(It was launched in fall 2021, and representatives from iRobot suggested to us that it will get smarter over time through software updates.) However, the one obstacle that they do promise to avoid—with a money back guarantee—is poop. “You’d be surprised at how many types of poop there are,” said Hooman Shahidi, iRobot’s vice president of product development, in a conversation with Wirecutter. He noted that they’ve curated a large learning library of different “shapes and configurations” of pet waste. They’re basically fine, but they won’t match the agility of the Eufy or the durability of the Roomba. The LG CordZero R9 is a very expensive vacuum with powerful cleaning specs, but user reviews from Australia, where it’s been available for a while, are not favorable. The 11S and similar Eufy models have a manual steering mode (Roombas don’t).
I have a long-haired cat, a long-haired wife, and a toddler, who all leave plenty for the robot to pick up . In one test, I run the bot in a room with two chairs, some stray USB cables, a sock, a flat-weave area rug with uneven edges and tassels, and a tall threshold—several of the most-common bot-trapping obstacles in one place. As long as a robot can clean my apartment pretty well, without getting stuck or lost too often, I’ll put it through some stress tests. Roomba can be preset to vacuum up to seven times per week giving you a clean home, every day. Specialized dry sweeping and wet mopping pads help keep floors fresh every day, taking mopping off your mind and your to-do list.
You can schedule cleaning sessions or use a voice assistant to start one, but even though it’s connected, you can’t map your home or target areas to be cleaned. We don’t think the extra connected features are worth the extra money, so for $50 less, we found the Eufy 11S to be a better vacuum. Like other self-emptying robot vacuums, the Shark IQ XL returns to the base and empties its contents. The Shark, however, is the only vacuum we tested that features a bagless self-emptying base.
To their credit, they seem to be strong cleaners, particularly on bare floors. The downside with some of these other bots is that you might end up having a hard time getting customer support. It won’t always be clear where you can get spare filters, brushes, or other consumable parts, let alone major components like battery packs, wheels, or LiDAR assemblies. It’s tough enough to find these parts from established brands like Roborock, so it’s hard to imagine the smaller brands will make it any easier. If any of these brands disappear after a year or two, it wouldn’t be the first time it’s happened in the competitive world of robot vacuums. We’ve also noticed that the lesser-known brands have not updated their robots’ software with bug fixes or new features as consistently as Roborock has.
As one of the top names in robotic vacuums, Roombas tend to feature some enticing capabilities across the board, including app, Wi-Fi, and voice-control integrations, household mapping, and, of course, dependable vacuuming performance. If you’re not willing to devote the time to prepping the house, then opt for the LiDAR-enabled, connected robot vacuums — like our irobot vacuum cleaner overall recommendation, the iRobot Roomba j7+ — that are smart enough to detect and steer clear of obstacles. Spending the time during the initial setup, mapping your home and creating in-app “no-go zones” will save you the hassle of decluttering each time you run the vacuum. The dustbin on the 11S needs to be emptied manually, like others in this price range.
If you have a bigger living area, you’ll want to look for a robot vacuum that can get at least 90 minutes of battery life so it can hit every room before requiring a recharge. To test this, we charge the bissell crosswave cordless battery to full, start a cleaning cycle, and time how long the robot runs before it needs to be docked. In some cases, it may take several complete cleaning cycles for a robot to run out of battery.