The Best Robot Vacuums

Kim J. Clark

If you’re looking for a way to keep your home cleaner without increasing your own workload, a robot vacuum is a worthwhile investment. These high-tech devices clean your home autonomously, helping keep dirt and dust at bay between regular cleanings. Plus, the best robot vacuums will definitely make your life easier thanks to features like scheduling, automatic dustbin emptying, home mapping and more. 

When first introduced, robot vacuums were a bit clunky, but they’ve become much more user-friendly in recent years. Today’s top models are powerful enough to thoroughly clean both hardwood floors and carpet, and they can avoid obstacles, clean under furniture and recharge themselves automatically, making cleaning a truly hands-off chore.

However, the common adage, “You get what you pay for,” holds true for robot vacuums. Entry-level models can be found for less than $200, but they tend to lack more advanced features like the ability to connect to a mobile app and smart devices like Alexa. Moreover, these budget-friendly units often don’t navigate well and lack the suction power of more advanced models. At the other end of the spectrum, premium robot vacuums from top brands can cost well over $1,000, but they offer high-tech features such as automatic dirt disposal, floor mapping technology and advanced sensors. 

As you shop for a robot vacuum, you’ll want to consider your home’s needs and specific challenges. Do you have hardwood floors, carpet or both? Do you need a model that can handle lots of pet fur? No matter your needs, here are the best robot vacuums for getting the job done.

Best All-Around Robot Vacuum

A Top Pick That Delivers A Solid Performance

While the iRobot Roomba 694 may not have as many high-tech features as more expensive models, it’s still a top pick thanks to its solid performance and reasonable price point. It has a three-stage cleaning system that’s effective at loosening, lifting and sucking up dirt and dust from hard floors and carpet, and its Edge-Sweeping brush can pick up dirt lingering in hard-to-reach corners. The unit’s Dirt Detect Technology helps find the dirtier areas in your home and then cleans them more thoroughly, and since it’s Wi-Fi connected, you can schedule and monitor the robot’s cleaning sessions from your smartphone and even start it using Google Assistant and Alexa enabled devices.

Need proof that the Roomba 694 is one of the best robot vacuums out there? It has more than 32,000 5-star reviews on Amazon, and many buyers sing its praises: “I am not the best housekeeper. I tend to be a clutterbug, and I am not faithful at daily sweeping and vacuuming,” writes one five-star reviewer. “I have two children and two cats, so plenty of dirt accumulates each day…There were a few missed spots on her very first go, but by her third time, no area seemed to go unnoticed.”


Best Budget Robot Vacuum 

A Budget-Friendly Option With A Surprising Number Of Features

Most robot vacuums are a substantial investment, but the Ecovacs Deebot N79W+ is affordable and offers a surprising number of features, as well. It can’t map your entire house or have virtual fences, but you get three ways to control it: a remote control, mobile app and Amazon Alexa voice-command capabilities. In addition, it offers a solid 110 minutes of runtime between charges and can automatically crank up suction power up when needed to clean a troublesome spot. It even has the ability to detect obstacles in its path and route around them.

Glitzy tech aside, it’s simply a dependable vacuum. The side brushes and main brush work together to sweep, lift and suck up dirt, and one Amazon customer wrote that “it has no trouble picking up all the crumbs, dirt and cat fur in its path.”


Best Robot Vacuum For Pet Hair

The Top Choice For Pet Parents

Pet hair poses a tough challenge for all vacuums, as it often gets wrapped up in wheels and brushes. However, the Samsung POWERbot Pet Plus has a soft-action brush that automatically detangles and removes pet hair that gets wrapped around it, all while picking up fine dust from your floors. The vacuum automatically detects the floor type to optimize suction power, and it delivers powerful cleaning on all floor types. Its Wi-Fi connectivity allows you to control and schedule the unit from your phone, and it’s equipped with large wheels that more easily roll over rug edges, door frames and wires. 

This model also gets the seal of approval from pet owners: “I was looking for a robotic vacuum that would work on dog hair,” writes one reviewer. “I have a constant layer of dog hair on my floor that I just couldn’t keep up with. [The POWERbot] does the job! My house is cleaner than it ever has been.”


Best Self-Emptying Robot Vacuum 

A Great Pick For Complete Hands-Free Cleaning

Popularized by models like the iRobot Roomba s9+ (also on this list), there are now a slew of vacuums that empty themselves into a larger trash bin automatically when they return to the dock. The Shark IQ Self-Empty Robotic Vacuum offers this convenient feature for a surprisingly reasonable price, and it has the same powerful suction and self-cleaning brush roll that you’ll find in other Shark robot vacuums.

This robot vacuum can store a complete floor plan of your home, which means you can direct it to clean the whole house or just specific rooms on demand. You can operate it from the mobile app or using your voice with Alexa or Google Assistant, and thanks to its “Recharge and Resume” feature, if the battery runs down while it’s still cleaning, the Shark can return to its dock, charge up and then automatically restart and pick up where it left off. That’s pretty convenient.

forbes.comTarget Coupons | 10% Off In September 2021 | Forbes

Best Robot Vacuum For Hard Floors

An Affordable Option That Tackles All Types Of Hard Floors

If you mostly have hard floors in your home, the Eufy RoboVac 30C is a great low-price option that has more than 12,000 reviews and a 4.5-star rating from users. This model has a slim 2.85-inch body that can fit under furniture, and it delivers up to 100 minutes of cleaning per charge. The RoboVac 30C also has BoostIQ technology, which automatically increases its suction when it moves onto a carpet. 

And according to its glowing reviews, this model’s three-stage cleaning system is extremely effective on hardwood, tile and laminate floors. “This Eufy model has exceeded all expectations thus far!” says one buyer. “We have four dogs and two cats with a combination of hardwood and tile flooring. It’s very quiet, delicately weaves through dining room chairs to get any dog hair and dirt and senses the stairs that lead down into the living room.”


Best Robot Vacuum With Mapping Technology

A High-Tech Option With A Methodical Cleaning Pattern

Shark is a widely-trusted vacuum brand, and consumers seem to be as pleased with the Shark IQ R100 Robot Vacuum as they are with the brand’s full-size vacuums. This robot vacuum is available for a reasonable price, yet it still boasts a number of high-tech features, including home mapping, Wi-Fi connectivity and voice commands via Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. 

On its first few runs, the Shark IQ takes the time to map out your whole home, and once its mapping is complete, you can select exactly which rooms you want it to clean. It then vacuums each location in a methodical, row-by-row pattern, not just bumping around randomly. The vacuum features an extra-large dust bin, a self-cleaning brush roll and a high-efficiency filter, and the brand claims it delivers the same powerful suction that you’d expect from other Shark vacuums.


Best Robot Vacuum For Large Homes

A Robot Vacuum That Gets All Those Tricky Corners

Neato Robotics D7 Connected Black Auto Charging Robotic Vacuum


Neato Robotics is another major player in the robotic vacuum space and one of its top products is the Botvac D7. While most robot vacuums are circular, the Neato Botvac has a unique D-shaped appearance, with one flat edge that helps it clean corners and edges more effectively. It’s ideal for large homes, as it boasts a 120-minute battery life and can store up to three individual floor plans. 

The Neato Botvac D7 has an advanced home mapping system that allows you to set up virtual “no-go” areas, trouble areas that need extra attention and even separate maps for different floors of your home. The vacuum is Wi-Fi enabled so you can control it from your smartphone, and it’s compatible with a wide range of smart products. Plus, it’s equipped with a high-performance filter and Turbo mode, which increases both brush speed and suction for a deeper clean.


Best Robot Vacuum And Mop

An Option That Delivers Clean And Sparkly Floors

Your floors will be cleaner than ever with the Bissell SpinWave, a robotic vacuum and mop in one. It comes with both a dry and wet tank, allowing you to choose how you want it to clean. The wet tank includes two rotating mop pads that scrub your floors, automatically avoiding carpets and area rugs. When the dry tank is attached, the unit uses its dual spinning brushes, rotating brush roll and powerful suction to vacuum both hard floors and carpets. 

Plus, according to reviewers, the Bissell SpinWave does a better job mopping floors than other similar products: “I have a ‘robot mop’ from another brand, but all it does is release water slowly and drag a microfiber pad over the floor. The spinning pads in the back are what sold me on the SpinWave. It vacuums the floor as it mops, and it’s extremely quiet so I can run it while my kids are sleeping.”


Best Splurge-Worthy Robot Vacuum

A Roomba With All The Bells And Whistles

Sleek and modern, the Roomba s9+ is one of the brand’s newest products, and this robot vacuum is equipped with all the bells and whistles you could ever need. It offers increased suction, better sensors and a special brush to clean corners and edges. It also has automatic dirt disposal, emptying its dustbin into the unit’s base to save you some maintenance.

The s9+ can be controlled via a smartphone and creates a map of your house as it cleans, and it has an anti-allergen system that captures 99% of pollen and mold—ideal for anyone with allergies. While the price is certainly high, buyers say it’s worth the expense: “I have owned an ‘off branded’ robot vacuum for quite sometime now, and I was relatively impressed with the performance,” explains one reviewer. “I did not see the point or the need to spend a huge amount of money on a robot vacuum…In came the iRobot Roomba s9+, and I must say, I am honestly blown away. There most certainly is a difference in the quality and performance.”


Best Vacuum For All Types of Floors

A Robot Vacuum That Seamlessly Transitions From Floor To Carpet

If you have different types of floors throughout your house or apartment, the Roborock S7 Robot Vacuum is one of the best robot vacuums for the job. Designed with Ultrasonic Carpet Recognition and an intelligent mop-lifting feature, this robot vacuum automatically identifies changes in flooring, increases cleaning power and auto lifts on carpets after mopping to prevent spreading dirt around.

The vacuum scrubs at 3000 cycles per minute to get rid of dry stains, while intense suction lifts dirt from floors and deep inside carpets. Its LiDAR Navigation with Adaptive Route Algorithms creates accurate maps of your home, while advanced algorithms determine the quickest route. Each robot can recognize up to four homes and each room automatically. You can control where the robot goes with No-Go Zones, Invisible Walls and No-Mop Zones, and with 180 minutes, or roughly three hours, of battery life, this robot can clean the largest of homes at one time.


Best Vacuum Bundle

A Powerful Bundle For the Ultimate Hands-Free Cleaning Experience

iRobot Roomba i7+ Robot Vacuum with Braava Jet M6 Ultimate Robot Mop


Looking to get all your cleaning done at once? The Roomba i7+ and Braava Jet M6 work together to keep your floors spic and span, and both devices have specialized navigation that help them move throughout your home in neat, methodical rows.

You can tell the mop where you want it to clean and its spray jet will work to eliminate sticky messes and grease. If you don’t want it to enter a certain room or go near something specific, you can control it with smart mapping technology. Plus, it’s smart enough to know where you clean the most and suggests schedules to keep you on top of the chores. On the other hand, the robot vacuum’s high-efficiency filter traps 99% of cat and dog dander and allergens for a clean look and feel, and if you forget to empty the vacuum, the robot has an automatic dirt disposal that allows the i7+ to empty itself for up to 60 days. 


Robot Vacuums FAQ

Is a robot vacuum worth it?

Even the most affordable robot vacuums cost around $200, making them a substantial investment. You’ll want to consider your cleaning style, as well as your home’s layout and challenges to determine whether a robot vacuum is worth it for your home. If you vacuum several times a week to keep up with pet hair or dirt, a robot vacuum can help take care of this daily maintenance. However, they aren’t as thorough as a full-size vacuum, so you’ll likely still need to vacuum occasionally. 

Further, robot vacuums typically work best in homes with minimal obstacles. If you have lots of furniture, wires, or even children’s toys strewn around your home, you may find that your robot gets stuck frequently.  

What robot vacuum has the strongest suction?

The suction of robot vacuums is typically measured in Pascal Pressure Units, abbreviated as Pa, and the Roborock S7 Robot Vacuum delivers 2,500Pa of suction, making it one of the most powerful options available today. 

How long do robot vacuums last?

With proper maintenance, which includes regularly cleaning the brushes and replacing components as needed, robot vacuums typically last for around four to six years. High-end models often have a slightly longer lifespan, lasting up to eight years. 

Can a Roomba replace a vacuum?

Roombas and other robot vacuums are ideal for light, daily cleaning, as they can pick up most dirt, dust and hair off your floors and carpets. However, they don’t deliver the same level of suction as a full-size vacuum, so they often aren’t able to pull out dirt that’s deep in carpets. For this reason, most people use robot vacuums as supplementary cleaning tools for everyday maintenance, then use a full-size vacuum to deep-clean their homes as needed. 

Next Post

Edmonton seniors attacked in string of house invasions - Edmonton

&#13 Seventy-seven-calendar year-outdated Rousko Valtchev is recovering soon after he stated he was violently attacked within his condominium in the Central Village in Edmonton’s Queen Mary Park past 7 days. “[He] hit me listed here, hit me below, [he] took $300 and took my phone,” Valtchev said. Valtchev mentioned two […]