Introduction

Can the quick fix option of a robot vacuum sweep in to the work of good cleaning on your hard floors, or does having a machine with a cleaning routine need to be an added bonus? Our gadget and home testing lab has asked us to help you make the most of the products that are available in the UK. We sent our expert buyer into the lab to give her a chance to better understand the type of vacuum that suits her home, and we want to tell you how it performed in our tests to ensure you can decide which robot is worth buying. Read on to compare the top-scoring robovac mops from Dyson and Shark, our best and worst models from Philip Kingsley, and then get the latest appliances from our sister lab Gtech and research into which machine is the best for your everyday needs.

Best all-around robot vacuum

The best robovacs excel at picking up debris from hard floors, including food crumbs, pet hair and even small bits of meat and vegetables that might have got lodged under a couch cushion or a chair. They’ll be perfect for cleaning up fallen cat litter or pet poop and are excellent at getting rid of dust, fluff and pollen from furniture, tiles, and other surfaces. These robots’ clean data is used in a company’s mapping system and use AI to identify areas that need maintenance. It will give the cleaner higher-performing tasks and help it navigate around different room layouts and make sure you don’t accidentally hit something. We’ve seen models from Sony, Bosch and ShoeBuy and found them all very useful for daily cleaning and some of the machines can offer a ton of cleaning services during their initial lifecycle.

What are the best cheap robot vacuums?

For most users of a budget robot vacuum, picking a Best Buy will come down to the features you want. Buyers will need a couple more key features from the robot to ensure well-maintained properties. While we’ve found some high-end devices such as upright vacuum cleaners, the white ones you’d want are cheaper. But we also like to see any products available that have one or more decent cleaning modes, and if they take reasonably efficient evisceration of pet hair, then they can be useful for you. So if you choose to opt for an iRobot robot, it should be able to tackle the most direct areas of the house, under furniture and hard surfaces. What’s more, with some cheap models picking up heavy grime that would take expensive single-handed cleaners to remove, you’re likely to be getting a robot that will take the work out for itself wherever you go. You may also get something you can’t get from an expensive model such as sensors or extra batteries. While these things do help a lot in terms of triggering your robot vacuum to start when it senses a problem or needs more juice, the latter factors will also make cleaning that hard to do. If that’s the case, look for a better electric cleaner (which requires a battery rather than hardwired). There are certainly cheaper cheaper models, and they pay a premium for features and functionality – some at a competitive price – though we’ve found that every model we test has great cleaning results regardless of price. You’ll want a range of features and options with options to help you decide: battery life - Budget models can only last about 20 minutes or so before needing to charge (if it’s running low) Most vacuum cleaners have a maximum 60 minutes of run time.

The key features to look for

With robot vacs, robot-mapping (RMS) is within the growth of household cleaning. That means that a decent vacuum cleaner automatically knows what they have done and what else they want to clean, and is ready to make a good clean for the user. It can be on a budget, but it’ll have’smart’ features that will help it to pinpoint what’s going on in the house. Roombas include a steering wheel, uprights’, downward-facing sensors, magnet, trap bars, dustbin, carpet tool, manual mode, water tank, lots of manual settings, navigational systems, app control and so on. Like all smart machines, you may expect that you’ll need to recharge your robot vacuum for up to 100 hours between charges. But this only works in batteries if you connect a mains power supply to the robot rather than connecting the motor direct to your Wi-Fi, so you shouldn’t find your vacuum charging at full runtime. Keep in mind that the better cleaning you get, the better it should last. When it comes to price and features, a pricier vacuum may be better value if its smart features are extended, because there are fewer options to control in-app than on cheaper models, and on top of that it will also typically be a smaller robot. If you’ve really saved up for a smart vacuum, it might be worth considering a robot mop and a steamer, for instance. Be sure to read our advice below on investing in the best robot vacuum cleaners, before you make your final decision. On cost, an older model might pay less, but you’re better off picking a new model if it’s another budget, or less expensive, model that will get the most out of you. You won’t want to let it go, however, so remember to have it on standby if you do change your mind. Cost.

Bottom line

Whether you are comfortable with a basic bin approach and leaving it within reach, or relying on your vacuum to do it for you, these are the main reasons we’ve put our Robot vacuum cleaner reviews together. While they’re important for your housekeeping needs, they also lack some of the more important features, such as cleaning modes and multiple cleaning zones that other vacuum cleaners offer, like auto-emptying filters and no-go zones.