Close your eyes and picture it for a moment: a quiet, unassuming appliance doing your least favorite chore for you.
Fantasizing
about a robot vacuum used to be as close as every person was going to
get to the real thing. But most of today's models are much cheaper than
the $1,000 price tag you'd find on the robot vacuums of yore. While no
robot can tackle dirt and debris as well as a stick or upright vacuum (yet!), the top model during our tests at the Good Housekeeping Institute's Cleaning Lab picked up 99.5% of oatmeal on low-pile carpet, and 87.9% of sugar on low-pile carpet.
Our Top Lab Pick is the iRobot Roomba 980 Robotic Vacuum Cleaner. The
Cleaning Lab has looked at more than 20 models, judging them on how
well they transitioned from a bare floor to carpet (i.e. if they got
stuck or not), how well they cleaned debris against walls, and how well
they picked up debris in general (including oatmeal and baking soda).
Our analysts also looked at how intuitive the controls were, how loud
each vacuum was, and how simple the dust bin was to remove and empty.
The iRobot Roomba 980 was a champ across the board. Read more about our
top pick — plus four other models our analysts love — below:
Best Overall
iRobot Roomba 980 Robotic Vacuum
We weren't joking earlier — in our Lab's tests, the
iRobot Roomba 980 picked up 99.5% of oatmeal and 87.9% of sugar on
low-pile carpet. Not bad. This model is Wi-Fi enabled and works with
Alexa, so you can get it going on a graham cracker spill before your kid
stomps the crumbs to smithereens. Use the iRobot HOME app to schedule
and set up custom cleaning preferences, and watch with wonder as it uses
the AeroForce Cleaning System with Carpet Boost to power through rugs, switching to bare floors without a hitch.
When its battery is low, it'll recharge itself and quickly resume
cleaning until the job is complete. If you're looking for a slightly
lower-priced model, check out the iRobot Roomba 960.
Best Value
eufy Boost IQ RoboVac 11S
Amazon reviewers love this robot vacuum because
it's easy on the wallet but still gets the job done. It uses BoostIQ™
Technology to automatically increase suction power when it detects an extra-strength cleaning job
is needed. It also recharges on its own, so it'll be ready to come out
and clean when you need it. Plus, it's nice to look at and that's
because of its sleek design (it was recently re-engineered toward a
slimmer design, at just 2.85 inches tall) with an anti-scratch tempered
glass-top cover for protection. It also packs in an infrared-sensor to
avoid your furniture and drop-sensing tech to steer clear of potential
falls.
Best Tech
LG HOM-BOT Robotic Vacuum
Yes, the LG HOM-BOT is Wi-Fi enabled, but that's just the beginning. It's got cameras mounted on the top and bottom to map out your floor plan
and ensure it never misses a spot (it has longer side brushes to help
clean corners and edges with ease). With this technology, you can check
to see which areas of your home have been vacuumed at any given time.
You may want to try it out just for fun, as the HOM-BOT is so quiet you
may not notice it otherwise. Make it even smarter by choosing between
seven custom cleaning modes including turbo, which ups the speed for a
quick cleanup before last-minute guests arrive.
GH Seal Star
Miele RX1 Scout Robotic Vacuum
Put this baby on auto mode and it claims to clean up to 1,600 square feet before returning to its base for an auto-charge.
(And like the LG, it too has a turbo mode to work 50% faster than
normal.) In our Lab's test, this GH Seal star exhibited excellent
pickup of oatmeal, baking soda, orzo pasta, and sand on our bare floor —
and its pickup performance on carpet was also good. It has seven
anti-collision sensors, and there are two extended front brushes to
tackle hard-to-reach areas. You can use a remote to schedule a cleaning
or to direct the robot's cleaning. Even on turbo mode, we detected no
change to the motor sound output. It also holds the Seal, so if it proves defective within two years, Good Housekeeping will repair it, replace it, or refund the purchase price.
Best Mini Mop
iRobot Braava jet 240 Robot Mop
The least expensive model in our test, this little
wunderkind will mop and sweep hardwood, tile, and stone surfaces. Think
of it as your solution to cleaning underneath kitchen cabinets and making the challenging area around your toilet sparkle.
That's in part due to the Precision Jet Spray and Vibrating Cleaning
Head, which team up to tackle dirt and stains like dried coffee. Even
more impressive, it detects one of three different cleaning modes based
on the pads attached: wet mopping, damp sweeping, and dry sweeping. What
it won't do: Suck up dirt and debris on carpets and rugs. For that,
you'll want to refer back to one of our other choices.
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