And they’re slim enough to travel underneath most couches and tables, so you don’t have to rearrange furniture. IRobot is one of the most respected names in the robot vacuum market, and the Roomba i3+ EVO is its most affordable model with a self-emptying dustbin. Beyond offering greater convenience than their more manual counterparts, self-emptying robot vacuums significantly limit your exposure to dust, a big plus if you suffer from allergies.
If you don’t have time to regularly sweep or vacuum, robot vacuums are an easy way to ensure your home stays clean without you needing to do all the work. Since they use various types of technology like lasers or cameras to navigate and maneuver around a room, they can generally avoid furniture and get beneath couches and tables with relative ease. Some of the best automatic vacuums can self-empty their dirt compartments, further reducing the work you need to do. Although they aren’t as good at cleaning carpet as more traditional upright vacuums, many come with smart pathing technology to clean more efficiently. Many also come with companion apps or remote controls so you can set up scheduled cleaning times or place boundaries to keep it out of certain areas. According to Williams, the Roomba 600 series is “great for dorms, small homes, apartments and condos because they run on battery power and have only a 60-minute runtime before automatically heading back to home base to recharge.
But plenty of models that we don’t explicitly recommend can be good or great, too, and we cite many of them throughout this guide. Wirecutter’s Liam McCabe wrote the previous versions of this guide, evaluating some 200 robots and testing close to 50 models since 2012. Pair iRobot OS powered robots with Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant-enabled devices² to get cleaning on command. Use Automations to connect to your smart devices and personalize your cleaning experience by scheduling your robot to clean when you leave the house. Stark’s Vacuums has grown to be one of the largest independent vacuum cleaner retailers in the country, with nine locations and more than 250 vacuums to choose from. The Shark AI Ultra XL is an excellent self-emptying robot with high-end features for a lower price.
The Eufy RoboVac X8 is packed with smart features and offers four different suction levels for powerful cleanup. It uses AI to detect and avoid obstacles and builds a virtual map that you can watch in real time, something other vacuums don’t do. It also got into irobot vacuum cleaner a few tangles with power cords and had to be rescued but did a great job scooping up a cat toy that I later found in the dustbin. It’s a solid machine, but at $599, you can get the self-emptying and superior iRobot Roomba j7+ for just a hundred dollars more.
You should only have to interact with it to turn it on, empty its dustbin and untangle it if it were to get stuck somewhere. Then there are the top-of-the-line Roomba s9 and self-emptying Roomba s9+, which we do not recommend. Instead of the classic puck shape, the s9 has a D-shaped body and extra-wide brushes intended to improve its edge-cleaning and corner-cleaning abilities. It also has four times more raw suction than the already-strong Roomba i3 EVO, i7, and j7. That helps it consistently pick up larger debris such as cat litter or yard waste better than most robots, though it still doesn’t come close to deep-cleaning dust from a rug like a traditional vacuum does. But when we tried the s9 in 2020, it was one of the clumsiest navigators we’d ever tested.
The GIF above shows you a quick succession of three of these images for our top splurge pick, the Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra. As you can clearly see, it’s incredibly thorough and consistent from run to run, and an expert at running circles around the legs of our test furniture. AI-powered cameras capable of recognizing and avoiding obstacles — including piles of dog poop — as it cleans. Its first feces-defying flagship was the Roomba J7 Plus, and sure enough, when we tested it out against an armada of unnervingly convincing fake dog poop samples, it steered clear at every turn.
Instead, it offers up more vague terms like “5x the cleaning power” or “40x the suction power.” Still, paying attention to how each model compares to the others can help you determine which one is right for your level of mess. For example, if you irobot vacuum cleaner have pets that shed, you may want the stronger suction. Alongside suction power, other cleaning features to be aware of are brushless rollers or allergen filters, which trap pollen and mold allergens inside once they’re picked up, says iRobot.
When they first launched in 2002, robot vacuums seemed like luxurious, futuristic cleaning appliances that were beyond the everyday person’s reach. Well, the future is here and so are the best robot vacuums for every type of room and budget. More of these dependable vacuums are available at a variety of price pointsthan ever, especially with Black Friday vacuum sales, so there’s really no excuse to skip this time-saving appliance.