It’s no longer one of iRobot’s “core” models and isn’t available through as many retailers as others, but you can still find it in plenty of places for now. The functionally identical Roomba i6 is also common, as are the auto-emptying Roomba i6+ and Roomba i8+. To test the obstacle-recognition feature on some new high-end robots, we use a variety of objects, including shoes, pet bowls, cat toys, and shark cordless cords. We’ve even put a fake dog turd in the path of a robot vac to see if it can avoid smearing the mess all over the floor. In addition to all the testing, this guide includes feedback from dozens of bot owners who live in all kinds of homes and households. This tried-and-true robot vacuum is much more durable and repairable than similar bots from other brands and is better at cleaning rugs, too.
In the first generation, the dirty air passes through the fan before reaching the filter, while later models use a fan-bypass vacuum. Because they are smaller and less powerful than large upright vacuums, the dustbin must be emptied frequently , and hair and other obstructions must be removed from rollers and brushes more frequently. One of the best innovations in the robot vacuum space in recent years has been the development of models that can empty their own dustbins. Beyond offering greater convenience than traditional models, they significantly limit your exposure to dust, a big plus if you suffer from allergies. As recently as a couple of years ago, it was difficult to find a sub-$1,000 self-emptying robot vacuum, but the price of these models has been decreasing.
We used three pieces of prank dog poop, all of different shapes, to represent the offensive substance. We lab-tested the best robot vac brands such as Neato, Samsung, iRobot, Roborock, Eufy and Ecovacs and found the best robot vacuum to fit your cleaning needs. Before you start a cleaning bissell crosswave cordless session, you should pick up any laundry, charging cables, or lightweight mats—most bots will get stuck on them. And you should expect a few hiccups during the first handful of sessions. But then you’ll figure out the pain points and get into a routine, and it won’t seem like a big deal.
The Roomba 694, on the other hand, was easy for us to strip down and then reassemble with just a screwdriver. In one test, the basic Eufy RoboVac 11S spent an hour picking up enough debris to fill the palm of our hand. Next we ran the Neato Botvac D7 (usually $700 when it was a current model), and it picked up only enough hair to coat the filter and a bit of dust. Then we ran the iRobot Roomba s9+ (usually $1,100), and it came back with barely anything in the bin. The Roomba 694, like most affordable robots, is what we call a bump-and-run navigator.
It’s really up to you, but the advantage of a robot vacuum is that it can clean floors more often than many people are willing to vacuum. If you schedule it to run every few days, or even every day, dust and crumbs never have a chance to accumulate, leaving your floors feeling cleaner than they would without a bot. In most homes, a bot is likely to stay in good shape if you do about 15 minutes of maintenance per month, maybe a bit more if the bot has a heavy workload. For all bots, be sure to leave a few feet open around and above the dock. If the dock is in a cluttered area or under a piece of furniture, there’s a good chance the bot will not re-dock.