Many homes have hot spots—a weird door jamb, a lumpy rug—where you will need to rescue your vac. Do a quick run-through beforehand for robot booby traps, like ribbons and pieces of string. Whether you’re up against pet hair or you want to splurge on a high-end laser-guided bot, we have the perfect pick for you. But, any attempt to fix a robot vacuum should start with contacting customer service. You’ll also need to replace the filter and brushes every few months.
The Roomba 694 also has a dirt-detection system, which helps the bot reliably clean the most obvious piles of debris, as long as it encounters that pile on its semi-random travels. They’re more than a toy or a novelty item, and can be a valuable floor-care tool in most homes. If you’re short on time or just hate vacuuming, a robot vacuum will probably make your life easier. This affordable robot vacuum is quieter and fits under more furniture than any other model we’ve tested. While it works best in small spaces, it rarely gets stuck and does a good job on bare floors and short-pile rugs. Robot vacuums never get bored or distracted, and they don’t mind cleaning every day.
Speaking of recharging, the 960 and flagship 980 are the only models of Roomba which can carry on with a cleaning job after recharging. However, you’re likely to find its bin gets full long before the battery winds down, which in the 980, is about two hours. But if we set the Roomba to clean every day then this could be extended. Second, while robots have sensors to make sure they don’t smash into things or bissell crosswave cordless roll down the stairs, there isn’t much stopping them from sucking up small items. You’ll need to make sure objects like cables, shoelaces, and hairpins are off the floor before each cleaning session, as well as anything that might get caught in rollers, like tassels. The i3 is available with or without the Clean Base charging station and, according to iRobot, it has the same suction power as the older i7.
You can even pair it with the iRobot Braava Jet M6 to mop after it finishes its vacuum cycle. It picked up all of the coffee grounds, kitty litter, and pet hair we laid out on carpeting and hardwood. It had a more challenging time with flour, leaving 10% of the flour on hardwood and a disappointing 40% of the flour on the carpeting. The most promising vacuums are then sent to a reviewer to see how well they perform in a real-world environment. Here, we look at things such as how easily it navigates around an apartment, if it gets stuck under furniture or on carpets, how difficult it is to set up, and how messy it is to empty its dustbin.
The main thing that makes the Roomba 600 series stand out from other affordable robot vacuums is that it’s more durable and easier to repair . They generally don’t break, spare parts are always in stock, and you can swap in everything from a new filter to a new transmission with nothing more than a screwdriver. You’ll usually pay more for the Roomba 694 than you would for our other budget pick, the Eufy 11S, or other super-cheap bots with random navigation. But the Roomba can easily pay off in the long run because it’ll last longer.
Combining a powerful cleaning system with intelligent sensors, our robots move seamlessly through your home, adapting to the surroundings to thoroughly vacuum your floors — leaving you with more time for what’s important. The 800 series, introduced in 2013, is similar to the 700 series and its predecessors, but contains updated technology. The AeroForce Performance Cleaning System, which is five times more powerful than older series, and the iRobot XLife battery are some of the new features.
Besides, most good robots at all prices are pretty good at avoiding bot-trapping obstacles. And bot owners tend to get in the habit of picking up the kinds of floor-bound clutter that can create a problem—toys, shark cordless shoes, laundry, even certain lightweight floor mats—so that the robot can work effectively. If you like the sound of the Roomba 694 but want just a little more cleaning power, you could look for a Roomba e5.
The S9 Plus can navigate and map multiple rooms and floors, while avoiding “keep-out zones” that you can designate. The app also lets you use Alexa or Google Assistant commands to tell it to begin cleaning a room. For more, see our lists of the best robot vacuums for pet hair and the best robot mops. If you have both carpet and hard flooring throughout your home, you might want to consider a hybrid that can do double duty as a vacuum and a mop, such as the Deebot Ozmo T8 AIVI or the Bissell SpinWave Wet and Dry. Standalone robot mops aren’t eligible for this list because they don’t suck up dirt and debris, but they will get your hard floors nice and shiny.
This baby is the brand’s newest model, re-engineered to boast suction power while maintaining quiet operation and a super-slim design. The Shark ION Robot Vacuum includes the brand’s Tri-Brush System which is a combination of side brushes, channel brushes and a multi-surface brushroll to handle debris on all surfaces. Plus, the SharkClean app lets you start and stop cleaning and schedule your robot to clean whenever you want. Aided by multiple sensors and lasers, efficient navigation is the S7’s strong suit. The vacuum cleaner covered the entire floor of our test room in an average of just 16 minutes. That’s a full 9 minutes shorter than the Roomba S9 Plus required .