10 Best Rated Robot Vacuum Tricks Experts Recommend

Best Rated Robot Vacuum Cleaner

While robot vacuums are fantastic at keeping your floors clean however, they're not able to replace a full-size vacuum. Even the most powerful robots struggle to get deep into carpets or rugs, and can often get tangled in cords and socks.

Your robot will last longer if you perform regular maintenance. This includes replacing filters, removing hairs that have become tangled off brushes, and emptying the dustbin.

Battery Life

The majority of robot vacuums can manage one or two cleaning sessions before requiring a charge. The Ecovacs Q30S Combo is a close second in our overall picks. It comes with batteries that last for up to 180 minutes (3,230 square foot) on one charge. This is more than enough time to clean smaller homes with carpets that are hard and low-pile carpets or a larger house where the rooms are roughly the same size.

A longer battery life means that the robot will spend less time charging and more time cleaning. It's recommended to select an auto-emptying dust bin, since they are more efficient in picking up debris and returning to the dock for recharging. It is essential to clean or replace the filters and wipe down the sensors and camera regularly so they can see clearly.

Smart mapping technology is a great feature to look for, as it allows you to program your robot to clean specific rooms or areas that it's likely to bump into furniture or other obstacles. This feature is also helpful for ensuring that your robot can reach under and around furniture, such as sofas, beds and other large objects. Some cheap robovacs come with boundary strips you can use to block off specific areas. Other high-end models rely on sensors and cameras.

Even the best robot vacuum cleaner robot vacuums cannot replace a conventional vac when it comes heavy-duty dirt and debris. It's best to keep a power vacuum available to tackle these tasks, and also schedule robot vacs for light cleanings throughout the week.

Navigation

A robot must be able to navigate your home without getting stuck or crashing into objects like metal screws, loose pet hair, or sand. In our tests, a tracking device is used to track the robot through an entire lab. It then maps its surroundings. We also check how well the robot is able to avoid obstacles like power cords, furniture leg and pet waste.

The best value robot vacuum (click here for more) robots are able to map out multiple floors and recognize landmarks, like doors and windows. The most advanced robots like the Roborock S8 Pro Ultra have a dual sensor navigation system which utilizes a LIDAR to create a floor plan and a structured-light camera on the front to detect objects in real-time. The S8 is able to avoid obstacles such as cables for power and furniture legs. It also has the capability to store up to four floor maps.

Most affordable models use bump sensors, which are not as accurate. In my tests they were able detect dog poop and cords, as well as a pair shoes placed in the middle. The most cost-effective choice Dreametech D10+, is an exception to this. It has excellent carpet, hard floor, tangle and hair pickup. It also has an auto empty score that is near-perfect.

Another important feature is a huge onboard dustbin that doesn't need to be manually emptied, and for models that mop, a water tank which can store weeks of cleaning sessions. Karcher's RCV 5 is a good example of this. It has a big enough footprint to be able to be placed under furniture, but not so large that it can't fit into the space between your bathtub and toilet.

Apps

Robot vacuums are a lot like upright vacuums and require lots of technology to bring them up to speed. The result is a mature market with plenty of options. But even the top models require some interaction with their users - especially when it comes to scheduling cleanings as well as establishing a home floor plan, and setting up virtual barriers.

You might consider a model with its own app that can recognize the layout of your house and save these settings for later use. This will allow the robot vacuum to continue where it left off when it runs again, instead of having the mapping process restarted every time.

Also, look for models that provide spot or zone cleaning. You can instruct the robot vacuum cleaner to concentrate on a specific area, such as under the table after a big family meal. It is possible to do this via the app or by voice commands.

A lot of models also offer objects-avoidance. It allows the robot when it sees something that is in its path, like a box of shoes or a crate containing dog toys, to coach itself around. This prevents it from crashing into objects that might damage its sensors or cause jams.

Some of the more expensive models we've tested include this feature. However, best value Robot vacuum they typically rely on bump sensors to accomplish this, and they weren't always able to avoid things in my test homes.

Pet Hair

Look for an upright automatic vacuum cleaner specifically designed to collect hair from pets. The best models have high suction power and a brush that is free of the tangling and an emptying mechanism that will automatically dump hair into the dust bin when needed. Some models can detect dirt levels and alter the level of cleaning. They can also detect objects that aren't part your home flooring, like furniture, toys, and food bowls.

Certain robot vacuums have additional pet-friendly features. These include the water dispenser that can be used to mop floors, and a HEPA filtering system that eliminates allergens like pet dust. They may also offer a quieter operation that can minimize the amount of noise that's produced during cleaning sessions.

Robot vacuums that have mapping capabilities are an excellent option for pet owners, as they're engineered to assess your home and create an action plan according to the layout and the obstacles in each room. For example, the Shark Matrix Plus 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum is a smart vacuum with an impressive ability to map a room and navigate around furniture and other obstructions with accelerometer and gyroscope sensors that work in conjunction to learn the layout of your room.

Other models that are more advanced allow you to define no-go zones that are areas that the robot is expected to stay clear of, such as fragile items or pet feeding spots. You can adjust these settings through an app. This feature is especially useful for households with busy schedules as it permits you to schedule cleaning sessions and adjust settings without having to be in the same room as the vacuum. Another great feature is spot cleaning which allows you to direct the vacuum to clean a specific area that may be particularly dirty or full of pet hair.

Dust Bin

If you don't need something small, consider a robot with a big bin or even a self-emptying trash bin. We suggest choosing a model that has a large bin or a bin that self-empties. The former will help you keep track of emptying the bin often enough to keep track of its performance while the latter will save you time and hassle by automatically emptying its contents into an internal container every few cleans.

Look for models that have smart mapping capabilities that permit them to "learn" the layout of your home and devise more efficient routes. They can also sense and avoid objects that may hinder their travel (like shoelaces or tangled charging cables). Look for models with smart mapping capabilities, which allow them to "learn" the structure of your home and plan more efficient routes, and ones that are able to detect and avoid objects that may hinder their routes (like shoelaces or tangled charging cables).

Some models also offer spot cleaning. This allows you to select an area of your house for thorough cleaning. In our tests, we discovered that the best affordable robot vacuum models can remove small particles like baking soda, sand orzo, metal screws, and pet hair, as well as heavier debris like oatmeal, orzo, and screws made of metal.

According to the brand the manufacturer, robots last for a long time and perform well as long as they are maintained. For example cleaning hair tangled of brushes and emptying dust bins after each use, and wiping cameras and sensors down when needed. The best-performing robots also tend to be more modular and therefore easier and less costly to replace or repair parts like batteries and wheels as they wear out.