Best robot vacuums for pet hair in 2023
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Tom’s Guide did a thorough review on their top robot pick for pet hair in 2023. They looked at the following robots:
iRobot Roomba i7+
Roborock S4 Max
iLife V3s Pro
iRobot Roomba S9+
Neato D9
Eufy RoboVac X8 Hybrid
iRobot Roomba j7+
But what do customers really think? Let’s find out the real winner by measuring the sentiment of some common sense categories that relate to a robot’s ability to deal with pet hair.
Here they are in order of best to worst.
Roborock S4 Max (20/25) - 🏆 VacuumCat Winner
Image Roborock
See the Roborock S4 Max on Amazon
| Category | Rating | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Pet Hair | 4/5 | This robot vac handles pet hair well. Overall, the vac is good at picking up pet hair without getting tangled up in it. When tangles do occur, the roller can be easily removed to clear the tangle. |
| Hard floors | 4/5 | Reviewers generally agree that the robot performance is good on hardwood. |
| Carpet | 4/5 | The robot performance is good on low-pile carpet and does a better job of picking up pet hair on carpet than the Roomba j7+ mentioned in this review. |
| Base | 4/5 | The robot vac has an auto-empty base and it’s easy to empty. There is no way to tell when its dock dust bin is full either. |
| Other Hair-busting features | 4/5 | The rotating brush is easy to remove and clean and hair and string can be removed by unwinding it from the brush. The brush bar still has some bristles which are excellent for getting dust up off of floors, and the silicon edge brush works way better than bristles at drawing things off of walls and corners and into the brush bar. |
iRobot Roomba i7+ (19/25)
| Category | Rating | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Pet Hair | 4/5 | The reviewers mention that the robot is good at handling pet hair, with rubber brush rolls specifically mentioned as being effective in collecting and removing pet hair without tangles. |
| Hard floors | 4/5 | The reviewers mention that the robot works well on hardwood floors, with some reviewers noting that it transitions well between different types of floors and works well on low pile area rugs. |
| Carpet | 3/5 | The reviewers mention that the robot works well on tightly woven berber carpet and can sweep the top of the carpet, but it does not deep clean carpets (obviously). |
| Base | 4/5 | The reviewers mention that the robot has an auto-empty base that is effective, though reviews note that it is extremely loud. |
| Other Hair-busting features | 4/5 | The rubber brush rollers seem to be a effective in collecting and removing hair without tangles, and that it can be programmed to avoid certain areas such as pet bowls or cables. |
iRobot S9+ (18/25)
| Category | Rating | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Pet Hair | 3/5 | The robot handles pet hair well, but there are some reports of it not being effective at picking up dog hair on carpet. |
| Hard floors | 4/5 | The robot manages mixed surfaces of hardwood and thin mats well and navigates well without getting stuck. Some complain about a design flaw that causes a loud plastic rattling sound on hard flooring. |
| Carpet | 3/5 | The robot handles thick rugs well, but there are reports of it not being effective at picking up dog hair on carpet. |
| Base | 4/5 | The robot has an auto-empty base and some describe as “amazing” but loud. |
| Other Hair-busting features | 4/5 | The robot has a dual brush design that can pick up a lot of hair without requiring frequent maintenance, and the rollers are less likely to get clogged with hair. |
iLife V3s Pro (14/25) - Tom’s Guide Pick
See the iLife V3 Pro on Amazon
| Category | Rating | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Pet Hair | 5/5 | The vacuum is highly effective at picking up pet hair, with reviewers praising its performance on pet hair in high traffic areas and specifically mentioning its ability to handle pet hair from multiple animals, including long-haired dogs like Golden Retrievers and a German Shepherds. The caveat here is that it’s great for pet hair specifically on hard floors, but note that it doesn’t do well on carpet. |
| Hard floors | 4/5 | The vacuum performs well on hardwood floors, with reviewers noting its ability to navigate around obstacles and make transitions between rooms. However, there were some mentions of missed crumbs that required additional cleaning with a broom. |
| Carpet | 1/5 | The vacuum’s performance on carpet is mixed, with some reviewers noting its ability to handle low and medium pile carpet, but others finding it struggled with high traffic areas and shag rugs. |
| Base | 0/5 | No auto-empty base. |
| Other Hair-busting features | 4/5 | The robot is equipped with hair-specific features, such as counter-rotating side brushes, that make it effective at cleaning up hair. Reviewers also mention that these brushes are easy to clean. This robot doesn’t have any roller brushes, and because of this, the manufacturer claims it can pick up pet hair without tangling which typically is caused by hairs blocking a roller. |
It’s surprising that this robot was the winner from the original article given its limited ability to clean carpet.
Neato D9 (14/25)
| Category | Rating | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Pet Hair | 4/5 | The bot has strong performance in cleaning up pet hair and is able to handle it effectively. |
| Hard floor | 4/5 | It operates well on hard surfaces, with no issues maneuvering. |
| Carpet | 3/5 | It performs decently on carpet and rugs with no issues maneuvering, although some mention a common issue with the side brush breaking quickly. |
| Base | 1/5 | No auto-empty base. But we’re giving it a 1 here because it has a over-sized internal dust bin that holds “multiple days” of dirt, dust and dander. |
| Other Hair-busting features | 2/5 | With a D-shape design and main vacuum brush that is wider than brushes found on round robots, it can clean closer to walls and deeper into corners. A large filter captures up to “99.5%” of allergens and fine dust particles as small as 10 microns. |
Eufy RoboVac X8 Hybrid (9/25)
| Category | Rating | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Pet Hair | 3/5 | The robot vacuum handles pet hair to some extent, but the review mentions that it may become clogged with pet hair. |
| Hard floors | 4/5 | The robot performs well on hard floors. |
| Carpet | 2/5 | Customers mention that the robot struggles to get dog hair off rugs and performs somewhat poorly on carpeted floors. |
| Base | 0/5 | No auto-empty base. |
| Other Hair-busting features | 0/5 | Nothing stands out to mention here. |
iRobot Roomba j7+ (9/25)
See the on iRobot Roomba j7+ Amazon
| Category | Rating | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| Pet Hair | 2/5 | The robot has difficulties with handling pet hair and tends to get tangled up with it, causing issues with its performance. |
| Hard floors | 3/5 | The robot performs OK on hardwood, but is mechanically noisy and clanks and clunks during operation. |
| Carpet | 2/5 | The robot struggles with cleaning pet hair on some types of rugs and performs worse than the previous model on medium pile carpet. |
| Base | 2/5 | The robot comes with an auto-empty base station, but it is said to be expensive, have a small capacity, and requires constant emptying in the middle of cleaning jobs. |
| Other Hair-busting features | 0/5 | Although it has ability to avoid objects and pet waste, there isn’t much to say about features that help dealing with hair specifically. |
What makes a pet-hair-destroying robot vacuum?
- Strong suction: A powerful suction motor is essential for effectively picking up pet hair, dander and debris from both hard flooring and carpet surfaces.
- Tangle-free or specialized brushrolls: Some robot vacuums come with specialized brushrolls that are designed to lift and remove pet hair from surfaces. A brush roll design that prevents pet hair from getting tangled can save you time and hassle in maintaining the vacuum.
- High-efficiency filters: A high-efficiency filter can capture pet dander, dust, and other allergens, which can help to reduce pet-related allergies.
- Automatic dirt disposal (auto-empty base): An automatic dirt disposal system that empties the robot’s dustbin after cleaning can save you time and hassle. While this doesn’t directly impact the vacuum’s ability to collect hair, it allows for less frequent maintenance and handling of hair and dust when emptying the bin. This is a bonus for your health and time. When the pet hair continuously falls to the floors, this category tends to matter more.