Still, you’re paying for the added convenience of not having to do the vacuuming yourself and worry about how often you should vacuum. Robot vacuums are an excellent solution for busy people who don’t have time to put the vacuum around. Still, they offer a good alternative for those with mobility issues because all you need to do is switch them on. IRobot has also begun offering regular consumers the opportunity to opt in to contributing training data through its app, where people can choose to send specific images of obstacles to company servers to improve its algorithms. IRobot says that if a customer participates in this “user-in-the-loop” training, as it is known, the company receives only these specific images, and no others.
“It’s really great at sucking up pet hair and navigating around toys and cords that are left out, but when it comes to boxy rooms and transitions in flooring, this robot seems to get stuck a good bit.” According to the manufacturer, this device also has mopping capabilities, but you’ll need to purchase the water tank shark cordless and mop cloth separately. Additionally, we found that the Coredy vacuum had trouble locating the docking station when it had completed a job; our tester had to nudge it in the right direction several times. “This vacuum has great suction, picking up big and small debris pretty easily,” our long-term tester said.
Roborock’s latest version — the S8 Pro Ultra (due out in late April) — has a redesigned dock with a cleaner look, the option of white as well as black, and a mop drying feature. Also, the S8 is the first Roborock with two roller brushes, not just one, which gets a better clean on carpets. The S7 also has an ingenious “VibraRise’’ feature that lifts the mop a few millimeters when it senses carpet, meaning you don’t get a damp rag dragged over your living room rug. Another bonus is that I didn’t have to swap out the mopping pad when I wanted it to vacuum only — something you have to do with most hybrid models. But the VibraRise feature can only clear low-pile rugs, so I set a no-mopping zone around my plush floor coverings.
IRobot Roombas can range in price from a few hundred dollars to more than a thousand. The best iRobot Roombas run between $239 and $1,099, depending on the model you choose. Our goal is to deliver the most accurate information and the most knowledgeable advice possible in order to help you make smarter buying decisions on tech gear and a wide array of products and services.
Although the function works well, we found the Roomba i3/i3+ to be more affordable and a better cleaner overall. This is the Roborock Q5 packaged with a charging dock that sucks all the debris out of the robot after a cleaning session. Two rounded corners allow it to clean corners in your home better than any other Roomba currently on the market. If you’re interested in mopping after vacuuming, you can purchase the iRobot Roomba s9+ Bundle that includes this Roomba and the Braava Jet m6, too.
Like other types of vacuums, many of the best robot vacuums on this list and other models we’ve tested are effective at collecting pet hair, fine dust, and larger debris from floors. If your home is mostly carpeted, Williams said the Wi-Fi-connected self-emptying Roomba s9+ is your best bet. That’s because this is iRobot’s “most powerful, deepest-cleaning robot vacuum,” he said.
We’ve added more information about the article and robot vacuums with object-recognition cameras. For over 30 years, Roomba® robot vacuums have been tackling tough messes on floors with thoughtful intelligence and design innovations to fit seamlessly into your home and life. The Roomba j series created a lot of buzz upon its release because it promised to avoid pet waste. We tested the iRobot j7 in The Lab, and one of our editors received a sample of the j7+ model to test at home, and the j7+ is the only one that successfully avoided pet waste. Upon further inspection of iRobot’s website, they only offer the Pet Owner’s Official Promise (lovingly named the P.O.O.P. Promise) on the iRobot Roomba j7+ Robot Vacuum, so that’s why it’s our top pick for pet owners.
Plus, the built-in sensors allow the robot vacuum to navigate around furniture and large obstacles in its way (though you’ll want to make sure there aren’t any socks, power cords, or other small items in its path). It can even detect and avoid staircases, so you’ll never come home to find a broken Roomba at the bottom of your stairs. On bare flooring, the Roomba 694 was able to pick up small sand particles and larger debris alike in a single pass, including cereal, pet hair, and human hair.
If your current robot vacuum can’t get the dust bunnies under the couch, or constantly gets stuck between chair legs, the G30 is worth a look. That said, the Roborock app isn’t nearly as polished as those from iRobot, Shark and others. The main page shows your home’s map along with the battery level, cleaning time, cleaning area in feet, and buttons that let you quickly start a cleaning job and empty the dustbin. You’re also able to select specific rooms or zones to clean, but the rest of the control options live in the menu accessible by the three-dot icon at the top-right corner of the app.