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For many people, robot vacuums have become the answer to that annoying chore we all have to do to keep our homes clean. But not all robot vacuums are created equal. Although they’ve gotten a lot smarter since the early days of moving around furniture and leaving behind messy edges, we decided to really put them to the test.
To find out which robot vacuums are the best, we did the hard work dozens of times in our lab in Kentucky, evaluating suction power, navigation performance, object avoidance, noise level, and, most importantly, pickup performance.
Also: Best robot vacuum for pet hair
We compared 10 robot vacuums based on real-world home testing recommendations from our smart home reviewer Maria Diaz, as well as products tested in our lab.
Robot vacuum was a cut above the rest when it came to picking up debris EchoVox X8 Pro Omni.
How we tested these robot vacuums
In our lab, we put each robot vacuum through three tests over five sessions, for a total of 15 tests per vacuum (at an average rate of 30 minutes per test). Each robot vacuum was tested in a simulated living room on different floor types to determine the percentage of sand picked up on hardwood, low-pile, and mid-pile carpet.
We chose sand as the debris of choice because it is very consistent and it is easy to measure exactly the same amount for each test. Additionally, sand is well absorbed into the carpet, requiring the vacuum to use both suction and brush movement to remove it to pick it up, which gives a better overall indication of the vacuum’s cleaning ability than raw suction alone.
Our vacuum test chamber features simulated furniture, different types of flooring, and other obstacles.
Brian Adams/ZDNET
According to our senior lab engineer, Brian Adams, sand is also comparable to common contaminants like dirt and dust, so reasonable conclusions can be drawn about performance with them.
In our testing, the hardwood average of sand picked up by the vacuum was always significantly higher than both carpet averages, because hardwood flooring doesn’t hold sand in place and that’s a function of raw suction power and pathfinding.
Too: How we test robot vacuums on ZDNET
To find out which robot vacuum had the best pickup performance, we averaged the three results for each robot vacuum. Our final average for the amount of sand we added was between 38% to 60% that the robot vacuum successfully picked up.
Result
The robot vacuum with the best pickup performance was EchoVox X8 Pro OmniAn average of 60.28% sand was lifted in all three categories of tests. The closest runner-up among other robot vacuums we tested was the Dream L40 Ultra, which had an average pickup performance of 55.89%.
Read review: EchoVox Deebot X8 Pro Omni
It’s important to note that none of these robot vacuums are the latest models. However, in our lab testing, the average pickup performance of the new EchoVox X9 Pro Omni was only 51.47%, indicating that, surprisingly, the older model performed better than this. We haven’t been able to test the new Dream L50 Ultra in either a practical or laboratory testing setting.
As you can see from our bar graph visualization (Figure 1), the robot vacuum with the worst pickup performance was the Roborock Saros 10R, which is surprising considering its 22,000Pa suction and flagship model status.
It’s worth pointing out that this doesn’t mean the Saros 10R is a bad robot vacuum, as it has other features like object avoidance, quiet operation, and an auto-empty dustbin that are different testing metrics than pickup performance.
Our test results may vary from your experience, depending on the type and condition of your floors, the amount of debris you are vacuuming, and other factors specific to your home. However, as a general baseline, our testing provides an expert analysis of how these robot vacuums actually perform at cleaning different types of floors.
When trying to determine the best robot vacuum, we kept several factors at the forefront of our testing and research, which may also aid your search.
- Types of flooring: Some robot vacuums are equipped to work with certain types of floors, such as carpet or hardwood. Others may be able to accommodate other types of flooring, such as stone or marble. Before purchasing, consider the type of flooring in your home and which vacuum is best suited.
- Mapping: For full automation, your robot vacuum should have a mapping feature to navigate to each room. You may also want to consider an obstacle avoidance feature that can avoid things like furniture, wires, and even pet waste. This feature is a must have in a scattered place in my house.
- Battery: A robot vacuum is hardly worth it if it doesn’t have a battery to keep it running. Consider battery time before choosing the best robot vacuum to make sure it has enough power to clean your home. If you choose a robot vacuum that has the technical ability to stop its work, return to its charging base to refill its battery, and then resume work where it left off, this may not be as big a factor as other factors on this list.
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Connectivity: Many of the best robot vacuums offer voice control, some even with Alexa. Others may feature an app that allows you to remotely control your robot, set schedules, track progress, and monitor the machine’s efforts. If you’re hoping for voice activation rather than using an app, check and see if the machine is compatible with your home assistant of choice.
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Technology has come a long way since auto-empty grounds were first introduced. That being said, it appears that they have all overcome the obstacles and are doing well. In our testing experience, we did not find auto-empty base issues.
The only thing we would keep in mind is to make sure that your self-emptying base is equipped with disposable bags to catch and contain all the dirt and debris. This makes cleaning much easier and ensures that once the dirt has been vacuumed, it will not be allowed to seep back into your home. Once the bag is full, you simply pull it out, throw it in the trash, and place it in a brand new bag.
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