This small, practically silent robot is an ideal inexpensive option for a cozy apartment or to use as a second bot for an upstairs space or home office. Currently selling for $180, it lacks smart mapping features, has no smart obstacle avoidance, doesn’t have an auto-empty dock option, and only runs for 90 minutes. Some do, including a version of our top pick, the iRobot Roomba i3+ EVO, and our also-great pick, the Roborock Q5+. Self-emptying robot vacuums come with a big charging dock that sucks debris out of the robot through a trapdoor in the dustbin and stores it in a disposable bag or a bagless bin. You still have to toss the bag or empty the bin regularly, and the charging stations are big, noisy, and kind of ugly, but the system saves you from having to empty the dustbin on the robot every time you vacuum.
The Lift-away is also available as a lightweight and bagless upright vacuum. There are other vac options with a more powerful suction ability and built-in lithium-ion battery for some heavy-duty, battery-powered vacuuming. Handheld vacuums from Dyson and BISSELL, for instance, offer great performance. Get one of these cordless vacs or pick from many others among Target’s collection, and revel in hassle-free cleaning. We purchased and tested 30 robot vacuums, including multiple Roomba models, in The Lab in Des Moines, Iowa, for two days. Our testers assembled each vacuum, inserted any filters, and hooked up docking stations.
It fell short on plush, midpile carpets, so go with the Roomba S9 Plus if your dog is well-trained and you’re more worried about its fur than its waste, but that’s really the only weak spot here. On top of that, the S9 Plus aced our pet hair pickup tests, where we scatter clumps of actual pet hair donated from a friendly local groomer across all of our test floors. Among those top models are flagship cleaners from companies like iRobot, Roborock and Neato, as well as compelling picks from lesser-known upstart brands. CNET will continue to test robot vacuums and update this best robot vacuum list periodically as new models become available — for now, let’s get right to the top models we’d currently point you toward. For more, see our lists of the best robot vacuums for pet hair and the best robot mops.
You don’t need all of these, and each will mean spending more than the most basic budget bots in this roundup. The physical design is also very similar under the hood, with two multi-surface rubber roller brushes to get more dirt up. These rubber brushes don’t get tangled by long hair the way shark cordless bristle brushes can. Because there’s no option to add keep-out zones in the app, you’ll need to buy iRobot’s virtual walls if there are places you don’t want the robot to go. They cost $99 for two, so if you need more than a couple of keep-out zones, it’s worth going for the j7 instead.
Certain models are pretty good at avoiding certain obstacles, but none of them reliably avoid every kind of common floor clutter, and some models don’t deliver on their promises at all. While the iRobot Roomba i3 EVO is better at cleaning, the Roborock Q5 is smarter. Equipped with a superior mapping system that can store multiple maps for different levels of the home in both 2D and 3D, the Q5 also has an easy-to-use app and responds well to voice commands. It cleans admirably (though not as well as the Roomba i3 EVO, particularly on carpets), moves fast, and steers clear of larger obstacles. A possible side effect of the Roomba i3 EVO’s design is that it may be relatively slow compared with other smart-mapping bots, such as our also-great pick, the Roborock Q5.
IRobot recently updated this model with smart mapping capabilities, so you can send it right to specific rooms by phone or voice for targeted area cleanings. The S7 MaxV Ultra boasts a unique mop-lifting feature, also available on the more affordable Roborock S7+, which allows for more efficient cleaning runs than the competition. Most two-in-one robots with a carpet sensor, including the X1 Omni, automatically avoid rugs when mopping so as not to get them wet.
“Before incorporating this device into my home, it felt as if my floors were always dirty no matter how much I vacuumed,” our tester said. When it came to maneuverability, our testers gave this robot vacuum a perfect score. It has built-in sensors and a camera at the front to help it detect furniture, stairs, pet bowls, and more in its path, so you won’t come home dyson robot vacuum to a huge mess or a broken vacuum. If you want to closely monitor your Samsung Jet Bot as it’s working, the integrated app allows you to see its path on the digital map or tap into the vacuum’s front camera to see a live view of its location. This was somewhat surprising to us, as the robot vacuum doesn’t have a brushroll to help it capture gunk and hair.
That means you’re looking for a robot that can traverse different floor types or maneuver around furniture without your help. This is especially true if you have dark flooring, as infrared sensors might mistake a black carpet for a ledge, and refuse to pass over it. We test vacuums on hardwood, tile, and rugs to see how well they manage the transitions across various surfaces.
It doesn’t take the same logical path around the home when cleaning as other more expensive Eufy models do. Sometimes it’ll go in straight lines and sometimes seek out the edges of a room, while on occasion, it’ll travel in circles, which means it may take slightly longer to clean the whole room or floor. Also, it wasn’t always that good at moving around objects – low-level bissell crosswave cordless things seemed to fox it the most, such as deep-pile rugs, piano pedals, and pet food bowls. For those seeking a robot vacuum on a budget, the Eufy 11S is worth considering. At a reasonable price and often discounted, you’ll be hard pushed to find anything cheaper on the market. This is where you can set it up to map your floorplan and set zones, and it continues to learn.
With built-in Wi-Fi, it supports voice-activated cleaning via Alexa or the Google Assistant. It also has smart mapping, so you can tell it to clean or avoid specific rooms. But unlike most of its competitors, the Roomba i3 EVO is actually a sturdy, repairable appliance—and although longevity is never guaranteed, you can reasonably expect to own and use it regularly for years. It’s also better at cleaning rugs than most other bots, and hair doesn’t get tangled in its brushes as quickly. With the companion app and a Wi-Fi connection, you can remotely turn the robot on or off and optionally set an automatic cleaning schedule. The downside is that it doesn’t work quite as fast as some competing models.