For a lot of people, the app’s robust controls are worth the fiddling and occasional frustration. For others, it’s more trouble than it’s worth, and in that case we’d suggest a simpler robot like the Roomba i3—one that just starts cleaning when you turn it on, and keeps going until it can’t find anywhere new to clean. These higher-end Roomba models have some disadvantages compared with other smart-map robots that rely on laser navigation, including our other top pick, the Roborock S4 Max. Laser-nav bots can learn your home’s layout in a single session, whereas these Roombas typically need two or three sessions of training.
Unlike many traditional vacuums, most of the robots included here don’t use bags to hold the dust, hair, and other debris they suck up. Instead, they use an easy-to-remove dustbin you can simply eject and empty into the nearest garbage can. The Neabot NoMo N1 Smart Robot Vacuum offers excellent cleaning performance, long battery life, and automatic bin-emptying so you don’t have to come into contact with dust. The relatively affordable Eufy RoboVac G30 robot vacuum has a compact design, strong suction power for its size, and smarter navigation than its predecessors.
Happiest with a DualSense controller in her hand, she’s also contributed to GamesRadar, Tom’s Guide and T3 and specializes in gaming hardware and computing. Luckily, the Roomba i6+ can access nooks and crannies, where irritating allergens can easily accumulate, that a regular vacuum might not be able to. And, any dust bunnies it comes across are rapidly sucked up and trapped inside its AllergenLock bag.
That’s fine, but it’s still a tiny fraction of the suction you’d get from a traditional vacuum and only makes the X8 a marginally better cleaner than a much more affordable robot, like the Roborock S4 Max. The older Eufy RoboVac L70 is still available as well, but its app is not capable of permanently remembering specific rooms in your home, which makes it substantially less convenient than most current laser-nav bots. Many of these laser-navigation bots have similar specs, designs, and behaviors, and there’s no clear evidence to suggest that some are more reliable or durable than the others. But we’re inclined to recommend the Roborock S4 Max in particular because it’s often one of the lower-priced models of its ilk (it often sells in the mid-$300 range), and it has the most full-featured app with the richest set of controls. The main downside to the Roborock and similar laser robots is that they’re unlikely to last as long as iRobot’s Roomba models, including our pick, the Roomba i3, and their single-brush designs don’t clean rugs as well, either. And if you’re intimidated or annoyed by the idea of controlling a robot with an app, then the simpler Roomba i3 would be a better choice, because it’s a sturdier robot and still cleans in a thorough, orderly fashion.
The Roomba 675 comes equipped with the most essential Roomba upgrades of the last several years, like a longer 90-minute runtime with a lithium-ion battery, Wi-Fi connectivity, and automatic recharging. These features fix some of the frustrations expressed by earlier owners of budget Roomba vacuums. The Roomba is able to accomplish more with the 90-minute cleaning irobot vacuum cleaner cycle and you can monitor its cleaning progress or schedule cleaning sessions within the app, thanks to its built-in Wi-Fi. And instead of finding your Roomba drained and out of battery juice in the middle of a room, the 675 can dock itself to recharge. Mediocre suction capability, random navigation and difficulty finding its base made this a nonstarter for us.
The very cheapest robot vacuum cleaners are often more hassle than they’re worth. You can get these for as low as $50/£50 but often their low suction power and poor connectivity make them little more than incredibly slow remote control disks. You might also struggle to pick up spare parts and refills for some of the less well-known brands. The robot vacuum deals listed here, however, bring you the most trusted brands with products that are tried and tested at low prices. While the iRobot Roomba is your best bet for high performance cleaning, there are also plenty of excellent robot vacuum deals on offer at the $150-$200 / £150-£200 price tag below.
User reviews suggest it gets lost pretty easily, isn’t built to last, and has poor customer service. They’ve all worked well, and we wouldn’t try to talk anyone out of buying them instead of the Roborock S4 Max—as long as you get a good price, and accept that they’re usually lacking some of the polish that Roborock models have. It may end up cleaning more of your home than other bots just because it fits beneath more stuff. When I find robots that do well on all of those tests, I run them as much as possible for at least a week to see if they perform consistently.
As for the Roborock S6 MaxV, it failed the crucial dog-turd avoidance test multiple times when we first tested it in 2020, and was just okay at avoiding other kinds of obstacles. We tested it again in late 2021, and it either improved due to a software update (they’ve issued several since our last round of testing) or some other variable in our testing changed. We’re not confident that you can count on the bot’s AI to avoid a doo-doo catastrophe but if you were thinking about getting a Roborock anyway and are curious about the AI, it’s not a bad option. IRobot doesn’t claim that the Roomba j7 can avoid most kinds of obstacles yet.