Keeping your floors clean and tidy can be a tedious and time-consuming task. Fortunately, with the advancement of technology, robot vacuums have become an increasingly popular solution for cleaning floors without the need for manual labor. These autonomous devices can navigate through your home, collecting dirt, dust, and debris along the way, leaving your floors sparkling clean.
With so many options available on the market, choosing the right robot vacuum can be overwhelming. In this article, we will review the best robot vacuums of 2023 to help you make an informed decision about which product will work best for your needs.
1. iRobot Roomba Combo J7 Plus
The Roomba Combo J7 Plus is designed to efficiently pick up particles as small as 0.7 microns, fulfilling the P.O.O.P promise and making it an ideal choice for pet owners. It can also be commanded via Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant to avoid your furry friends.
While the Combo J7 Plus performs well in both vacuuming and mopping, it may struggle with certain spillages such as oats, as the brush attachment may tend to fling them around.
The robot's accompanying app makes it easy to use and highly intelligent, allowing you to map your floor plan, set cleaning zones, and receive notifications for areas that require more attention. Despite its quiet operation, the vacuum makes a loud noise of over 90dB for a brief 10-30 seconds while it empties. Additionally, it should be noted tha
2. Eufy RoboVac 11S
The Eufy 11S is a great option for those who are seeking a budget-friendly robot vacuum. With its reasonable price, it is difficult to find a more affordable option on the market, but this doesn't mean that it sacrifices its ability to pick up dust.
During testing, it successfully picked up dry oats from medium-pile carpets and hard floors with ease, and it had no problem dealing with finer dust made from flour and cookies on hard floors, although it wasn't as effective on carpets. It's also slim, which allows it to clean under furniture with low clearance without any issues.
However, it does have some limitations due to its lower price point, such as a smaller dust bin and a lack of app control or integration with voice assistants. This makes it a great choice for those who prefer a simplistic robot vacuum.
Unlike other more expensive Eufy models, it doesn't follow a logical path when cleaning around the home. It may sometimes travel in circles, seek out room edges, or move in straight lines, which can prolong the cleaning process. It also struggles with moving around low-level objects, such as deep-pile rugs, piano pedals, and pet food bowls.
3. iRobot Roomba S9 Plus
While the iRobot Roomba S9+ may be considered the best robot vacuum currently available, its high price tag may not be affordable for everyone.
However, during our testing, it was found to be easy to use and highly effective in picking up fine dust, biscuit crumbs, and cereal on hard floors. Its performance on carpets was not as impressive, but this may be due to the deep embedding of fine dust in the pile, which other cordless vacuums also struggle with.
The Roomba S9+ has a self-emptying feature that deposits debris from each cleaning into a replaceable dust bag in the charging and emptying station, holding up to 14.9oz / 440ml.
This means that users won't have to empty the vacuum regularly, and they will receive an alert on the app when it needs replacing. Additionally, the vacuum is compatible with Alexa and Google Assistant for voice control.
4. Eufy RoboVac G30 Hybrid
If you're looking for a robot vacuum that can both mop and vacuum, but you're on a tight budget, the Eufy G30 Hybrid is definitely worth considering.
It's priced at just under half of the cost of the Ecovacs Robovacs that can also mop, and is often available at a discount, making it a more affordable option.
During our testing, the Eufy G30 Hybrid was able to effortlessly collect fine dust, cookie crumbs, and larger debris, including cereal, even on the lowest power setting from hard floors. However, like most robot vacuums, it did struggle with ground-in dirt on carpets.
While the dust canister and water tank are smaller than those of rival models, we believe this is an acceptable trade-off given the more affordable price tag.
Although the robot vacuum takes a methodical path backward and forward through a room, mapping its way, you won't be able to save these for future cleans, so it's not quite as intelligent as some of the other robot vacuums we've tested.
5. iRobot Roomba i7+
If you're in the market for a robot vacuum that's great at picking up pet hair, the Roomba i7+ is a fantastic option. It performed exceptionally well in collecting both pet hair and fine dust during our testing, comparable in many ways to its more expensive counterpart - the Roomba S9.
This smart robot vacuum can map your home and can integrate with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant, and uses the same large capacity dust bags that only require replacement every 30 days. Additionally, it is available without the self-emptying base at a slightly more affordable price.
However, in terms of suction power, the Roomba i7+ falls short. It's best suited for quick daily cleaning and may struggle with larger debris and ground-in dirt that the S9 can handle with ease. Despite this, for most users, the Roomba i7+ strikes a good balance between price and cleaning performance.
The replaceable dust bags do mean there is an ongoing cost, but the familiar circular design and rotating body found in previous Roomba robot vacuums allow it to easily navigate narrow areas.
How we test robot vacuums
In order to determine the top-performing robot vacuums, we conduct extensive testing on models from major brands like Dyson, Roomba, and Shark, as well as smaller companies such as Eufy and Roborock.
Our evaluation covers the vacuums' ability to pick up fine dust and crumbs, as well as larger debris such as cereal, and we assess their performance on both flat surfaces and edges and crevices.
In addition to evaluating cleaning effectiveness, we also examine how well the vacuums maneuver on both carpeted and hard floors, and whether they follow a logical cleaning pattern or move in a random manner that might result in missed areas.
We look for vacuums that can learn the layout of your home, enabling targeted cleaning of specific rooms or areas with minimal effort.
We assign ratings to each vacuum based on how easy it is to empty, how much noise it makes during operation, and how long the battery lasts before requiring a recharge.
How to choose the best robot vacuum
When choosing the best robot vacuum cleaner, there are multiple factors to take into account. Apart from deciding whether you need a robovac that can vacuum and mop, it's crucial to consider battery life, as it can be inconvenient if your robot vacuum runs out of power mid-cleaning.
Additionally, robot vacuums with large dust canisters or those that can empty their dust bins are preferable, as they require less maintenance.
Some robot vacuums follow a systematic path when cleaning your floors, which tends to be more efficient but also more costly than those that take a random route. It's also essential to look for smart mapping features that allow the robot vacuum to learn your home's layout, enabling it to clean specific rooms or areas at the touch of a button.
It's worth noting that some robot vacuums also offer no-go areas, which is beneficial if you want to restrict certain parts of your home from being cleaned.
Conclusion
When it comes to choosing the best robot vacuum cleaner, it pays to do your research. After all, you want a robovac that can pick up pet hair and fine dust with ease, navigate your home's layout with minimal effort, and stand the test of time.
The models we've discussed above are some of the top-rated robot vacuums on the market, so you can be sure that whichever one you choose, it will serve your home well.
Good luck in finding the perfect robovac for you!