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, rarely get tired of cleaning.
I’ve been testing robot vacuums for five years and have run close to 50 robot vacuums all over my house in my quest to find the best. There’s been a lot of innovation in this space, which is slowly getting us closer to that Rosie the Robot dream. Robot vacuums that can actually mop are now a thing, auto-empty docks take a lot of the hassle out of cleaning your robot (although you do still need to do this), and better mapping and obstacle avoidance skills mean robot vacuums largely do get the job done. But we’re still far from a robot that can handle all your housework.
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. And two brushes are better than one.
A big bin (or an auto-empty option)
A big bin means you don’t need to empty it as often. 800 ml is the largest I’ve seen, but anything over 500 ml is decent. With many bots now pulling double duty as mopping robots, plus the popularity of auto-empty charging bases, it’s getting harder to find small robot vacs with big bins, but they’re still worth considering. I love auto-empty bases, but sometimes you don’t have space for them, especially if you like your robot to live under your bed (this is a useful thing, not a kinky thing).
Repairability
These robots are quite an investment, and the ability to buy replacement parts to keep them going for longer is a big bonus.
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.
Easy-to-use app
A good app has easy controls to stop and start your vacuum, scheduling options (including do not disturb-hours), plus good mapping features. My biggest frustration with apps is maps that are fiddly to update and / or crash and must be rebuilt constantly.
Good battery life
This is not as important now that 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). However, you want at least 120 minutes of runtime (180 is the best). It’s nice if the bot can clean the whole house in one go. Noisy robots that are constantly running will get shut off by annoyed family members.
An auto-empty dock
A nice-to-have rather than a must-have, this turns the charging base for your robot into a motorized emptying station that sucks out the dirt from its bin. (Warning: this process is very 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 standalone robots now have an auto-empty dock option you can add later, although buying them together is generally cheaper.
AI obstacle avoidance
Another nice-to-have feature, AI 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 decide how to approach them. Robot vacuums with AI avoidance are less likely to get stuck when cleaning, meaning you’re more likely to come home to a clean floor rather than a beached bot. It also means you don’t have to tidy up before the robot runs, as it can navigate around shoes, socks, and other common clutter.
As for price: everyone and their uncle is making robot vacs now, so the market is completely oversaturated. This means you should only be paying the list price if you really want the newest model — and you want it right now. Otherwise, please don’t buy a robot vacuum unless it’s on sale.
You can expect to get a decent basic floor sweeper for under $300, a mapping auto-emptying model for $400 to $600, and a top-of-the-line bot for $800 to $900. For those who want to do the least work, you’re looking at over $1,000 for one that sweeps, mops, and cleans itself while also avoiding smearing pet poop all over your floors. (Yes, this happens. Yes, it’s happened to me).
The good news is that there are a lot of 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.
Best robot vacuum overall
The Roomba j7 is an AI-powered robot vacuum that detects and avoids common robot traps, such as cords, cables, and pet waste. It works with a stylish clean base that will clean the dirt out of its bin so you don’t have to. Read our review.
Dustbin capacity: 419ml / Auto-empty dock option: yes / Mapping: yes / AI obstacle avoidance: yes / Remote check-in: yes / Keep-out zones: yes, virtual / Brush style: dual, rubber / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts
iRobot’s Roomba j7 is the best of the best, offering excellent cleaning power, an impressive app, plenty of extra features, easy repairability, and a stylish design for under $600. Its dual rubber roller brush system is the best out there for actually getting dirt off your floors. Most other bots use single brushes and don’t get everything up the first time. If you have pets, children, or just lots of foot traffic and find it hard to keep up with your floors, the j7 will do the dirty work for you.
While this is a pricey bot, it’s the first Roomba with AI obstacle avoidance. This means it uses both a camera and some processor-powered smarts to see and avoid potential obstacles, such as power cables, shoes, socks, and pet waste. The real benefit here is that you don’t have to tidy up before you run your vacuum (although cluttered floors won’t get as clean). It also means that it rarely gets stuck during a job, so you won’t come home to a beached bot and a half-clean house. I’ve tested a number of “AI” bots, and the j7 avoids debris the most reliably.
The Roomba j7 is a superb vacuum that looks good (for a vacuum) and works well. You can get the robot on its own or with iRobot’s Clean Base auto-empty dock — that model (pictured) is called the j7 Plus.
A 2023 update added the option to use the AI camera as a home security camera, letting you check in on your home through the app when you’re away. Remote Check In is optional, live stream only, and there’s no audio. This is a feature on a few high-end vacuums, and I find it useful for checking if I left a door open or finding where my cat is hanging out for the day. I wish I could use it to check if I left the stove on, but the angle means you can only see knee-high.
For about $200 more, you can take away the chore of emptying its decent-sized bin by investing in the j7 Plus, the j7 robot vac with an auto-empty dock. This is one of the most reliable (it doesn’t get clogged), nicest-looking auto-empty docks I’ve tested. The design is compact, with some welcome aesthetic touches, such as ribbed matte black plastic casing and a leather pull tab to access the bin area, so it doesn’t look too alien in your home. It also includes a cubby to store an extra bag, though I wish you could fit more than one in there. (If you already have the j7, you can buy the dock separately for about $250.)
The Roomba j7 is a mapping robot that can learn your home’s floor plan and identify the furniture and appliances in it. So I can ask it to clean specific areas, such as in front of the fridge or behind the couch. I find this really helpful when there’s a spill mid-food prep or for a quick clean-up after a meal: “Hey Alexa, ask Roomba to clean up around the dining table.”
While most mapping robots allow you to create virtual keep-out zones — areas the robot shouldn’t venture into — this Roomba uses its AI smarts to suggest trouble spots, making creating keep-out zones a one-tap job.
The j7 uses two rubber roller brushes and a large side brush.
I like that you can link the robot to other smart devices in your house. For example, you can set it to clean when you lock your front door or close your garage. Using the geofencing feature in the iRobot app, I had the j7 start running when I leave the house and stop when I arrive home. This works well, with the robot generally docking as I walked into the house.
The biggest downside is that Roombas are noisy. The j7 is one of the loudest vacuums I’ve tested, and you can’t adjust suction power for a quieter run as you can with almost every other robot vacuum.
A big reason I recommend Roombas is how easy they are to repair, a crucial factor for an expensive gadget you’d like to use for many years. My in-laws still have a Roomba they bought in 2007, and it works great. While parts are costly, they are readily available, including mechanical bits like wheels and the entire cleaning module. This is not the case for many of the other bots I tested. Roborock, for example, doesn’t sell spare parts beyond bags, bins, and brushes on its accessories site; you have to ship the robot to the company for any repairs.
If you are looking for the best clean for your buck and want to avoid the possibility that the robot won’t finish its run because of stray clutter, the Roomba j7 is the one to go with. Its cleaning prowess is largely unmatched thanks to the decades of experience iRobot has in this space, and it’s one of the easiest robot vacuums to use. The app is simple and uncluttered, with new features added frequently.
If you are looking for a robot that vacuums and mops, one of Roborock’s mopping robots will suit you better than iRobot’s j7 Combo, which is a j7 with a mopping pad. It doesn’t do enough with its mopping feature to justify the extra price. However, if you have a lot of high-pile rugs, the j7 tackles these better than Roborocks. In that case, I’d recommend getting the j7 and a separate mopping bot for your non-carpeted floors. iRobot’s Braava Jet m6 is a good option that can be programmed to mop after the Roomba vacuum is done. It’s often sold in a bundle. But beware, Braava Jets can’t handle high transitions at all.
Best budget robot vacuum
The best bang for your buck, the Roomba i3 Evo cleans just as well as the j7 but won’t avoid clutter and doesn’t have app-enabled clean zones or keep-out zones. If you can live without those, you’ll be very happy with this bot. You can also pair it with an auto-empty station for $200 more.
Dustbin capacity: 419ml / Brush style: dual rubber / Auto-empty dock option: yes / Mapping: yes / AI obstacle avoidance: no / Remote check-in: no / Keep-out zones: physical only / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts
While the Roomba j7 is the best bot if you want all the bells and whistles, the Roomba i3 Evo is the best pick for a more affordable robot vacuum. There’s no AI obstacle avoidance or app-enabled clean or keep-out zones, but it does have smart mapping (so you can control exactly which rooms it cleans and when) and a physical spot-cleaning button for doing small areas on the fly. It’s almost as powerful as the j7 and just as repairable, so it should last you longer than a cheaper vacuum from another company.
The mapping feature allows you to set a schedule for cleaning certain rooms or send it off at any time to clean just the kitchen or living room. This makes it less intrusive since it doesn’t try to clean the whole house on every run — so I didn’t find it dead in a corner as often after an annoyed family member shut it off.
For several hundred dollars less than the j7, the i3 has similar software features, the same suction level, and a slightly smaller battery. You can get it with an auto-empty dock for a list price of $550 (i.e., probably lower). The physical design is also very similar to the j7 under the hood, with two multi-surface rubber roller brushes to get more dirt up. These rubber brushes don’t get tangled by long hair the way bristle brushes can.
However, the i3 tends to bump into things more often than the j7, resulting in a few toppled chairs during testing. It isn’t the right bot for you if you have delicate items like vases on pedestals. It is a beast, however, and can tackle any floor surface you throw at it, managing most transitions with ease.
The Roomba i3 Evo Plus adds the auto-empty bin to the i3 and is the best value Roomba that can empty its own bin.
But there’s no option to add keep-out zones in the app; you’ll need to buy iRobot’s virtual walls if there are places you don’t want the robot to go. These are little towers that emit a 10-foot barrier or a four-foot circle. They cost $99 for two, so if you need more than a couple of keep-out zones (and closing a door won’t work), it’s worth going for the j7 instead.
The i3 has an attractive woven plastic gray top — a nice change from most of the shiny black plastic you find in this category (a magnet for dust, fingerprints, and scratches). It still gets stuck on common robot traps such as phone charging cables, cat toys, and the skinny feet of a lounger chair in my house. You need to tidy up a bit before setting it free, but it does better with large cables and rug tassels than many other robots. (iRobot has anti-tangle tech that makes the bot reverse course if it starts to get tangled.) This works pretty well for bigger items but, sadly, not phone charging cords.
It’s worth noting that the Roomba i4 is the same robot vacuum as the i3 Evo, so pick up whichever offers the best price.
Best midrange robot vacuum/mop
$900
The price is high, but this is the first sub-$1,000 bot that can do everything, just not quite as well as the top-of-the-line options. It vacuums, mops, self-empties, fills its mop reservoir, and cleans and dries its oscillating mops, plus it looks nice. It can map, has virtual keep-out zones, and works with voice assistants. But there’s no AI-powered obstacle avoidance, so you have to clean up your clutter, and its single roller brush isn’t as effective as the double ones on the j7 and S8.
Dustbin capacity: 350ml / Auto-empty dock option: yes / Mapping: yes / AI obstacle avoidance: no / Remote check-in: no / Keep-out zones: yes, virtual / Brush style: single rubber / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts
The Roborock Q Revo is an excellent bot that does everything you could ask for, but not quite as well as its top-of-the-line sibling, the Roborock S8. Which is sort of the definition of a “mid-range.” But if you want a good robot vacuum and mop that gets the job done but still leaves a bit of work for you (you’ll need to pick up those socks), the Q Revo is a great choice.
It’s cheaper than the Roomba j7 that can mop (the $1,100 J7 Combo) and is better at mopping. It also does more (including cleaning its mop and refilling the tank), and unlike the i3 Evo Plus, it has keep-out zones. So, if those features are important to you, the Q Revo is a good option. It’s expensive for a mid-range bot but has features only found on much more expensive bots, making it an overall bargain.
These include a big battery, two spinning mops that can lift up over carpet (so you don’t have to remove them to vacuum the whole house), and an auto-empty, wash and fill dock for a list price of under $900. This means it will empty the vacuum’s bin, fill its mopping reservoir, and wash the mops. Most other models that do all this cost over $1,000.
The Q Revo dock’s mop washing area is removable, making it easy to clean.
This is the first Roborock with spinning mop heads, but it only uses one rubber roller brush.
The Q Revo uses the Roborock app, which is easy to use and mostly reliable. I’ve only needed to rebuild my map once while using it in the last year, and there’s now a backup option to restore maps. You can set no-go zones, clean per room, and create specific zones to clean. I like that you can create multiple zones for one job and tell the robot to go over each as many as three times.
The main thing you’re sacrificing for the lower price of this bot is less effective vacuuming. The Q Revo uses one rubber brush compared to the S8’s dual roller brushes and requires multiple passes to get everything up compared to just one or two with the S8 or J7.
The Q Revo’s charging dock is surprisingly compact considering it does it all.
There’s also no AI obstacle avoidance, so a cable or rogue sock will derail the clean. It uses what Roborock calls Reactive Tech Obstacle avoidance, so it won’t mow down big items, but it’s not intelligent enough to avoid pet poop. But this bot is a good buy if you’re fine with cleaning up before your robot runs and giving it extra time to get the job done.
As a mop, the Q Revo is almost as good as its S8 sibling, deploying spinning oscillating mops rather than the wide flat pad. The S8’s downward pressure does a slightly better job of getting out the ground-in dirt, but the Q Revo’s oscillating action tackled my ketchup test admirably. The Q Revo also washes and air dries its mops, so you don’t have to mess with that.
A feature I love on the Q Revo, which I’ve not seen on any other dock that washes mops, is a removable mop-washing area. You can pop it out and rinse it in the sink. All the other models make you get down on your hands and knees and scrub in there to get the gunk out (it gets nasty in there quickly, so you need to do this weekly).
The Q Revo dock also has a nice slimline appearance — packing the dust bag and a clean and dirty water tank into one compact tower that’s tidier looking and smaller than most docks with similar capabilities without sacrificing capacity.
A cheaper auto-empty bot
My previous pick, the Shark AI, is a cheaper auto-emptying option. It’s a loud bot that’s long on features (including mapping) and short on style but comes at a bargain. It doesn’t use bags, but can only avoid objects if they’re over four inches tall. There’s a mopping version, the Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1, or you can buy it as a stand-alone bot.
Best robot vacuum under $300
$154
A true budget bot with no bells and whistles, just a determination to get the job done. With a 2-hour runtime, decent-sized bin, and tank-like wheels that can get over most large obstacles, the Shark is a good workhorse for a low price. It’s loud and will get tangled on cables, but the app is easy to use, and it works with Amazon Alexa and Google Home for voice and smart home control.
Dustbin capacity: 425ml / Auto-empty dock option: no / Mapping: no / AI obstacle avoidance: no / Remote check-in: no / Keep-out zones: no / Brush style: single bristle / rubber hybrid / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home
The Shark Ion is one of the best budget bots I’ve tested. It has a big bin (although not as big as I’d like), a simple app experience, and a decent battery for a very good price. It’s not fancy but it gets the job done.
The Shark is a good bot to stick under a bed or desk and set to run when you’re not home, as it’s loud and rattly and will bang into everything in its track. But its bullish nature and 120-minute runtime mean it’s less prone to getting stuck (although cables and socks will throw a wrench in its efforts as there’s no obstacle avoidance).
Unlike a lot of budget bots, it uses a hybrid roller brush that’s bristle and plastic and doesn’t get as tangled as standard bristle brushes. Its short, squat side brushes are surprisingly effective at getting debris into the robot’s path, and because they’re short, they’re less prone to getting tangled in stray cords.
The Shark’s bin is on the smaller side but is easy to empty.
The Shark has robust wheels that can tackle most obstacles, a hybrid brush system and extra floor brushes.
But the best thing ‘bout this bot is its tank-like wheels that will roll right over anything in its path, including high transitions between rooms and obstacles like lounger chair legs and other furniture traps that regularly stump other bots. That’s a good thing, as there’s no way to set keep-out zones here; there’s no mapping or any advanced features. This bot just goes. Another bonus: replacement parts are easily available, making this more repairable than most.
Shark doesn’t share suction power specs, but it ably handled all my tests, including the toughest: oatmeal. Those little flakes are hard to pick up, and side brushes will spin them out all over the floor. It did a good job on pet hair, too, although, like most robots I tested, it required at least two runs to get everything up effectively.
The app is super basic: just on / off and a choice of three power levels (they’re all loud, though), plus you can schedule it to run. Disappointingly, you can only schedule it once a day. Higher-end robots will let you program a bot to do 2 to 3 passes, but in lieu of that, I like the option to schedule it to go out twice to make sure it gets the job done. I couldn’t do that with the Shark. Still, you can press its button or use the app to send it out again if needed.
A cheaper, quieter option
My previous pick, the Eufy G20 robot vacuum, is a quieter option that does well in small spaces. It’s the shortest bot I’ve tested and is whisper-quiet. Its big 600 ml bin is good for a small apartment or as a second bot for upstairs. There’s no smart mapping and runtime is 90 minutes.
Best robot vacuum / mop with obstacle avoidance
The S8 mops and vacuums very well, and the addition of AI-obstacle avoidance and dual rubber roller brushes make it a good upgrade from the S7. Its mop-lifting trick means it can vacuum and mop your whole house in one go and it works with an auto-empty charging base, though you have to fill its water tank manually.
Dustbin capacity: 350ml / Auto-empty dock option: yes / Mapping: yes / AI obstacle avoidance: yes / Remote check-in: no / Keep-out zones: yes, virtual / Brush style: single rubber / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts
The Roborock S8 is the upgrade to my previous top pick for a robot vacuum/mop hybrid – the Roborock S7. The S7 was the first hybrid vacuum / mop that actually did a good job, and the S8 keeps that great performance and adds some impressive improvements, including AI obstacle avoidance and a dual roller brush system.
Its killer feature is the mop that vibrates 3,000 times a second to simulate some good old-fashioned scrubbing. This is paired with an extra-large water tank so the mop can actually get wet enough to be effective and the ability to lift up the mop so it doesn’t get your carpets wet. Unlike the S7, the S8 also lifts up its wheels, letting it clean up messes like ketchup without getting its brushes sticky.
The S8 is a very big bot, packing a big battery that adds power, an extra long 180-minute runtime, and a wide mopping plate. But it’s low enough to get under furniture. As it’s also a mopping bot with a big water reservoir, it has a smaller dust bin at 400 ml. Unless you get the auto-empty dock model (S8 Plus) for an extra couple of hundred dollars, you will be emptying this after every run.
The redesigned Rock Dock is looks and performs better than the previous model.
I do recommend the new dock if you have the room. While the S7’s dock was finicky, this one is much improved. It has a nicer design, a slimmer profile, and a more efficient evacuation system that didn’t get clogged once in testing, unlike the S7 dock.
But it’s the new dual rollers that really up the cleaning game here, and this is a big reason why you might want an S8 over the Q Revo. That said, it’s still not as good as the Roomba’s, which are much wider and cover more ground.
Roborock pioneered the “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. The real benefit here is less manual intervention. With many mopping bots, you have to swap out the mop pads when you want them to go vacuum the carpet. But the VibraRise feature can only clear low-pile rugs, so I had to set no-mopping zones around my plush floor coverings.
The S8 uses a dual roller brush cleaning system, similar to but slightly different from Roombas. Roombas use nubs to get up dirt rather than paddles, and their brushes are longer, making them more effective.
The S8 still requires some hands-on effort since you have to refill the reservoir (it doesn’t warn you when it’s empty) and wash the mopping pads (you can throw them in the washing machine), unlike the Q Revo, which does all that for you.
The S8 is slightly more effective at mopping than the Q Revo’s oscillating mops, but I didn’t like having to remove the mop pad for cleaning. However, it’s worth noting that all the robots that wash their mops take longer to clean your house — as they head back to the mop station every 20 minutes or so to clean themselves. The downside is those that don’t self-clean do drag an increasingly gross mop pad across your floor.
A feature I love with the S8 is that you can use it as two separate robots — a vacuum and a mop. It has a mop-only mode that moves in a tighter “Z” pattern and goes over the floors twice. You can also set it to move more slowly for a more thorough and quieter clean. I liked to send it out to vacuum everywhere first, then recharge and go out again to mop, which resulted in sparklingly clean floors. It does take a long time, though.
The S8’s obstacle avoidance is good; it rarely got derailed or trapped, but it’s not as consistent as Roborock’s S7 MaxV Ultra or Roomba j7 and did suck up the occasional cable. The S8 is a powerful, capable vacuum and mop and a good option with or without the auto-empty base.
The (still good) older model
My previous pick, the S7, is still a good robot vacuum/mop combo, if you’re happy to pick up clutter before you vacuum and don’t need an auto-empty dock (its version is prone to blockages). At what appears to be a permanent sale price of under $400, it’s a serious bargain.
Best self-cleaning robot vacuum / mop
$1400
This robot is expensive but worth it if you want cleaning your floors to be almost completely hands-free for up to two months at a time. It works with Alexa, Google Home, and Siri Shortcuts for smart home control and doubles as a home security camera.
Dustbin capacity: 400ml / Auto-empty dock option: yes / Mapping: yes / AI obstacle avoidance: yes / Remote check-in: yes / Keep-out zones: yes, virtual / Brush style: single rubber / Works with: Amazon Alexa, Google Home, Siri Shortcuts
As mentioned, there are a lot of new self-cleaning robot vacs out there, but right now, the original is still the best. That’s the Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra — not to be confused with the S7 Max Ultra or the S8 Pro Ultra. If you want a robot that vacuums, mops, empties its own dust bin and dirty water tank, refills its own clean water tank, and cleans itself, while also avoiding cables and pet waste, the Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra is the best of a small but growing category of self-cleaning robots.
The S7 MaxV Ultra has the same sonic VibraRise mopping action as the S8, so it mops very well. Its AI-powered obstacle recognition is a different AI tech than the S8, and it works better; this bot never gets caught on cables and successfully avoids pet waste. You can also use the onboard camera as a security camera, which you can’t do on the S8. Unlike this feature on the Roomba j7, there is two-way talk built-in. (It’s livestream only — there’s no recording).
The downside is that the charging/cleaning dock is huge and unattractive. And while it is well-designed — it’s easy to fill the fresh water and empty the dirty water tank — it does get a bit smelly. You also need to clean the mopping station periodically, and there is no hot air drying. Instead, it lifts the mop up to let it air dry.
The Ultra dock packs in two water tanks (clean/dirty) and a bag for collecting dirt from the vacuum.
The mop cleaning and drying process is efficient; theoretically, you don’t need to remove the pad after every run. But I recommend throwing it in the washing machine when emptying the dirty water tank.
One downside of this type of hybrid vacuum is that it needs to go back to its base every 20 minutes to refill and wash its mop. This process is quite loud and takes two or three minutes to complete as the little brush in the base runs back and forth across the mop and scrubs it. This extends the time it will take to completely clean your home (although you can tweak the timing in the app). But you do get much cleaner floors as a result.
I’ve tested several models in this category now, and the Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra is still my favorite. The Ecovacs Deebot X1 Omni (which has a built-in voice assistant and oscillating mops like the Q Revo) is also good, but the Roborock can vacuum carpets and mop simultaneously. In contrast, you have to choose your cleaning preference with the Ecovacs model each time you send it out. The newer Ecovacs T20 Omni can lift its mops, but in early testing, its obstacle avoidance was not as good as the Roborock’s.
The new Roborock S7 Max Ultra (without the V) is $100 cheaper and also comes in white, plus it adds warm air mop drying and slightly more power. However, I didn’t find the warm air made much difference at all, and this bot doesn’t use the same AI obstacle avoidance tech as the MaxV, so it isn’t as good at dodging debris.
Then there’s the S8 Pro Ultra with a cleaner-looking dock, the option of white, the mop drying feature, and the new dual roller brushes. Plus, Roborock ditched the red racing stripe design (which was a big nono in my book). But for $1,600, these upgrades aren’t worth the extra price.
The S8 also doesn’t offer the live video feature (something some people may see as a bonus, but I have found useful) or have any removable parts. Unlike the standard S8, you can’t remove the mop pad or the water reservoir, which could present repairability issues down the road. At $1,400, the MaxV Ultra is an excellent robot vacuum; if you can find it on sale, you’ll be extra happy.
FAQ: robot vacuum cleaners
Does suction power matter in robot vacuums?
When buying a robo vac, you’ll be bombarded with lots of specs around suction power, but largely all of these rolling sweepers are suitably sucky, picking up everything from dog hair and kitty litter to Cheerios and dust bunnies. Roborocks with 5,000 to 6,000 Pa of suction do better than models with 2,000 Pa, but 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, none can really, truly get carpets clean. They get surface debris, but if you have a carpeted house or lots of rugs, I recommend investing in a stick vac for weekly deep cleans. 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 supposed to be part of Matter in the future, but who knows when that will happen.
Which robot vacuum is best for pet hair?
Any of the robot vacs in this list will work well for pet hair. But if you have multiple critters in your home and they’re extra shaggy (think Persian fluff balls or long-haired retrievers), then you should definitely invest in a model with dual rubber roller brushes (the Roborock S8 or Roomba j7 or i3). These are the best at getting hair up from carpet. Although, as noted, you’ll probably still need a stick vac for weekly deep cleans.
Photos by Jennifer Pattison Tuohy / The Verge
Updated July 1, 2023: After testing several new robot vacuums, I’ve updated my recommendations and made tweaks throughout.
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