By our count, more than 100 robot vacuums are available as of November 2021, and we’ve tested more than 30 of the most noteworthy ones. Since iRobot’s first Roomba came out in the early 2000s, robot vacuum technology has improved dramatically. You can now find better mapping technology, stronger suction, longer battery runtimes, home surveillance, and self-emptying charging docks. In testing, the Roomba s9+ performed the best of any robot vac on hardwood flooring.
When once this didn’t solve the problem, they sent me a shipping carton to send the robot in for service, eventually replacing the robot. Keep a can of compressed air handy in case you need to blow dust out of gears or other hard-to-reach nooks in the bot. Wipe the sensors clean as needed, according to the manufacturer’s guidelines—usually with a microfiber cloth or cotton swab with a little water or rubbing alcohol. The Shark AI VacMop did not avoid any obstacles, nor did it even acknowledge in the app that it encountered any obstacles.
Several available iRobot replacement parts also exist to ensure that your Roomba stays as autonomous as possible, like the room-limiting Auto Virtual Wall and replacement remote controls for several models. IRobot’s robotic vacuum cleaners are definitely more than the sum of their parts and they have been designed with components that won’t break the bank when the time comes to replace them. IRobot parts are designed to be easily installed and to keep your Roomba in top working condition.
Some of our favorite robot vacuums for the money cost just a couple hundred dollars, and over a year or two those time savings could really be worth it to you. We think theEcovacs DeeBot Ozmo 930sits ahead of most of the competition. Most smart vacuums let you start, stop, and schedule from your phone.
Also consider the Eufy RoboVac 11S, which is so quiet and nimble that it blends into the background like no other robot . This basic, affordable bot sounds more like a desk fan than a vacuum—even if you’re home while it works, you’ll barely notice it running. It’s shorter than most bots, which lets it glide under more furniture, picking up plenty of hidden debris. The big downside is that the 11S don’t seem to be built to last for more than a couple of years on average, and we’ve heard about plenty of unrepairable breakdowns that happen even sooner.
The Roomba 694, like most affordable robots, is what we call a bump-and-run navigator. Basically, it bloops around semi-randomly until its battery runs low, and then it tries to get back to its dock before it completely runs out of juice (and doesn’t always succeed). It looks dumb, but it’s dyson robot vacuum basically effective, especially in smaller spaces. Roborock also makes some souped-up versions of the S4 Max—all very similar robots, just with slightly different features. You might find our writeups about extra features like mops, obstacle detection, and self-emptying docks useful, too.
Compatible with your smartphone through the iRobot HOME app, you can conveniently control and schedule your Roomba e5’s cleaning sessions. Thanks to its intelligent sensors, including a cliff sensor, the Roomba e5 is capable of making up to 60 decisions per second to sufficiently navigate your home. Through the app, you can even set no-go areas for the Roomba to avoid. However, we find that the battery is the shortest-lived part of a robot vacuum. Both nickel and lithium batteries have hard limits on the number of times they can recharge.
We updated this article in February 2022 to add more information about each featured product, based on extensive testing done by the Good Housekeeping Institute. Our top-rated picks for best value, best for large houses and best 2-in-1 robot vacuum, selected by the Home Appliances & Cleaning Lab, have been switched to new models from Kyvol, Eufy and Roborock, respectively. While they do work, every other self-emptying bin takes some tinkering. If you purchase the bin as an accessory, the robot sometimes has trouble settling itself properly on the base station’s air ports when it docks. I also perform regular maintenance to make sure that the self-emptying chutes on both the station and the robot vacuum itself aren’t clogged.