9 Best Robot Vacuums [Tested and Reviewed]

The Roomba name has become most closely associated with robot vacuums. Their Roomba j7+ model shows the evolution of the brand's obstacle avoidance, and it's received praise for its ability to avoid things like pet droppings and other unexpected waste.

In order to test its claims, we put a slipper on the ground after it had finished mapping the room. While all the other products we tested ran straight into the slipper, only this was able to recognize its presence and move out of the way.

Another plus point is its use of rubber for the brushes, which didn't allow hair or other debris to get tangled up. Since it throws dirt out by itself at the disposal station and only requires infrequent maintenance, it's a good choice for people who have pets with long fur.

On the downside, it made noticeable impacts when it ran into things. It would frequently run into legs on tables and sofas and rarely avoided obstacles before colliding. On the other hand, it turned widely around power cables on the ground, resulting in some spots not getting cleaned. The extreme sensitivity of its obstacle avoidance functionality sometimes causes trash to get left behind, and it ended up getting to about 70 percent of everything we left out.

This model excels in doing a quick one-over of the whole room as opposed to meticulously cleaning every little spot, but thankfully it maintains its strength on carpets. It was able to suck up about half of the trash we left on the carpets in our tests, which most of the other robot vacuums failed at.

As a high end model within the Roomba lineup, it doesn't leave anything out when it comes to feature set. The advanced disposal station is more compact than those for many other robot vacuums, so it won't stand out awkwardly in your living room. While it isn't number one when it comes to suction power or obstacle avoidance, its performance still has advantages that aren't seen in other robot vacuums.

The roborock Q5+ "Robot Vacuum with Self-Empty Dock" is equipped with a laser on top of the unit to detect obstacles and room size. It's mapping function is precise even in the dark, and it recognizes your room as a three dimensional space. The resulting map is easy to understand and lets you specify keep out zones and particular areas you want cleaned.

This robot vacuum scored high on our tests, revealing an overall well-balanced product. It took the best score in mapping performance thanks to the variety of features found in the accompanying app. You can set a different start time for each day of the week and set the suction mode to "nighttime" or "high performance", which lets each individual adjust performance to their own needs.

It uses a laser and camera to understand the layout of a room, resulting in relatively lighter impacts with obstacles. Mapping only takes about five minutes, so you can get straight to cleaning. Even when using the quick mapping feature, the map is reasonably accurate, and it will usually slow down when it nears a curve or obstacle. To a person watching, it looks like it's thinking on its own.

When we tested the high performance setting, we noticed that it cautiously approached table legs and other round obstacles while still leaving very little dirt behind. It picked up 1.25 ounces of the 1.3 ounces of trash that we left out, an entire 93.4 percent.

Thanks to the included disposal station, you'll only need to clean up after it about once a month, so we can confidently say it has all the features you would want in a robot vacuum. It doesn't really have any downside, so it's definitely a product to consider investing in.

Traditional robot vacuums would go over rooms in a "Z" pattern, which often led to collisions and spills. The Shark AV2501S AI Robot Vacuum with HEPA Self-Empty Base alleviates this problem by using its AI Laser Navigation for extremely precise mapping.

As it claims, the mapping feature is very advanced, and it takes about 15 minutes to map the entire room. As a result we could see that it gracefully avoided sofa legs and was able to cover every spot in the room.

The fact that it moves so cautiously also means it produces relatively little noise, and impacts with tables or other furniture were soft. We didn't experiences any impacts that made us take notice while sitting on the sofa.

The tradeoff for all this functionality is the inconvenience of the camera on top of the unit. It's 4.1 inches tall when you include the camera, which is too tall to get into some tight spots, such as under a TV stand. Also, it only has one bundle of brushes, so it sometimes leaves noticeable dirt and debris behind.

But even so, it delivers on its promise of getting to every nook and cranny of the room, and it managed to pick up over 90 percent of the trash we left out.

It also has all the features you would expect from a high end model, like programmable keep out zones and scheduled cleaning. The disposal station, which uses a HEPA filter, makes it easy to clean and care for.

With no major weaknesses and a relatively low price by the standards of high end robot vacuums, this is one model you'll want to keep in mind if you don't want to shell out for the most expensive products on the market.

iRobot's Roomba i3+ has a cloth covering to prevent things like fingerprints and scratches. This is the predecessor to the Roomba j7+ and includes features like automatic disposal and room-by-room settings.

Since this is one of their mid-tier models, it comes with a limited number of functions. While you can specify the starting time for each day of the week on the app, it doesn't have a way to register keep out zones. For people who want to prevent the vacuum from entering a certain room, they'll need to buy the separately sold virtual wall barriers and set those up.

Although it didn't impress us with its feature set, the impacts it made were relatively light within the Roomba series of robot vacuums. We didn't experience any impacts strong enough to shake a cup left out on the table, and we could clearly see it slow down as it approached obstacles.

In suction power, it actually surpasses the more expensive Roomba j7+ model. It cautiously went over all the spots around sofa legs, and we could see a few places with no debris left behind.

Unfortunately it couldn't get to areas behind curtains, and it ended up cleaning about 70 percent of the trash we left out on wooden flooring. Interestingly, it managed to pick up 88.5 percent of the debris left on carpets. While many robot vacuums have a hard time on carpets, this one demonstrated excellent suction power on all types of floors.

The brushes are made of rubber just like the Roomba j7+ and arranged tightly similar to a paint roller. It comes with a disposal station, so you won't need to clean up after it very often.

The main differences between this model and the high-end models is the lower obstacle avoidance accuracy and lack of keep out zones, but if you keep your pets outside or don't have too many rooms to clean the difference shouldn't be a problem.

While most robot vacuums are round, the D10 Intelligent Robot Vacuum Cleaner-LaserSmart Nav by Neato Robotics is shaped like a letter "D" so that it can easily reach corners in your room. Setup is handled with an app which allows for creating both maps and keep out zones.

This model doesn't have a precise sensor or camera, resulting in erratic movements, and mapping alone requires about 40 minutes.

Just because it takes a lot of time for mapping doesn't necessarily mean that it excels in recognizing obstacles, and we found that it won't approach curtains at all, possibly due to mistaking them for obstacles. The D-shaped body doesn't work well with circular objects like furniture legs, and it wasn't able to pick up much trash around legs. It picked up 88.1 percent of the trash we left out, which is commendable, but it also left some larger pieces in those hard-to-reach areas.

However, it did perform well on obstacle avoidance. It didn't cause any impacts that were strong enough to shake the furniture, nor did we record any collisions that would be cause for concern. The lack of powerful collisions was similar to that of the high-performing roborock robot vacuum.

While it comes equipped with a respectable number of features, unfortunately some of them don't function as intended. It carries out its primary function of getting your room clean reasonably well, so for people who are renting and need to be careful not to damage their walls, or those with small children who are concerned about the noise made by collisions, it could be a good choice.

The Noisz by ILIFE S5 by maker ILIFE is a budget priced robot vacuum that dips below the 200 dollar mark. It uses a remote control and comes with virtual wall barriers for creating keep out zones. Although they do need to be set up manually, this could actually be a selling point for people new to robot vacuums or those who don't feel comfortable using apps.

This model's biggest strength is its low noise. At 57.9 decibels, the sound produced while operating is well below the ideal 60 decibel mark. The amount of background noise for a family or group of friends talking is generally around 55 decibels. This means you probably won't notice the robot vacuum if you're having a conversation or watching TV.

Considering it sucked up around 90 percent of the trash we left out, we would say its cleaning power is in the upper range. It also got in around sofa legs, and we could see that there wasn't anything left over in the areas surrounding three out of the four legs.

Unfortunately it doesn't have any mapping function, nor is it equipped with an advanced sensor for recognizing obstacles. It has to run into things first before it can get around them, and it turned in the opposite directions when it touched curtains. We had to take its inability to clean around curtains into account when making evaluations.

During our tests, we left a fan inside the room to be cleaned. Since this robot vacuum can only detect things in front of it, it got caught on the power cord and couldn't move anymore. It even tried climbing over the fan, revealing a lack of the advanced functionality most people would expect from a robot vacuum.

Another disadvantage is that, due to the lack of a mapping feature, it will continue to run until the battery runs out. Despite the low noise, having it move about the house constantly would eventually break your concentration if you work from home.

Robot vacuum maker ILIFE says their goal is to make your life more fulfilling by simplifying cleaning. They entered the market in 2010 and currently make both stick vacuums and handheld vacuums. Their V3s Pro Robot Vacuum Cleaner uses two types of filters in its dustbin, which is said to lessen the likelihood of clogs.

As it's a budget model, it doesn't come with a disposal station, nor does it have a mapping feature. It can't be controlled with an app, so powering on and choosing the suction mode all have to be done on a remote control. It moves in a "Z" pattern starting from the outer perimeter of the room, so there's little dust left behind.

Possibly due to the two side brushes, this robot vacuum picks up nearly all trash in its path, and it on par with some of the highest ranked models. The body is slim enough to manoeuvre easily through your home, and it picked up 92.6 percent of the trash we left out. It's adept at getting under furniture, and we only recorded 0.004 ounces of dirt left around the sofa legs. It's very persistent when it comes to sucking up debris.

But without a mapping feature, it has no record of where it's cleaned and where it hasn't, and will continue operating until the battery runs out. It should usually return to the charging dock when the battery gets low, but it can run for an entire 80 minutes. With a robot vacuum running around for that long in your house, it could be a distraction from other chores or activities.

On top of that, it doesn't have advanced obstacle recognition, and will even try to vacuum up left out power cords. There's the chance of it picking up socks or earphones you've accidentally left out, so you can't just turn it on casually without tidying up in advance.

The Roomba 694 is an entry-level model in iRobot's Roomba series. Surprisingly, it uses an app for control despite the budget price. You can specify starting times for each day of the week, but there is no mapping feature or way to set up keep out zones.

We couldn't help but notice the big impacts it made when cleaning. Robot vacuums in the Roomba series have a tendency to run straight into furniture and appliances, but this one in particular moved so quickly that we logged several strong shocks to furniture.

During cleaning it would run into the same table or sofa again and again, revealing a lack of the type of sensor technology most people would expect from a robot vacuum. It also got caught up in power cords and would drag them along to the point where it almost knocked over some appliances.

Thankfully it approached areas around sofa legs and behind curtains without hesitation, and left little dirt behind. It picked up over 60 percent of the trash we left out, which is enough so that you wouldn't visually notice much of whatever was left.

But when taking the difficulty of maintenance into account, we wouldn't recommend this model to just anyone. Unlike the Roomba j7+ or Roomba i3+, is doesn't come with a disposal station, and the brushes are made from stiff hairs instead of rubber. Pet hair and other debris was often caught in them afterward, and the hard material used for the brushes made cleaning a chore. People who keep an indoor pet should probably avoid it.

But for people who live alone or want to use it alongside their traditional stick or canister vacuum, the small amount of dust and debris to clean up will result in less frequent maintenance. Considering the strong suction power, it might be a good candidate if you can forgive the noticeable shocks it makes.