Rick Colbert

Best Rated Robot Vacuum and Mop

Eufy's top-rated robot mop and vacuum takes a lot of the work of keeping your floors clean. It can refill its own water tank, empty its larger tower bin and then change out the dust bag.

More advanced models are smart enough to draw a map of your home and take note of furniture placement. They can also identify hazards and help you avoid them, like loose charging cables or loose socks.

Object Avoidance

Object avoidance helps your robot to avoid hitting things like cords, toys, and clothing that could be caught in the vacuum. These features are especially important if your family has pets or children who may leave objects on the floor for your robot to discover.

Based on the model you pick, you might have a variety of sensors that can aid your robot in navigating around obstacles. Some of the most popular include crossed IR sensor beams, which are focused infrared lights that scan across the room looking for things like furniture legs or door frames. This technology has been widely adopted by a variety of robots that are available and you can see it in the top models that are priced higher than other models.

Other technologies for avoiding objects that are typically found in more expensive robots include 3D Structured Light, which utilizes cameras and crossed IR sensors to map the environment and identify obstacles; and 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 are a great option to add to your robot should you want to have more peace of mind.

In addition to collecting dust and debris on hard floors, most of the best robot vacuum that mops-rated robots can sweep your floors as well. Some come with their own water tanks, allowing them to clean up the stains and spills that are wet. You'll need to clean the robot's dust bin onboard and clean its cameras and sensors in between cleaning sessions.

Mapping

The ability to map is essential in robot vacuums because they help them remember your home's layout and avoid hitting things like walls. Without mapping, they may be tripped over by furniture, cords or pet toys and end up taking less space from your space. The majority of robots utilize sensors to map your home and navigate around obstacles. They can clean your floors in fewer steps and make it easier for you to save time. Many of the best robot vacuum and mop robot vacuums also have this feature, which enables you to create areas of no-go.

Robots that have a built-in LIDAR system make use of this technology to map your home quickly and efficiently. In our tests of the Eufy Clean robot utilized this feature to divide my home into different areas and clean each independently this was a significant improvement over the lesser models we tested, which utilized a front bump sensor. This was a more accurate method to navigate my home and it was easy to control with the app on the device.

Although there aren't any robot vacuum cleaner reviews vacuums that can climb stairs, most effective models have obstacles avoidance and mapping features. These tools let them collect dirt from low-pile or hard floors, and avoid falling down stairs. Some tools are equipped with sensors to make sure they don't fall over the edge of the stairs. Others have boundaries to keep them away.

Some robots come with a massive tower base that holds their dirt and debris, reducing the amount of dust and allergens released into your home. These bases can be kept for weeks or months without being emptied, which is especially helpful if you suffer from allergies. Some models come with self-emptying dust bins that can empty without opening or closing them manually.

Wi-Fi Enabled

Some robot vacuums communicate via Wi-Fi with their apps. This lets you control them using your smartphone instead (or in addition) to a physical remote. These models are more expensive but they can save you time because you can schedule cleaning sessions daily, weekly or even monthly. These models also allow you to edit floor maps and save them for later use. They also offer alternative cleaning patterns.

The most advanced robot vacuums utilize dual sensors, which combine a LIDAR system to map your area with a structured light sensor that is able to see objects and avoid them, even if they're hidden under furniture or power cords. These features allow your robot to access tight spaces, such as the nook beneath your kitchen cabinets or under sofas. Other robots struggle to reach these spaces. They are also more efficient in getting around obstacles and have longer run times with larger dust bins, which makes them better suited for large homes than the entry-level robots.

The top rated robot vacuums are fast, smart and powerful cleaning up all kinds of floor debris, including pet hair, kitty litter and other messes. They are also quite quiet, which makes them a great option for homes with pets as well as young children. Most robot vacuum owners we've talked to say they appreciate the ease of keeping their floors clean without much effort, particularly if they use it frequently. Robots can last just as long as traditional vacuum cleaners if they are given the right maintenance (cleaning rotating brushes and keeping the track of spare parts). PCWorld offers a useful guide that outlines some essential techniques to keep your machine running smoothly for years to come.

Dust Bags Larger

A robotic vacuum is not as efficient at cleaning as an upright or canister vacuum, but it is fantastic at picking up dust and debris that regular vacuuming leaves behind. It can be used to do quick retouching of floors and is able to maneuver around cords and other obstacles in your home. You can use a robot to clean your floors on a schedule in case you don't have the time to do it yourself.

The top-rated robot vacuums have huge dust bags that are easy to empty and can hold more than one room's worth of dirt. This will save time and money in the form of bags that are replaced. Several of the models on our list feature this feature, including the top choice, the Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo. This all-in-one robovac has an impressive performance score and includes self-emptying bin. It also has mopping capabilities and efficient navigation. It is a close call between this and the iRobot Roomba Combo j9+, that has smart mapping and avoidance technology. This model is more expensive, but it has a bigger capacity.

Another big difference between these two models is the way they handle hair that is long and human that can get caught in the rollers of certain robots. The most efficient models, the Roborock Q5 Max+ and SwitchBot K10S Plus, both have superb hair pickup and tangle avoidance scores with excellent path planning and near perfect auto empty results. The eufy and Shark Matrix Plus are also great options, with respectable hair pickup and tangle avoidance, but not as much planning for paths or auto empty.

The latest robots come with sensors that can detect dirt and other debris in the carpet, and are better at removing hairs that have fallen off of pets. Some have a mopping mode that makes use of the reservoir of water to wash away the stains and spills. This feature is a must for families with pets and children.

Maintenance

A robot vacuum will help you keep up with your home. While no robot is able to substitute an upright or canister vacuum for deep cleaning, the best rated models pick up pet hair, lint, and other dirt that accumulates on hard floors and low-pile carpets which can pick up more than you could using the Broom. They have navigational features that prevent them from getting stuck on power cords, rug fringes or furniture.

According to the model, you can set up a robot vacuum to run multiple times per day, or watch it in action using an app. However, these useful vacuums are also prone to clogging and require regular maintenance like emptying the bin onboard (or the base's larger dust bin in certain cases), checking brushes for tangled hair, and periodically rinsing and allowing the filters to dry as suggested by the manufacturer.

Vacuum expert Emily Rairdin, a store owner apprentice at University Vacuum + Sewing, says a good robot vacuum will last for three to five years or more if it receives regular care and attention. She suggests emptying the bin and the brush roll regularly cutting out any hair tangled in the brushes, and then regularly washing and drying the filter if your machine is also a mop. It's also a good idea to clean the sensors and charging contacts on the dock or the robot occasionally with a soft cloth. You can refill and recharge your robot for the next cleaning session.