Once you’ve owned one of the best robot vacuum cleaners, you won’t be able to look back. Robot vacuum cleaners have come a long way since they were first introduced — picture a clumsy device bashing into your baseboards and failing to pick up any debris. Nowadays, the best robot vacuums will collect everything from dust and crumbs to pet hair in a single sweep. Not only that, the navigational skills have much improved; you can now select exactly where you want the robot to clean without worrying about any missed areas or damaged furniture.
There’s all kinds of features to look out for as well, from self-emptying charging bases to object recognition — so you never need to worry about it running over any rogue cables. If you want to give your floors the full treatment, there are also hybrid designs which can double up as mops, although be warned the performance can be hit and miss with these models. If you’ve decided to invest in a robot vacuum, but you’re not sure which way to go, we’re here to help. We’ve tested a range of robot vacuum cleaners to find those that offer the best performance — and we have a recommendation for every home. So, whether you’re shopping on a budget or want the latest tech, we’ve got you covered.
iRobot Roomba s9+
SPECIFICATIONS
REASONS TO BUY
+Mapping was quick and easy
+Easy-to-use mapping controls in app
+Strong performance
REASONS TO AVOID
iRobot’s Roomba s9+ is one of the smartest and most thorough robot vacuums we’ve tested, which is why it’s the best robot vacuum overall. It has advanced mapping, so it can record and remember a blueprint of multiple floors of your house after just a few trips; you can then specify individual rooms, and tell the s9+ to clean specific rooms on specific days. We suggest scheduling it for when you’re out of the house, as this is admittedly a noisy robot vacuum, particularly on hardwood floors. However, with an average pick up score of almost 97, it’s a capable vacuum on both hard floors and carpet. We noticed that it’s better at picking up pet hair and kitty litter compared to Cheerios — this is usually the other way around. So it’s actually better for smaller debris.
The Roomba s9+ also comes with a self-emptying charging base; while you’ll have to purchase replacement bags for this base, you will only have to empty the container every 30 days, which will save you a lot of time versus emptying the onboard dustbin. It you want to drop even more cash, the s9+ can also talk with the company’s Braava jet m6 robot mop ($499), and tell it to start mopping your floors after the s9+ is done vacuuming. That’s pretty neat. Ultimately, this robot vacuum comes at a steep price, but it leaves little room for improvement.
iLife V3s Pro
SPECIFICATIONS
REASONS TO BUY
+Fantastic hardwood performance
+Inexpensive
REASONS TO AVOID
The iLife V3s Pro is the best robot vacuum you can get for less than $200. Despite its low price, the V3s Pro consistently outperformed other robot vacuums that cost three times as much. It picked up nearly all of Fido’s fur in our lab tests — making it the best robot vacuum for pet hair — and was also good in our at-home tests, too. It was about average in terms of noise compared to the other robot vacuums on test, with 64.1dB.
There are a few caveats when purchasing a robot vacuum this cheap, though. For starters, the iLife V3s Pro is slow, taking more than 90 minutes on average to clean our test space — others took less than 30 minutes. Also, it can’t be controlled from your smartphone, so you have to use the included remote control, and you can’t connect it to Alexa or Google Assistant to turn it on or schedule cleanings. But, it’s great at doing the one thing it needs to do well, and that’s picking up debris. For this price, its downsides are tradeoffs we’re willing to make. That’s why it’s also one of the best cheap robot vacuums.
