The Shark’s water–and-solution based cleaning abilities are basic but much better than having to schlep out an old-school mop and bucket yourself. My mix of hardwood and tile floors appeared noticeably cleaner after the Shark passed over them with its mopping pad. I know I’ll have to whip out my floor steamer every once in a while to really get a deep clean, but the Shark’s capabilities are more than enough for biweekly runs – and it’s hard to beat the convenience of not having to do it yourself.
A robot vacuum usually costs more than a traditional vacuum, though not always. You no longer have to suffer the indignity of dragging around an unwieldy plastic hose that’s connected to a clumsy, wheeled canister the size of a Galapagos tortoise. Robot vacuums can help you dispose of dust, pet hair, and other debris in your home with minimal effort on your part.
The specialized technology allows this model to detect dirtier areas in the home and clean them more thoroughly. When the sensors detect a larger collection of debris, the machine will work harder to clean the same area until it identifies fewer particles in that specific area. Like the s9+ and the i3+ EVO, this model works cohesively with the Braava jet m6, which means it can tell the mop to start working as soon as it has finished a cleaning project.
You can set it to clean when you lock your front door or close your garage, for example. Using the geofencing feature in the iRobot app, I had the j7 start running when I leave the house and stop when I arrive dyson robot vacuum home. This worked reliably, with the robot generally docking as I walked into the house. The only times it failed were when someone else was already in the house and they shut the robot off manually.
Try to buy from a retailer with a return policy of at least a few weeks in case a robo vac isn’t a fit for your lifestyle.
It also has the longest battery life of any robot vacuum we’ve tested, cleaning for up to 170 minutes on a charge. For even greater convenience, Ecovacs makes an Auto-Empty Station (sold separately) that allows the Deebot Ozmo T8 AIVI to empty its bin into a disposable dust bag without your help. If you’re looking to upgrade from a basic robot vacuum to one with self-emptying abilities, the Shark IQ Robot XL is an excellent choice. Thanks to its bagless self-emptying system and self-cleaning brushroll, it’s one of the lowest-maintenance robot vacuums we’ve tested. That said, allergy sufferers might prefer the comparably priced Roomba i3+ EVO, which empties its bin into an AllergenLock bag so you’re not exposed to dust.
Just like the 694, the 692 is a great basic robot vacuum for daily cleanings to suck up dirt, pet hair, or dust. You’ll need to empty this vacuum yourself, and you won’t be able to program it to avoid obstacles or spot-clean. But it may be worth sacrificing some convenience if you’re on a budget—and using the Roomba will still be easier than maneuvering your vacuum around the house.
This makes it less intrusive since it doesn’t try to clean the whole house on every run — so I didn’t find it dead in a corner as often after an annoyed family member shut it off. While most mapping robots allow you to create virtual keep-out zones — areas the robot shouldn’t venture into — this Roomba uses its AI smarts to suggest trouble spots, making creating keep-out zones a one-tap job. The Roomba j7 is a mapping robot that can learn your home’s floor plan and identify the furniture and appliances in it.
Whereas those other bots use lasers or cameras to help them map and clean areas, the i3 EVO still utilizes gyroscopes and sensors to help it navigate. Laser-nav bots can learn your home’s layout in a single session, whereas the i3 EVO and higher-end Roomba models (see below) typically need two or three sessions of training. The laser-nav bots also tend to bump into less stuff than the Roomba bots do and complete their jobs faster as a result.
Whether you’re trying to keep an entryway free of dirt and dust or looking for a simple way to sweep up crumbs off the kitchen floor, we recommend enlisting the help of the Eufy RoboVac 30C. Like the s9+ and j7+, the Roomba i3+ EVO has cliff detect, so it will avoid stairs or ledges, and it will self-empty at the end of each cycle. It can begin cleaning at the sound of your voice, and it even has a feature that will communicate with the Braava jet m6 robot mop—once it finishes a cleaning project, it will tell the robot mop to get to work. Another major benefit of this model is its ability to spot-clean on command.