles. This feature is also helpful to ensure that your robot is able to reach under and around furniture, such as beds, sofas and other high-height items. Some cheap robovacs have boundary strips that you can use to block off specific areas. Other high-end models depend on sensors and cameras.

Even the top robot vacuums cannot replace a conventional vac when it comes heavy-duty dirt and debris. It's best to keep a power automatic vacuum cleaner available for these chores and plan robot vacuums for light cleaning throughout the week.

Navigation

A robot should be able to navigate you home without getting stuck or running into things like screws made of metal or loose pet hair or sand. In our tests, we use an instrument to track the robot as it travels through a multiroom lab and smart vacuum determine its surroundings. We also test how the robot avoids obstacles like power cords, furniture leg, and pet waste.

The best robots can map out multiple floors and identify lande after an enormous family meal. It is possible to do this via the app or by voice commands.

A lot of models also offer object avoidance. It allows the robot to observe something in its path, such as a box of shoes or a crate filled with dog toys, and guide itself around it. This will keep it from running into things that might damage its sensors or cause jams.

Some of the more expensive models we've tested have this feature. They rely on the technology of bump sensors for this, but they didn't always avoid things in my test home.

Pet Hair

When it comes to picking up pet hair, look for the right model designed to handle this kind of debris. The top models feature powerful suction capabilities, a brush that avoids getting caught in a knot, and an emptying mechanism that will automatically empty hair into the bin when it is needed. Some are also able to detect dirt levels and adjust the cleaning intensity according to the amount of dirt. They can also detect objects that aren't part your home flooring, like furniture, toys, and food bowls.

Some robot vacuums include additional features that are pet-friendly. These include the water dispenser that can be used to mop floors and a HEPA filtering system that helps to reduce allergens, such as pet dust. They could also feature an operation that is quieter to reduce the amount noise produced during cleaning sessions.

Robot vacuums that have maps are a great option for pet owners since they are designed to analyze your home and create a plan of attack in accordance with the layout and obstructions in every room. For example the Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum is a smart vacuum that has the impressive capability to map the room and navigate around furniture and other obstacles using accelerometer and gyroscope smart sensors that work together to learn the layout of your home.

Apps let you create no-go zones. These are areas that the robot should not be allowed, for instance, areas with fragile objects or pet feeding areas. This feature is especially useful for families with busy schedules, since you can schedule cleaning times without having to be in the space in which the vacuum is. Another feature that is extremely useful is spot cleaning, which gives you the option to control the vacuum robot to clean a particular area that is filthy or full of pet hair.

Dust Bin

Unless you're looking for a small size, you'll want to choose one that can carry at least a complete bag of garbage from one cleaning session. We recommend choosing one with a large bin or a bin that automatically emptys. The former will enable you to keep up with cleaning the bin regularly enough to keep track of its performance and the latter will save you time and effort by automatically dumping the contents into an internal container every few cleans.

Look for models that have smart mapping capabilities, which enable them to "learn" the layout of your home and devise more efficient routes. They also detect and avoid objects that may hinder their travel (like shoelaces or tangled charging cables). Make sure you choose models with intelligent mapping capabilities. This allows them to "learn the patterns of your house and design a more efficient route.

Some models offer spot cleaning. This allows you to select an area of your home to be targeted for thorough cleaning. We've found that most of the top performers in our tests can take in fine particles such as baking soda and sand, together with larger particles like oatmeal orzo pasta screws and pet hair.

Depending on the brand, most robots can last for years and will remain in good working order in the event that you are on top of maintenance, such as cleaning tangled hair from brushes and dust bins, emptying them after every use, and wiping down cameras and sensors as needed. The most reliable robots are more adaptable. This allows you to replace or repair components like wheels and batteries when they wear out.