It does create a lot of dirty water though, and is a little slow because it'll wash its mop pads multiple times per cleaning session. Elsewhere, it boasts an excellent app and the vacuuming is strong, too.

Prior to joining GH, she graduated from Hofstra University with a bachelor’s degree in forensic science and spent two years as an analyst in an environmental lab in Queens.

iRobot’s Roomba j7+ is one of the best Roombas because of its obstacle avoidance technology. With this, it can essentially detect everyday objects, such as cables and socks and steer clear of them. The main benefit of this feature is the bot’s ability to avoid pet poop. In fact, iRobot is so confident in the Roomba j7+’s intelligence that it’s introduced the Pet Owner Official Promise (P.

✔️ Cord or cordless: Decide whether you want a vacuum with a cord, which can limit how far you can vacuum until you need to find another outlet, or if you prefer cordless, which has a battery life you'll need to monitor.

❌ You want high levels of control: This robovac doesn't always do exactly as its told when it comes to more complex instructions.

We look at whether there's any remnants left after a single pass from the robot vacuum, and if it catches them on a second run. We repeat these tests for both hard floor and carpet.

This is quite a common feature for robot vacuums. By connecting with your smartphone app, you can schedule when you want it to clean, be it daily, weekly or when you’re not at home.

The list of reputable brands making high-quality robot vacuums doesn’t stretch long, but CR Top 3 Automatic Vacuum Cleaners evaluates all of the mainstays, which run the spectrum between inexpensive and luxury.

Carolyn selected all of the picks for this round-up and advised the Cleaning Lab's former reviews analyst, Jodhaira Rodriguez, during the testing of wet-dry vacuum and mop combo devices, one of which was included in this list of the best vacuums.

Though it’s an investment at $1,199, consider that you’re getting almost three cleaning devices in one package: a robot vacuum, robot mop, and a hand vacuum for reaching all the areas the robot misses.

Here's the table on which robot vacuums are best at picking up dirt and pet hair. Note that while all of the robot vacuums were tested by picking up the same material on the same surfaces, those with an asterisk were tested in a 15 x 15-foot square, whereas the other models were tested in a 5 x 5-foot square.

The impressive suction pulled huge volumes of hair from carpet, and handled hard floors extremely well too. We had no issues with the hair clogging the self-empty mechanism, and a larger-than-usual dock dustbin also means you won't need to replace the dust bags too frequently.

This L10s combination robot vacuums and mops floors all in one cleaning session. And rather than using just plain water, it comes with the brand's own cleaning solution, which fits inside the charging base and dispenses automatically.

The iRobot Combo Roomba j9+ receives solid performance scores across the board in CR’s tests, earning an excellent score for cleaning bare floors and a very good score for carpet. It has smart mapping technology as well as avoidance technology to help it move around household obstacles like cords.