Corine Ortiz

Best Rated Robot Vacuum and Mop

Eufy's top-rated robot vacuum and mop takes a bit of the work of keeping your floors clean. It has the ability to refill its own water tank as well as empty its tower bin. It also has the ability to change the dust bag.

Advanced models can map your house and take note of furniture arrangement. They can also identify hazards and avoid them, such as loose charging cables or unintentional socks.

Object Avoidance

Object avoidance features allow your robot to avoid running into things like toys, power cords and even clothes that could get caught up in the vacuum. These features are especially important if you have children or pets that may leave objects on the floor for your robot to discover.

Based on the model you choose depending on the model you select, your robot could have various sensors to help it navigate around obstacles. Some of the most well-known include crossed IR sensor beams that are focused infrared lights that scan the room to look for furniture legs or door frames. A lot of robots have adopted this technology, and you can find it in the most expensive models that cost more.

Another object avoidance technology is available in more expensive robots is 3D Structured Light which uses cameras and a crossed IR sensor to map the surroundings and detect obstacles. Time of Flight (ToF), sensors that measure and emit the duration it takes for the light to reflect off an object, to determine its distance, are also available. These are less common but can be an excellent option to add to your robot if you're looking for extra peace of mind.

The majority of the top-rated robots are also able to mop your floors. Some robots come with own water tanks that let them clean up messes and spills. It is necessary to empty the robot's dust bin and clean its cameras and sensors in between cleaning sessions.

Mapping

Robot vacuums need to have mapping capabilities. This lets them navigate your home without getting caught up against walls. Without mapping, they could get tripped up by furniture, cords, or pet toys and end up cleaning less of your space. By using sensors, many robots map out your home to keep track of any obstacles and help navigate around them. This way, they're able to sweep your floors using fewer passes, which saves you time. Many of the top rated robot vacuums can also use this feature to create no-go zones, permitting you to define rooms that you don't want the robot to enter.

Robots with a built-in LIDAR utilize this technology to map your home quickly and effectively. The Eufy Clean robot separated my room into different areas and cleaned each independently during our tests. This was a huge improvement over the cheaper models that rely on a front-bumper sensor. This was a more precise way to navigate my home and it was easy to control with the app on the device.

Although there aren't any robot vacuums that can scale stairs, the top models do come with obstacles avoidance and mapping features. These tools allow them to collect dirt from low-pile or hard floors, and avoid falling down stairs. Some have cliff sensors that stop them from going over the edge of stairs and others have boundary strips that can stop them from entering certain areas.

Certain robots have an enormous base tower that is able to collect dirt. This decreases the amount of dust or allergens released within your home. These bases can be kept for weeks or months without being emptied, which is especially helpful when you suffer from allergies. Some models have self-emptying dust bins which you can empty without opening or closing them manually.

Wi-Fi enabled

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

The most advanced robot vacuums use dual sensors, combining with a LIDAR system to map your space with a structured light sensor that can detect objects and avoid them, even if they're hidden under furniture or power cords. These features make it easier for your robot to maneuver into narrow spaces such as the nook underneath your kitchen cabinets and under sofas, areas where other robots struggle. They are also faster to maneuver around obstacles, have longer runtimes and larger dust bins. This makes them more suitable for homes with large spaces compared to the smallest robots.

The best robot vacuums are swift, intelligent and powerful. They are able to pick up a wide range of floor debris, including pet hair, kitty-litter and other dirt. They're also quiet, which makes them an ideal choice for homes with pets or young children. Most robot vacuum users have told us that they enjoy the convenience of having their floor cleaned with little effort. This is especially true when used regularly. Robots can last just as long as traditional vacuum cleaners with the proper maintenance (cleaning rotating brushes and keeping the track of spare parts). PCWorld provides a guide that offers some useful tips to keep yours running smoothly.

Dust Bags Larger

A robotic hoovers vacuum is not as efficient in cleaning as an upright or canister vacuum, but it is great at picking up the dust and debris that regular vacuuming leaves behind. It can be used to do quick retouching of floors, and can maneuver around cords and other obstacles in your home. If you don't want to perform the deep cleaning yourself, a robot cleaner can be sent out to sweep your floors on a regular basis.

The top rated robot vacuums come with large, easy-to-empty dust bags that hold more than a single room's worth of dirt. This can help save time and money in the form of replacement bags. This feature is available on several models which includes our top model which is the Ecovacs T30S Combo. This robovac all-in-one is a top-performing robovac that has a self-emptying bin. It also comes with mopping functions and effective navigation. It is a close race between the iRobot Roomba Combo j9+ and this one, which is equipped with the latest technology for avoidance and smart mapping. This robovac has more capacity, but is slightly more expensive.

Another major difference between the two models is how they deal with hair that is long and human which can get caught in the rollers of certain robots. The Roborock Q5 Max+, SwitchBot K10S Plus and Roborock Q5 Max+ are the best robot vacuum and mop performing models. They all have outstanding hair pickup and tangle-avoidance scores as well as excellent auto empty results and excellent path planning. The eufy and Shark Matrix Plus are also excellent options with respectable hair pickup and tangle avoidance, but not as much path-planning or auto empty.

The latest robots are fitted with sensors that can identify dirt and debris on carpets, and they're better in removing pet hair. Some robots come with a mopping mode where they can use the reservoir of water to remove stuck-on mess and spills. This feature is essential for families with children and pets.

Maintenance

Having a robot vacuum can be a huge help in keeping up with your home. While no robot is able to substitute an upright or canister vacuum for deep cleaning, the best models are rated to remove pet hair, lint, and other dirt on carpets and floors with low pile, picking up much more than you would find with a vacuum. They come with navigational features that help them avoid getting stuck on power cords, rug fringes or furniture.

Depending on the model, a highly rated robot vacuum can be scheduled to run several times per day or allow you to watch it at work via an app. However, these convenient devices can also be prone to clogging and require frequent maintenance like emptying the onboard bin (or the base's larger dust bin in certain cases) and checking the brushes for tangled hair, and then periodically washing and letting the filters dry as recommended by the manufacturer.

Emily Rairdin is a automatic vacuum and mop robot expert and store owner apprentice from University Vacuum + Sewing. She believes that a robotic automatic vacuum cleaner and mop can last for three to five years if it is properly maintenance. She suggests emptying the bin and the brush roll regularly cutting out hair that gets caught in the brushes, and then regularly rinsing and drying the filter, especially if it is also a mop. It's also a good idea to wipe down the charging contacts and sensors on the dock or robot often with a soft, clean cloth. Then, simply refill and recharge the robot whenever you need to for your next cleaning session.