The Roomba i7 is an older model and tends to cost less than the new Roomba j7. We wrote a review of the self-emptying Roomba i7+ in 2018, when it was brand-new, and at the time we called it the best robot vacuum that money could buy. The rest of the industry caught up very quickly, so the i7+ is no longer such a standout, but it still works well.
The RoboVac G30 offers a lot of power for its size, and it automatically increases the suction when it moves over carpets and heavily soiled areas. Floors cluttered with obstacles like wires, charging cords, toys, shoes and clothing can stop robots in their tracks. Some robot vacuum models clean tile, wood flooring and different types of carpet better than others. We also found the Roborock Q5 to be easier to use and program than other robots we tested, including the iRobot Roomba i3 EVO. On the robot vac itself, you’ll find a power button and a home button; the latter can send the device back to the dock or tell it to spot-clean if you hold it for a few seconds.
To do this it first performs a mapping run to locate where your carpets are. The robot mop vacuum then uses sensors to confirm the presence of carpeting where it expects to find it. If you want to simplify your life, most robot vacuums will do the trick. But finding the best robot vacuum 2022 has to offer can be a little more difficult.
The first-generation units comprised the original silver-colored Roomba, the blue Roomba Pro, and the maroon Roomba Pro Elite. The later two models included additional accessories, but all three used the same core robot and cleaning system. To compensate for this, Roombas have a rotating multi-pronged brush on one side which sweeps debris towards the path of the cleaning head, helping to clean a wider path and to reach into edges and corners. First- and second-generation Roombas were not compatible with the Virtual Wall, an accessory used to prevent them from entering an area.
It’s not great at getting pet hair out of plush rugs, but it works fine for keeping bare floors and short rugs pretty tidy. However, the basic Eufy series isn’t as durable as Roomba models, nor is it built to be repaired. As of 2022, iRobot markets models of their 600, i, j, Combo and s9 series, while continuing to provide support and sell accessories for their previous series. Various models have different features, including tangle-free brushes, separate sweep canisters, more powerful vacuums, obstacle avoidance, and performance maps displayed via smartphone apps. For example, we attached a tracking device to robotic vacuums we tested to rate their navigation skills, and we challenged them to clean up a mix of cereal, rice, and yellow peas to rate their cleaning capacity.
But some great robots rely instead on a camera or gyroscopes , and they also get the job done—just a little slower, while bonking into more stuff, and with a slightly higher chance of missing areas. We’ve also tested some cheap bump dyson robot vacuum bots that are slightly different from the standard-issue Eufy, including the Eureka Groove. That bot was basically fine, but it couldn’t match the agility of the Eufy model or the durability of the Roomba bots we’ve tested.