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For many, robot vacuums have become an answer to the annoying chore we all have to do to keep our homes clean. But not all robot vacuums are created equal. While they have gotten much smarter since their early days of bumping around furniture and leaving dirty edges behind, we decided to really put them to the test.
To find out which robot vacuums are the best, we ran dozens through the gauntlet in our lab in Kentucky, evaluating suction power, navigation performance, object avoidance, noise level, and, most importantly, pickup performance.
Also: The best robot vacuums for pet hair
We compared 10 robot vacuums based on our smart home reviewer Maria Diaz’s recommendations from her real-world home testing, as well as the products we’ve tested in our lab.
The robot vacuum that stood above the rest in terms of debris pickup was the Ecovacs X8 Pro Omni.
How we tested these robot vacuums
In our lab, we put each robot vacuum through three tests over five sessions, for a total of 15 tests per vacuum (at an average rate of 30 minutes per test). Each robot vacuum was tested in a simulated living room on different floor types to determine the percentage of sand it picked up on hardwood, low-pile, and mid-pile carpet.
We chose sand as the debris of choice because it is very consistent and easy to measure out exactly the same amount for each test. In addition, sand embeds well in carpet, forcing the vacuum to use both suction and brush agitation to dislodge it for pickup, giving a better overall indication of a vacuum’s cleaning ability than raw suction alone.
Our vacuum testing room features simulated furniture, different types of flooring and other obstacles.
Bryan Adams/ZDNET
Sand is also reasonably comparable to common contaminants like dirt and dust, so reasonable conclusions can be drawn about performance with them, according to our senior lab engineer, Bryan Adams.
In our testing, the hardwood average of sand picked up by the vacuum was always significantly higher than both carpet averages, since hardwood flooring doesn’t hold sand in place and is more a function of raw suction power and pathfinding.
Also: How we test robot vacuums at ZDNET
To find out which robot vacuum had the best pickup performance, we averaged the three results for each robot vacuum. Our final averages ranged from 38% to 60% for the amount of sand we poured that the robot vacuum successfully picked up.
The results
The robot vacuum with the best pickup performance was the Ecovacs X8 Pro Omni, picking up an average of 60.28% of sand across all three of the testing categories. The closest runner-up among the other robot vacuums we tested was the Dreame L40 Ultra, which had an average pickup performance of 55.89%.
Read the review: Ecovacs Deebot X8 Pro Omni
It’s important to note that neither of these robot vacuums is the latest model. However, in our lab testing, the newer Ecovacs X9 Pro Omni had an average pickup performance of only 51.47%, indicating that, surprisingly, the older model outperformed it. We have not been able to test the newer Dreame L50 Ultra in either hands-on or lab testing settings.
As you can see from our bar graph visualization (Figure 1), the robot vacuum with the worst pickup performance was the Roborock Saros 10R, which is surprising given its 22,000Pa of suction and flagship model status.
It’s worth pointing out that this does not imply that the Saros 10R is a bad robot vacuum, since it has other features like object avoidance, quiet operation, and an auto-emptying dustbin that are different testing metrics than pickup performance.
Our test results might differ from your experience, depending on the type and condition of your flooring, the type of debris you are vacuuming, and other factors specific to your home. However, as a general baseline, our testing provides an expert analysis of how these robot vacuums actually perform cleaning different floor types.
While trying to determine the best robot vacuum, we kept several factors at the forefront of our testing and research, which can also aid your search.
- Floor types: Some robot vacuums are equipped to work with certain floor types, like carpet or hardwood. Others may be able to accommodate other floor types, like stone or marble. Before you buy, consider the types of flooring in your home and which vacuum is most appropriate.
- Mapping: For full automation, your robot vacuum must have a mapping feature to navigate each room. You also want to consider an obstacle avoidance feature that can avoid things like furniture, wires, and even pet waste. This feature is a must-have in my home with strewn about.
- Battery: A robot vacuum is hardly worth it if it doesn’t have the battery to keep it going. Consider the battery time before choosing the best robot vacuum to ensure it has enough power to clean your home. If you select a robot vacuum with the technical capability to pause its job, return to the charging base to refill its battery, and then resume the job where it left off, this may not be as big of a factor as others on this list.
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Connectivity: Many of the best robot vacuums offer voice control, some even with Alexa. Others may feature an app that allows you to control your robot from afar, set schedules, track progress, and control the machine’s efforts. If you’re hoping for voice activation rather than using an app, check and see if the machine is compatible with the home assistant of your choice.
The technology has come a long way since auto-emptying bases were first introduced. That being said, they all have seemingly worked out the kinks and work well. In our testing experience, we haven’t had auto-empty base issues.
The only thing we would keep in mind is to make sure your self-emptying base is equipped with disposable bags to capture and hold all of the dirt and debris. It makes cleaning up that much easier and ensures that once the dirt is vacuumed up, it isn’t being let back out into your home. Once the bag is full, you’ll simply pull it away, throw it in the trash, and put in a brand new bag.