Best Robot Vacuums

5 Products Updated on Jul 22, 2019

According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2019 is the year of the robot!

Okay, maybe not :p It’s the year of the pig. Oink Oink.

But no worries, we’re going to start a petition and get that changed —because robots are cooler!

I’m not talking about space droids like R2-D2 or C-3PO. I’m talking about robot vacuums, like the iRobot Roomba 960 and the Eufy RoboVac 11S.

Robot vacs have one sole purpose —to keep your floor clean and make life easier ;) They pick up pet hair, remove allergens and vacuum dirt anytime you want —all on their own. 

If you’re thinking about buying a smart vacuum for your home, we say go for it! They’re extremely useful and effective. But how do you know which robot vacuum is the best choice?

We made a list of the best robot vacuums on the market to help you choose with confidence. But before we jump into the list, let’s go over some things you need to know about smart vacuums.

What are Robot Vacuums all About?

It’s a pretty simple, easy-going piece of AI. They’re designed to automatically vacuum your home throughout the day. There is no “ set up “ or activation. Just turn it on, and let it rip.

Well..rip is a pretty strong word ;) Many are fairly quiet, and you barely notice them running. If you’re on-the-go a lot, they’re an awesome tool to keep things clean while you’re away.

But keep in mind that typically, robot vacs are not as powerful as traditional vacuums. They’re capable of picking up all kinds of stuff, but don’t expect them to “ deep clean “ your rugs ;)

You can set them to work on a schedule, and control some of them from your phone or digital assistant. (Alexa, Google Assistant etc..)

So yes, they’re your cleaning minion. And they’re at your command!

We have to mention, they’re especially helpful for people looking to control pet hair. If you have cats or dogs, it’s always accumulating. A robot vac can touch up your floor multiple times throughout the day, preventing dander buildup.

Navigation —Mapping vs Bump and Track

Robot vacuums are smart, persistent and get the job done. But they’re not smooth as butter 100% of the time. At least not right away.

Bump and track robot vacuums have been known to look a bit goofy maneuvering around the room. It may appear as though it’s downed one cocktail too many at times ;)

But for the most part, they operate with tact and beauty. Many models run quite smoothly after they become familiar with the floor layout.

Bump and track vacs use a directional map, based on room layout and objects they encounter. Once they acclimate to the room, they maneuver more efficiently.

Mapping robots use a more specific, grid-style mapping technology to roll around your home. They are a little more expensive, but they navigate around the house with a bit more savvy and purpose.

However, navigation is only part of the criteria we use to pick the best robot vacuums. Here are some other nuggets we look for.

Traits You Want in Your Smart Vac

Good Navigation

Whether it uses directional mapping or grid mapping, it’s important that your robot vac has reliable navigation. It should be able to maneuver around obstacles well enough to do its job without getting stuck.

No worries though, we’ve weeded out all the ones with poor maneuverability. You won’t have to babysit any of our selections or worry about them getting tangled with cables or cords.

Cleaning performance

When it comes to buying a well-balanced robot vacuum, suction power is important. While smart vacuums tend to have weaker suction than regular vacs, you still want one with plenty of pull.

We made sure the suction power of each robot vac on our list is up to par. They’re all capable of handling most everything you could throw at them —crumbs, hair, dirt, dust and more.

The Stress Test

Each robot vac on our list was put to the test. They were set loose in a 1,000 square foot house wth multiple rooms. It wasn’t a cakewalk —each room had chairs, rugs and cables. These models rose to the challenge and received a grade of excellent for the job they did.

Noise Level

This factor isn’t really the most important, but we still picked bots that won’t produce too many decibels. We wouldn’t want to run you out of your home ;) And if you decide you don’t like the noise of your bot, you can always make it clean the floor while you’re not home.

Affordability

We tried to splice economy into the mix with our picks. We showcase some affordable robot vacuums, and some high end bots as well. You can see which one is the best fit for your needs and budget.

Now here’s a robot vac you can fall madly in love with fast. There’s lots to like, especially the price. You can snag this quality smart vac for under $200.

It’s a great value considering its features:

  • Powerful 1400Pa suction
  • Cordless
  • 1 year warranty
  • Has dual-hall sensors to detect boundary strips
  • 5 selective cleaning modes
  • Battery has 120 min run time
  • Upgraded anti-collision and anti-drop system
  • Auto charges at dock
  • Has remote control to change active suction power
  • Runs quietly at low decibels
  • No wifi
  • Comes with an extra HEPA filter

ideal for carpet and hardwood floors alike, this robot vac is a real people-pleaser. It even mops when needed —call it an overachiever 😉 Its mop is built to clean up small spills and messes without a hiccup, which is a nice bonus.

The R500+ is a low-riding little workhorse. It sits at 2.8 inches in height, which is a bit shorter than most other smart vacs. Its smart navigation system allows it to maneuver around your home with a degree of tact and purpose.

It’s also slim, with a width of 12.6 inches, which makes it ideal for cleaning under furniture. Taller, wider smart vacs can’t go where the R500+ dares! And yes, it can detect boundary strips if you want to keep it out of certain rooms or spaces.

The Coredy R500 gets much props for its ability to pick up dust and dander. It’s equipped with four spinning brushes and one main brush —made from grippy fibers. This helps it remove fine grains of dirt and sugar granules.

In a cleaning performance test, the R500+ earned remarkable scores. When it came to vacuuming high carpet, low carpet and hardwood floors It handled every-day debris like cereal, sugar, dirt and kitty litter exceptionally well.

If you’re a pet owner, this model makes your life a lot less hairy. Its powerful 1400Pa suction coupled with high quality brush fibers give it the power to remove pet hair like a champ. The only downside is that you’ll need to flip it over and untangle the lift fibers every once in a while.

Another cool thing about the R500+ is its dual anti-collision system. It wont run into corners, kids or animals. This is an awesome feature if you have children and animals running around :p

Its anti-collision system boasts 12 infrared sensors and a bumper that can detect changes in pressure. It’s a smart little machine for the money!

It comes packing a 550 ml dustbin, so you won’t be emptying it all the time. With its large size bin, your trips to the trash can will be limited. So don’t be scared of technology :p Embrace the Coredy Robot R500+ and see why people (us included) are loving it.

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$189.99

If you’re working with a fairly robust budget, we highly recommend this stellar robot vacuum. The Roomba i7+ is one sweet piece of technology. If you’re okay with spending a grand, then pursue its features and finish reading about how awesome it is.

  • Clean Base feature/empties its own bin
  • 90 minute battery life
  • Wifi compatible
  • Dirt detection
  • Amazon Alexa and Google Home
  • Path plan mapping
  • Full bin indicator
  • Quiet at 68 db
  • Suction power —1700 Pa
  • Uses HEPA filter
  • Uses wifi phone app
  • Has virtual wall
  • Has select room cleaning navigation
  • Carpet boost feature

What makes this robot vacuum so sweet is its ability to empty its own dust bin. When the i7+ returns to the dock, debris is automatically sucked out through a trapdoor. The debris is then pulled into a disposable vacuum bag that will need to be emptied once every 6 weeks on average.

If you’re a pet lover and have wonderful indoor hairy beasts roaming your home, then the Clean Base feature will be especially helpful. Also keep in mind that it comes packing a 1700 Pa suction power —which is strong for a smart vac.

Also, a lot of pet owners say their robot vacuum’s bin gets full of dander way too fast. So having one that empties after every dock is the perfect remedy for that.

Remember, you’re not being lazy! If the Roomba wants to do all the work —why stop it? :p
Enjoy its advanced IQ, and not having to empty the bin!

This robot vac also has impressive navigation features. It is infused with smart mapping. So you can command it to clean specific rooms!

It’s wifi friendly, which means you can control to through your phone app, or your digital assistant. It works with Alexa and Google Assistant.

“ Alexa, clean the living room. “ That’s all you have to say. Once this smart vac becomes acclimated to your home, it will know just where to go to clean on demand.

The iRobot Roomba 17+ has quality cleaning rollers that are idea for digging hair out of carpets. They’re very resistant to hair-tangles —unlike other brush and blade designs.

The nubs on the i7+ rollers are longer than the ones on the previous model —the Roomba 900. iRobot says this makes them more effective at picking up debris,

Keep in mind that you can buy a standard iRoboto Roomba i7, which is less expensive. This model does not come with the Clean Base auto bin empty feature, like the i7+.

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$799.00

This impressive little guy (or gal) is our #2 pick. He, or she lags just a tad behind the Eufy 11S in cleaning and navigation ability. But we love it because it’s a sturdy, well-built robot that gets the job done.

  • Dirt detection
  • Virtual walls
  • 90 min battery life
  • Wifi Compatible
  • App control
  • 1 year warranty
  • Anti-drop/Cliff sensor
  • Auto scheduling
  • Voice prompts
  • Auto dock and recharge

Some of the robot vacs on the market aren’t so easy to repair. That’s why the Roomba 690’s durability and repairability are a pretty big deal.

If a part wears out or needs to be replaced, Roomba has them all in stock —from 2002 – 2019. This is very convenient if you need to replace your battery, dustbins, brushes, wheels..etc.

Roomba makes replacing minor parts easy. And if you need a bigger repair, they do have an option to send it to iRobot to be serviced.

Another cool thing about the 690 is that it comes wifi-compatible. Which means you can control it from your phone, via app. You can use a digital assistant as well, like Alexa.

Also, it comes with a virtual wall that projects an invisible barrier for the robot. You can also buy extra walls —but they can be a bit expensive. This helps its bump and run navigation.

Packing an abyss-sized 20 oz dust tank, it can store 2 to 3 days’ worth of dirt and debris. Its large dust tank capacity makes it a great fit for families with cats and dogs.

It’s fair to say the Eufy 11S edges out the iRobot 690 in most categories —navigation, battery life, suction and pick-up ability. But the 690’s overall performance, sturdy build and repair options make it a solid choice.

All-in-all, If you want a quality robot vacuum with wifi, then here you go. It will do the job and wont break your pocket.

By the way, if you like the Roomba 690 but are working on a smaller budget, then check out the Roomba 675. It comes without the virtual wall beacon, but it’s more affordable.

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$374.99

We’ll just come right out and say it. This one is the apple of our eye. It’s a nice mix of affordability and high performance.

You get a nice, solid robot vac for a good price:

  • Suction Power —1300 Pa, quiet at 55 db
  • Auto, edge, spot and single room
  • Auto dock and recharge
  • Affordable, under $250
  • Comes with 1 year warranty
  • 2600 mAh battery with 1 hour 40 minute run life
  • Scheduling and IR remote control
  • Slim body
  • Does not have wifi
  • Has cliff sensor and carpet boost

Although it’s a bump and track robot, its smaller body and sleek shape give it really good maneuverability. It very rarely gets stuck —if ever. But if it does, it has has the ability to free itself by rocking back and forth or backing up.

The 11S is shorter than most of the competition. At 2.85 niches in height, it can fit under furniture better, and under your bed. This means it can collect more dust and dander without getting trapped.

It comes equipped with a long battery life (1 hr 40 min) and a single bristle combo brush. This blade style easily loosens debris from short rugs, and works well on hard floors too.

The Euyfy 11S boasts 1,300 Pa of suction —which means it has a bit more pull than some of the competition. It may not make a dramatic difference, but it’s good to know it’s above par.

All-in-all, the RoboVac 11S is a quality, low-cost robot vacuum. But keep in mind that It doesn’t work with boundary markers. That means you will have to set up physical boundaries to keep it from going into other rooms or spaces.

Affordable robots like the 11S tend are not built to last as long as high end models. But Eufy always honors its 1 year warranty, and often goes above and beyond when it comes to fixes.

View on Amazon
$219.99

This white beauty is a bit on the high end side of robot vacs. But we think it’s worth every penny!

It’s known for its exceptional ability to pull up dirt, and mop like a seasoned vet :p It has great dual performance. And with very impressive suction power of 2000Pa, it is known for leaving a streak-free floor and clean carpet.

Let’s see what the S5 is packing:

  • 2000Pa powerful suction
  • Smart laser navigation
  • Wifi compatible
  • Lithium ion battery with over 2 hours of run life
  • Obstacle crossing (2 cm)
  • Laser range sensor scans for cleaning route
  • Disc fiber mop with protective floor mat
  • Cleaning tool compartment
  • Washable filter
  • Dock charger with US plug

It’s viewed as a trusted, well-rounded robot vac. While it doesn’t excel dramatically in any one key area, it gives a solid all-around performance.

The S5 sits at 3.8 inches in height, and is 13.8 inches wide. So it’s a little bigger than some of the other smart vacs. While it may not get under chairs as easily as the Coredy Robot, it has some perks that make it a solid choice.

It has a really cool flip-up hood that covers the dust-bin. There’s also a compartment that holds the brush cleaning tool.

It boasts a combo rubber/bristle brush that effectively pulls up dirt, debris and pet hair from carpet and hard floors. By design, it tends to get far less hair and debris wrapped around it,
and for that reason we like its brush!

The Roborock is also revered for its mopping skills. There’s a disc with a microfiber pad for mopping. You just fill it with water, and let it clean. And oh yea, with a battery life of over 2 hours it can go the distance!

As mentioned, this smart vac is a little pricier, at just under $600. But it does come with wifi, and allows you to control it via the Mi Home app or digital assistant. Alexa and Google will let you tell it when to clean!

It has 5 different clean modes —whatever the occasion calls for. It also has a sweet “ zone cleaning “ feature lets you draw out areas you want it to clean.

Once its smart mapping system acclimates to your home, it gets around pretty smoothly. It’s good at working around chair legs, walls and corners. The S5 has a way of navigating with accuracy and awareness.

It’s 13 obstacle sensors and distance scanner help it maneuver with purpose. It also helps the S5 avoid obstacles and falls.

Overall, the Roborock S5’s navigation, design, and wifi ability make it a highly desirable robot vacuum. If it’s within budget and you like what you hear, we suggest buying one for your home!

View on Amazon
$635.00