10 Best Rated Robot Vacuum That Are Unexpected

Robot vacuums are great for keeping your floors tidy but they cannot replace the regular vacuum. Even the best vacuums struggle to get deep into carpets or rugs and often get tangled in cords and socks.

Your robot will last longer if it is maintained with regular maintenance. This includes replacing filters, removing the tangled hairs from brushes and emptying the dust bin.

Battery Life

Most robot vacuums can handle one or two cleaning sessions before requiring a charge. The Ecovacs Q30S Combo is the second-best of our overall choices. It has a battery that can last up to 180 minute (3,230 square feet) on one charge. That amount of runtime is more than enough to clean the majority of smaller homes that have the combination of hard floors and low-pile carpets or a larger house with rooms that are roughly the same size.

A longer battery life means the robot will be able to spend less time charging and spend more time cleaning. It’s a good idea to choose a model with a self-emptying dust bin, since those models are more efficient when it comes to cleaning up debris and returning to the dock for charging. It is also essential to clean or replace the filter and wipe down cameras and sensors on a regular basis so they can see your home clearly.

Smart mapping technology can be a useful feature, as it allows you to program your robot to ensure that it only cleans certain rooms or stays clear of areas where it’s likely to crash into furniture and other obstacles. This feature is also useful for ensuring that your robot is able to get under and around furniture, such as beds, sofas and other large objects. Some cheap robovacs come with boundary strips you can use to block off specific areas. Other high-end models rely on sensors and cameras.

Even the top robot vacuums can’t substitute a traditional vac when it comes heavy-duty dirt and debris. It’s advisable to keep a standard power vac in reserve to handle these chores, and to schedule robot vacuums regularly for light cleaning throughout the week.

Navigation

A robot should be able to navigate you home without getting stuck or crashing into objects like metal screws or loose pet hair or sand. In our tests, we use a tracking device to follow the robot as it travels through a multi-room lab and maps out its surroundings. We also examine the way it manages to avoid obstacles, including power cords, furniture legs and pet waste.

The most advanced robots can create multiple floors and recognize landmarks like doors and windows. The most advanced ones such as the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra, feature a dual-sensor navigation system which uses a LIDAR sensor to map the room and a structured light camera at the front of the robot to identify objects in real-time. The S8 can evade obstacles such as power cords and furniture legs. It can also store up to four floor maps.

Cheaper models don’t come with this type of object detection and rely on bump sensors which aren’t as precise. In my tests they were able to see through dog poop and cords as well as a pair shoes placed in the middle. The most cost-effective choice Dreametech D10+, is an exception to this. It has excellent carpet and hard floor, tangle, and hair pickup. It also has an auto empty score that is close to perfect.

Another feature that is important is a large dust bin that doesn’t need to be manually empty, and for models that mop, a water tank which can store weeks of cleaning sessions. The Karcher RCV 5 has this feature and has a large enough footprint that it can go under furniture, but not so large that it can’t fit into the nook between your bathtub and toilet.

Apps

Robot vacuums are like their upright counterparts and require lots of technology to keep them current. The result is a mature market full of options. However, even the most advanced models require interaction with their users – particularly when cleaning schedules are being planned and establishing a floor plan and establishing virtual barriers.

You might consider a model with its own app that can identify the layout of your house and save these settings for later use. This will allow the robot vacuum to continue where it left off when it runs again, instead of having the mapping process restarted every time.

Also, consider models that offer spot or zone cleaning. You can instruct the robot vacuum cleaner to focus on a specific area, for example, under the table after a huge family meal. You can do this using the app or voice commands.

A lot of models also offer object avoidance. It allows the robot, when it spots something that is in its path, like a box of shoe or a crate with dog toys, to instruct itself around. This prevents it from hitting objects that could damage its sensors or cause jams.

This feature is available on some of the more expensive models we tried. They depend on bump sensor technology to do this however they did not always keep things out of my test home.

Pet Hair

Choose the best vacuum cleaner specifically designed to collect pet hair. The most effective models will feature a high suction, a brush that keeps hair from tangling and an automated emptying mechanism. Some are also able to detect dirt levels and adjust the intensity of cleaning accordingly. They can even spot objects that aren’t a part of your flooring like furniture, toys, food bowls cords, and much more.

Certain robot vacuums come with pet-friendly features, such as small water dispensers that can be used to mop floors, and a HEPA filter that can reduce allergens, such as pet dust. They may also offer a quieter operation that can reduce the amount of sound generated during cleaning.

Robot vacuums that have mapping capabilities are a great option for pet owners. They are designed to analyze your home and devise an attack plan based upon the arrangement of each room and obstacles. For example, the Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum is a smart vacuum that has the impressive capability to map the room and navigate around furniture and other obstructions with accelerometer and gyroscope smart sensors which work in tandem to understand the layout of your room.

Apps let you establish zones that are not allowed. These are areas that the robot should not be allowed, for instance, areas with delicate items or pet feeding areas. This feature is particularly useful for busy households, as it allows you to schedule cleaning sessions without having to be present in the space in which the vacuum is. Spot cleaning is a excellent feature. You can direct the vacuum cleaner to clean a space that is especially dirty or is brimming with pet hair.

Dust Bin

If you don’t want something small, consider a robot with a big bin or even a self-emptying dustbin. We suggest choosing a model that has an enormous bin, or even a dustbin that automatically emptys. The former will allow you to keep up with emptying the bin frequently enough to keep track of its performance and the latter will save you time and effort by automatically dumping the contents into an internal container after every few cleanings.

Whatever the size of your home, most robots can easily move around and up to furniture, and most can detect and navigate around household obstacles such as loose cords, shoes and dog puke. Find models with smart mapping capabilities that permit them to “learn” the structure of your home and plan more efficient routes, as well as models that detect and avoid objects that may block their paths (like shoelaces or the tangled charging cables).

Some models also offer spot cleaning. This lets you select an area of your home for intensive cleaning. We’ve found that most of the top performers in our tests can pick up fine particles like sand and baking soda, along with heavier debris such as oatmeal orzo pasta screws and pet hair.

According to the manufacturer the company, robots can last for years and continue to perform well as long as they are maintained. For example cleaning hair that is tangled out of brushes, emptying dust bins after each use as well as wiping cameras and sensors down when needed. The most efficient robots tend to be more modular, which makes them easier and less expensive to replace or repair parts like batteries and wheels when they wear out.