Best Rated Robot Vacuum and Mop
Eufy's top-rated robot mop and vacuum takes a lot of the burden of keeping your floors spotless. It can re-fill its own water tank, and self-empty its larger tower bin and swap the dust bag.
Advanced models can map your home and take note of furniture arrangement. They can also spot obstacles and navigate around hazards like loose charging cables and unintentional socks.
Object Avoidance
Object avoidance helps your robot to avoid hitting objects such as cords, toys and clothes that could get caught in the vacuum. These features are particularly important if you have pets or children that could leave items on the floor for your robot to search.
Based on the model you select depending on the model you select, your robot could have a variety of sensor options to assist it in its quest to avoid obstacles. Some of the most popular include crossed IR sensors that focus beams of infrared light throughout the room to spot things like doors and furniture legs. A lot of robots have adopted this technology, and you can find it in the top models that cost more.
Other technologies for avoiding objects that are typically found in more expensive robots include 3D Structured Light, which makes use of cameras and crossed IR sensors to map the surrounding area and detect obstacles. Also, Time of Flight (ToF) sensors which emit and measure the time it takes for light to reflect off of objects, to determine the distance to them. These are less common but can be an excellent option to add to your robot in case you're looking to add security.
Most of the top-rated robots are also able to mop your floors. Some even have their own water tanks that allow them to remove water-based spills and messes. You'll need to empty the robot's dust bin onboard and clean its cameras and sensors in between cleaning sessions.
Mapping
Robot vacuums must include mapping capabilities. This lets them navigate your home and avoid bumping against things like walls. Without mapping, they may be tripped by furniture, cords, or pet toys and end up cleaning less of your space. By using sensors, many robots map your home to identify any obstacles and assist them to navigate around them. They can sweep the floor in fewer passes, and make it easier for you to save time. Many of the top robotic vacuums also have this feature, which allows you to create no-go areas.
Robots that have a built-in LIDAR system make use of this technology to create a map of your home quickly and efficiently. The Eufy Clean robot divided my room into distinct areas and cleaned each one separately during our tests. This was a vast improvement over the cheaper models that only had sensors on the front of the vehicle. This was a much more precise way to navigate my home and was also easy to control using the app on the device.
Although there aren't any robot vacuums that can climb stairs, the top models do come with mapping and obstacle avoidance features. These tools assist to remove debris from carpets and hard floors and also to keep them from falling down the steps. Some tools have sensors that prevent them falling over the edge of the stairs. Others have boundary strips to keep them out.
Certain robots have a huge tower base that holds their dirt and debris, reducing the amount of dust and allergens that are released into your home. These bases can go several weeks or even months without emptying and are especially useful if you suffer from allergies. Some models also have self-emptying systems that let you take out the dust bins without needing to open and close them.
Wi-Fi enabled
Some robot vacuums utilize Wi-Fi to connect with their apps which allows you to control them using your smartphone instead of (or in addition to) the physical remote. Those models are more expensive, but they save you time by letting you schedule cleaning sessions on a weekly, daily or even a monthly basis. These models also let you edit floor maps and save them, as well as provide different cleaning patterns.
The most advanced robot vacuums employ dual sensors, which combine the LIDAR system to map your space with a structured light sensor that can detect objects and avoid them even if they're buried under furniture or power cords. These features allow your robot to reach into tight areas, such as the kitchen's nook under cabinets or under sofas. Other robots struggle with these areas. They also have a faster speed to navigate around obstacles, have longer runtimes and larger dust bins. This makes them ideal for homes with large spaces compared to basic robots.
The top rated robot vacuums are quick, efficient and effective and can clean up all kinds of floor debris, such as pet hair, kitty litter and other mess. They are also quite quiet, making them a great choice for homes with pets or young children. My Source of the robot vacuum owners we've interviewed say they appreciate the ease of keeping their floors clean without much effort, especially when used regularly. With proper maintenance (cleaning the rotating brushes and keeping track on the replacement parts) robots can last as long as a conventional full-size vacuum cleaner. PCWorld offers a guide with helpful tips to keep yours running smoothly.
Larger Dust Bags
A robotic vacuum may not be as good at cleaning like an upright or canister vacuum, but it is excellent at removing dust and dirt that regular vacuuming has left behind. It can also be used for quick repairs to floors and can navigate through cords and other obstacles that are common to household use. You can use robotics to sweep your floors according to a schedule in case you don't have the time to do it yourself.
Some of the top-rated robot vacuums come with large easy to empty dust bags which can hold more dirt than one room. This can save time and money through replacement bags. This feature is available on many models which includes our top pick one, the Ecovacs T30S Combo. This all-in-one robovac boasts an impressive performance score and includes an auto-emptying bin. It also has a mopping function and efficient navigation. It's a close contest between this and the iRobot Roomba Combo j9+, that has smart mapping and avoidance technology. The robovac is more expensive, but it has more capacity.
The two models differ in their handling of long hair, which could become tangled in the rollers of certain robots. The best-performing models are the Roborock Q5 Max+ and SwitchBot K10S Plus, both have superb hair pickup and tangle avoidance scores, along with fantastic path planning and near perfect auto empty results. The Shark Matrix Plus and eufy are also good options with decent hair pick-up and tangle avoidance but not as much path planning or auto empty.
The newest robots have sensors that can detect dirt and debris on the carpet, and are better at picking up hairs that have fallen off of pets. Some robots come with mopping modes which allows them to use the water reservoir in order to remove stuck-on mess and spills. This feature is essential for families with children as well as pets.
Maintenance
A robot vacuum can help keep up with your home. While no robot can replace an upright or a canister vacuum for deep cleaning, the highest rated models pick up pet hair, lint, and other dirt that accumulates on hard floors and low-pile carpets, picking up much more than you can with the vacuum. They have navigational features that keep them from getting stuck on power cords, rug fringe, or furniture.
According to the model, you can set up the robot vacuum to run multiple times a day or observe it in action with an app. These machines are useful but they also clog and require regular maintenance. This involves emptying the dust bin onboard (or in some cases, the base's larger bin) as well as checking the brushes for tangled fur and a regular cleaning of the filters and drying them according to the specifications of the manufacturer.
Emily Rairdin is a vacuum expert and store owner apprentice from University Vacuum + Sewing. She says that a robot vacuum can last for three to five years with proper maintenance. She recommends regularly emptying the bin and brush roll, cutting out any hair that is tangled in the brushes, and regularly washing and drying the filter in the event that your robot acts as mop. It's also an excellent idea to clean the charging contacts and sensors on the dock or the robot occasionally with a soft cloth. You can then refill and recharge your robot prior to the next clean-up session.