By The Verge | Created at 2024-11-15 16:14:16 | Updated at 2024-11-22 03:55:05
6 days ago
Robot vacuums are impressive devices that will clean your floors well without complaining (much). As prices have dropped, these busy little bots have become less of a luxury and more of a necessity. They can reach places most standup vacs never see (under beds and sofas) and, thanks to better batteries and robot brains, they rarely get tired of cleaning.
I’ve been testing robot vacuums for six years and have run over 60 robot vacuums all over my house. These are my top picks if you’re looking for the best: a robot vacuum that can do it all without getting stuck and with limited intervention from you.
I’ve also got options to fit specific needs, such as mopping, tackling small spaces, or besting pet hair. Check out my budget robot vacuum guide if you want to spend under $500 on a robot vacuum. Here, we’re going to look at the premium options.
While there’s been a lot of innovation in robot vacuums in recent years, we’re still far from that Rosey the Robot dream of a robot that can handle all the household chores (or stairs). But they’ve got floors down. Today, there are robots that can mop well, charging docks that empty the bin for you, and “hands-free” models that can refill their water tanks and wash their mops so you don’t have to. The biggest improvements, however, are in mapping and obstacle avoidance, two crucial skills that mean most robot vacuums today can avoid getting tripped up by your shoes and will get the job done.
Despite all these innovations, there still isn’t one robot that excels at both mopping and vacuuming. For most people, the vacuum is the thing to focus on; I consider mopping a bonus feature. I prefer a powerful vacuum for my main rooms and one that excels at mopping for rooms like the bathroom or kitchen.
The good news is that robovacs are constantly on sale; I wouldn’t pay the list price unless you want the latest model. The general range is around $500 for a standalone vacuum with good features and between $1,000 and $1,800 for an all-singing, all-dancing bot that can largely take care of itself and use AI to avoid common household clutter in its quest to clean your floors.
There are many options, and whether you have a 3,000-square-foot home and three shaggy dogs or a small, stylish apartment you share with a goldfish, there’s a robot vacuum to suit your needs.
What I look for
Superior cleaning power
It’s not all about suction. In my testing, the brush is the big factor in how well a robot will clean your floors. A large rubber roller brush is much better than a small bristle brush at picking up debris. It's also less prone to getting tangled up with hair. Two brushes are better than one, and a brush housing that has some flexibility — and can move with the contours of the floor — is also more effective.
Mopping prowess
It’s hard to find a robot vac that doesn’t have some form of mopping, but not all mops are created equal. I looked for mopping bots that could get up dried-on stains, like milk and ketchup, and scrub up small wet spills without messing themselves up. Oscillating, spinning, or vibrating mop pads clean better than bots that just drag a wet rag around, but the new self-cleaning roller mops that are beginning to appear are even more effective. Auto-carpet sensing is also important since it prevents the robot from accidentally mopping your rug.
A big bin ...
A big bin means you don’t need to empty it as often. The largest I’ve seen is 800ml, but anything over 500ml is decent. With many bots now pulling double duty as mopping robots, plus the popularity of self-empty dock / charging bases, it’s getting harder to find small robot vacs with big bins. But they’re worth considering — especially if you have carpets and pets. I love self-empty docks, but sometimes you don’t have space for them, and if you like your robot to be out of sight (living under your bed or sofa), you’ll want a big bin and no dock.
... Or a self-empty dock
These are becoming standard now and coming down in price (thankfully). A self-empty dock turns the charging base for your robot into a motorized emptying station that sucks out the dirt from its bin. (Warning: this process is loud!) This saves you from having to pull out the bin after every few runs and empty it yourself. Instead, you’ll have to replace the bag (and buy new ones) when it gets full, generally about once a month. Many robots now have a self-empty dock option you can add later, although buying them together is generally cheaper.
AI-powered obstacle avoidance
Another nice-to-have feature, AI-powered obstacle avoidance helps your robot “intelligently” avoid clutter (and a potential poop apocalypse if it encounters pet waste). These models use cameras (worth noting) to see objects in their path and onboard processors to “decide” how to approach them based on what they see. All AI is not created equal, however, and some are much better at this than others, but the end result is robot vacuums with AI avoidance are less likely to get stuck when cleaning, so you’re more likely to come home to a clean floor rather than a beached bot.
Reliable mapping
A robot that maps your house will get into every nook and cranny better than one that bumps and rolls around. Mapping also lets you send the robot to clean specific rooms rather than the whole space and add virtual walls to prevent your bot from going where you don’t want it to. These are crucial if you have delicate objects or areas in your home that regularly trap robots. Most robots use variations on simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM) technology such as lidar or VSLAM.
Easy-to-use app and voice control
A good app has easy controls to stop and start your vacuum, scheduling options (including do-not disturb hours), plus good mapping features. Nice-to-have features are room-specific cleaning and settings (so you can tell your vacuum to clean the kitchen or have it mop and vacuum the kitchen but only vacuum the living room). My biggest frustration with apps is maps that are fiddly to update and / or crash and must be rebuilt constantly. Most vacuums now have voice control (see FAQs), but some offer more in-depth control, such as telling Alexa to have the robot clean twice under the dining room table.
Good battery life
Nearly all robot vacuums can “recharge and resume” — take themselves back to their dock when they’re low and recharge before picking up where they left off, but a vacuum with at least 120 minutes of runtime (180 is ideal) will clean the whole house in one go. If it takes too long, noisy robots that are constantly running will get shut off by annoyed family members who aren’t about to clean the room for you.
Repairability
Robot vacuums are quite an investment, and it’s important to be able to buy replacement parts to keep them going for longer and have access to good support in case your robot has a serious issue.
Best robot vacuum overall
$1800
With top-notch vacuuming performance, an easy-to-use app, and built-in voice control, the S8 MaxV Ultra is a superb vacuum and good mop. It features Roborock’s best obstacle avoidance, innovative features like dirt detection, and a hands-free dock that makes it an expensive but excellent choice.
Dustbin capacity: 270ml / Self-empty dock option: Yes / Auto-refill mop option: Yes / Mop-lift: Yes, 20mm / Mop washing: Hot water and heated air drying / Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle avoidance: Yes / Suction power: 10,000Pa / Remote check-in: Yes / Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Brush style: Dual rubber / Works with: Matter, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts
Roborock’s S8 MaxV Ultra ($1,799.99) is an exceptional vacuum cleaner and a very good mop thanks to several innovations and quality-of-life features that make it a superb floor cleaner. Its dual rubber roller brushes and 10,000Pa suction make it the best robot vacuum for carpets; its mopping chops make it great for hard floors, too, and its improved AI-powered obstacle avoidance means it will mostly get the job done.
The S8 MaxV Ultra is also the best model in the relatively new category of “hands-free” robot vacs, bots that do virtually everything for you: empty their bins, refill their mop tanks, and clean and dry their mop pads. Roborock invented this category with the S7 MaxV Ultra and has been steadily improving it.
With the S8 MaxV Ultra, the company has produced the best top-of-the-line robot vacuum. If you are willing to spend the cash, this machine will keep your floors clean with relatively little intervention from you.
The S8 MaxV Ultra brings back the RGB camera last seen on the S7 MaxV Ultra, which makes it much better at navigating obstacles.
The big selling point here is the virtually hands-free cleaning experience. Just fill the S8 MaxV Ultra’s clean water tank and empty its dirty water once a week, then change out the dust bag every couple of months. The robot will take care of the rest.
For $100 more, you can dispense with dealing with the water tanks entirely and buy the Refill & Drainage System model. This lets you plumb the charging base directly into your home’s water supply. I’ve not tested this on the Roborock, but my experience with the SwitchBot S10 with the same feature (see below) leads me to recommend this option if it’s available to you. However, you’ll need a power supply near your water hookups, whereas the SwitchBot’s refill station is battery-powered.
The S8 MaxV Ultra is the best robot vacuum for carpets
The S8 MaxV Ultra comes with the brand’s best AI-powered obstacle avoidance, finally bringing back the camera it last had on the excellent S7 MaxV Ultra. It’s not quite as good as Roomba’s obstacle avoidance — it sometimes confused a pile of Cheerios for a charging cable and avoided them — but it’s much better than the Roborocks that rely on non-camera obstacle avoidance. It deftly navigates around most household clutter, allowing you to get the job done without having to tidy up.
Roborock has caught up to Roomba regarding cleaning prowess, and the S8 MaxV Ultra’s dual rubber brushes and 10,000Pa of suction power tackled the pet hair on my fluffy carpet and demolished my oatmeal test. It also did a better job at mopping than Roomba’s mopping bots. Its sonic mopping system — which vibrates its mop pad 4,000 times a minute — ably simulated scrubbing and wiped out my OJ and ketchup tests, though I did have to set it to deep scrub. Plus, the addition of a side mop and flexi-arm brush that extends from the bot helped with cleaning edges and corners.
The S8 MaxV Ultra uses two small appendages to better get into corners and clean along edges.
Other pros of the S8 MaxV Ultra include Roborock’s mobile app, which is easy to use and comes with a laundry list of features and customizations that give you ample control over your cleaning. The S8 MaxV Ultra is also the first Roborock with a built-in voice assistant, which makes getting the bot to clean the mess your kid made after dinner as easy as saying, “Rocky, clean here.” Plus, as one of only a couple of vacs with Matter certification, it will work with all the major smart home platforms, including Apple Home, once the platforms support robot vacuums (see the FAQ section for more).
The biggest downside is the price. For $1,800, you’ve got to really want to get those corners clean and really dislike having to mess with mop pads. My previous top pick — the Roomba j7 — is still a great robot vacuum, especially if you’re not interested in mopping and would rather spend under $800.
Roborock also sells the S8 Max Ultra (no V) for $1,599.99. It has the same cleaning hardware as the MaxV but no camera, so its obstacle avoidance will not be as good. However, you also don’t have to worry about a camera in your house. It has a lower 8,000Pa of suction and lacks a voice assistant, too, which makes it seem overpriced since it’s currently available for only a couple hundred dollars less than the MaxV.
While there are better options if you want a bot that’s more of a mop, the S8 MaxV Ultra is the best at both. It can also do both in one run, as it can lift its mop 20mm, which will clear all but the highest-pile rugs. (If you have a lot of those, go for the Dreame X40 with its automatic mop removal.)
Best Roomba robot vacuum
The Combo j9 Plus is the first Roomba that can refill its own mop tank and empty its own bin. With a redesigned dock that doubles as a table, increased suction power, and a new SmartScrub feature that moves back and forth to mop more effectively, it’s the best Roomba available.
Dustbin capacity: 300 ml / Self-empty dock option: Yes / Auto-refill mop option: Yes / Mop-lift: Yes, up and over / Mop washing: No / Mapping: Yes, vSLAM / AI-powered obstacle avoidance: Yes / Suction power: N/A / Remote check-in: No / Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Brush style: Dual rubber / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts
I’m a big fan of Roombas for three main reasons: their dual rubber roller brushes rotate in opposite directions to effectively dig up dirt from carpets, their AI obstacle avoidance is by far the best, and they have a history of being easy to repair. Their auto-empty docks are some of the best-looking, too, and I like Roomba’s vSLAM mapping, which takes longer than lidar mapping but is more reliable. The Roomba app has never lost my maps, which happens frequently with lidar bots.
However, Roombas are falling behind the competition in features and cleaning prowess, especially regarding mopping. And while they’re no longer the most expensive robot vacs you can buy, they are costly. As much as I appreciate the simplicity of the iRobot app, some may prefer the deep customization options other brands offer.
The Roomba j9 Combo Plus comes with a lovely auto-empty charging dock that can refill the robot’s water tank and doubles as a storage case for mop pads and dustbins. Plus, it serves as a nice little coffee table.
The current top-of-the-line Roomba, the j9 Combo Plus, is my top pick for a Roomba, as it features a well-designed dock and can refill its own mop tank. Like the j7 Combo, the j9 has a retractable mopping pad it can lift up and over the robot to avoid getting your carpets damp and has higher suction power than previous Roombas. There’s also a nifty dirt-detect feature, which “remembers” which rooms are dirtiest and seeks them out first. The j9 is the quietest Roomba I’ve tested and offers three suction levels for an even quieter clean, something most other Roombas don’t have.
However, the mopping still feels like an afterthought. The SmartScrub feature that tells the robot to wiggle its butt to scrub your floors works surprisingly well, but the mopping pad is too small to clean your floors effectively, and you still have to clean the mop manually. Most every other robot with a mop and dock will wash and dry it for you. If you’re not interested in mopping, the j7 is still a great robot (see below for more).
I did run into a few issues with connectivity, with the j9 going offline for no apparent reason. It also regularly struggled to dock itself correctly, so I’d often find it dead when it was time to clean. These are all issues that should be resolved via software updates, and overall, the j9 Combo Plus is iRobot’s most advanced floor-cleaning machine. It looks good, vacuums well, and mops acceptably, but you will need to get your hands dirty to deal with its little mop pad.
$600
My previous top pick, the j7 offers great AI-powered obstacle avoidance, excellent navigation skills, and superior cleaning power. It can be a bit rough with furniture and its app has become confusing in pursuit of simplicity. But it is aggressive at getting your floor clean and is my favorite vacuum-only Roomba. It’s also available with a self-empty dock for $799.99 or mopping for $899.99.
Best robot vacuum / mop hybrid
With a unique ability to remove and reattach its mop pads, the Dreame X40 solves the problem of vacuuming carpets while also mopping hard floors. Its mops can also swing out and under low furniture, getting where most bots can’t reach. An extendable side brush helps get dirt out of corners. A whopping 12,000Pa of suction mean it’s a great vac, if not quite as good as the S8 MaxV Ultra.
Dustbin capacity: 300ml / Self-empty dock option: Yes / Auto-refill mop option: Yes / Mop-lift: Yes, 20mm / Mop washing: Hot water, hot air drying / Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle avoidance: Yes / Suction power: 12,000Pa / Remote check-in: Yes / Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Brush style: Single, rubber / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts
The Dreame X40 is the best robot vacuum / mop hybrid because it can drop its mop pads automatically, extend them, and swing them to get under your cabinets and consoles. I watched the X40 spread its mops wide apart and swing behind my TV console, allowing it to access the dust wedged a good inch under it. That’s impressive.
The X40 also features an extending side brush arm to reach corners — like the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra — and its dual oscillating mop pads are more effective than Roborock’s thin microfiber pad. If you have a mix of carpeted rooms and hardwood floors with high-pile rugs, the Dreame is the best robot vacuum for you.
The Dreame X30 Ultra shows its splits.
Its signature feature is its ability to automatically remove and reattach its mop pads depending on whether it’s vacuuming or mopping. This solves the problem of how to vacuum and mop without getting your rugs wet. The robot will do this procedure multiple times during cleaning to ensure carpets are vacuumed and floors are mopped. Genius.
While it’s a superb mopper, its vacuuming prowess is slightly behind the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra because, despite its 12,000Pa suction power, it still only has a single roller rubber brush. The Roborock’s dual rollers are simply better at getting dirt out of carpets and tackling pet hair.
Roborock’s app is also more stable and easier to use than Dreame’s, which often crashes and can take a while to load. While the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra is my top pick overall, the Dreame X40 is a very good vacuum, and the two companies are neck and neck regarding innovative features.
If you have a mix of carpeted rooms and hardwood floors with high-pile rugs, the Dreame is the best robot vacuum for you.
The X40 can also clean its washboard, something the Roborock can’t. That area can get quite grungy, so it needs a clean every few weeks. The X40 has AI-powered smart dirt detection that uses its cameras to identify spills like milk or particularly dirty areas. When it spots something, it will slow down and do a more thorough cleaning. I also like Dreame’s option to vacuum first and then mop, which the Roborock doesn’t offer.
The X40 has AI-powered obstacle avoidance, although Roborock’s is just a bit better. However, both still get tripped up occasionally by pencils and other small items —something that never happens with the Roomba j7 or j9.
The X40 has a couple of cheaper siblings: the L20 Ultra (more on that below) and the X30 Ultra, which came out only a few months ago. The X30 Ultra costs $1,700 (and is currently on sale for $1,600) and has many of the same features as the X40. However, you don’t get the extendable side brush, and it has lower suction power (8,300Pa). Also, while it can extend its mop pads, it can’t swing its body sideways to go further under low furniture.
A cheaper option
The L20 Ultra is a great all-around bot that can remove its mop pads to vacuum carpet and do the splits with its mops to better clean your baseboards. It has 7,000Pa suction, a bigger base station, and fewer advanced cleaning features than the newer X30 and X40 Ultra models, but it’s still an excellent robot vacuum.
Best midrange robot vacuum / mop hybrid
The X10 is a great robovac with excellent AI-powered obstacle avoidance, powerful oscillating mops, a user-friendly app, and good mapping capabilities. Its rubber bristle brush means it is not as good as my top picks at getting up dirt and debris, but it’s a terrific price for a bot with all these functions, and as a bonus, its dock is compact and not a major eyesore.
Dustbin capacity: Unknown / Self-empty dock option: Yes / Auto-refill mop option: Yes / Mop-lift: Yes, 12mm / Mop washing: Yes, hot air drying / Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle avoidance: Yes / Suction power: 8,000Pa / Remote check-in: No / Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Brush style: single rubber / bristle hybrid / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home
The Eufy X10 Pro Omni combines the Eufy Clean X9 Pro mopping robot vacuum and the Eufy X8 Pro self-empty robot vacuum. It’s the first Eufy with a multifunction auto-empty / wash / fill dock, and unlike many bots in this price range, it comes with AI-powered obstacle avoidance.
With 8,000Pa suction and oscillating dual spinning brushes for mopping, the X10 has all the same basic functions as the top-of-the-line, all-in-one bots. But it’s not quite as good at any of them, which is sort of the definition of “midrange.”
The Eufy performed excellently in my mopping tests, even eradicating dried stains with its 1kg of downward pressure. Thanks to an onboard water reservoir, it didn’t have to head home to fill up as frequently as some mopping bots do. It also has heated mop drying to help prevent the base from getting stinky — a first in this price range. (There’s no hot water washing.)
An edge-hugging mode makes the robot swing its behind into the baseboards to help mop edges. With its square-ish shape, it got into corners better than most of the round bots. But its 12mm mop pad lift over carpet wasn’t effective, resulting in its pads getting hung up in a few places.
The Eufy uses a single rubber / bristle roller brush that isn’t as good as top-of-the-line Roombas and Roborocks.
The X10 has superb object recognition, allowing it to suck up Cheerios and piles of oatmeal while deftly navigating fake dog turds and cables. However, its navigation sometimes got screwy; it would go into a corner and stay there for a while, trying to figure itself out.
While its vacuuming is good, particularly on carpet and tile surfaces, the single rubber / bristle roller brush lets it down and is a good illustration of my point that it’s not all about suction power; it’s also about the brushes and how you use them. The Eufy’s brush is supposedly anti-tangle — a cutting tool inside the robot should shred the hair — but this wasn't effective.
One fun feature is Smart Track cleaning. This lets you nudge the robot with your foot, and it will start following you, cleaning as it goes. You can hit the on-device spot clean button when you get to an area you want cleaned. This is a nice change from relying on an app to get your robot to go where you want it to.
The Eufy Clean app is very easy to use, and the lidar-powered mapping was fast and accurate, dividing my rooms correctly on the first try. There are many customization options — including room-specific cleaning, zone cleaning, and customized cleaning — but the app is clear and well laid out.
A cheaper option
This is a great bot with a multifunction dock that can auto-empty its bin, fill its water tank, and clean and dry its oscillating mops. There’s no AI-powered obstacle avoidance or heated mop drying, but it has a compact dock and works with the excellent Roborock app. It can also lift its mops over carpet and has a rubber brush that’s less prone to tangling.
Best mopping robot
A superior mopping bot with a superior price tag, the Narwal is smart enough to know when it needs to go back and mop more and is the best bot for keeping your hard-surface floors spotless. Its vacuuming is good and a unique onboard compression bin means no loud auto-emptying. But its obstacle avoidance is spotty (there's no camera), and the app is a challenge.
Dustbin capacity: 1L / Self-empty dock option: No / Auto-refill mop option: Yes / Mop-lift: Yes, 12mm / Mop washing: Yes, hot air drying / Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle avoidance: Yes / Suction power: 8,200Pa / Remote check-in: No / Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Brush style: Single, conical rubber bristle hybrid / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts
The Narwal Freo X Ultra is one of the best mopping robots I’ve tested — and it’s a great vacuum, too. Its spinning triangular mop pads rotate at 180RPM with 12n of downward pressure Combined with its ability to swing slightly to get closer to baseboards, the Narwhal does a good job on hard floors. Its two four-liter water tanks will keep you going longer than most other mopping bots as well, the bulk of which feature smaller tanks.
The Narwhal has some innovative features, including dirt sense — which analyzes the dirt level in the water and prompts it to remop — and an ability to adapt the pressure of its mop based on the type of floor material, applying more pressure to tile and less to hardwood. “Freo” refers to the bot’s ability to make cleaning “decisions,” including going back to clean dirty floors.
Its charging dock is very big, though, giving off a real Wall-E vibe. But despite the size, there’s no spot for an auto-empty dustbin; instead, Narwal’s disposable onboard bin can compress the dust, and Narwhal claims you won’t need to empty it for up to 60 days. In two weeks of testing, it wasn’t close to full, but I’ll report back after two months. A bonus here is that there’s no loud noise, as is the case with most auto-empty docks.
In fact, the Freo X Ultra is one of the quietest bots I’ve tested. Even at full power, it was so quiet that I had to check that it was actually working. Its anti-tangle brush and 8,200Pa suction did a good job on most carpet, but its 12mm mop lifting isn’t good for plush carpets.
The Narwal can use disposal dustbins that compress dirt, so you don’t have to empty it as often.
Narwal’s obstacle avoidance is also not great; there’s no camera, and it routinely eats cables. Its three lasers can identify objects as small as a sock and move around them, and it did pass my fake pet poop test.
The app is very hard to follow, making it tricky to access all the bot’s features. Mapping was fast, but it didn’t recognize all my rooms on the first go. It did better the second time, although splitting up rooms and naming them in the app was painful. The lack of a camera also means its navigation is spotty, and sending it to clean specific rooms wasn’t always successful.
Best mopping robot with a plumbing hookup
The S10 is a great mopping robot with a battery-powered water refill dock that makes it the most hands-free robovac we’ve tested. A separate auto-empty dock takes care of the dust. It’s big and loud and lacks some features found on high-end robots, but it does a great job of keeping your floors clean.
Dustbin capacity: 4L / Self-empty dock option: Yes / Auto-refill mop option: Yes / Mop-Lift: Yes, fully retracts / Mop washing: Yes, hot air drying / Mapping: Yes, lidar / AI-powered obstacle avoidance: Yes / Suction power: 6,500Pa / Remote check-in: No / Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Brush style: Single, rubber roller / Works with: Matter (including Apple Home), Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts
The SwitchBot S10 is a multitasking robot that hooks into your plumbing for a virtually hands-free sweeping and mopping experience. It’s one of the best robot mops I’ve tested thanks to its self-cleaning roller mop and the fact that I never had to empty or fill its water tanks. These two features meant I could set it and forget it and have clean floors for weeks.
I tested the S10’s mopping capabilities in a large bathroom where I recently installed a new white tile floor — one that looks filthy within a day of being cleaned. I set it to vacuum and mop every day, and the floor has stayed spotless since.
Roller mops may be the future of robot mopping. The Eufy S1 Pro I’ve started testing also has one, and both bots do a far better job at getting floors properly clean than the dual spinning mop pads, which are, in turn, better than the thin microfibre pads.
The greater surface area combined with the self-cleaning function — the vac sprays water onto the mop as it runs — left the tiles cleaner than the Narwal Freo X Ultra. However, the SwitchBot only has a small rubber roller brush for vacuuming, and the mop extends just halfway along the robot — meaning it doesn’t tackle edges, baseboards, and corners as well as my top picks.
The SwitchBot’s water refill station. While the station fits under my sink, the robot is too wide to get under there.
I really like the S10s dual docking system. Its main dock is a charging / auto-empty dock, and there’s a separate battery-powered dock water station that you can put in a different room (I hooked it up in my laundry room). Both docks are small and unobtrusive — especially compared to the Dreame and Roborock docks — but the plumbing hookup isn’t elegant. There was a lot of extra cabling, and the width of the robot meant I couldn’t tuck the dock under my sink.
Roller mops may be the future of robot mopping.
While the SwitchBot is a good vacuum, it’s not the best. Its relatively paltry 6,500Pa of suction power is low compared to the competition, but the bot’s weight did help the rubber roller brush dig into the carpet and get up most of the cat hair.
Other downsides include the AI obstacle avoidance, which isn’t great. The S10 frequently got stuck on clothes left on my floor and bath mats, its battery life is short, and it lacks high-end features like dirt detection. It also currently only works with a direct plumbing hookup, so don’t get it unless you plan to hook it into your water supply.
It’s a game-changer not having to empty a dirty water tank or have my floor go unmopped because I forgot to fill the clean water tank. The S10 isn’t totally hands-free (the auto-empty station got a bit grungy during testing and required some cleaning), but in two months of testing, the mop has stayed clean. I haven’t even had to empty the four-liter dust bag yet.
Best robot vacuum for pet hair
The Q5 Pro has a huge bin and big wheels to get up on higher-pile carpets easily. It has a small removable mopping reservoir for when there are dirty paws on the floors, but its main job is to suck up dirt and pet hair, and it does very well at both.
Dustbin capacity: 770ml / Self-empty dock option: Yes / Auto-refill mop option: No / Mapping: Yes / AI-powered obstacle avoidance: No / Suction power: 5,500Pa / Remote check-in: No / Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Brush style: Dual, rubber / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts
My recommendation for families with pets who don’t want to spend a small fortune on an auto-empty robot vacuum is to buy a good bot with a big bin. These are getting harder to find now that every bot wants to be a multitasker and also mop (the water reservoir takes up valuable dustbin room). So, I was very pleased with Roborock’s recent entry-level robot, the Q5 Pro; it’s my new favorite for pet hair.
This relatively inexpensive vacuum has a huge 770ml bin on board and dual rubber brushes that are better at getting pet hair out of rugs than single brushes. The rubber is also less prone than bristles to getting tangled with hair, and combined with 5,500Pa suction power, this vacuum does a really good job on very dirty floors. It does have a removable mopping pad with a small water tank built into it, which is useful for getting up the fine dust left behind by the vacuum, but it isn’t going to scrub your floors. It will, however, keep the pet hair at bay.
Don’t confuse this with the cheaper Roborock Q5, however. That bot has a smaller bin, lower suction, shorter runtime, and only one roller brush. It’s worth spending the extra for the Pro.
1/3
I like big bins and I cannot lie. The Q5’s 770ml bin is the biggest I’ve tested since self-empty docks became a thing.
The Q5 Pro Plus pairs the bot with the redesigned Roborock auto-empty dock if you really don’t like emptying the robot’s onboard bin, but you’ll pay almost double for the privilege. The dock is relatively compact and lightweight compared to previous versions. However, considering the size of the Q5 Pro’s bin, you'd only have to empty it three times before the dock’s 2.5-liter bag is also full.
The Q5 Pro doesn't have AI-powered obstacle avoidance, although it will dodge shoes and larger objects. It does have a huge 5,200mAh battery that will run for about four hours. It uses the excellent Roborock app and has all the same software features of the higher-end S8 family, including lidar mapping and navigation, digital keep-out zones, room-specific cleaning, zone cleaning, and voice control.
Best robot vacuum for small spaces
The smallest robot vac on the block, the K10 Plus, doesn’t compare to the other bots here in terms of performance, but if you have a small space where other vacs can’t get to, it’s better than nothing. It’s also very quiet, making it ideal for small spaces like home offices and bedrooms or a very small studio apartment.
Dustbin capacity: 150ml / Self-empty dock option: Yes / Auto-refill mop option: No / Mapping: Yes / AI-powered obstacle avoidance: no / Suction power: 2,500Pa / Remote check-in: No / Keep-out zones: Yes, virtual / Brush style: Single, rubber bristle hybrid / Works with: Matter (including Apple Home), Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts
One thing all the robot vacs I’ve recommended so far have in common is size. They are all large circular robots that, while mostly adept at navigating around chair legs and under sofas, do struggle to get into tight spaces. At almost 14 inches wide, bots like the Roborock S8 aren’t getting in that nook between the toilet and the bathtub or under the desk where your chair legs meet the trash can. Enter the SwitchBot K10 Plus.
The tiniest robot vacuum you can buy, the K10 Plus is a cute little dust sucker that can nimbly navigate around almost any piece of furniture you throw in its path. Just 3.6 inches high and 9.8 inches wide, it pairs with a teeny tiny auto-empty dock (12.5 inches high and 10 inches wide) that somehow hides a whopping four-liter dust bag. So while it’s little, you won’t be emptying its bin bag any more often than its bigger competitors.
1/3
Mug for size. The SwitchBot K10 is very small.
Its 2,500Pa suction is fine for an office or bedroom, and this little guy moves really fast. It’s also very quiet. With four vacuum levels, its lowest setting was tolerable even while I was working in the same room. However, this bot doesn’t mop. The removable mopping pad uses disposable wet wipes — no water. These are fiddly to attach, don’t stay on well, and were totally ineffective. The robot also won’t mop and vacuum simultaneously and couldn’t deal with dried-on dirt, making the mopping function here barely worth mentioning.
The robot uses lidar mapping and has room-specific cleaning and digital keep-out zones. There’s no AI-powered obstacle avoidance (and no camera), so while it went around shoes and furniture legs, it did get hung up on cables and socks. It also couldn't handle rug tassels. But for keeping a bedroom or home office clean or navigating a tightly packed studio apartment, this bot packs a lot of power in a small package.
Other robot vacuums I tested
Dyson’s newest robovac claims to have double the suction power of any other robot vacuum.
- The 360 Vis Nav ($1,199.99), Dyson’s first robovac in the US in almost a decade, is a powerful beast and the best robot vacuum for carpets I’ve tested. Its huge wheels get up and over even the giant tassels on my living room carpet, and its big, long fluffy brush did a great job getting fine debris off my hardwood floors. That said, its navigation is a mess. It couldn’t map my upstairs as it kept getting stuck at the edge of the stairs. Its large, square shape also meant it got stuck under chair legs on virtually every run. At this price, no AI-powered obstacle avoidance, a short battery life, and no auto-empty dock are big cons. You can read more in this hands-on.
- The Roborock S8 Pro Ultra ($1,599.99, on sale for $1,399.99) also ditches the camera, making it less effective at dodging obstacles than the S8 MaxV. Like the MaxV, it has dual roller brushes and an extending side arm, but for just $200 more, you may as well get the MaxV, which also has a built-in voice assistant and support for Matter (see the FAQ section). Also, I’m not too fond of the Pro’s dock; it’s bigger and chunkier than the MaxV’s dock. The main reason to get the S8 Pro is if you like the MaxV but don’t want a camera on your robot.
The Roborock S8 Pro Ultra has dual roller brushes and a nicer-looking dock.
- If you want a sleeker robovac setup, the Roborock S8 Plus ($999.99) is a good choice. It is a great vacuum that can mop well and has a sleeker, smaller charging / auto-empty dock. Its dual rubber roller brushes and 6,000Pa of suction do a good job, and its flat mop that vibrates is effective at scrubbing your floors. The S8 can also sense carpets, lift its mop, and offers the same obstacle avoidance as the S8 Pro Ultra (because there’s no camera on board).
- I’ve been testing the Ecovacs Deebot X2 Omni ($1,499.99, on sale for $899.99) for about five months, and while its vacuuming and mopping capabilities are excellent, its software and lidar navigation system need work. While it ably avoided cables and pet poop in testing, the bot constantly got lost and repeatedly stopped, telling me its brush was tangled when it wasn’t (and hefting that thing over to check is not easy, especially as the lid falls off). It also takes seriously wide swings along its route, leaving huge gaps of the floor unvacuumed.
Ecovacs’ Deebot X2 Omni is a powerful cleaner, but its navigation is a letdown.
- The rounder, lower-priced Ecovacs T20 Omni ($1,099.99, on sale for $599.99) fared better. It has many of the same features — including the onboard voice assistant — but with lower suction power and lower mop lift. It also doesn’t use a camera, so its obstacle avoidance isn’t as good. It doesn’t have an onboard water tank on the robot, so it has to go back to its dock to refill a lot, but at $650 on sale (at the time of writing), it’s a good option if you want a high-end robot vac without a camera. However, in my years of testing Deebots, the Ecovacs app routinely loses my maps, which is very frustrating.
- The Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 ($699.99, on sale for $399.99), also known as the Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1, was my previous runner-up pick for a midrange option that self-empties its bin, vacuums, and mops. It mops very well, doing a swingy, scrubbing movement with its rear end when in “Matrix mode.” However, you have to manually fill and attach the mop reservoir and empty the bin when it mops, as it only self-empties in vacuum mode and can only avoid larger objects.
- The Roborock Q8 Max Plus ($599.99, on sale for $319.99) is the bigger brother to the Q5 Pro (my pick for pet hair), adding better obstacle avoidance (still no camera) and better mopping. However, it has a smaller bin to make way for a much bigger water reservoir for mopping (350ml). If you like the idea of the Q5 Pro but want better mopping, this is a good option. That said, you’ll probably want to invest in the auto-empty bin, making the smaller 470ml dustbin easier to manage.
What’s coming next
- SharkNinja has a new PowerDetect NeverTouch Pro 2-in-1 robot vacuum / mop ($999.99) that’s designed to lift itself up above rugs by up to 20mm with minimal human intervention. Its cleaning station doesn’t require bags, either, and it can automatically refill the bot’s water tank as well as wash / dry its mop pad.
- The ability to lift 20mm sounds nice, but Roborock’s upcoming Qrevo Curv (US pricing TBD) can raise itself to clear thresholds up to 40mm. The svelte-looking bot gets its name from a curved FlexiArm Arc side brush, which helps prevent hair from tangling as much.
- The new Roomba Combo 10 Max ($1,399.99) hybrid ships with Matter support and a self-washing mop. It’s iRobot’s first robovac with a multifunction charging dock that cleans and dries the robot’s mop; it can also empty its own bin and refill its own water tank.
- Narwal’s Freo Z Ultra ($1,499.99) features dual cameras and dual AI chips for seeing and identifying objects, which should help with obstacle avoidance and vacuuming methods.
- The Eufy S1 Pro ($1,499), primarily a mopping bot, takes a different approach with its tall, slender auto-empty / refill dock. The futuristic-looking hybrid has a long roller mop that self-cleans as it mops and features a square-ish design that allows it to get into corners more easily. A single rubber roller brush, 8,000Pa of suction, and 3D-powered obstacle avoidance tackle the vacuuming.
The Eufy S1 Pro has a very futuristic design.
- Roborock’s Q Revo MaxV ($1,399.99) adds a camera to the midrange Q line for improved obstacle avoidance; it also has the Rocky voice assistant on board. The Q Revo line has spinning mop pads instead of the flat mop pad on the S line, and with the Q Revo Dock 2.0, these can now be cleaned with hot water and dried with warm air to prevent smells. It will also extend its mop pads, like the Dreame X40 Ultra, to clean edges. This feature is also on the Q Revo Pro ($999.99), a more direct replacement for the current Q Revo featured in this guide. There’s no camera, no voice assistant, and it features the most basic obstacle avoidance tech.
- Ecovacs’ new Deebot X2 Combo ($1,599, on sale for $1,149.99) includes a souped-up X2 Omni with 8,700Pa suction and Matter support, but the big change is that it comes with a handheld and / or stick vacuum that attaches to a single auto-empty station. That’s one way to say your robot vac can tackle stairs. Hopefully, they’ve made some tweaks to the navigation system, too.
- Ecovacs recently launched a cheaper version of the combo. The Deebot T30S Combo costs $1,399.99 and is a standard, round-shaped robovac instead of squared like the X2. It also comes with a handheld stick vacuum that empties into the robovac’s auto-empty station, 11,000Pa of suction, and dual mopping pads that swing out to clean edges in a similar fashion to the Dreame line.
Image: Ecovacs
- Yeedi’s M12 Pro Plus ($1,099, on sale for $669) is a lower-priced, top-of-the-line bot with some impressive features. This includes 11,000Pa of suction and a base station that auto-empties the bin, refills the water tank, and washes the oscillating mop pads with hot water before drying them with hot air. Its mops can also extend for edge cleaning, and it has AI-powered obstacle avoidance, although it uses 3D detection instead of a camera and can only lift its mops 9mm.
- The Matic is a $995 robot vacuum that doesn't need a cloud connection and uses cameras to navigate, allowing it to roam more “naturally.” It’s the first robovac mop I’ve seen that can suck up wet spills as well as dry, and the company says it will soon have gesture detection — so you can point to where you want it to vacuum. The Matic is slated to ship later this year; I got an early look at CES — here’s some video of it in action.
- The Dreame X40 Master is a version of the X40 featured in this guide, but with plumbing hookups, meaning no bulky water tanks. Most other specs are the same as the current X40, and the bot is now available for $1,999.99 (or on sale for $1,899.99).
How I test robot vacuums
An Eufy robot vac running the gauntlet in my test lab / sitting room.
For our latest update, I tested six new robot vacuums while continuing to test our previous picks. I ran each in my home for at least a week — most for longer — to judge how well they handled household grime and everyday life.
I put each through a gauntlet of “tests”: phone chargers, socks, a pencil, and fake pet poop to test obstacle avoidance. I threw in Cheerios to see if they knew to vacuum them up rather than avoid them, and I also scattered oatmeal and flour to see how well they dealt with picking up fine debris.
I ran each over both thick and low-pile carpets and watched to see how they handled rug tassels, skinny chair legs, and room transitions.
For mopping prowess, I tested them on hardwood floors with dried milk, fresh OJ, and ketchup. I monitored how quickly they filled up their bin / auto-empty dock and how efficiently they used water and cleaned their mop pads (where applicable).
To test the apps and software features, I set schedules, hooked them up to voice assistants, and played with any advanced features in the app. I also evaluated their mapping skills, tested them on multiple floors, and tried out any unique features (such as home security camera capabilities, AI-cleaning programs, and auto-mop removal).
Robot vacuum cleaner FAQs
Does suction power matter in robot vacuums?
When buying a robot vacuum, you’ll be bombarded with suction power specs, but largely, all of these rolling sweepers are suitably sucky, picking up everything from dog hair and kitty litter to Cheerios and dust bunnies.
Suction power is measured in pascals (Pa), and robots with over 5,000Pa of suction do better than models with 2,500Pa. However, as noted earlier, the brushes make the biggest difference. Most robots have multiple suction levels, and more expensive models adjust to suck harder when they sense carpet.
However, with the exception of the Dyson 360 VisNav, I’ve not tested a robot vacuum that can get carpets really clean. (That vac has some major navigation issues, so unless you have nothing in your house, I would avoid it). Most robovacs get surface debris, but if you have a carpeted house or lots of rugs, I recommend investing in a stick vac for weekly deep cleaning and letting your robot vacuum do the maintenance work. These are also handy for stairs, something no robot vacuum can tackle (yet).
The key to a clean floor with a robot vac is consistency. Run it daily if you can; it won’t keep up as well if it only runs once a week. If you want hands-free cleaning everywhere, you’ll want to budget for one per floor or be prepared to move it around. You can also buy extra charging bases, and most models can map multiple floors.
Do all robot vacuums work with voice control?
Yes, every Wi-Fi-connected robot vacuum worth its salt today works with Alexa or Google smart speakers for voice control. However, some are limited to stop, start, and pause, and maybe suction level, whereas others can be told to go clean specific areas.
Here’s how to set up a bot with Alexa voice control or Google Home voice control. A couple of manufacturers now also work with Siri Shortcuts, so you can use Apple’s Siri voice assistant to command your bot. If you want this, look for robots from iRobot or higher-end models from Roborock and Ecovacs. Robot vacuums are now part of Matter, which should mean more opportunities for easier smart home integration and bring native Siri voice control to robot vacuums.
Which robot vacuums will work with Matter?
Matter is a new smart home standard that allows connected gadgets to work with any smart home platform, including Apple Home, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and Samsung SmartThings. When connected to your smart home platform through Matter, you should be able to control basic robot actions including start / stop and changing cleaning modes, as well as get alerts directly in the app, meaning you won’t need to use the manufacturer’s app for these functions.
Matter does not support room mapping, so you will still need to use the manufacturer’s app for that. However, based on Apple’s plans to implement robo-vac support in Matter, it appears you’ll be able to control room-specific cleaning through Matter platforms.
While Amazon Alexa and Google Home have supported robot vacuums for years, Matter will bring them to Apple Home for the first time. Apple said it would add support robot vacuums later this year, allowing you to control them with Siri voice commands and add them to scenes and automation. Additionally, Samsung SmartThings announced it will support robot vacuums via Matter through its app this summer. Google and Amazon have not announced a timeline for adding Matter support for robot vacuums, but you can control most of them today through cloud integrations.
Now for the bad news. Only four robot vacuums are currently Matter-certified: the Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra, Deebot’s Ecovacs X2 Combo, and the SwitchBot S10 and K10 Plus (through a separate SwitchBot hub). iRobot helped develop the Matter standard for robot vacuums, but the company has not announced whether its current or future models will support Matter.
Dreame doesn’t support Matter on any of its current vacuums, but the company told me it plans to add compatibility later this year. As robot vacuums work over Wi-Fi, it is possible companies could add Matter to existing models through an over-the-air firmware update, although none have committed to doing so. It looks like most are reserving it for their newer, high-end models.
Photos by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
Update, November 15th: Adjusted to reflect current pricing and availability.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/23982579/acastro_STK466_01.jpg)
