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 most powerful robots have difficulty getting deep into carpets and rugs and they can become tangled up in cords and socks.
Being on top of routine maintenance (replacing filters, cutting tangled hair from brushes and emptying the dust bin) will help your robot last longer.
Battery Life
The majority of robot vacuums are able to handle a couple of cleaning sessions without needing to be charged. The runner-up in our overall picks is the Ecovacs Deebot Q30S Combo, has a battery capable of lasting up to 180 minutes (3,230 square feet) of cleaning time on a single charge. The runtime is more than enough to clean most smaller homes with the combination of hard floors and carpets with low pile, or a larger home in which the rooms are about the same size.
A longer battery life also means the robot can spend more time cleaning and less charging on its dock. It's recommended to select an auto-emptying dust bin, since these models are more efficient in picking up debris and returning to the dock for charging. It is also essential to empty or replace the filter and clean sensors and cameras regularly so that they are able to see your home clearly.
Smart mapping technology can be a useful feature, since you can program your robot so that it only cleans certain rooms or stays clear of areas where it's likely to crash into furniture and other obstacles. It's also beneficial for ensuring your robot is able to go under and around sofas, beds and other tall furniture. Some cheap robovacs have boundary strips that you can use to block off certain areas. Other models of higher quality depend on sensors and cameras.
Even the best robot vacuums aren't able to replace a traditional vacuum when it comes to heavy-duty large-pile dirt and debris. It's recommended to have an electric vacuum in your home for these chores and plan robot vacuums for light cleaning throughout the week.
Navigation
A robot must be able to navigating your home without being caught or running into objects like metal screws, pet hair or sand. In our tests, we use an instrument to track the robot as it moves through a multiroom lab. It determine its surroundings. We also examine how well it avoids obstacles, including power cords, furniture legs, and pet waste.
The best robots can map out different floors and recognize landmarks such as doors and windows. The most advanced models, like the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra, have a dual-sensor navigation system that uses the LIDAR sensor to map out the room and a structured light camera at the front of the robot to identify objects in real time. This allows the S8 to stay clear of common obstacles such as power cords and furniture legs and can store up to four different floor maps in its internal memory.
Cheaper models don't come with this type of object detection and rely on bump sensors, which aren't as accurate. In my tests they were able to detect dog poop through cords, as well as a pair of shoes placed in the middle. The best value pick the Dreametech D10+, is an exception to this. It has excellent carpet and hard floor, tangle and hair pickup. It also has an auto empty score that is close to perfect.
Another feature that is important is a huge onboard dustbin that doesn't need to be manually empty. It also has, for those models that mop, a tank of water that can last for weeks of mopping sessions. The Karcher RCV 5 has this and a big enough footprint to be placed under furniture, but not so large that it won't fit in the space between your bathtub and toilet.
Apps
Robot vacuums are a lot like their upright counterparts and require an enormous amount of technology to bring them up to speed. The result is a mature market that is brimming with options. Even the best models require interaction from their users, especially when it comes to schedule cleaning, make a the floor plan of your home and set up virtual barriers.
To reduce the impact of this interaction, consider looking for a model that has its own app to recognize the design of your home and save these settings for the future. This will let the robot vacuum start where it left off on subsequent runs, without having to restart the mapping process every time.
Also, consider models that offer spot or zone cleaning. They allow you to instruct the robot vacuum to concentrate on a specific area for example, like under the dining table following the family's big meal. You can do this using the app or voice commands.
Object avoidance is another feature that's available with many models. It allows the robot, when it sees something that is in its path, like a box of shoes or a crate containing dog toys, to instruct itself around. This will stop it from hitting objects which could harm its sensors or cause jams.
Some of the more expensive models we tested come with this feature. However, they tend to rely on bump sensors for this and didn't always manage to avoid obstacles in my test homes.
robot vacuum cleaners
When it comes to removing pet hair, look for a model that's designed specifically to handle this type of debris. The most effective models come with powerful suction and a brush that is free of getting caught in a knot, and an emptying mechanism that can automatically empty hair into the dust bin when needed. Certain models can detect levels of dirt and alter the level of cleaning. They can also detect objects that aren't part of your home flooring, like furniture, toys, and food bowls.
Certain robot vacuums come with pet-friendly features, like a small water dispenser that can be used to mop floors and a HEPA filter that helps reduce allergens such as pet dander. They might also offer a quieter operation that can minimize the amount of noise generated 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. Shark Matrix Plus is a 2-in-1 robot vacuum that can create a map of a room, and navigate around furniture, and other obstacles with the help of accelerometers and gyroscope sensors.
Apps let you create zones that are not allowed. These are areas that the robot is not permitted, such as areas that contain fragile objects or pet feeding areas. This feature is especially beneficial for busy households, as it allows you to schedule cleaning sessions without having to be present in the room where the vacuum is. Another excellent feature is spot cleaning that allows you to control the vacuum to clean a specific area that is dirty or full of pet hair.
Dust Bin
If you're not searching for something tiny, you'll want to choose a robot that can carry at least a full bag of trash from one cleaning session. This is why we suggest opting for a model with a large bin or even a self-emptying dustbin. The former will allow you to keep up with emptying the bin often enough to ensure you are on top of its performance, while the latter will help you save time and hassle by automatically dumping the contents into an internal container after every few cleanings.
Look for models with smart mapping capabilities that allow them to "learn" the layout of your home and plan more efficient routes. They also detect and avoid objects that could hinder their routes (like shoelaces or tangled charging cables). Make sure you choose models with intelligent mapping capabilities. This lets them "learn the patterns of your house and design a more efficient route.
Some models also offer spot cleaning. This lets you select an area of your home to be targeted for intensive cleaning. In our tests, we discovered that the best models can take out small particles like baking soda, sand, orzo, screws made of metal and pet hair, as well as heavier debris such as oatmeal, orzo, and screws made of metal.
The brand you choose will determine the longevity of the robot. the majority of robots last for years and will remain in good working order so long as you maintain them with regular maintenance tasks, such as cleaning hair that has become tangled from brushes, emptying the dust bin after each use, and wiping down sensors and cameras whenever needed. The top robots are more modular. This makes it easier to replace or repair parts such as wheels and batteries when they wear out.