While they still can’t climb the stairs, the best robot vacuum cleaners are so much more than just a novelty gizmo. The latest models include mopping attachments, self-emptying bins and self-refilling detergent tanks, meaning you can come home to dirt-free carpets and hair-free floors without ever lifting a finger.
Pretty much every robot vacuum will connect to Google, Alexa or Apple’s smart-home platforms, so, you can build a cleaning schedule or trigger the vacuum from your phone while you’re out and about.
Many can also “learn” the layout of your home and plan more efficient routes. Some can avoid obstacles, others wander aimlessly, a few can even empty their own bins, and some are able to detect and navigate around hazards such as loose charging cables, shoe laces and dog poop (you can imagine the mess that would make).
How we tested
We tested each robot vacuum cleaner over many months and in different homes (some with pets), paying close attention to how each robot performed in new surroundings. As well as allowing the robots to clean routinely, we subjected them to some more rigorous tests, too: spilling cornflour and rice in their path to measure their effectiveness at dealing with different types of mess.
As well as testing their hoovering skills, we rated each robot’s app and how easy they were to set up and maintain. We also considered the costs of any replacement parts – all robot vacuums wear out over time and require fresh filters, brushes, dust bags and rollers.
The best robot vacuum cleaners for 2024 are:
iRobot roomba combo j7+
One of the best roomba iRobot makes, the combo j7+ is a self-emptying robot vacuum cleaner with an intelligent mopping function that switches modes automatically when it moves from hard floors to rugs and carpets.
Roomba’s best-in-class obstacle detection can spot and avoid common household hazards such as dangling cables, shoelaces, stray socks, toys and pet mess, meaning you can confidently set it going without having to “pre-tidy” – exceptionally handy in busy homes. The robot even sends you pictures of anything it’s avoided, so you can clear the space and send it around again (or, if you’re lazy, like us, dismiss the notification and promise you’ll get round to it later).
We would recommend choosing the version with the self-emptying charging base. It sounds like a jet engine when it’s emptying, but the bin holds weeks’ worth of dust and makes the robot basically fully autonomous.
The mopping tank is small, so you’ll need to refill with detergent fairly frequently if you use it routinely. The app lets you reduce the amount of water being used, to help extend the mopping function further between refills.
Read the full iRobot roomba combo j7+ review
Buy now £519.00, Irobot.co.uk
Eufy X10 pro omni robot vacuum cleaner
Eufy’s X10 robot vacuum is the company’s latest high-end model, and it’s the most hands-off machine we’ve tested yet. Not only does it vacuum and mop, but it’s clever enough to re-fill itself with water, as well as wash and dry its own mops. The only thing you need to do is change the water in the base station every seven days and swap out the dust bag every couple of months. Other than that, it cleans and mops for you.
The mopping function is excellent. It doesn’t just swish a mop pad around on the floor, it actually scrubs the floorboards, helping get rid of dried coffee stains. Plus, the X10 features Eufy’s best in class object avoidance tech, which has been trained like a self-driving car, dodging over 100 different objects, including cables, slippers and socks.
While we aren’t the biggest fan of Eufy’s app, it’s smart enough to map your home automatically, and you can customise how hard it mops, how deep it cleans and the level of suction power it exerts. It’s a really smart little vacuum that needs almost no human input to work.
Read our full Eufy X10 pro omni review
Buy now £799.00, Amazon.co.uk
Tapo RV30 plus robot vacuum cleaner
This mopping, self-emptying robot vacuum comes from networking giant TP-Link – probably best known for its internet routers rather than its home appliances. The Tapo RV30 plus has the clean and fussless appearance of a wifi hub, but the performance and features of a top-end robot vacuum.
Lidar navigation powers some competent obstacle avoidance. During our tests, the RV30 could navigate without bumping mindlessly into furniture, building a detailed map of your floorplan as it goes, to help it clean more efficiently on future runs.
The mopping function is basic enough. You need to manually swap in the attachment any time you want to mop, and it will happily try to mop your carpets and rugs given half the chance. That said, the app lets you easily designate rooms, so assigning the vacuum to mop just the kitchen or the bathroom is straightforward.
The app also adds convenient features not seen in other robot vacuums in our list. You can tell it to only use the self-emptying bin during certain hours of the day (self-emptying is loud), and you can disable the physical button on the vacuum itself, so mischievous kids and dextrous pets can’t set it going.
The Tapo RV30 is also quieter than most, particularly on its weakest setting. Noise isn’t a concern if you set your vacuum to do its thing while you’re out of the house, but a less cacophonous vacuum should benefit those who spend more time at home.
Buy now £339.99, Amazon.co.uk
Eufy robovac G30 hybrid
Slightly more advanced than the entry-level robovac 15C max, the robovac G30 hybrid adds a mopping function along with improved navigation and route planning, so it’s faster and more efficient.
The mopping mode is more basic than the roomba combo j7+, which costs three to four times as much. Switching to this mode requires that you replace the dust bin with a water tank and reusable microfibre cloth, so you don’t get the fully autonomous mode of the pricier rival.
It’s worth mentioning that none of these hybrid robots does a particularly good job of mopping, because they lack any scrubbing action. Dried-in stains are beyond them, but the cloth can easily tackle puddles and small splashes. They’re particularly effective at keeping tiles looking tidy and staying on top of bathroom spills.
Another small drawback is the robot’s lack of app-based no-go zones. To control which areas of the home you don’t want cleaned, you have to attach special magnetic boundary strips to the floor. That’s not ideal, but otherwise the robovac G30 hybrid is an excellent and dependable cleaner with great suction power and advanced features for the price.
Buy now £349.00, Argos.co.uk
Eufy robovac X8 robot vacuum cleaner
We found the app and mapping function of the eufys we tried to be among the best on the market. It’s fast and accurate; you can set no-go zones and spot-cleaning areas if you just want it to clean under your kitchen table after dinner, say. It also lets you see the trail of where it’s been in real-time.
As you would hope, you can set up regular cleaning schedules to suit your life. However, we realised that if you want to do multifloor cleaning with the X8, you need two docking stations, because the robot gets confused. You can buy additional docking stations, but with other RVCs, you don’t have to do this. However, this is the only real quibble we have about this vacuum.
Very quiet when operating, it adapts the suction levels automatically based on the flooring type it’s working with – you can also change this manually if you want. We found it fared better on hard flooring rather than carpets, but it still did a fair job on the latter. Corners, under radiators and all those awkward spaces didn’t seem to phase the X8, and it even picked up tiny bits of dirt. It also swerved all the obstacles we left in its way.
Buy now £219.00, Amazon.co.uk
Samsung jet bot AI robot vacuum cleaner
We were intrigued to see how the Samsung robot vacuum would fare, because it’s designed slightly differently from all the other models. It’s chunkier, for a start, and has a flat front and no spinning brushes at the side. It also has the most powerful suction of any robot vacuum we tried, which did mean it picked up plenty of dirt and debris around the home.
After it has finished its cleaning cycle, the jet bot returns to the clean station dock, which then sucks the dirt out of the robot and stores it in a tower. You’ll need some dedicated space for this tower, because it does take up a fair amount of room. But this means you have to empty it a lot less often, and it traps dust particles in the system rather than releasing them back into the air – great for allergy sufferers.
The gadget is controlled via the Samsung SmartThings app, and, once set up, our vacuum got to work scanning and mapping the house with a good degree of accuracy. The object-recognition function meant it successfully avoided toys, piles of laundry and whatever else was left out on the floor. It mounted thick rugs with ease, too.
You can also use the app to access the camera on the vacuum and see where it is in real-time – handy if it has got stuck or you want to check up on your pet (you can guide it remotely, too). We were impressed with how clear this image was.
The jet bot senses what kind of surface it is cleaning and adapts its suction accordingly. It did a brilliant job both with hardwood and carpeted floors, getting all but a few scraps.
Buy now £385.00, Amazon.co.uk
Dyson 360 vis nav
Whereas most robot vacuum cleaners start out with a robot body before adding a vacuum, Dyson seems to do things the other way around. It’s effectively a properly powerful, full-size Dyson, shrunk down to the size of a robot.
That means you get superior suction and cleaning, thanks to those chunky, full-width roller brushes, and that signature “cyclone” dust bin design. It comes in a shocking shade of blue you’ll either love or hate – we think it looks great, especially the sci-fi, 360-degree “eye” that sits atop the robot body.
This isn’t Dyson’s first robot vacuum cleaner but, because the brand is a relative newcomer to the scene, it lags behind the competition with a higher price tag, fewer features and less adept navigation skills.
There’s no mopping attachment, no cable avoidance and no self-emptying bin – all things the cheaper iRobot roomba combo j7+ offers – but it does have a few unique advantages. It can extend a little edge cleaner to tidy along skirting boards. The maximum-power boost mode lasts a paltry 12 minutes before needing to recharge, but it is practical enough to use if you’re away from home for most of the day. Dyson claims the 360 viz nav is six times more powerful than any other robot vacuum, and the results from our home tests seem to back that up.
If you absolutely must have a full set of Dyson gear for your home or really need that extra suction power, the Dyson 360 vis nav is a competent enough robovac. For those who aren’t brand loyal, however, we’d recommend opting for a more purse-friendly hoover in this list.
Buy now £1199.99, Currys.co.uk
Robot vacuum cleaners FAQs
Robot vacuum cleaner pros
Robot vacuum cleaner cons
Can robot vacuums be set to clean multiple rooms?
Basic robot vacuum cleaners will clean any area available to them – so if you leave the sitting room door open, it will navigate its way through and start cleaning the room.
More advanced robot vacuums come with mapping technology. This means the robot can map your home layout using built-in cameras and smart sensor technology, remembering the different areas using its memory bank.
The maps the robot creates will then show on your app, and you can usually change the boundaries of the map and assign each map a name – for example, “main bedroom”, “office”, or “dining room”. The robot will also note furniture placement, so it won’t bump into any of it when it next cleans.
Are robot vacuum cleaners worth it?
While a rather costly purchase, a robot vacuum cleaner is a great addition to your home, as it can complete day-to-day cleaning tasks without you having to pick up a vac yourself, saving you both time and energy. Plus, thanks to its compact size, it won’t take up too much room in your home.
Can a robot vacuum replace a normal vacuum?
If your living space is all on one level, a robot vacuum cleaner can clean your entire home with ease. Obviously, robot vacs don’t have the ability to climb stairs, and they lose their ability to navigate properly if picked up and placed somewhere else in the home, so they’re less helpful in houses with staircases and steps.
How do robot vacuum cleaners work?
There are two different ways for a robot vacuum cleaner to work. High-end models use cameras and infrared lasers to map their surroundings and keep track of their location, while the cheapest ones are effectively blind and bump into walls and furniture before turning around and heading off in another direction.
Robot vacuums that can build a floorplan as they go are not only more time-efficient when cleaning, they can find their way back to their charging base when they’re low on battery or, if you have a self-emptying model, to empty their bin and continue vacuuming.
The verdict: Robot vacuum cleaners
For homes with a mix of hard floors and rugs or carpets, we recommend the iRobot roomba combo j7+ for its clever two-in-one mopping system. By deploying the mopping cloth from a little compartment on top of the robot, it enables truly hands-free cleaning: you can feel confident about leaving it to do its thing and not coming back to a disaster scene.
We also rate the eufy robovac X8 as a decent budget option. It’s basic when it comes to fancy features such as room mapping and obstacle detection, but offers great performance for the price.
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