In August 2012, the 500 series was superseded by the 600 series, which added the AeroVac Bin and advanced cleaning head as standard features. In 2017 they released the 690, which has Wi-Fi connectivity so it can be started with an app and various personal-assistant software. Room size is detected automatically based on the longest straight-line path that can be driven; instead of buttons for room size, their buttons are “Clean”, “Spot”, and “Max”. Most second- and third-generation models and all newer ones have internal acoustic-based dirt sensors that allow them to detect particularly dirty spots and focus on those areas accordingly.
But, it’s great at doing the one thing it needs to do well, and that’s picking up debris. A newcomer to the world of robot vacuums, Yeedi’s 3-in-1 device impressed us with its ability to mop efficiently with rotation mop heads that self-clean every ten minutes. It was also good at tackling debris on our floors, though it’s much more effective at cleaning central areas than it is at getting close to the baseboards. The best robot vacuum cleaners can transform your weekly cleaning schedule into more free time to do other things. Though they’re not entirely self-sufficient, there’s something absolutely wonderful about being able to put your feet up while your robot helper gets to work making your floors fluff-free.
When robot vacuums first hit the market this was a feature that consumers could only dream of, but today it’s an actual reality. Not only are there multiple models that empty their dustbins on their own when docked, but there are several we’ve reviewed in this guide alone. Some great options with this feature include the iRobot Roomba s9+, the Roomba i7+, and the Shark IQ Robot XL. This model has a simple yet somewhat futuristic look to it, which is appreciated.
For the 600 and e series, press and hold the “home” and “spot clean” buttons for 10 seconds. Many homes have areas that aren’t always ready for a vacuum to roll through. Roombas have customizable keep-out zones, so users can create spots where the robot vacuum irobot vacuum cleaner knows not to venture. This might mean staying clear of an area of tangled cords under a desk, a playroom’s toy zone, or the dog’s water bowl. Users can give specific areas names such as “living room” or “kitchen” for custom schedules and voice activation.
The S4 Max’s app has tons of features and customizations, and gives you more control of navigation than you’d find on other robot vacs. Then I sprinkle a 2-ounce mixture of cat litter and coffee grounds around my dining room, which has a mix of bare wood and a low-pile rug as well as a big table with three dinner chairs and a bench underneath it. I run each bot for 25 minutes or until it stops on its own, whichever comes first. In another test, I pour out about an eighth of a cup of all-purpose flour across an area rug and bare floor and let the bot try to suck it up for a couple of minutes. This dust-pickup test gives me a visual gauge for each bot’s raw cleaning power. We’ve aimed to recommend a handful of robots that should work well in most homes while not being wildly expensive.
And again, we’ve found over and over again that it works well in smaller spaces. Also, we’re not convinced that obstacle avoidance is really the holy grail of robot-vacuum technology. One of the reasons robot vacuums help your home feel so tidy is because they force you to pick stuff up off the floor. Even if advanced obstacle recognition worked well enough to let you skip the pre-tidying, your home would still feel messy.