Best Robot Vacuums and Mop Combos
The best way to keep your home clean is to use a robot vacuum. It will pick up dust, pet hair and other particles on the surface.
Certain robots can connect to smart assistants such as Alexa or Google Assistant to provide a environment that is hands-free. Find models that can be recharged and continue cleaning the area they left.
1. iRobot S8
This smart robot mop and vacuum combo is a great option for a wide range of households. It has a great navigation system with GPS and laser sensors. It also has many features and controls that are accessible through the app. It also comes with a useful feature that lets you add Cleaning zones for certain areas that require extra attention, as well as Keep Out zones that you don't want it to move. Like all Roomba devices, it gets new software updates that make it more efficient over time.
It's expensive, but it's is also among the most sophisticated robot vacuums ZDNet has ever tested. It comes with a powerful battery that can clean an entire home in less than two hours. It can also switch between mopping and vacuuming at the press of a button. And, unlike other self-emptying robots that require you to empty the bin after each run, it automatically emptys itself into a larger waste container above its charging dock.
It also has a number of other features, including intelligent obstacle avoidance that uses cameras and processor-powered smarts in order to recognize obstacles. It isn't often entangled or entrapped during a cleaning cycle, and it's the best in avoiding power cables and other objects in my tests. However, it's not as reliable at detecting pet waste and other dangers.
2. Eufy RoboVac X8 Hybrid
While Anker-owned Eufy has made a name for itself in low-cost robot vacuums it hasn't previously offered an all-in-one model that could also mop. This is changing with the X8 Hybrid, which has an impressive set of modern features and can compete well against much more expensive models.
Laser navigation is the main selling point of this machine. The previous Eufy devices have built up a rough map of your home by using infrared sensors and bumping into things however the X8's laser mapping technology is far more precise. It also takes a lot less time to construct an accurate map of your home and can store multiple maps, which is ideal for multi-floor homes.
The X8 is still a good vacuum for floors that are not clean and can sling debris over its side brushes and into its 400ml dust bin with ease. The X8's tyres, despite their circular shape, are very adept in grabbing corners and edges. It's not the best cat litter picker, though as our tests show it is able to remove around 90% of the fur from hard floors.
The mopping mode that is the basic one uses the same reservoir of water as the vacuuming mode. This is ideal for spills that aren't too dangerous, but you are unable to regulate the amount of water it consumes. It's effective at picking up pet hair. It has a higher rate of pick-up than the Roborock S7.
3. Miele RX2
Miele's RX2 robotic vacuum is known for its quiet, efficient appliances. It features a stunning design, excellent navigation, and excellent cleaning power. But it has a few operational oddities that prevent it from being ranked as the best overall smart robot vacuum.
The RX2 is equipped with a dual-sensor mapping technique which uses LIDAR to map the space and a pair of 3D scanning cameras to detect and avoiding obstacles (such as furniture legs or pet waste). Once the room is mapped and assigned, you can assign virtual no-go zones and sections that you would like to be the robot. You can also start a manual clean or manually change the cleaning mode, see a live feed from the cameras onboard and more from the main screen.
The sensors of the RX2 work well by registering furniture and obstructions in real-time. The suction and sweeping abilities are excellent, removing surface litter from medium pile carpeting as well as embedded dust on bare floors. However, it's not the most agile robot on the market. As with many others, it's not a good climber and has trouble with things like metal threshold transition strips.
Some people buy robot vacuums due to the ease of setting up a schedule on an app, only to forget about them for weeks. However, it's essential that a machine can get the job done, which is why our ZDNet staff tested and reviewed several of the most popular models to help you select the perfect one for your home.
4. Shark ION
This budget robovac is a robot that looks just like the other, but comes with some extra features and better performance. Its intelligent mapping system creates 3D and 2D maps of your home and uses those to navigate around obstacles and avoid them. It's even able to spot common obstacles like furniture legs and power cords in real-time. This combination of sensors, together with a bump sensor, and an infrared drop sensor that keeps it from falling down the stairs, makes it one of the most agile vacs we've tried.
In our tests, it was able to climbed over thick shag rugs and didn't get stuck on them (like the RoboVac 11s or Roomba 690). Its navigational skills were also impressive as its score for composite tests on carpet and bare floors beat out the competition and it picked up 98.5 percent of surface litter and embedded pet hair from our laboratory test samples.
The controls are more basic than the competition; there's an uniform cleaning button on the top and you can launch it via the app or by voice commands with Alexa or Google Assistant. You can also schedule weekly or daily cleanings, create no-go zones, and look up its cleaning history. Ion is covered in a smart dark gray plastic that looks and feels beautiful in your home. Its rear dustbin is accessible for emptying, and removing the filters is also a breeze.
5. Eufy 11S
Eufy 11S is a great option if you're looking for a robot vacuum that's simple and simple at a low cost. It doesn't have many of the advanced features, like digital mapping and Alexa integration, found in more expensive models, however, if you don't require these features, you can save money by purchasing this model.
The robot is easy to install and use. It does not require smartphone application or Wi-Fi pairing. However, it does come with an remote control that lets you choose between different modes and alter the suction level. You can also set up a manual schedule to set the robotvac to the schedule of cleaning.
During our tests, the 11S was very effective at cleaning pet hair and dirt on hard floors and carpets with a low pile. Its slim profile allowed it to pass under furniture that is low-hanging and other items that bulkier robots could not reach. It was able to get easily over thresholds of doorways and transition from one type of floor to another.
The 11S, just like other robots, can also eat certain objects, like cords and cat toys. The manufacturer says that you can avoid this by keeping such objects off the floor and using the possibility of a cord organizer. It also suggests that you regularly clean the dustbin, change the filters, and clean or change the brushes when necessary.
6. IRobot Roomba 990
The Roomba is iRobot's flagship robot vacuum. It's costly however it's top-performing and arguably the most advanced robot vacuum available. robot vacuum black friday Its self-navigating capabilities and environmental mapping are a wonder to behold. It has more advanced automation than the majority of its rivals, for instance the capability to set up virtual boundary markers with its mobile application. Although its app is a little sluggish, and the 980 does spin out a bit when moving over cables, it's an extremely efficient robot vacuum.
We really like the 980, because it makes use of its iAdapt2.0 navigation sensors and visual simultaneity localisation and mapping (or vSLAM) to store your home's floor plan. It will then use this information to design a consistent and efficient cleaning path for each cycle. The result is cleaner floors and a better robot vacuum than most high-end robots.
Other features of the 980 include dual multi-surface brushes that grab dirt on floors and carpets and an ejector brush that spins to sweep debris into the robotic vacuum’s bin. Its floor tracking sensors aid it navigate around furniture and along edges, and Cliff Detect prevents the Roomba from falling down stairs. It can also return automatically to the base station to allow for charging between sessions. Although the 980's battery lifespan and bin size isn't as good as those of other robot vacuums, it's a solid and reliable machine that will keep your floors spotless for hours at a time.