You’ve heard the old expression, “It’s a dirty job, but somebody has to do it.” If the job in question is vacuuming or mopping, guess what: Nobody has to do it! Not if you put a robot to work on those floor chores. Robot vacuums have improved considerably in recent years, offering more suction, smarter navigation and even mopping features. Many can empty their own dustbins and wash their mops, too. (I know, it’s a short step between that and a complete robot uprising, but I’m willing to risk it if it means I can stay on the couch longer.) Of course, with prices starting around $1,000, these premium cleaners aren’t exactly budget-friendly. So what’s the best robot vacuum to keep your house clean? Read on.
Table of contents:
First things first: manage your expectations. Over the past year I’ve tested half a dozen high-end models, most of them vacuum/mop combos offering varying levels of self-cleaning and the promise of robust, AI-powered navigation. Not one of them is perfect; a model that’s good at vacuuming falls short at mopping, another that’s good at mopping gets tripped up on cords. Put simply, if you’re expecting Rosey the Robot-level efficiency (that’s a Jetsons reference, kids, look it up), you’re going to be disappointed.
Just how effective these machines can be in your home depends a lot on your home. Do you have carpet, rugs, hard floors or some combination of the three? Do you have a pet that sheds or a kid that smears jelly on every surface? What’s the clutter situation like? Ultimately, the more obstacles and mess and floor variety a robot vacuum has to face, the more likely it is to get stuck or fail to clean well.
That said, when you come home from a long day and find freshly vacuumed carpet and shiny kitchen floors, it’s a thing of beauty. And you didn’t even have to fight with a surly teenager to make it happen.
To learn more about robot vacuums, including factors to consider when purchasing and answers to frequently asked questions, keep reading past the reviews.
Read more:
The best robot vacuum for 2024
Rick Broida/Yahoo
Suction rating: 8200 Pa | Broom type: Dual head | Mop type: Dual spinning brushes | Auto mop lifting: 12mm | Mop cleaning: Auto-wash, heat dry | Rated battery life: 209 minutes
It’s not perfect, but the Narwal Freo X Ultra is the best robot housecleaner I’ve tested. It’s the one that vacuums and mops most reliably and is least likely to require intervention on my part. Plus, it looks really slick, its glossy all-white dock reminiscent of something you’d find in an Apple Store.
I was especially impressed by its tangle-free vacuum brush, which after months of marching over carpet, hair and whatnot remained completely clean. It’s also very clever about the way it self-empties its dustbin: It doesn’t, instead compacting all the debris it collects. The end result is a dock with room for larger water tanks, and therefore fewer trips to the sink to empty/refill.
Alas, like so many of its robotic brethren, it struggles to avoid cords on the floor. And its mop pads don’t raise high enough to avoid dragging on medium-pile carpet. Even so, this is still my favorite robo-butler to date. Read my full Narwal Freo X Ultra review to learn more.
- A fast, effective cleaner
- Quieter than competing models
- Auto-lifting mop pads raise higher than most…
- Ingenious anti-tangle brush actually works
- Large-capacity water tanks
- Questionable navigation at times
- Map customization can be tricky
- …but still not high enough for plush carpet
- Not good at avoiding things like cords and shoelaces
Other robot vacuums we’ve tested
Rick Broida/Yahoo
Suction rating: 7000 Pa | Broom type: Single head | Mop type: Dual spinning brushes | Auto mop lifting: 10mm | Mop cleaning: Auto-wash, heat dry | Rated battery life: 180 minutes
When I first reviewed the L20 at the start of 2024, I liked its overall cleaning acumen but struggled with the $1,500 price tag. Now it’s frequently discounted to $800, which seems like a real bargain compared to many of the competitors. And I’m a bit more forgiving of its difficulty avoiding cords, as I’ve learned that most other ‘bots have the same problem.
Thus, if you find this selling for $800, it’s worth considering. Read my full Dreame L20 review (which, it should be noted, is based on the original price) to learn more.
- Detailed, illustrated user manual makes initial setup easy
- Excellent suction
- Large clean- and dirty-water tanks
- Auto-extending and -detaching mop pads
- Attractive base station
- No instructions provided for using the app
- Slow and noisy
- Poor obstacle avoidance and floor detection
- Mop pads don’t raise high enough for standard carpet
- Confusing map-editing tools
Rick Broida/Yahoo
Suction rating: Not listed | Broom type: Single head | Mop type: Pad | Auto mop lifting: Full retraction | Mop cleaning: None | Rated battery life: 120 minutes
iRobot’s robo-cleaner is relatively easy to use, smart about obstacles and arguably the best choice for pet owners: The company’s Pet Owner Official Promise (yep, “POOP” for short) means the Roomba will steer clear of any pet waste it detects, the better to avoid creating a much bigger mess. If it doesn’t, iRobot will replace the unit for free.
The j9+ is also uniquely effective at transitioning from hard floors to carpet. That’s because it’s the only machine here that can fully retract its mop pad. The flipside is that the pad occasionally gets stuck under rugs. What’s more, the Roomba dock doesn’t automatically wash it; you’ll occasionally have to remove, rinse and dry the pad yourself — not ideal when you’re spending $1,400.
Read my complete Roomba Combo j9+ review to learn more.
- Attractive dock design
- Unique mop cleverly avoids carpet
- Camera-based guidance system good at avoiding obstacles and pet waste
- Easy to set up rooms and zones within the app
- Can detect dirtier areas and focus more cleaning attention there
- Lower-than-average profile means it can more easily fit under furniture
- App-based instruction manual is limited in scope and hard to read
- Dock doesn’t clean or dry mop pad; you do
- Mop pad can get stuck under rugs
- Water tank awkward to refill
- App doesn’t show real-time cleaning progress or robot location
- Below-average battery life
Rick Broida/Yahoo
It’s great at vacuuming and good at mopping, but at this price ($1,800!) it should have a better map editor and be able to avoid something as simple — and common — as an extension cord.
Read my full Roborock S8 MaxV Ultra review to learn more.
- Good printed instructions
- Significant suction power
- Good at mopping hard floors, with heated mop washing and drying
- Mop pad auto-lifts higher than most others
- Robust voice-command system
- Built-in camera can be used for “pet checks”
- Crazy-expensive
- Buggy mapping system
- Doesn’t support multiple maps for multi-level cleaning
- Not smart enough to avoid cords
Rick Broida/Yahoo
Even if you can afford it, the Dyson 360 Vis Nav isn’t a smart buy. While it does an admirable job sucking up dirt, it’s quite limited overall. (It’s just a vacuum — no mopping — and it doesn’t even self-empty its dustbin.) Hard on the decor, too.
Read my full Dyson 360 Vis Nav review to learn more.
- Distinctive, futuristic looks…
- Easy-to-empty dustbin…
- Considerable suction power…
- Dyson app makes operation easy, especially setting up cleaning zones
- …but also an eyesore
- …but no self-emptying dock
- …but no mop
- Can get very loud
- Short battery life
- Insanely expensive
- Tiny dustbin needs to be emptied often
Other robot vacuums we’re evaluating
This roundup is a work in progress, with new models constantly arriving. Here’s what’s on tap for future coverage:
Robot vacuum FAQs
Do robot vacuums go over rugs and thick carpet?
They absolutely do, and usually without a problem. However, if your vacuum is also a mop, it’s possible that wet mop pads will drag over the carpet, especially if it’s high-pile. While many modern robo-vacs can automatically raise their mops when carpet is detected, in my experience they don’t go high enough. The DreameBot L20 offers a potential solution to this problem — it can automatically detach its mop pads before heading out — but it’s not smart enough to mop hard floors first, go back to the dock, drop its mop, then head back out. (You have to configure it manually if you want to do that.)
Where is the best place to put a robot vacuum?
I’m not sure there’s a “best” place, but ideally the dock should live somewhere out of the way, the better to preserve your decor and avoid tripping over it. For example, I have ours parked in our laundry room next to the washing machine; I just have to make sure the door stays open so the robot can roll out to the rest of the house. I also recommend placing the dock on a hard floor instead of carpet, if possible, especially if there’s a mop involved.
Can a robot vacuum clean a whole house?
Absolutely, though with a few caveats. First, if you have a large dwelling, it may need to return to the dock to recharge before whole-house cleaning is complete. Second, these things obviously can’t climb stairs (yet), so if your home has more than one floor, you’ll have to manually move the robot up or down.
Factors to consider when choosing a robot vacuum
Good news: Even inexpensive vacs do a pretty good job sweeping floors, and many of them now offer what was previously a premium feature: a self-emptying bin, a nice time-saver. Without it, you need to manually dump the debris after every cleaning or two. (Looking at you, Dyson 360 Vis Nav.) With it, you can often go a month or more before emptying.
Don’t focus too heavily on the suction rating (expressed as “Pa,” short for “Pascals”). Although a higher number translates to greater cleaning power, it doesn’t necessarily mean “better at cleaning,” as there are other variables at work as well. iRobot, makers of the famed Roomba robots, doesn’t even specify a Pa number for its products. That said, I’d look for a minimum of 5,000Pa, which should be enough to suck up Cheerios (arguably the most important measure of vacuum acumen).
What else should you look for? These are some key features to consider when evaluating robo-vacs:
-
App-based mapping and scheduling: Once upon a time, you had to deploy special sensors or even strips of magnetic tape if you wanted to keep your vac out of certain spaces. Modern models will use smart mapping to scan your entire space, label individual rooms and allow you to create virtual “no-go” zones. (For example, my desk chair sits on a plastic mat that’s curled up at the edges, so I’ve established a small zone to keep the vac away from it.) Mapping capabilities happen in a companion app, which also allows for scheduling, spot-cleaning, smart-assistant integration and much more.
-
Self-cleaning mop dock: I already mentioned the self-emptying dustbin, which is great, but most of the models here can also self-wash their mops. Without this feature, you’ll have to manually remove/clean the mop pad on a regular basis — not fun.
-
Auto-rising mop pad: Speaking of mop pads, you don’t want a wet one dragging across the carpet, do you? Look for a vac with an auto-rising pad, one that will lift up when sensors detect carpet. (If you have medium- or high-pile carpet, though, it may not raise high enough.)
-
Smart obstacle-avoidance: Got pets? Cords? Curtains? Kids? Newer, smarter vacs can avoid toys, socks, pet accidents and other items that would trip up other models. Take note that this feature sometimes relies on a camera, one that may be able to stream a live feed to your phone through your WiFi. It’s also a potential (but tiny, in my humble opinion) security risk, something to consider if you think hackers are interested in what’s on your floor.
-
Battery life: Ideally, any robot vacuum should be able to sweep your entire floor in one cleaning session without needing to recharge along the way. But this depends on the size of your home (or, at least, the size of the selected cleaning area), the size of the included battery and the overall power of the vac. (The higher the Pa, the higher the battery demand.) How much runtime is required to completely clean your house? Hard to say, but take note that most robot vacs have a rated runtime of anywhere from 90-210 minutes. If you live in an apartment, a shorter time may be fine. If it’s a big place, consider a longer-lasting battery.
