I'm usually the first person to tell you not to spend more than you need to. There are hundreds of products out there where cheaper alternatives are just as good – the Dyson Airwrap is a perfect example, and I've tested countless cordless lawn mowers that have outperformed rivals costing twice as much.
The best robot vacuum cleaners, though? That's where I draw the line.
After testing more robot vacuums than I can remember, I've come to the conclusion that this is one category where you really do get what you pay for. That doesn't mean you need to spend thousands on the latest flagship model, but I'd always recommend stretching your budget if you can.
The biggest giveaway of a cheap robot vacuum isn't actually the suction power – it's the navigation.
A robot vacuum is supposed to clean your home without you thinking about it, so if it can't work out where it's going, it completely defeats the point. I've tested budget models that spend half their time bouncing off furniture, cleaning the same patch of floor three times and somehow still missing an entire corner of the room.
Manufacturers love throwing around terms like LiDAR and AI nowadays, but not all systems are created equal. A premium robot uses those technologies properly, creating an accurate map of your home, recognising obstacles and cleaning in logical rows. A cheaper model might tick the same boxes on paper, but the experience can be worlds apart.
That said, suction power is still important, especially if you want a robot vacuum that lasts. I hear about so many people that buy a certain model because it's £200 cheaper than the competition, only to find it struggles to pick up pet hair or clean carpets properly six months later.
Personally, I wouldn't even look at a model with less than around 20,000Pa these days. Suction naturally drops as components wear over time, so it makes sense to start with something that's got plenty in reserve. That said, don't get distracted by massive numbers either. A robot claiming 40,000Pa isn't automatically better if its mapping is poor or it gets tangled in charging cables every other day.
At the end of the day, a robot vacuum isn't just another appliance – it's supposed to remove a chore from your life entirely. If you're going to spend money on something that's designed to save you time every single day, I strongly recommend spending a bit more and buy one that does exactly that.
