Many robot vacuums can double as mops—well, more like weak Swiffers. Automations also work with motion detection on a security camera, so you can trigger the vacuum to start whenever you enter or exit a room, but we'd like to see more options for triggers to tell the vacuum to clean, such as when outdoor or indoor lights are turned off at night. Eufy makes several RoboVac models built on the same base as the 11S but with extra features. The CDC says that's about as loud as a normal conversation or air conditioner. Its first feces-defying flagship was the Roomba J7 Plus, and sure enough, when we tested it out against an armada of unnervingly convincing fake dog poop samples, it steered clear at every turn. 3 inches in diameter and 3. The following table is a cheat sheet outlining the most popular Eufy bump bots (not a full list of all Eufy models) as of November 2022. In comparison, most robot vacuums with a raised Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) sensor on top, including the $949. Another neat option: The iRobot Roomba i3+ EVO bundle includes the i3 EVO robot plus a charging dock that automatically sucks the debris out of the robot and stores it in a disposable bag, which you have to change only once a month. The J7 is the only vacuum I know of that offers this level of intuitive obstacle-avoidance. Instead of the classic puck shape, the s9 has a D-shaped body and extra-wide brushes intended to improve its edge-cleaning and corner-cleaning abilities. Yet, the iRobot Roomba i3+ EVO rarely needed help during cleanings. We've tested a handful of its laser-nav bots over the past few years, including the Deebot Ozmo T8 AIVI (a higher-end but otherwise similar version of the N8 and N8 Pro). I performed the same test on hardwood, and the i3+ EVO's performance was almost as impressive.
In theory, these systems should help the robots drive around any floor clutter they find, and even assist them in avoiding hazards like dog turds. The 360 S9 worked just fine in our tests—we imagine that the cheaper S5 and S7 would, as well. It also allows you to create and store maps for up to four levels, which is a nice perk if you want to use the bot on different floors of your home. The images that result show us light trails that reveal the robot's path as it navigates the room and cleans around our mock furniture. You can sometimes find third-party listings for the Roomba i4 EVO or the Roomba i4+ EVO on Amazon, but the price is often inflated, so you should avoid those. ) It's smart in other ways, too. You will most likely prefer the Shark AI Ultra AV2610WA, as its HEPA filter will provide dust-free air and the brush roll can easily rid your floors of that pesky pet hair. It gets pretty loud for about 15 seconds—about the volume of an old-school standing vacuum—as it sucks all the debris from the robot's bin into the dust bag. The Roomba j7+ moves quickly and efficiently, vacuuming in orderly rows instead of haphazardly ping-ponging from wall to wall like some cheaper robot vacuums. Like many consumers, you are probably wondering, with so many options on the market, how do I decide which one to purchase? The robot vacuums with the strongest suction and the most-aggressive brushes can cost hundreds extra, yet they're only marginally better cleaners than the most affordable bots, and they have just a small fraction of the power of a traditional vacuum.
My pitbull Bradley sheds, and the Roomba j7+ did an excellent job of collecting his fur from my hard floors and carpeting. The Roomba came within an inch of hardwood and carpeted corners, which is very good. In one test, the basic Eufy RoboVac 11S spent an hour picking up enough debris to fill the palm of our hand. It even washes itself after each mopping run. Most bots work okay on rugs, but we found the models that pull up the most hair and dust. Pros: Outstanding carpet cleaning, great hardwood cleaning, doesn't easily get stuck, automatically empties its dustbin, easy-to-use app.
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. Right behind it is our top recommendation, the Dreametech DreameBot D10 Plus, which earned a close second place finish on hardwood floors despite retailing for less than half as much as the top-finishing Roomba Combo J7 Plus. If you're looking for a compact vacuum with high suction power, low noise level, a great filter, and an incredible pet hair eliminator. A dream, you might say? We're using the Roomba 694 as a shorthand reference to the 600 series throughout the rest of this section, but if you encounter a Roomba bot and the model number starts with a 6, everything you're about to read applies, except that the Wi-Fi capabilities vary from model to model (more on that below). Its defining feature is supposed to be its strong suction, with two turbines pulling 2, 000 pascals each (whereas most laser-nav bots have a single turbine and less than 2, 500 pascals of suction total). Robot vacuums are colloquially called "Roombas" for a good reason. That's a shame, because the iRobot Roomba S9 Plus was a major standout from that earlier era -- particularly for its eye-popping performance on thick, plush carpets. It also has a larger dustbin and a battery that runs twice as long as that of the Roomba i3 EVO.
That will bring you uncontrollable delight and endless put-your-feet-up days. It typically pushed the socks out of the way, but in one instance, I watched it navigate around a brown pair. I can't put the Roomba J7 Plus on the same pedestal with regard to its cleaning power, though, as it doesn't clean quite as well as its more expensive predecessor, the $1, 100 Roomba S9 Plus. Some caveats: Robots are much weaker than traditional vacuums—the strongest models we've tested have less than one-quarter of the raw suction of even an average cordless stick vacuum—so they can't pick up the finest dust and the most deeply embedded hair in your rugs, and sometimes they even fail to pick up obvious debris. AI-powered cameras capable of recognizing and avoiding obstacles -- including piles of dog poop -- as it cleans. IRobot told me that plans for the robot to recognize other threats are in the works.
And even though it navigates with absolutely reckless abandon, we've found that it's actually a lot less likely to get stuck on random hazards around the house than other bots, as it has several specific "escape" routines for common traps. We highlight products and services you might find interesting. For instance, the machine speedily navigated our test room. You might need a screwdriver for this job, but many bots let you pop out the parts with no tools. The Roomba also offers a self-cleaning system with a strong effective suction but is not bagless. It's the third fastest time we've seen, right behind the Ecovacs N8 Plus (14 minutes) and Roborock S7 (15 minutes). The laser-nav system, combined with speedy processing, helps the Q5 plan a cleaning path where it avoids bumping into most furniture and walls, so it finishes its job noticeably faster and with less thunking around than most robots, especially non-laser navigators like the Roomba i3 EVO and even the Roomba i7. No matter which one you choose I believe you can rest assured you have just purchased an innovative, efficient time-saving robot vacuum. Other robot vacuums we've tested. Go ahead and get one if you see it at a deep discount. 4 inches tall, a standard size for most robot vacuums. So, I mentioned that the otherwise excellent Roomba J7 Plus doesn't include mopping capabilities. I'd probably shop around a bit if that cost shot back up to the full retail price of $400, but given that this model is a few years old, your odds of finding it on sale are pretty high. One caveat: Eufy has an okay reputation for customer service, whereas several of those other obscure brands barely have a believable web presence, so they may not be as quick to help if you have a problem that's covered by the warranty.
I mentioned that 50% is a good benchmark in that test, and the best cleaner in that challenge from our last two years of tests is the Neato D9, which returned an average of 62%. We go into more detail about self-emptying docks later in this guide, but the gist of it is that the system works and is really convenient—you can go a month or more without having to clean out and dispose of debris by hand. The test house also has cats, kids, and other family members, all of whom leave plenty for each robot to pick up. This article was edited by Courtney Schley and Grant Clauser. Notice the difference?
As you can imagine, it was a bit harder to test its poop-avoidance abilities. On the robot vac itself, you'll find a power button and a home button; the latter can send the device back to the dock or tell it to spot-clean if you hold it for a few seconds. From 12 inches away, my sound meter registered 68 decibels, a little softer than city traffic. Speaking of results, the graph above shows you how each cleaner we've tested over the past few years stacks up on hardwood floors. In testing, the j7+ did an excellent job of navigating around phone cords and power cables.
Every bot we've tested—even the latest models with sophisticated navigation and smart-home integration—has gotten trapped or tangled at least occasionally. How CNET tests robot vacuums. This affordable robot vacuum is quieter and fits under more furniture than most models we've tested. The j7+ typically finishes vacuuming my 1, 000 square-foot main level in around 75 minutes. That's simply an outstanding value given that this thing cleans floors just about as well as you could expect from a robot vacuum. The most versatile option of these is the Shark Navigator Lift-Away NV352. 98 Roborock S7+ and the $250 Wyze Robot Vacuum, can map your home in one run. The s9+ uses 3D sensor technology to detect obstacles and clean around them, but it can't identify objects shorter than about an inch. It's a decent performer on low-pile and midpile carpets as well, sucking up averages of 54% and 52% of sand from them, respectively. The happiest owners tend to be those who leave their bots alone, so it's better to let your robot do its job in peace. 9%) wasn't too far below that of the Roborock S7, our top midrange pick. I've tested over 30 models, and our robot vacuum guide gives recommendations for specific use-cases. Smart maps that let you set up barriers and target individual rooms for cleaning can also be especially handy, as can self-emptying docks.
It was launched in fall 2021, and representatives from iRobot suggested to us that it will get smarter over time through software updates. ) It's not great at getting pet hair out of plush rugs, but it works fine for keeping bare floors and short rugs pretty tidy. I ran the vac for two cleaning cycles and compared before and after photos to estimate how much debris it picked up. 99 Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo T8 AIVI, another Editors' Choice winner among premium floor-cleaning robots, offers similar technology; in our testing, it successfully avoided dog toys that have tripped up competitors. All robot vacuums need a little maintenance. Care and maintenance.