No matter if you have a huge house with three shaggy dogs or a stylish home with carpets of medium pile, a robot vacuum can aid in keeping your floors clean. Make sure the model you choose is specifically designed to clean rugs and carpets effectively.
Today's models are better than ever. Some models even have sensors that let them not climb on the rugs when they're mopping to ensure that the rug won't be wet.
Powerful Suction
Robots aren't as effective as traditional upright or stick vacuums, but they do a great job at picking up dust the form of crumbs, crumbs and pet hair from hard floors and low pile carpeting. Find a vacuum with a strong suction, which can easily pick up dirt and debris from your floors in just one pass or multiple passes on carpeting. You should also look for a robot that can easily maneuver around stairs, furniture and tight corners.
In our tests, we have found that the best-rated robots in this category can handle almost any type of flooring. They can also move from carpeting to hardwood tile without getting stuck. Larger wheels let them climb over ledges, steps and doorways with greater ease than smaller ones. They also have sensors to aid in avoiding hitting furniture or falling. Some can even detect when they're near the tassels of a rug and automatically increase their suction power to prevent becoming entangled.
The majority of the top robots in this category use powerful motors that provide powerful suction to speed up cleanups. They also come with a range of attachments that allow you to sweep and mop your floors. Some of them can be used in conjunction with an compatible smart speaker such as Amazon's Alexa or Google Assistant, for a hands-free cleaning experience.
Toner advises that you be aware of the battery life of the robot and how easy it will be to recharge. Certain robots come with a feature that allows you to restart cleaning right where the robot stopped. This is helpful when you have a large home or a schedule that changes frequently.
While most robots don't require regular maintenance, it's important to clean them periodically to get rid of hair or lint from their brushes and other parts. It's a good idea to empty the dust bin (and, if needed, wash it) and clean the cameras or sensors periodically. And if you have mopping robots, be sure to wash and dry the mopping pads before using them again.
Customized Cleaning Schedules
If you have carpet, you'll need to vacuum it regularly since dirt and other debris can accumulate in the base of the fibers. This task can be made simpler and quicker with a robot vacuum for carpet. These intelligent machines automatically sweep and mop floors according to scheduled times and even operate even when you're not.
However, you must be careful to select the right model for your needs. You'll need a robot vacuum with more features to get the best performance on carpet. The cheapest models will not perform as well. The most effective models come with a range of customizable settings, and smart navigation technology to ensure they don't get caught in the midst of any messes.
Neato D9 is a good example. It's one of our top robot vacuums in general however, it's especially efficient in cleaning carpeted surfaces and getting around tricky areas such as under furniture. This is due in part to its mapping technology. It learns and saves a map of your house to help it vacuum rooms more efficiently, without getting lost or caught in furniture. You can edit the map using an app to block off rooms that you don't wish it to enter.
A powerful battery, large dustbins and a long cycle of cleaning are some other things to look for. We recommend a model that automatically empties its bin once it is full, instead of having empty it manually.
Shark ION Robot vacuum series is a great choice for those with a small budget who nevertheless want an effective carpet cleaner. It's not equipped with the advanced mapping capabilities of our top pick however, it's effective on carpeted floors. It also does a great job of navigating narrow spaces. It doesn't come with a docking station however, so you'll need to locate a location for it in your home.
You can also select one that is a hybrid model and can double as mop. These machines have an water reservoir that is paired with a microfiber pad that can be used to moisten and scrub floors. They're not as efficient as carpet-cleaning vacuums that are specifically designed for this, but they can be effective in tackling more serious spills and stains, or for keeping floors looking good between cleanings.
Advanced Sensors
Modern robots can recognize different flooring types and adjust their cleaning accordingly. The best robot vacuum we reviewed for carpeting can automatically increase suction when switching from hardwood to carpet. It is also able to return and clean that same area a second time to ensure an extensive clean. This feature is enabled by the robot using a variety sensors to navigate through your home and build an accurate map. The information is then compiled and used to plan the most efficient route to wash each room.
Look for advanced features such as carpet recognition sensors to assist your robot vacuum in doing an excellent job of cleaning your floor. For example some of the most highly-rated models have gyroscopes which assist in calculating the distance to obstacles, like walls or stairs. This technology functions in the same way that a compass does, by spinning quickly to measure the robot's orientation. This feature prevents the robot from falling down steep steps or other barriers that could damage it or cause a crash.
Additionally, some models come with an extra setting that can detect pet hair and other allergens on carpet. This is a great feature to have if you live with pets and need an appliance that is able to remove hair from various kinds of flooring without damaging the carpet fibres. We also looked for models with a smart mapping feature that can learn the patterns of your home, to make it possible to block off areas you don't want to clean or create no-go zones in which the robot is to stay clear of these areas at all costs.
To ensure your robot vacuum lasts for a long time, it's important to keep it clean. Hild suggests checking the filter regularly (follow the instructions of the manufacturer regarding care) and remove hair that is tangled in the brushes. Rinsing and emptying the dust bin after each use, and wiping down the sensors or cameras periodically is a good idea too.
Simple to operate
Keeping your floors free of tracked-in dirt, crumbs and pet hair shedding isn't easy, but a robot vacuum can make it much easier. The best robots for carpet can effectively clean your floors in less time than it takes to manually sweep them and have a better chance of nabbing stuck debris such as metal screws or nails, as well as nuts. They're also very quiet, and they don't interfere with your routine.
You can control your robot vacuum with its app or with voice commands via an appropriate smart home assistant, such as Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. Certain models let you monitor the progress of the robot's work and monitor the path it takes to clean while it is working, as well as make custom schedules, assign specific rooms or areas for the robot to clean and even set no-go zones (i.e. areas that the robot should avoid furniture or kids' toys and playpens).
If you have carpets that require mopping as well as hard surfaces choose the best hybrid model that can mop and vacuum in a single step. Eufy 11s is our top pick in this category. It comes with a range of features that allow it to distinct from other models. For example the mopping pad dispenser is able to wash and remove the pads after each use and prevents tangled hair from clogging the vacuum's roller brush. It also comes with a cleaner head option which comes with "powerfins," which dig deeper into carpets to easily remove hair from pets.
Its powerful suction is great to remove hair from carpets, but it could be necessary to switch to an easier setting if you have hard floors. The dust bin fills up faster than other models, so you will have to empty it more frequently. However, this is still much more convenient than manually cleaning your floors manually.
The only thing that could make this robot vacuum more useful is if it partnered with your smart home security system to tell you the time to empty the bin and return to its charging station. Thankfully, this feature will be available soon on some other models, and it's something to consider if you have a busy family with pets or children that frequently leave messes behind.
