The Scout RX2 reaches deep into corners and edges and automatically increases its suction power when it detects a carpet, though it was significantly louder at the higher power mode. While this robotic vacuum does an excellent job of picking up pet hair and dirt from hardwood floors and carpets, this model doesn’t have floor mapping technology like more high-tech vacuums do, meaning it cleans in a random pattern. It also avoids large objects but not small ones like socks—so you’ll need to do some pre-cleaning before running this vacuum. After one month of use, our long-term home tester observed that this model often jumps around, missing debris completely in certain areas, and it repeatedly runs into objects.
Read on for the top robot vacuums we’ve tested for dealing with pet hair, as well as everything you should keep in mind during your search. If you have a cat or dog that leaves fur all over the house, consider investing in a robot vacuum that can take some cleaning duties off of your plate. There’s no shortage of options on the market, but finding one that works well, offers the features you want, and fits your budget can be a bit of a challenge. Carolyn Forté, the Good Housekeeping Institute’s Home Care and Cleaning Lab Executive Director, has over 40 years of experience testing and writing about all kinds of vacuums. For this roundup, she oversaw all of the testing conducted by Lynn Redmile, the testing and product review analyst that conducted our Lab’s last full category test of robot vacuums where three of the picks on this list came from. Two of the newer picks in this story were tested by Carolyn personally and by our panel of consumer testers in consideration for the most recent Good Housekeeping Best Cleaning and Organizing Awards.
It will look stupid sometimes, and that can shatter the illusion that you have an artificially intelligent magic machine. The Roborock Q5+ performs exactly the same as the Q5 but comes with a charging station that can empty debris from the robot right into a disposable bag. Choose which areas in your home need more cleaning, and which areas to avoid. Forget about vacuuming for months at a time with the Clean Base Automatic Dirt Disposal that allows the s9 to empty itself for up to 60 days. Item prices do not include fees for pickup, shipping or delivery (if applicable) unless noted in the item description.
What’s more, the vacuum returns to the charging dock at the end of a cleaning cycle, so you can be sure it’s put away when not in use and rejuvenating itself for its next cleaning session. Like other types of vacuums, many of the best robot vacuums on this list and other models we’ve tested are effective at collecting pet hair, fine dust, and larger debris from floors. The iRobot Roomba S9+ is the best robot vacuum you can buy right now, although, with such a hefty price tag, it will be out of the reach of some. It proved simple to shark canister vacuum use during testing, and the S9+ impressed us when it came to sucking everything from fine dust and biscuit crumbs to cereal on hard floors. However, its pick-up on carpets wasn’t quite as thorough – although our existing cordless vacuum also struggled to suck up some of the remaining fine dust, suggesting this is deeply embedded into the pile. The Roomba i3+ EVO takes the advanced capability of the self-emptying dust bin and pairs it with a more affordable robot vacuum, for a value-packed blend of performance, usability, and price.
After troubleshooting with a Roborock representative, I was able to fix the problem by factory resetting the vacuum and that allowed me to connect it to the Roborock app properly. In future testing, we plan to assess whether those models offer any real improvements on the mopping process. We’ll also be interested to see how they do at obstacle recognition compared with their predecessors. The Shark AI Robot VacMop is the only model on this list that doesn’t use a camera.
Some robot vacuum models clean tile, wood flooring and different types of carpet better than others. When you’re juggling work, family, or other priorities, cleaning can be the last thing on your mind. However, you can’t ignore the mess piling up on your rugs or carpet forever, especially since it can already be difficult to remove debris from high-pile textiles. While a traditional upright or canister vacuum requires your time and energy, shark canister vacuum a robot vacuum can automate the cleaning process and even operate when you’re not at home, which can be a huge time-saver. Although many robot vacuums struggle to move on carpet, there are a few that can do a decent job. Its voice command capabilities are one of the smartest we’ve tested, able to recognize when you tell your robot to clean under or around items in a room, such as “Clean under the dining room table,” for example.