The older Eufy RoboVac L70 is still available as well, but its app is not capable of permanently remembering specific rooms in your home, which makes it substantially less convenient than most current laser-nav bots. As for cleaning, we’ve found over and over again that basic Eufy bots are capable of picking up all the most common types of debris off bare floors and low-pile rugs. It’s actually kind of surprising how effective they are, since the advertised suction is so modest, and the single brush roll is small.
Powered by rechargeable batteries, the robot typically sits on a charging dock to top off its energy supply. Premium models come with docking stations that can also empty the robot’s dustbin when it’s bissell crosswave cordless full. Roombas are the only robot vacuums that use two brush rolls that rotate toward each other, which works well on all surfaces but has its biggest advantage over other robot vacuums on rugs.
If you have plush carpets and a lot of hair to deal with, though, you’ll want a robot with better brush action and possibly stronger suction. This is a sturdier robot than any bump-and-run model from any other brand, which in our opinion more than offsets the Roomba’s slightly higher sticker price. The Roomba 600 series is also a stronger cleaner than other brands’ low-end robots, especially on rugs, thanks to the dual-brush and dirt-detection systems. The Roomba 694 is the most current model with Wi-Fi (for on-off remote control through a smartphone app), but you sometimes might be able to find a more basic model without Wi-Fi. Paying $250 or less for any of them is a fair deal; $200 or less is an excellent price. Many of these laser-navigation bots have similar specs, designs, and behaviors, and there’s no clear evidence to suggest that some are more reliable or durable than the others.
The Roomba i3 doesn’t have a smart mapping camera like the j7, s9 and i7 but in our tests it’s been just as efficient at cleaning. And anyway, the key benefit of not having smart navigation on board is that the i3 is much cheaper to buy and that’s a major bonus in our book. Add a raft of excellent room-mapping skills and the wherewithal to divide rooms and create keep-out zones in the iRobot app, and you have one of the most capable and reliable robot vacs currently on the market. If you have hairy pets like long-haired cats and shedding pooches, the self-emptying Plus model is absolutely essential. Without it you’ll be required to empty the bot yourself, and on a regular basis – like every 10 to 15 minutes. The other Clean Base-equipped models in the Roomba range are relatively quiet when going through the bin-emptying sequence but not this one.
Also available are replacement rubber wheels for the pool-cleaning Scooba robot. The company has many robots in its midrange 600 series and E series that are all about $300 or less. The app is simple and easy to use, the vacuum is quiet and powerful, and it has stellar navigation capabilities.
It’s not uncommon to hear about Eufy bots that break within 18 months, but it’s rare to hear about Roomba 600 series models failing so quickly. The 11S and similar Eufy models have a manual steering mode (Roombas don’t). It’s useful for quick spot cleanings, sort of like a cheap stick vacuum.
My husband quickly realized that just one spot wasn’t getting cleaned. I have one gripe, which is that the onboard bin is still pretty small. You can make up for this by increasing the emptying frequency and power in the app, or setting up different zones so it empties after each room. However, it did pick up tumbleweeds of dog hair and adroitly swiped croissant crumbs from under the kitchen counter that other vacuums had left behind. It mapped 850 square feet of my home on the first run for 110 minutes, with plenty of battery left to spare.