Top rated robot vacuums
Roborock S7 MaxV Ultra Robot Vacuum and Mop
This is the latest and greatest Roborock vacuum mop combo. These vacuums are frankly class-leading right now. It’s super expensive at $1,399 but if you can swing it, these high-quality bots won’t disappoint. Get this, you don’t have to worry about the mop since it gets cleaned. AMAZING! There is still maintenance to be done, but this mop-washing feature really reduces the babysitting levels. This is a step in the right direction, love it. Tom’s Guide has an awesome review on it here.
The way it works is that the dock itself sucks debris out from the vacuum and stores it in a larger bin. The base also has a mop washing station which allows you to leave the mop in place for multiple runs without having to manually clean the mop. Other big features include “reactive AI 2.0 obstacle avoidance”, which in theory improves navigation (which was already pretty great). 5100Pa suction isn’t too shabby either.
This is my number one vacuum pick. The reviews indicate that the mop is a big hit, and a bagless system in the base would be a welcome change, and obviously that it’s very pricey.
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Shark AV2501S AI Ultra Robot Vacuum
The Shark AV25001S AI Ultra (what a name) is known to be solid all-around at a decent price. Lidar navigation means it cleans in those visually appealing straight lines. A bagless bin in the base allows it to run in economy mode (I love this). The HEPA filter minimizes pet hair, dander and allergens exhausted back into your home. With 120 min of runtime, this bot shouldn’t have a problem with battery life. But even as the battery degrades over time it’s able to find the dock, recharge, then pick up where it left off.
Customers have indicated that it lacks in the deep suction arena, but acknowledge this as a general shortcoming of robot vacs in general. The base’s bin capacity is also small. While the manufacturer claims it can handle 30 days of debris, some customers needed to empty much more frequently (eg weekly).
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iRobot Roomba j7+
One strength of iRobot/Roomba devices has always been their counter-rotating rubber brushes (of course it has a side spinning brush too), which help them score high marks in debris pickup and suction. The j7+ is no exception here: it scores high on hardwood and high-pile carpet, doing slightly worse on low-pile carpet.
It also does exceptionally well with long hair. These didn’t get tangled in the counter-rotating brushes. As mentioned in the Modern Castle review, very few robot vacuums can manage hair like the j7+.
The j7+ has both audio and visual sensors that allow it to map its surroundings and gain insight into obstacles in realtime. It can notify you when it finds a hazard by sending you the image. From there, you can label it as a temporary or permanent obstacle. Both cords and pet waste were avoided in tests. This is impressive and it steps up the smarts compared with the previous top-tier models like the S9+.
This sensor package aids navigation and means it has a much better chance of being able to fully navigate your home without getting stuck. It will likely get back to its base station to unload, recharge and venture out again if the job wasn’t complete. One downside of camera-based navigation is that ambient light is required, and will it avoid darker areas (so don’t buy this vacuum if you are planning on running it at night). Once it has your house mapped, you can dispatch it to clean a certain room and even manage the cleaning preferences per room.
The app is generally good. You can view robot stats and maps of the discovered floor plans, label rooms and prioritize certain areas, or designate keep-out zones. Alexa and Google Assistant are both supported, and you can tell it to clean with voice commands.
Overall setup experience is decent, but it’s a good idea to fully charge on the dock before beginning. As with most of the current Roomba devices, they need to embark on a “mapping run” to get the big picture of your floor plan. Other features are unlocked after the mapping run is finished.
The base station can hold 60 days of debris, which is the same as the S9+. The self-emptying dust bin on the j7+ helps reduce maintenance. It comes with an extra filter and bag.