Best Rated Robot Vacuum and Mop

Eufy's top-rated robotic vacuum and mop takes a bit of the burden of keeping your floors spotless. It can refill its own water tank, self-empty its tower bin, and change out the dust bag.

More advanced models are smart enough to draw a map of your home and take note of the furniture's position. They can also identify hazards and navigate around them, such as loose charging cables or stray socks.

Object Avoidance

Object avoidance helps your robot to avoid hitting things like toys, cords, and clothes that could get caught in the vacuum. These features are particularly crucial if you have pets or children who may leave objects on the floor for your robot to discover.

Based on the model you choose depending on the model you select, your robot could have various sensors to assist it in its quest to avoid obstacles. A few popular ones include crossed IR sensors that beam focused beams of infrared light across the room to spot things like furniture legs and door frames. This technology has been widely adopted by a variety of robots available, and you can also see it in the top models that cost more than others.

Other technology for avoiding objects that is available in more expensive robots is 3D Structured Light which uses cameras and a crossed IR sensor to map the surrounding area and identify obstacles. Time of Flight (ToF) sensors that measure and emit the duration that it takes for the light to reflect off of an object to determine its distance, is also available. These aren't very common but can be an excellent addition to your robot, if you're looking for extra peace of mind.

Most of the top-rated robots can also mop your floors. Some robots come with their own water tanks which allow them to clean up spills and messes. You'll need to empty the dust bin and clean its cameras and sensors between cleaning sessions.

Mapping

Robot vacuums should include mapping capabilities. This lets them navigate around your home and avoid getting caught up against walls. Without mapping, they might be tripped over by furniture, cords or pet toys and end up taking less space from your space. Most robots employ sensors to map your home and navigate around obstacles. They can clean the floor in fewer steps and save you time. Many of the top robotic vacuums also have this feature, which allows you to create areas of no-go.

Robots with a built-in LIDAR system make use of this technology to create a map of your home quickly and efficiently. During our tests with the Eufy Clean robot made use of this feature to divide my home into various areas and clean each independently this was a significant improvement over the less expensive models we tested that used a front bump sensor. This was a more precise method of navigating my home and was simple to control via the on-device application.

While there aren't any robotic vacuums that can scale stairs, the Best robot vacuum cleaner UK models do have mapping and obstacle avoidance features. These tools allow them to remove dirt from carpets with low pile and hard floors, and to avoid falling down the stairs. Some have cliff sensors that stop them from crossing over the edge of the stairs, and some have boundary strips that stop them from entering certain areas.

Some robots have a large tower base which holds their collected dirt, minimizing the amount of dust and allergens emitted into your home. These bases can go several months or even weeks between emptying and are especially useful if you suffer from allergies. Certain models come with self-emptying dust bins that you can empty without opening and closing them manually.

Wi-Fi enabled

Some robot vacuum reviews vacuums communicate via Wi-Fi with their applications. This lets you control them using your smartphone instead (or in addition) to the physical remote. These models are more expensive, however they can save you time because you can schedule cleaning sessions daily, weekly or even monthly. They also often allow you to modify and save floor maps and offer alternative cleaning routines.

Dual sensors are utilized by the most modern robot vacuums. They combine the LIDAR mapping system with a structured-light sensor that can detect and block out objects, even if they are hidden beneath furniture or power cables. These features let your robot reach tight areas, such as the kitchen's nook under cabinets or under sofas. Other robots struggle to reach these areas. They're also quicker to get around obstacles and have longer running times thanks to larger dust bins, which makes them better suited for large homes than the entry-level robots.

The most effective robot vacuums are quick and efficient. They are also intelligent and powerful. They can pick up a wide range of floor debris including pet hair, kitty-litter and other mess. They also are quiet, making them a great choice for homes that have pets or young children. Most robot vacuum users have told us that they love the convenience of having their floor cleaned with minimal effort. This is especially true when used regularly. With proper maintenance (cleaning the rotating brushes and keeping tabs on the replacement parts) robots can last as long as a traditional full-size vacuum cleaner. PCWorld offers a guide that includes some helpful tips to ensure that your robot vacuums that mop is running smoothly.

Larger Dust Bags

A robotic vacuum may not be as efficient in cleaning as a canister or upright vacuum, but it's excellent at removing dust and dirt that regular vacuuming leaves behind. It is a great tool for quick retouching of floors, and can navigate around cords or other obstacles in your home. If you don't want to perform the deep cleaning yourself, a robotic cleaner can be sent out to scour your floors on a regular basis.

Some of the top-rated robot vacuums come with large easy to empty dust bags that can store more dirt than a single room. This will help you save time and money on bags that need to be replaced. This feature is available on several models which includes our top choice one, the Ecovacs T30S Combo. This all-in-one robovac is a high-performance robovac and comes with a self emptying bin. It also has mopping functions and effective navigation. It's a close contest between the iRobot Roomba Combo j9+ and this model, which utilizes the latest technology for avoidance and smart mapping. This model has a greater capacity but is slightly more expensive.

The two models also differ in the way they handle long hair, which may become tangled in the rollers of a few robots. The best-performing models include the Roborock Q5 Max+ and SwitchBot K10S Plus, both have excellent hair pickup and tangle avoidance scores, along with excellent path planning and near perfect auto empty results. The Shark Matrix Plus and eufy are also good options with respectable hair pick-up and tangle avoidance but they don't have as much path planning or auto empty.

The most recent robots are outfitted with sensors that can detect dirt and other debris on carpets and they're better at picking up pet hair. Some models even have a mopping mode that makes use of the reservoir of water to eliminate spills and stuck-on mess. This feature is a must for families with pets as well as children.

Maintenance

A robot vacuum can be a great aid in keeping a close eye on your home. While no robot cleaner can substitute an upright or canister vacuum for deep cleaning, the top models that are rated highly pick up pet hair, lint and other surface dirt on hard floors and low-pile carpets, picking up much more than you could with a vacuum. They have navigational features that prevent them from getting stuck on power cords, rug fringe, or furniture.

According to the model, you can set up the robot vacuum to run multiple times per day, or watch it in action using an app. However, these convenient vacuums are also prone to clogging and require regular maintenance such as emptying the onboard bin (or the base's bigger dust bin in certain cases) as well as checking the brushes for hair that is tangled, and regularly rinsing and allowing the filters to dry as suggested by the manufacturer.

Emily Rairdin is a vacuum expert and store owner apprentice at University Vacuum + Sewing. She claims that a robot vacuum can last from three to five years if it is properly care. She suggests regularly emptying the bin and brush roll, cutting out hair that's tangled up in the brushes and frequently washing and drying the filter when your robot is also used as mop. It is a good idea to clean the sensors and charging contacts of the dock or the robot with a soft clean cloth every now and then. You can recharge and refill your robot prior to the next cleaning session.