How to Find the Best Robot Vacuum
If you can live without advanced features such as mapping, and don't mind emptying the garbage bin every 60 days or so, a basic robot vacuum could be a good choice for you. Choose a model with a clean base that works with voice assistants.
It excels at picking up dirt, cat litter and pet hair on tile floors, hardwood floors and low-pile carpeting better than any other vacuum we've tried. It can also map and set virtual no-go zones for rooms and areas.
1. Powerful Suction
A robot vacuum can keep on top of the dust, pet hair and dander that accumulates on your floors on a daily basis. It can also reduce the frequency of deep cleaning, which will save you both time and effort. The best models come with powerful suction, which will tackle most messes with ease and leave your house cleaner.
Choosing a robot vacuum that is also able to mop will help you get more space by using just one machine. This is especially beneficial in larger homes. Find models that have a water reservoir either in the chassis or as a separate item that you can swap out when the vacuuming is done. It will have to be emptied and filled and refilled, which is an additional chore.
In a perfect universe you would clean your floors first before you use your robot vacuum, preventing it from crashing into anything. But in most homes, this isn't feasible or desirable. Most models allow you to use an app that you can install on your phone to create virtual barriers the robot can detect. self emptying robot vacuum have no-go zones, which you can flag areas that you don't want it to enter. For example the child's room or a pile of cords in a corner.
If you're looking for a simple robot vacuum with no bells and whistles, this model from the networking company TP-Link is a great choice. It is quiet, can be used on hard floors as well as low-pile carpets and can be programmed using the app to mop and vacuum at your own convenience. It has a long battery life of up to 180 minutes.
2. Easy to Operate
In general, robot vacuums require very little input from you. They utilize navigational tools such as sensors cameras, lasers, and sensors to move around and collect pet hair, dust and food crumbs from hard floors, tiles and hardwood. Many have boundary strips that help them stay within the walls of a room while pricier models can be programmed to automatically wake up and start cleaning at a set time. Some models have fall detection technology that helps them avoid falling down a flight of stairs or becoming tangled in cords.
If you'd like to control your robot vacuum from the comfort of a couch, search for models that work with voice assistants such as Alexa and Google Assistant. You can also choose Wi-Fi models that allow you to start a cleaning session anywhere using an app. You may prefer an option with an extremely long-lasting battery as well as a large dust bin, depending on the size of your house.
Some robot vacuums are also mopping machines. They use water reservoirs to clean the floor. This is ideal for mopping, but not ideal for difficult messes such as pet poop or other wet spills. You can select hybrids with an adjustable microfiber mopping pad, or a self-emptying version that allows you to go for up to 60 days before emptying the base.
3. Smart Mapping
Some robots use advanced mapping technology to create a detailed map while they clean. This helps them avoid bumping into furniture and tripping on cords or chair legs. This feature is usually only available on higher-end models, but it's certainly one of the best ways to ensure your robot has a full understanding of the layout of your house and knows where to go next when it's running out of battery.
If you do not want your robot to go into areas of your home you'd rather it stay away from (like your children's toys or the mess of device cords in the corner) The majority of robots offer some method of creating virtual barriers, either through their app or physical boundary strips. You can block off areas that you don't wish your robot to go into in order to concentrate on rooms that require the most attention.
Many robots also have the ability to automatically navigate to different floors based on the type of flooring they're cleaning, be it they're switching between hard and carpet or focusing on certain areas of your home, such as corners and baseboards. This feature proved to be helpful during our tests and helped improve the performance of the vacuum on both hardwood flooring and low-pile floor carpeting. However, it's still important to tuck away loose cords and furniture before using your robot vacuum to ensure that it doesn't become stuck or get into something it shouldn't.
4. Remote Control
Most robot vacuums have WiFi connectivity and work with Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri Shortcuts, which enable you to control them using voice commands or via your smartphone. Many connect to smart home systems and build maps of your home after each cleaning session so that they can "learn" your layout and devise more efficient routes for future trips. There are also built-in obstacles avoidance that stops them from hitting and damaging furniture or getting stuck on things like loose charging cables or shoe laces, as well as pet hair.
Most robots come with a remote that you can use to steer them around your home. Most robots are controlled via a mobile application, which offers more features. It is possible to set up multiple cleaning schedules, build the list of rooms you like and even manually guide your robot around specific areas by using directional arrows on the screen.
Certain models have zones that are not allowed. These are virtual barriers you can create in the app to stop the robot from entering specific areas (like toys for children or dishes for dogs and dog beds). Other apps allow you to create the map of your house and provide the robot with detailed information about your floors. The app on our top choice one, the Roborock S7+, has many useful options to help you tidy your house, but its interface isn't as polished as the ones from iRobot and Shark.
5. Long Battery Life
Robotic vacs that can clean throughout the house without stopping to recharge or empty their dust bins make it easier for you to save time and effort. Some of them work with smart home platforms such as Alexa, Google Assistant and Siri Shortcuts for hands-free operation. They can also draw an outline of the space to allow you to program them to specific areas or rooms and to avoid obstacles.
Most robot vacuums offer some level of object detection and object detection, but more expensive models like the iRobot j7 offer sophisticated features such as "home mapping" and advanced obstacle avoidance that can really simplify your life (although our test bot did "eat" socks). socks). If you're trying to improve the quality of your home maintenance, you should consider a robot mop with water containers that can be filled and then empty.
While none of the models we tested can compete with the power of a stand-up vacuum, most do an admirable job of cleaning carpets and hard floors. They are great at sweeping up fine dust and food crumbs, tracked-in dirt and pet hair. They also can handle screws and nuts made of metal as well as stray cat litter. The most effective robot vacuums can clean corners and edges and can even work on furniture. For a basic model that works on its own and is comparatively inexpensive take a look at the Eufy 11S.
6. Convenient Self-Charging
A robot vacuum can help keep your home tidy and clean without having to do lots of work. It is possible to schedule cleanings with the app, and you can create no-go zones so that your robot doesn't get in the way of your favorite chair or plants. A majority of our top picks also automatically empty their trash bins and clean their docking stations for you.
The top robot vacuums can be programmed to keep your floors clean for months or weeks at a time, thereby making it easier to save time and effort of manually mopping or sweeping your floors each week or every day. This allows you to spend more time doing things you enjoy and reduces the time needed to clean your floors manually.
In the course of testing, the Q Revo was able to capture tiny particles such as baking soda and oatmeal as well as heavier debris such nails and screws made of steel, and fluffy stuff like pet hair. It doesn't have the smart mapping and object avoidance features of our top picks, but it works well enough for the majority of families.
The greatest aspect of the j7 robot is that it makes use of cameras and processor-powered smarts to detect and avoid obstacles like shoes, power cords, socks and pet waste. This means that you don't need to spend time tidying the room prior to running your robot, but cluttered rooms will mean that your bot may get stuck and not do as good a job.