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Robot vacuums are awesome devices that will cleanable your floors bully without complaining (much). As prices personification dropped, these engaged mini bots personification spell small of a luxury and overmuch of a necessity. They tin scope places astir standup vacs ne'er spot (under beds and sofas) and, acknowledgment to amended batteries and robot brains, they seldom get tired of cleaning.
I’ve been testing robot vacuums for 7 years and personification tally complete 60 robot vacuums each complete my house. These are my apical picks if you’re looking for nan best: a robot vacuum that tin do it each without getting stuck and pinch constricted involution from you.
I personification options to caller circumstantial needs, specified arsenic mopping, tackling mini spaces, aliases besting pet hair. Check retired my fund robot vacuum guideline if you want to locomotion nether $500 connected a robot vacuum. Here, we’re going to look astatine nan premium options.
There are galore options, and whether you personification a 3,000-square-foot location and 3 shaggy dogs aliases a small, stylish level you banal pinch a goldfish, there’s a robot vacuum to suit your needs.
Best robot vacuum overall
$1500
With top-notch vacuuming performance, an easy-to-use app, and built-in sound control, nan S8 MaxV Ultra is simply a superb vacuum and bully mop. It features Roborock’s champion obstacle avoidance, innovative features for illustration ungraded detection, and a hands-free dock that makes it an costly but fantabulous choice.
Dustbin capacity: 270ml / Self-empty dock option: Yes / Auto-refill mop option: Yes / Mop-lift: Yes, 20mm / Mop washing: Hot h2o and heated aerial drying / Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle avoidance: Yes / Suction power: 10,000Pa / Remote check-in: Yes / Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Brush style: Dual rubber / Works with: Matter, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts
Roborock’s S8 MaxV Ultra ($1,799.99) is an exceptional vacuum cleaner and a very bully mop acknowledgment to respective innovations and quality-of-life features that make it a superb level cleaner. Its dual rubber roller brushes and 10,000Pa suction make it nan champion robot vacuum for carpets; its mopping chops make it awesome for difficult floors, too, and its improved AI-powered obstacle avoidance intends it will mostly get nan business done.
The S8 MaxV Ultra is too nan champion exemplary successful nan comparatively caller people of “hands-free” robot vacs, bots that do virtually everything for you: quiet their bins, refill their mop tanks, and cleanable and barren their mop pads. Roborock invented this people pinch nan S7 MaxV Ultra and has been steadily improving it.
With nan S8 MaxV Ultra, nan institution has produced nan champion top-of-the-line robot vacuum. If you are consenting to locomotion nan cash, this instrumentality will support your floors cleanable pinch comparatively mini involution from you.
The ample trading constituent coming is nan virtually hands-free cleaning experience. Just tin nan S8 MaxV Ultra’s cleanable h2o alloy and quiet its soiled h2o erstwhile a week, past alteration retired nan particulate instrumentality each mates of months. The robot will return attraction of nan rest.
For $100 more, you tin dispense pinch dealing pinch nan h2o tanks wholly and bargain nan Refill & Drainage System model. This lets you plumb nan charging guidelines consecutive into your home’s h2o supply. I’ve not tested this connected nan Roborock, but my acquisition pinch nan SwitchBot S10 pinch nan aforesaid characteristic (see below) leads maine to impulse this action if it’s disposable to you. However, you’ll petition a powerfulness proviso adjacent your h2o hookups, whereas nan SwitchBot’s refill position is battery-powered.
The S8 MaxV Ultra is nan champion robot vacuum for carpets
The S8 MaxV Ultra comes pinch nan brand’s champion AI-powered obstacle avoidance, yet bringing backmost nan camera it past had connected nan fantabulous S7 MaxV Ultra. It’s not alternatively arsenic bully arsenic Roomba’s obstacle avoidance — it sometimes confused a heap of Cheerios for a charging cablegram and avoided them — but it’s overmuch amended than nan Roborocks that spot connected non-camera obstacle avoidance. It deftly navigates astir astir family clutter, allowing you to get nan business done without having to tidy up.
Roborock has caught up to Roomba regarding cleaning prowess, and nan S8 MaxV Ultra’s dual rubber brushes and 10,000Pa of suction powerfulness tackled nan pet hairsbreadth connected my fluffy carpet and demolished my oatmeal test. It too did a amended business astatine mopping than Roomba’s mopping bots. Its sonic mopping strategy — which vibrates its mop pad 4,000 times a infinitesimal — ably simulated scrubbing and wiped retired my OJ and ketchup tests, though I did personification to group it to dense scrub. Plus, nan summation of a broadside mop and flexi-arm brushwood that extends from nan bot helped pinch cleaning edges and corners.
Other pros of nan S8 MaxV Ultra spot Roborock’s mobile app, which is easy to usage and comes pinch a laundry database of features and customizations that springiness you ample powerfulness complete your cleaning. The S8 MaxV Ultra is too nan first Roborock pinch a built-in sound assistant, which makes getting nan bot to cleanable nan messiness your kid made aft repast arsenic easy arsenic saying, “Rocky, cleanable here.” Plus, arsenic 1 of only a mates of vacs pinch Matter certification, it will activity pinch each nan awesome smart location platforms, including Apple Home, erstwhile nan platforms support robot vacuums (see nan FAQ conception for more).
The biggest downside is nan price. For $1,800, you’ve sewage to really want to get those corners cleanable and really dislike having to messiness pinch mop pads. My erstwhile apical premier — nan Roomba j7 — is still a awesome robot vacuum, peculiarly if you’re not consenting successful mopping and would alternatively locomotion nether $800.
Roborock too sells nan S8 Max Ultra (no V) for $1,599.99. It has nan aforesaid cleaning hardware arsenic nan MaxV but nary camera, truthful its obstacle avoidance will not beryllium arsenic good. However, you too don’t personification to liking astir a camera successful your house. It has a small 8,000Pa of suction and lacks a sound assistant, too, which makes it look overpriced since it’s presently disposable for only a mates 100 dollars small than nan MaxV.
While location are amended options if you want a bot that’s overmuch of a mop, nan S8 MaxV Ultra is nan champion astatine both. It tin too do immoderate successful 1 run, arsenic it tin assistance its mop 20mm, which will clear each but nan highest-pile rugs. (If you personification a batch of those, spell for nan Dreame X40 pinch its automatic mop removal.)
$1200
The Combo j9 Plus is nan first Roomba that tin refill its ain mop alloy and quiet its ain bin. With a redesigned dock that doubles arsenic a table, accrued suction power, and a caller SmartScrub characteristic that moves backmost and distant to mop overmuch effectively, it’s nan champion Roomba available.
Dustbin capacity: 300 ml / Self-empty dock option: Yes / Auto-refill mop option: Yes / Mop-lift: Yes, up and complete / Mop washing: No / Mapping: Yes, vSLAM / AI-powered obstacle avoidance: Yes / Suction power: N/A / Remote check-in: No / Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Brush style: Dual rubber / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts
I’m a ample instrumentality of Roombas for 3 main reasons: their dual rubber roller brushes rotate successful different directions to efficaciously excavation up ungraded from carpets, their AI obstacle avoidance is by acold nan best, and they personification a history of being easy to repair. Their auto-empty docks are immoderate of nan best-looking, too, and I for illustration Roomba’s vSLAM mapping, which takes longer than lidar mapping but is overmuch reliable. The Roomba app has ne'er mislaid my maps, which happens often pinch lidar bots.
However, Roombas are falling down nan title successful features and cleaning prowess, peculiarly regarding mopping. And while they’re nary longer nan astir costly robot vacs you tin buy, they are costly. As overmuch arsenic I admit nan simplicity of nan iRobot app, immoderate whitethorn for illustration nan dense customization options different brands offer.
The existent top-of-the-line Roomba, nan j9 Combo Plus, is my apical premier for a Roomba, arsenic it features a well-designed dock and tin refill its ain mop tank. Like nan j7 Combo, nan j9 has a retractable mopping pad it tin assistance up and complete nan robot to debar getting your carpets damp and has higher suction powerfulness than erstwhile Roombas. There’s too a nifty dirt-detect feature, which “remembers” which rooms are dirtiest and seeks them retired first. The j9 is nan quietest Roomba I’ve tested and offers 3 suction levels for an moreover quieter clean, point astir different Roombas don’t have.
However, nan mopping still feels for illustration an afterthought. The SmartScrub characteristic that tells nan robot to wiggle its butt to scrub your floors useful amazingly well, but nan mopping pad is excessively mini to cleanable your floors effectively, and you still personification to cleanable nan mop manually. Most each different robot pinch a mop and dock will lavation and barren it for you. If you’re not consenting successful mopping, nan j7 is still a awesome robot (see beneath for more).
I did tally into a less issues pinch connectivity, pinch nan j9 going offline for nary evident reason. It too regularly struggled to dock itself correctly, truthful I’d often find it dormant erstwhile it was clip to clean. These are each issues that should beryllium resolved via package updates, and overall, nan j9 Combo Plus is iRobot’s astir precocious floor-cleaning machine. It looks good, vacuums well, and mops acceptably, but you will petition to get your hands soiled to woody pinch its mini mop pad.
$369
Our erstwhile apical pick, nan j7 offers awesome AI-powered obstacle avoidance, fantabulous navigation skills, and superior cleaning power. It tin beryllium a spot unsmooth pinch furnishings and its app has spell confusing successful pursuit of simplicity. But it is fierce astatine getting your level cleanable and is our favourite vacuum-only Roomba.
Best robot vacuum / mop hybrid
$1000
With a useful expertise to region and reattach its mop pads, nan Dreame X40 solves nan problem of vacuuming carpets while too mopping difficult floors. Its mops tin too plaything retired and nether debased furniture, getting wherever astir bots can’t reach. An extendable broadside brushwood helps get ungraded retired of corners and a whopping 12,000Pa of suction makes this a awesome vac.
Dustbin capacity: 300ml / Self-empty dock option: Yes / Auto-refill mop option: Yes / Mop-lift: Yes, 20mm / Mop washing: Hot water, basking aerial drying / Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle avoidance: Yes / Suction power: 12,000Pa / Remote check-in: Yes / Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Brush style: Single, rubber / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts
The Dreame X40 is nan champion robot vacuum / mop hybrid because it tin driblet its mop pads automatically, widen them, and plaything them to get nether your cabinets and consoles. I watched nan X40 dispersed its mops wide isolated and plaything down my TV console, allowing it to entree nan particulate wedged a bully inch nether it. That’s impressive.
The X40 too features an extending broadside brushwood limb to scope corners — for illustration nan Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra — and its dual oscillating mop pads are overmuch effective than Roborock’s bladed microfiber pad. If you personification a cognition of carpeted rooms and hardwood floors pinch high-pile rugs, nan Dreame is nan champion robot vacuum for you.
Its signature characteristic is its expertise to automatically region and reattach its mop pads depending connected whether it’s vacuuming aliases mopping. This solves nan problem of really to vacuum and mop without getting your rugs wet. The robot will do this process aggregate times during cleaning to guarantee carpets are vacuumed and floors are mopped. Genius.
While it’s a superb mopper, its vacuuming prowess is somewhat down nan Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra because, contempt its 12,000Pa suction power, it still only has a azygous roller rubber brush. The Roborock’s dual rollers are simply amended astatine getting ungraded retired of carpets and tackling pet hair.
Roborock’s app is too overmuch unchangeable and easier to usage than Dreame’s, which often crashes and tin return a while to load. While nan Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra is my apical premier overall, nan Dreame X40 is simply a very bully vacuum, and nan 2 companies are cervix and cervix regarding innovative features.
If you personification a cognition of carpeted rooms and hardwood floors pinch high-pile rugs, nan Dreame is nan champion robot vacuum for you.
The X40 tin too cleanable its washboard, point nan Roborock can’t. That area tin get alternatively grungy, truthful it needs a cleanable each less weeks. The X40 has AI-powered smart ungraded find that uses its cameras to spot spills for illustration beverage aliases peculiarly soiled areas. When it spots something, it will slow down and do a overmuch thorough cleaning. I too for illustration Dreame’s action to vacuum first and past mop, which nan Roborock doesn’t offer.
The X40 has AI-powered obstacle avoidance, though Roborock’s is conscionable a spot better. However, immoderate still get tripped up occasionally by pencils and different mini items —something that ne'er happens pinch nan Roomba j7 aliases j9.
The X40 has a mates of cheaper siblings: nan L20 Ultra (more connected that below) and nan X30 Ultra, which came retired only a less months ago. The X30 Ultra costs $1,700 (and is presently connected discarded for $1,600) and has galore of nan aforesaid features arsenic nan X40. However, you don’t get nan extendable broadside brush, and it has small suction powerfulness (8,300Pa). Also, while it tin widen its mop pads, it can’t plaything its assemblage sideways to spell further nether debased furniture.
$700
The L20 Ultra is simply a awesome all-around bot that tin region its mop pads to vacuum carpet and do nan splits pinch its mops to amended cleanable your baseboards. It has 7,000Pa suction, a bigger guidelines station, and little precocious cleaning features than nan newer X30 and X40 Ultra models, but it’s still an fantabulous robot vacuum.
Best midrange robot vacuum / mop hybrid
$600
The X10 is simply a awesome robovac pinch fantabulous AI-powered obstacle avoidance, powerful oscillating mops, a user-friendly app, and bully mapping capabilities. Its rubber bristle brushwood intends it is not arsenic bully arsenic my apical picks astatine getting up ungraded and debris, but it’s a terrific worth for a bot pinch each these functions, and arsenic a bonus, its dock is compact and not a awesome eyesore.
Dustbin capacity: Unknown / Self-empty dock option: Yes / Auto-refill mop option: Yes / Mop-lift: Yes, 12mm / Mop washing: Yes, basking aerial drying / Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle avoidance: Yes / Suction power: 8,000Pa / Remote check-in: No / Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Brush style: single rubber / bristle hybrid / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home
The Eufy X10 Pro Omni combines nan Eufy Clean X9 Pro mopping robot vacuum and nan Eufy X8 Pro self-empty robot vacuum. It’s nan first Eufy pinch a multifunction auto-empty / lavation / tin dock, and dissimilar galore bots successful this worth range, it comes pinch AI-powered obstacle avoidance.
With 8,000Pa suction and oscillating dual spinning brushes for mopping, nan X10 has each nan aforesaid basal functions arsenic nan top-of-the-line, all-in-one bots. But it’s not alternatively arsenic bully astatine immoderate of them, which is benignant of nan meaning of “midrange.”
The Eufy performed excellently successful my mopping tests, moreover eradicating dried stains pinch its 1kg of downward pressure. Thanks to an onboard h2o reservoir, it didn’t personification to caput location to tin up arsenic often arsenic immoderate mopping bots do. It too has heated mop drying to thief forestall nan guidelines from getting stinky — a first successful this worth range. (There’s nary basking h2o washing.)
An edge-hugging mode makes nan robot plaything its down into nan baseboards to thief mop edges. With its square-ish shape, it sewage into corners amended than astir of nan accusation bots. But its 12mm mop pad assistance complete carpet wasn’t effective, resulting successful its pads getting hung up successful a less places.
The X10 has superb entity recognition, allowing it to suck up Cheerios and piles of oatmeal while deftly navigating clone canine turds and cables. However, its navigation sometimes sewage screwy; it would spell into a area and enactment location for a while, trying to fig itself out.
While its vacuuming is good, peculiarly connected carpet and tile surfaces, nan azygous rubber / bristle roller brushwood lets it down and is simply a bully illustration of my constituent that it’s not each astir suction power; it’s too astir nan brushes and really you usage them. The Eufy’s brushwood is supposedly anti-tangle — a cutting instrumentality incorrect nan robot should shred nan hairsbreadth — but this wasn’t effective.
One nosy characteristic is Smart Track cleaning. This lets you nudge nan robot pinch your foot, and it will commencement pursuing you, cleaning arsenic it goes. You tin deed nan on-device spot cleanable fastener erstwhile you get to an area you want cleaned. This is simply a bully alteration from relying connected an app to get your robot to spell wherever you want it to.
The Eufy Clean app is very easy to use, and nan lidar-powered mapping was accelerated and accurate, dividing my rooms correctly connected nan first try. There are galore customization options — including room-specific cleaning, area cleaning, and customized cleaning — but nan app is clear and bully laid out.
$540
This is simply a awesome bot pinch a multifunction dock that tin auto-empty its bin, tin its h2o tank, and cleanable and barren its oscillating mops. There’s nary AI-powered obstacle avoidance aliases heated mop drying, but it has a compact dock and useful pinch nan fantabulous Roborock app. It tin too assistance its mops complete carpet and has a rubber brushwood that’s small prone to tangling.
$900
A superior mopping bot pinch a superior worth tag, nan Narwal is smart tin to cognize erstwhile it needs to spell backmost and mop overmuch and is nan champion bot for keeping your hard-surface floors spotless. Its vacuuming is bully and a unsocial onboard compression bin intends nary ample auto-emptying. But its obstacle avoidance is spotty (there’s nary camera), and nan app is simply a challenge.
Dustbin capacity: 1L / Self-empty dock option: No / Auto-refill mop option: Yes / Mop-lift: Yes, 12mm / Mop washing: Yes, basking aerial drying / Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle avoidance: Yes / Suction power: 8,200Pa / Remote check-in: No / Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Brush style: Single, conical rubber bristle hybrid / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts
The Narwal Freo X Ultra is 1 of nan champion mopping robots I’ve tested — and it’s a awesome vacuum, too. Its spinning triangular mop pads rotate astatine 180RPM pinch 12n of downward portion Combined pinch its expertise to plaything somewhat to get personification to baseboards, nan Narwhal does a bully business connected difficult floors. Its 2 four-liter h2o tanks will support you going longer than astir different mopping bots arsenic well, nan bulk of which characteristic smaller tanks.
The Narwhal has immoderate innovative features, including ungraded consciousness — which analyzes nan ungraded level successful nan h2o and prompts it to remop — and an expertise to accommodate nan portion of its mop based connected nan type of level material, applying overmuch portion to tile and small to hardwood. “Freo” refers to nan bot’s expertise to make cleaning “decisions,” including going backmost to cleanable soiled floors.
Photo by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
Its charging dock is very big, though, giving disconnected a existent Wall-E vibe. But contempt nan size, there’s nary spot for an auto-empty dustbin; instead, Narwal’s disposable onboard bin tin compress nan dust, and Narwhal claims you won’t petition to quiet it for up to 60 days. In 2 weeks of testing, it wasn’t adjacent to full, but I’ll study backmost aft 2 months. A prize coming is that there’s nary ample noise, arsenic is nan suit pinch astir auto-empty docks.
In fact, nan Freo X Ultra is 1 of nan quietest bots I’ve tested. Even astatine afloat power, it was truthful quiet that I had to cheque that it was really working. Its anti-tangle brushwood and 8,200Pa suction did a bully business connected astir carpet, but its 12mm mop lifting isn’t bully for plush carpets.
Narwal’s obstacle avoidance is too not great; there’s nary camera, and it routinely eats cables. Its 3 lasers tin spot objects arsenic mini arsenic a sock and move astir them, and it did locomotion my clone pet poop test.
The app is very difficult to follow, making it tricky to entree each nan bot’s features. Mapping was fast, but it didn’t admit each my rooms connected nan first go. It did amended nan 2nd time, though splitting up rooms and naming them successful nan app was painful. The deficiency of a camera too intends its navigation is spotty, and sending it to cleanable circumstantial rooms wasn’t ever successful.
Best mopping robot pinch a plumbing hookup
$555
The S10 is simply a awesome mopping robot pinch a battery-powered h2o refill dock that makes it nan astir hands-free robovac we’ve tested. A abstracted auto-empty dock takes attraction of nan dust. It’s ample and ample and lacks immoderate features recovered connected high-end robots, but it does a awesome business of keeping your floors clean.
Dustbin capacity: 4L / Self-empty dock option: Yes / Auto-refill mop option: Yes / Mop-Lift: Yes, afloat retracts / Mop washing: Yes, basking aerial drying / Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle avoidance: Yes / Suction power: 6,500Pa / Remote check-in: No / Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Brush style: Single, rubber roller / Works with: Matter (including Apple Home), Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts
The SwitchBot S10 is simply a multitasking robot that hooks into your plumbing for a virtually hands-free sweeping and mopping experience. It’s 1 of nan champion robot mops I’ve tested acknowledgment to its self-cleaning roller mop and nan truth that I ne'er had to quiet aliases tin its h2o tanks. These 2 features meant I could group it and hide it and personification cleanable floors for weeks.
I tested nan S10’s mopping capabilities successful a ample bath wherever I precocious installed a caller achromatic tile level — 1 that looks filthy incorrect a clip of being cleaned. I group it to vacuum and mop each day, and nan level has stayed spotless since.
Roller mops whitethorn beryllium nan early of robot mopping. The Eufy S1 Pro I’ve started testing too has one, and immoderate bots do a acold amended business astatine getting floors decently cleanable than nan dual spinning mop pads, which are, successful turn, amended than nan bladed microfibre pads.
The greater aboveground area mixed pinch nan self-cleaning usability — nan vac sprays h2o onto nan mop arsenic it runs — adjacent nan tiles cleaner than nan Narwal Freo X Ultra. However, nan SwitchBot only has a mini rubber roller brushwood for vacuuming, and nan mop extends conscionable halfway connected nan robot — meaning it doesn’t tackle edges, baseboards, and corners arsenic bully arsenic my apical picks.
I really for illustration nan S10s dual docking system. Its main dock is simply a charging / auto-empty dock, and there’s a abstracted battery-powered dock h2o position that you tin put successful a different room (I hooked it up successful my laundry room). Both docks are mini and unobtrusive — peculiarly compared to nan Dreame and Roborock docks — but nan plumbing hookup isn’t elegant. There was a batch of different cabling, and nan width of nan robot meant I couldn’t tuck nan dock nether my sink.
Roller mops whitethorn beryllium nan early of robot mopping.
While nan SwitchBot is simply a bully vacuum, it’s not nan best. Its comparatively paltry 6,500Pa of suction powerfulness is debased compared to nan competition, but nan bot’s weight did thief nan rubber roller brushwood excavation into nan carpet and get up astir of nan feline hair.
Other downsides spot nan AI obstacle avoidance, which isn’t great. The S10 often sewage stuck connected apparel adjacent connected my level and bath mats, its artillery life is short, and it lacks high-end features for illustration ungraded detection. It too presently only useful pinch a nonstop plumbing hookup, truthful don’t get it unless you strategy to hook it into your h2o supply.
It’s a game-changer not having to quiet a soiled h2o alloy aliases personification my level spell unmopped because I forgot to tin nan cleanable h2o tank. The S10 isn’t wholly hands-free (the auto-empty position sewage a spot grungy during testing and required immoderate cleaning), but successful 2 months of testing, nan mop has stayed clean. I haven’t moreover had to quiet nan four-liter particulate instrumentality yet.
Best robot vacuum for pet hair
$160
The Q5 Pro has a immense bin and ample wheels to get up connected higher-pile carpets easily. It has a mini removable mopping reservoir for erstwhile location are soiled paws connected nan floors, but its main business is to suck up ungraded and pet hair, and it does very bully astatine both.
Dustbin capacity: 770ml / Self-empty dock option: Yes / Auto-refill mop option: No / Mapping: Yes / AI-powered obstacle avoidance: No / Suction power: 5,500Pa / Remote check-in: No / Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Brush style: Dual, rubber / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts
My connection for families pinch pets who don’t want to locomotion a mini luck connected an auto-empty robot vacuum is to bargain a bully bot pinch a ample bin. These are getting harder to find now that each bot wants to beryllium a multitasker and too mop (the h2o reservoir takes up valuable dustbin room). So, I was very pleased pinch Roborock’s caller entry-level robot, nan Q5 Pro; it’s my caller favourite for pet hair.
This comparatively inexpensive vacuum has a immense 770ml bin connected committee and dual rubber brushes that are amended astatine getting pet hairsbreadth retired of rugs than azygous brushes. The rubber is too small prone than bristles to getting tangled pinch hair, and mixed pinch 5,500Pa suction power, this vacuum does a really bully business connected very soiled floors. It does personification a removable mopping pad pinch a mini h2o alloy built into it, which is useful for getting up nan bully particulate adjacent down by nan vacuum, but it isn’t going to scrub your floors. It will, however, support nan pet hairsbreadth astatine bay.
Don’t confuse this pinch nan cheaper Roborock Q5, however. That bot has a smaller bin, small suction, shorter runtime, and only 1 roller brush. It’s worthy spending nan different for nan Pro.
1/3I for illustration ample bins and I cannot lie. The Q5’s 770ml bin is nan biggest I’ve tested since self-empty docks became a thing.
The Q5 Pro Plus pairs nan bot pinch nan redesigned Roborock auto-empty dock if you really don’t for illustration emptying nan robot’s onboard bin, but you’ll net almost double for nan privilege. The dock is comparatively compact and lightweight compared to erstwhile versions. However, considering nan size of nan Q5 Pro’s bin, you’d only personification to quiet it 3 times earlier nan dock’s 2.5-liter instrumentality is too full.
The Q5 Pro doesn’t personification AI-powered obstacle avoidance, though it will dodge shoes and larger objects. It does personification a immense 5,200mAh artillery that will tally for astir 4 hours. It uses nan fantabulous Roborock app and has each nan aforesaid package features of nan higher-end S8 family, including lidar mapping and navigation, integer keep-out zones, room-specific cleaning, area cleaning, and sound control.
Best robot vacuum for mini spaces
$218
The smallest robot vac connected nan block, nan K10 Plus, doesn’t comparison to nan different bots coming successful position of performance, but if you personification a mini abstraction wherever different vacs can’t get to, it’s amended than nothing. It’s too very quiet, making it cleanable for mini spaces for illustration location offices and bedrooms aliases a very mini workplace apartment.
Dustbin capacity: 150ml / Self-empty dock option: Yes / Auto-refill mop option: No / Mapping: Yes / AI-powered obstacle avoidance: no / Suction power: 2,500Pa / Remote check-in: No / Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Brush style: Single, rubber bristle hybrid / Works with: Matter (including Apple Home), Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts
One constituent each nan robot vacs I’ve recommended truthful acold personification successful communal is size. They are each ample accusation robots that, while mostly adept astatine navigating astir chair legs and nether sofas, do struggle to get into tight spaces. At almost 14 inches wide, bots for illustration nan Roborock S8 aren’t getting successful that nook betwixt nan toilet and nan bathtub aliases nether nan array wherever your chair legs meet nan trash can. Enter nan SwitchBot K10 Plus.
The tiniest robot vacuum you tin buy, nan K10 Plus is simply a mini small particulate sucker that tin nimbly navigate astir almost immoderate information of furnishings you propulsion successful its path. Just 3.6 inches precocious and 9.8 inches wide, it pairs pinch a teeny mini auto-empty dock (12.5 inches precocious and 10 inches wide) that someway hides a whopping four-liter particulate bag. So while it’s little, you won’t beryllium emptying its bin instrumentality immoderate overmuch often than its bigger competitors.
1/3Mug for size. The SwitchBot K10 is very small.
Its 2,500Pa suction is bully for an agency aliases bedroom, and this mini feline moves really fast. It’s too very quiet. With 4 vacuum levels, its lowest mounting was tolerable moreover while I was moving successful nan aforesaid room. However, this bot doesn’t mop. The removable mopping pad uses disposable bedewed wipes — nary water. These are fiddly to attach, don’t enactment connected well, and were wholly ineffective. The robot too won’t mop and vacuum simultaneously and couldn’t woody pinch dried-on dirt, making nan mopping usability coming hardly worthy mentioning.
The robot uses lidar mapping and has room-specific cleaning and integer keep-out zones. There’s nary AI-powered obstacle avoidance (and nary camera), truthful while it went astir shoes and furnishings legs, it did get hung up connected cables and socks. It too couldn’t grip rug tassels. But for keeping a enclosure aliases location agency cleanable aliases navigating a tightly packed workplace apartment, this bot packs a batch of powerfulness successful a mini package.
Other robot vacuums I tested
- The 360 Vis Nav ($1,199.99), Dyson’s first robovac successful nan US successful almost a decade, is simply a powerful beast and nan champion robot vacuum for carpets I’ve tested. Its immense wheels get up and complete moreover nan elephantine tassels connected my surviving room carpet, and its big, agelong fluffy brushwood did a awesome business getting bully debris disconnected my hardwood floors. That said, its navigation is simply a mess. It couldn’t practice my upstairs arsenic it kept getting stuck astatine nan separator of nan stairs. Its large, quadrate style too meant it sewage stuck nether chair legs connected virtually each run. At this price, nary AI-powered obstacle avoidance, a short artillery life, and nary auto-empty dock are ample cons. You tin publication overmuch successful this hands-on.
- The Roborock S8 Pro Ultra ($1,599.99) too ditches nan camera, making it small effective astatine dodging obstacles than nan S8 MaxV. Like nan MaxV, it has dual roller brushes and an extending broadside arm, but for conscionable $200 more, you whitethorn arsenic bully get nan MaxV, which too has a built-in sound adjunct and support for Matter (see nan FAQ section). Also, I’m not excessively fond of nan Pro’s dock; it’s bigger and chunkier than nan MaxV’s dock. The main logic to get nan S8 Pro is if you for illustration nan MaxV but don’t want a camera connected your robot.
- If you want a sleeker robovac setup, nan Roborock S8 Plus ($999.99) is simply a bully choice. It is simply a awesome vacuum that tin mop bully and has a sleeker, smaller charging / auto-empty dock. Its dual rubber roller brushes and 6,000Pa of suction do a bully job, and its level mop that vibrates is effective astatine scrubbing your floors. The S8 tin too consciousness carpets, assistance its mop, and offers nan aforesaid obstacle avoidance arsenic nan S8 Pro Ultra (because there’s nary camera connected board).
- I’ve been testing nan Ecovacs Deebot X2 Omni ($1,499.99) for astir 8 months, and while its vacuuming and mopping capabilities are excellent, its package and lidar navigation strategy petition work. While it ably avoided cables and pet poop successful testing, nan bot perpetually sewage mislaid and galore times stopped, telling maine its brushwood was tangled erstwhile it wasn’t (and hefting that constituent complete to cheque is not easy, peculiarly arsenic nan lid falls off). It too takes earnestly wide swings connected its route, leaving immense gaps of nan level unvacuumed.
- The rounder, lower-priced Ecovacs T20 Omni ($1,099.99) fared better. It has galore of nan aforesaid features — including nan onboard sound adjunct — but pinch small suction powerfulness and small mop lift. It too doesn’t usage a camera, truthful its obstacle avoidance isn’t arsenic good. It doesn’t personification an onboard h2o alloy connected nan robot, truthful it has to spell backmost to its dock to refill a lot, but astatine $650 connected discarded (at nan clip of writing), it’s a bully action if you want a high-end robot vac without a camera. However, successful my years of testing Deebots, nan Ecovacs app routinely loses my maps, which is very frustrating.
- The Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 ($699.99), too known arsenic nan Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1, was my erstwhile runner-up premier for a midrange action that self-empties its bin, vacuums, and mops. It mops very well, doing a swingy, scrubbing activity pinch its rear extremity erstwhile successful “Matrix mode.” However, you personification to manually tin and link nan mop reservoir and quiet nan bin erstwhile it mops, arsenic it only self-empties successful vacuum mode and tin only debar larger objects.
- The Roborock Q8 Max Plus ($599.99) is nan bigger comparative to nan Q5 Pro (my premier for pet hair), adding amended obstacle avoidance (still nary camera) and amended mopping. However, it has a smaller bin to make measurement for a overmuch bigger h2o reservoir for mopping (350ml). If you for illustration nan thought of nan Q5 Pro but want amended mopping, this is simply a bully option. That said, you’ll astir apt want to put successful nan auto-empty bin, making nan smaller 470ml dustbin easier to manage.
- We’re presently testing Roborock’s Saros 10 — nan upgrade to nan S8 MaxV Ultra — and nan 10R, immoderate of which started shipping successful early February for $1,599.99. Both tin automatically region their mop pads erstwhile not needed and characteristic an AdaptLift chassis, truthful they tin climb precocious room transitions. However, nan 10R features somewhat small suction power, StarSight 2.0 navigation, and oscillating mops. The Saros 10, meanwhile, offers lidar navigation and introduces a level mopping pad that vibrates 4,000 times a infinitesimal to simulate scrubbing; it tin too soak barren stains earlier trying to get free of them.
- The $1,699.99 Dreame X50 Ultra started shipping connected February 14th. It comes pinch a “motorized plaything arm” that acts for illustration a leg, allowing nan robovac to climb steps up to 6cm successful height. The robot too features oscillating mopping pads, precocious obstacle nickname and lidar navigation, and a multifunction charging dock that’s tin of emptying its bin and washing its ain mops pinch basking h2o and heated air.
- The Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni features an anti-tangle brushwood system, an awesome 18,000Pa of suction power, and an extendable roller mop that cleans itself utilizing 16 h2o nozzles arsenic it patrols your home. It too leverages Ecovacs’ caller “TrueEdge” 3D sensor, which supposedly helps it accommodate to nan various baseboards and edges passim your home. It’s presently receiving its first discount straight from Ecovacs, wherever you tin premier it up for $1,169.99 ($130 off).
- The Switchbot K10 Plus Pro Combo is an upgrade to nan K10 Plus, 1 you tin presently drawback for $599 ($200 off). Not only does nan compact robot vacuum proviso amended obstacle avoidance and 3,000Pa of suction power, but it too incorporates a manual instrumentality vacuum that empties into nan included guidelines station.
- The Switchbot S20 Pro robot vacuum / mop hybrid, nan successor to 1 of our favourite mopping vacuums, is scheduled to motorboat successful May aliases June. It features an extendable roller mop and broadside brushwood and 15,000Pa of suction power, which is overmuch than doubly that of nan anterior model, nan S10. It’s too group to support Matter complete Wi-Fi and comes pinch 1 of 2 auto-empty guidelines stations, 1 of which hooks into your plumbing.
- SharkNinja has a caller PowerDetect NeverTouch Pro 2-in-1 robot vacuum / mop ($999.99) that’s designed to assistance itself up supra rugs by up to 20mm pinch minimal value intervention. Its cleaning position doesn’t require bags, either, and it tin automatically refill nan bot’s h2o alloy arsenic bully arsenic lavation / barren its mop pad.
- The expertise to assistance 20mm sounds nice, but Roborock’s caller Qrevo Curv ($1,599.99) tin raise itself to clear thresholds up to 40mm. The svelte-looking bot gets its punishment from a curved FlexiArm Arc broadside brush, which helps forestall hairsbreadth from tangling arsenic much.
- The caller Roomba Combo 10 Max hybrid ($1,399.99) ships pinch Matter support and a self-washing mop. It’s iRobot’s first robovac pinch a multifunction charging dock that cleans and dries nan robot’s mop; it tin too quiet its ain bin and refill its ain h2o tank.
- Narwal’s Freo Z Ultra ($1,499.99) features dual cameras and dual AI chips for seeing and identifying objects, which should thief pinch obstacle avoidance and vacuuming methods.
- The Eufy S1 Pro ($1,499), chiefly a mopping bot, takes a different onslaught pinch its tall, slender auto-empty / refill dock. The futuristic-looking hybrid has a agelong roller mop that self-cleans arsenic it mops and features a square-ish creation that allows it to get into corners overmuch easily. A azygous rubber roller brush, 8,000Pa of suction, and 3D-powered obstacle avoidance tackle nan vacuuming.
- The Matic is simply a $995 robot vacuum that doesn’t petition a unreality narration and uses cameras to navigate, allowing it to roam overmuch “naturally.” It’s nan first robovac mop I’ve seen that tin suck up bedewed spills arsenic bully arsenic dry, and nan institution says it will soon personification mobility find — truthful you tin constituent to wherever you want it to vacuum. I sewage an early look astatine CES 2024 — here’s immoderate video of it successful action.
An Eufy robot vac moving nan gauntlet successful my proceedings laboratory / sitting room.
I tested six caller robot vacuums while continuing to proceedings our erstwhile picks. I ran each successful my location for astatine slightest a week — astir for longer — to judge really bully they handled family grime and mundane life.
I put each done a gauntlet of “tests”: telephone chargers, socks, a pencil, and clone pet poop to proceedings obstacle avoidance. I threw successful Cheerios to spot if they knew to vacuum them up alternatively than debar them, and I too scattered oatmeal and flour to spot really bully they dealt pinch picking up bully debris. I ran each complete immoderate dense and low-pile carpets and watched to spot really they handled rug tassels, skinny chair legs, and room transitions.
For mopping prowess, I tested them connected hardwood floors pinch dried milk, caller OJ, and ketchup. I monitored really quickly they filled up their bin / auto-empty dock and really efficiently they utilized h2o and cleaned their mop pads.
I group schedules, hooked them up to sound assistants, and played pinch immoderate precocious features successful nan app. I too evaluated mapping skills and tried unsocial features specified arsenic location accusation camera capabilities, AI-cleaning programs, and auto-mop removal.
What I look for
It’s not each astir suction. In my testing, nan brushwood is nan ample facet successful really bully a robot will cleanable your floors. A ample rubber roller brushwood is overmuch amended than a mini bristle brushwood astatine picking up debris. It’s too small prone to getting tangled up pinch hair. Two brushes are amended than one, and a brushwood lodging that has immoderate elasticity — and tin move pinch nan contours of nan level — is too overmuch effective.
It’s difficult to find a robot vac that doesn’t personification immoderate style of mopping, but not each mops are created equal. I looked for mopping bots that could get up dried-on stains, for illustration beverage and ketchup, and scrub up mini bedewed spills without messing themselves up. Oscillating, spinning, aliases vibrating mop pads cleanable amended than bots that conscionable guidance a bedewed rag around, but nan caller self-cleaning roller mops that are opening to look are moreover overmuch effective. Auto-carpet sensing is too important since it prevents nan robot from accidentally mopping your rug.
A ample bin intends you don’t petition to quiet it arsenic often. The largest I’ve seen is 800ml, but point complete 500ml is decent. With galore bots now pulling double activity arsenic mopping robots, affirmative nan fame of self-empty dock / charging bases, it’s getting harder to find mini robot vacs pinch ample bins. But they’re worthy considering — peculiarly if you personification carpets and pets. I emotion self-empty docks, but sometimes you don’t personification abstraction for them, and if you for illustration your robot to beryllium retired of show (living nether your furnishings aliases sofa), you’ll want a ample bin and nary dock.
These are becoming modular now and coming down successful worth (thankfully). A self-empty dock turns nan charging guidelines for your robot into a motorized emptying position that sucks retired nan ungraded from its bin. (Warning: this process is loud!) This saves you from having to propulsion retired nan bin aft each less runs and quiet it yourself. Instead, you’ll personification to move nan instrumentality (and bargain caller ones) erstwhile it gets full, mostly astir erstwhile a month. Many robots now personification a self-empty dock action you tin adhd later, though buying them together is mostly cheaper.
Another nice-to-have feature, AI-powered obstacle avoidance helps your robot “intelligently” debar clutter (and a imaginable poop apocalypse if it encounters pet waste). These models usage cameras (worth noting) to spot objects successful their measurement and onboard processors to “decide” really to onslaught them based connected what they see. All AI is not created equal, however, and immoderate are overmuch amended astatine this than others, but nan extremity consequence is robot vacuums pinch AI avoidance are small apt to get stuck erstwhile cleaning, truthful you’re overmuch apt to recreation location to a cleanable level alternatively than a beached bot.
A robot that maps your location will get into each nook and cranny amended than 1 that bumps and rolls around. Mapping too lets you nonstop nan robot to cleanable circumstantial rooms alternatively than nan afloat abstraction and adhd virtual walls to forestall your bot from going wherever you don’t want it to. These are important if you personification delicate objects aliases areas successful your location that regularly trap robots. Most robots usage variations connected simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) exertion specified arsenic lidar aliases VSLAM.
A bully app has easy controls to extremity and commencement your vacuum, scheduling options (including do-not disturb hours), affirmative bully mapping features. Nice-to-have features are room-specific cleaning and settings (so you tin show your vacuum to cleanable nan room aliases personification it mop and vacuum nan room but only vacuum nan surviving room). My biggest vexation pinch apps is maps that are fiddly to update and / aliases clang and must beryllium rebuilt constantly. Most vacuums now personification sound powerfulness (see FAQs), but immoderate relationship overmuch in-depth control, specified arsenic telling Alexa to personification nan robot cleanable doubly nether nan eating room table.
Nearly each robot vacuums tin “recharge and resume” — return themselves backmost to their dock erstwhile they’re debased and recharge earlier picking up wherever they adjacent off, but a vacuum pinch astatine slightest 120 minutes of runtime (180 is ideal) will cleanable nan afloat location successful 1 go. If it takes excessively long, noisy robots that are perpetually moving will get unopen disconnected by irritated family members who aren’t astir to cleanable nan room for you.
Robot vacuums are alternatively an investment, and it’s important to beryllium tin to bargain replacement parts to support them going for longer and personification entree to bully support successful suit your robot has a superior issue.
Robot vacuum cleaner FAQs
Does suction powerfulness matter successful robot vacuums?
When buying a robot vacuum, you’ll beryllium bombarded pinch suction powerfulness specs, but largely, each of these rolling sweepers are suitably sucky, picking up everything from canine hairsbreadth and kitty litter to Cheerios and particulate bunnies.
Suction powerfulness is measured successful pascals (Pa), and robots pinch complete 5,000Pa of suction do amended than models pinch 2,500Pa. However, arsenic noted earlier, nan brushes make nan biggest difference. Most robots personification aggregate suction levels, and overmuch costly models group to suck harder erstwhile they consciousness carpet.
However, pinch nan objection of nan Dyson 360 VisNav, I’ve not tested a robot vacuum that tin get carpets really clean. (That vac has immoderate awesome navigation issues, truthful unless you personification point successful your house, I would debar it). Most robovacs get aboveground debris, but if you personification a carpeted location aliases tons of rugs, I impulse investing successful a instrumentality vac for play dense cleaning and letting your robot vacuum do nan attraction work. These are too useful for stairs, point nary robot vacuum tin tackle (yet).
The cardinal to a cleanable level pinch a robot vac is consistency. Run it regular if you can; it won’t support up arsenic bully if it only runs erstwhile a week. If you want hands-free cleaning everywhere, you’ll want to money for 1 per level aliases beryllium prepared to move it around. You tin too bargain different charging bases, and astir models tin practice aggregate floors.
Do each robot vacuums activity pinch sound control?
Yes, each Wi-Fi-connected robot vacuum worthy its brackish coming useful pinch Alexa aliases Google smart speakers for sound control. However, immoderate are constricted to stop, start, and pause, and perchance suction level, whereas others tin beryllium told to spell cleanable circumstantial areas.
Which robot vacuums will activity pinch Matter?
Matter is simply a caller smart location modular that allows connected gadgets to activity pinch immoderate smart location platform, including Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings. When connected to your smart location level done Matter, you should beryllium tin to powerfulness basal robot actions including commencement / extremity and changing cleaning modes, arsenic bully arsenic get alerts consecutive successful nan app, meaning you won’t petition to usage nan manufacturer’s app for these functions.
Matter does not support room mapping, truthful you will still petition to usage nan manufacturer’s app for that. However, based connected Apple’s plans to instrumentality robovac support successful Matter, it appears you’ll beryllium tin to powerfulness room-specific cleaning done Matter platforms.
While Amazon Alexa and Google Home personification supported robot vacuums for years, Matter will bring them to Apple Home for nan first time. Apple said it would adhd support for robot vacuums soon, allowing you to powerfulness them pinch Siri sound commands and adhd them to scenes and automation. Additionally, Samsung SmartThings announced support for robot vacuums via Matter done its app this past summer. Google and Amazon personification not announced a timeline for adding Matter support for robot vacuums, but you tin powerfulness astir of them coming done unreality integrations.
Now for nan bad news. Only 4 robot vacuums are presently Matter-certified: nan Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra, Deebot’s Ecovacs X2 Combo, and nan SwitchBot S10 and K10 Plus (through a abstracted SwitchBot hub). iRobot helped create nan Matter modular for robot vacuums, but nan institution has not announced whether its existent aliases early models will support Matter.
Dreame doesn’t support Matter connected immoderate of its existent vacuums, but nan institution told maine it plans to adhd compatibility successful nan future. As robot vacuums activity complete Wi-Fi, it is imaginable companies could adhd Matter to existing models done an over-the-air firmware update, though nary personification committed to doing so. It looks for illustration astir are reserving it for their newer, high-end models.
Photos by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
Update, February 26th: Adjusted to bespeak existent pricing/availability, pursuing an earlier update that flagged respective caller robovacs we’re presently testing. Sheena Vasani too contributed to this post.