Some models will work more effectively with darker floors, most likely due to the cliff sensors mistaking the dark for a drop-off. For hard surfaces, the company also manufactures mopping robots that also include smart features to work in conjunction with their vacuuming counterparts. This unit actively captures thousands of measurements in order to identify different rooms and areas of the home. Once the home is mapped, users can use the app, Google Assistant, Alexa, or voice control to guide the unit to specific areas and cleaning tasks while also avoiding keep-out zones. It vacuums in neat rows using floor-tracking sensors to navigate and dirt-detecting sensors to clean up dust and debris.
In one, we run the bot in a room with several chairs, stray USB cables, a sock, and a medium-pile area rug. Next, we pour about an eighth of a cup of all-purpose flour across an area rug and bare floor and let the bot try to suck it up for a couple of minutes. This dust-pickup test gives us a visual gauge of each bot’s raw cleaning power. Prices for robots with sophisticated navigation and smart-home features have fallen by half compared with just a few years ago. We still think bump-and-run bots have a place, so we’ve shuffled our favorites in this group to budget-pick status. This is the Roborock Q5 packaged with a charging dock that sucks all the debris out of the robot after a cleaning session.
Versions manufactured after October 2005 contain an electronic and software interface that allows hackers to more easily control or modify behavior and remotely monitor its sensors. The 800 series, introduced in 2013, is similar to the 700 series and its predecessors, but contains updated technology. The AeroForce Performance Cleaning System, which is five times more powerful than older series, and the iRobot XLife battery are some of the new features. The AeroForce system does away with the large rotating brush, and pulls air between two rubber rollers, thereby getting the vacuum suction closer to the floor.
The Roomba product line comes in a variety of small but effective robot vacuums with smart features such as household mapping, as well as control integrations through app, Wi-Fi, and voice. The S7 MaxV Ultra boasts a unique mop-lifting feature, also available on the more affordable Roborock S7+, which allows for more efficient cleaning runs than the competition. Most two-in-one robots with a carpet sensor, including the X1 Omni, automatically avoid rugs when mopping so as not to get them wet. And with a maximum 5,100 pascals , the S7 MaxV Ultra offers some of the best suction power we’ve seen.
Often the machine would push the piece of fake poop from one end of our test pen to the other. Some higher-end models cost as much as four figures — though more affordable robot vacuum options are available if you don’t mind giving up irobot vacuum cleaner some more high-end features. Predicted brand reliability is based on estimated problem rates for newly purchased robotic vacuums, not covered by an extended warranty or service contract, within the first three years of ownership.