iRobot’s Roomba j7+ is one of the best Roombas because of its obstacle avoidance technology. With this, it can essentially detect everyday objects, such as cables and socks and steer clear of them. The main benefit of this feature is the bot’s ability to avoid pet poop. In fact, iRobot is so confident in the Roomba j7+’s intelligence that it’s introduced the Pet Owner Official Promise (P.

Shark's IQ robot vacuum is stacked with smarts and collects then deposits debris into its docking station after each cleaning session. This bagless base system holds over a month's worth of dirt. You can use its advanced scheduling feature to set and forget it until it's time to empty out the dock.

iRobot's Roomba s9+ is one of the smartest and most thorough robot vacuums we've tested, outshining every other robot when it comes to picking up notoriously difficult pet hair.

The Vis Nav also impressed us with its exceptional suction power. In our carpet pickup tests, it outperformed all other models at removing heavy debris like sand.

Robots that recharge and then resume cleaning where they left off are especially great for large homes. If a model doesn’t have this, it will start from the beginning of its course each time it recharges.

Self-emptying robots take up significantly more space on your floors than the smaller charging bases of manually emptied robot vacuums, but they make for a more hands-free cleaning experience. These bases can often go weeks without having to be emptied and for models that mop too, many have a water tank inside big enough to hold multiple cleaning sessions worth of water for your robot.

Right now, the best robot vacuum on the market is the Eufy X10 Pro Omni. On test, this combination robot vacuum and mop was almost perfect, acing our cleaning tests and delivering accurate navigation too.

It has advanced mapping which our top pick overall lacks, so it can record and remember a blueprint of multiple floors of your house after just a few trips; you can then label individual rooms, and tell the s9+ to clean specific rooms on specific days.

The Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo is the best all-in-one robot vacuum solution. It has the highest maximum suction of Top 3 Automatic Vacuum Cleaners any robot vacuum in this ranking (11,000Pa – matching the maximum we see on any robot vacuum).

For this price, its downsides are tradeoffs we're willing to make. That's why it's also one of the best cheap robot vacuums.

Our ratings take into account these test results as well as reliability and owner satisfaction data from CR’s member surveys of thousands of robot vacuums purchased since 2013.

Alistair is a London-based journalist who has been writing about tech for over a decade. He has tested numerous robovacs over the years for TechRadar, from brands like iRobot, Eufy and Roborock. His favourites match intelligent navigation with smart design.

❌ You're dealing with high levels of dirt: This robovac doesn't self-empty dust, and while the onboard bin will compress dust so it can hold a surprisingly large amount, you'll still have to empty it more than you would a traditional self-empty model.

Rugs should also factor into your buying decision. You might find that lower-end models will get caught up in tassels.