The iRobot Roomba is equipped with a laser sensor that directs it around obstacles and walls. It also has sensors on the underside of the device that detect changes in elevation, allowing it to transition from bare floor to carpet. It has beater brushes like a conventional vacuum cleaner to loosen and collect dirt, as well as suction that sweeps the dirt into dyson robot vacuum a storage compartment. Top robot models have a proprietary VSLM feature — Vision Simultaneous Localization and Mapping — that takes snapshots as the Roomba works to guide the unit in an efficient path throughout the room. As a vacuum, the S7 was pretty good — it’s not the best with pet hair — but it was fast and thorough, scoring a pick up average of 93.
However, for the average person, we actually think self-emptying isn’t necessary, and some of the best robot vacuums don’t have this feature. Clearing out the dust bin isn’t particularly time-consuming, and self-emptying shark cordless docks take up more space in your home. Some high-end robot vacuums have self-emptying and self-cleaning capabilities, which limit the number of times you need to empty the dust bin and care for the machine.
Using the iRobot Home App, you can program the 675 right from your phone to start or stop cleaning, or with your voice through Alexa and Google Assistant. It learns your cleaning habits and suggests schedules to meet your needs, says the brand, and also recommends extra cleaning during allergy season. Katie looks after everything homes-related, from kitchen appliances to gardening tools. She also covers smart home products too, so is the best point of contact for any household advice! She has tested and reviewed appliances for over 6 years, so she knows what to look for when finding the best. Her favorite thing to test has to be air purifiers, as the information provided and the difference between performances is extensive.
You’ll find a wide range of available features when shopping for robot vacuums, but at a minimum, look for robot vacuums that offer self-charging and a suction of at least 2,000 Pa. In addition, the following features separate the best robot vacuums from the so-so models. Most robot vacuums will last around four to six years, provided you take good care of it and ensure it doesn’t run over anything it’s not supposed to, like pet waste, power cords, and socks.
It’s compatible with your favorite voice assistant, so you can tell it to start and stop cleaning, but you can’t give it the same specific instructions as the other, more advanced models. It doesn’t have the self-empty feature, but it’s easy enough to empty manually between uses. Unlike our other midrange picks, the X8 Hybrid doesn’t come with a clean base, nor is there one you can purchase separately. It’s just a standalone robo-vac, but the “hybrid” indicates that it’s also a robot mop. It has both a dustbin for collecting debris and a 250-milliliter water tank that you can fill whenever you want to run a mopping cycle.
These overhead long exposure shots each show the trail of a Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra as it cleans our test room. We attach glow sticks to the top of the cleaner directly above the vacuum intake to get a sense of how much coverage the vacuum offers and how intelligently it navigates. In this case, the S7 MaxV Ultra is as thorough and consistent as robot vacuums get. The lack of a self-emptying bin is a bit of a bummer here, but you’ve got other good options if that’s what matters most (and you can always step up to the Roborock S7 Plus, which adds it in).
“WiFi connected robot vacuums can also provide maintenance tips and reminders via the companion app, even offering health status updates on various components, such as filters and roller brushes,” Hild says. “Even though I own a Dyson Animal V8, I hardly ever use it now because the Yeedi has become my primary vacuum cleaner,” our long-term tester said. “I run the robot vacuum twice each day during the week, and on the weekends, I run it once per day. Now, the only time I use my Dyson is to clean the furniture my dog rests on or any nooks and crannies that the Yeedi vacuum can’t get to.” Handle debris, sticky messes, and liquid spills alike with a multi-purpose vacuum and mop.
At 2.85 inches, the 11S is almost a full inch shorter than the Roomba 694, enough for it to glide under even lower-clearance furniture, where dust and hair build up but never see the light of day. We were surprised the first time the 11S disappeared under a bed—and then more surprised when it reemerged with an unholy amount of cat hair stuffed into its bin and wrapped about the brush roll. The dust- and crumb-pickup stress tests are meant only to give us an idea of each bot’s cleaning power—they don’t tell the whole story. The Roborock Q5+ performs exactly the same as the Q5 but comes with a charging station that can empty debris from the robot right into a disposable bag.