11 months ago
75 ARTICLE AD
There's definitely something to be said for the buzz elicited by the crisp handheld control of a powerful cordless Dyson. But if you're not one to classify cleaning as cathartic, then the best robot vacuums could erase that tedious task off of your recurring to-do list.
Are Roombas the best robot vacuums?
Though Roombas are really good robot vacuums, they're not the only good robot vacuums to consider buying. We get why that name comes to mind: Given iRobot's domination of the robot vacuum market since 2002, the fact that much of the general public doesn't realize that "Roomba" isn't the overarching generic term for all robot vacuums isn't surprising. But brands like Roborock and Shark have entered the chat, and we're here to put some respect on their names.
We're regularly testing robot vacuums and keeping a list of ones that impressed us the most based on criteria like navigation and smart mapping, mopping capabilities (if applicable), effectiveness on pet hair, crumbs, and other debris, automatic emptying, and more. So, after conducting extensive cleaning tests, here is the best robot vacuum for every home and budget in 2024:
Our Pick
Why we picked this:
As the number and letter mashup in the title suggests, the Combo j9+ finally combines the best features of the older high-end Roombas: the small obstacle detection and retractable mop of the Roomba Combo j7+ (which we also tested and really liked aside from its meh carpet cleaning), and even better suction power than the Roomba s9+, which was previously the most powerful Roomba.
What's more groundbreaking than iRobot bringing those features together, however, is the fact that the Combo j9+ beats both of its predecessors at their own game. Suction power wise, the Combo j9+ is stronger — therefore tougher on thick carpet and pet hair — than the s9+. Mopping wise, the Combo j9+ attacks dried stains more persistently by scrubbing back and forth with force rather than staying stationary.
The new auto-empty dock is bigger than previous docks from iRobot, but that's because it's holding a separate water tank that automatically refills the smaller tank on the vac itself for 30 days at a time. Any maintenance can be done without opening the chic wood lid on top of the dock, so you've basically got a free new full-time side table.
Who it's for:
Not everyone in the market for a robot vacuum is willing to pay $1,000 or more just to take a chore or two off of their plate. Those who would be down for that investment want a deep clean that goes past casual, surface-level daily upkeep, and they want it to happen without babysitting or daily dustbin or water tank maintenance required on their end. The Combo j9+ would be most worthwhile in large homes with pets or several high-traffic areas that have an even mix of hard floors and carpeting or rugs.
For homes with lots of pet floor and little hard flooring, the Roomba j9+ is the same vacuum minus the mop, and goes for $899.99 at full price or as low as $599.99 if you catch it on sale.
Why we picked this:
Any hybrid that cares about your floors to the point of making sure dirty mopping pads aren't dragging across them is truly taking the whole "robot" thing to a whole new level.
The Roborock S8 Pro Ultra does just that: Emptying its own dust bin and refilling its own water tank (by swapping dirty water for clean when necessary). Though previously we noted that those who have the older S7 MaxV Ultra vac most likely don't need to dish out for this newer model, the S8 Pro Ultra does stand out in one key way: not only washing but also drying its own mop pads. The dock, though still a bit large and thus not ideal for tight apartments, has also undergone a chic redesign to better disguise the triad of water tanks. Boosted suction on carpet (what with the vac's penetrating VibraRise 2.0 Mopping System) is more intense: 6,000 Pa versus the older model's 5,100.
Who it's for:
The Roborock S8 Pro Ultra is ideal if most of your home is hardwood or tile and will require frequent mopping of lots of square footage. The S8 Pro Ultra is a true self-sufficient cleaner that will keep you off the hook from regularly touching soggy mopping pads.
But as the one of the most expensive robot vacuums even when on sale, the S8 Pro Ultra isn't a necessary upgrade for small spaces that won't require a ton of mopping. Likewise, anyone who already has the S7 MaxV Ultra can skip this model.
Why we picked this:
Shark wasn't a competitive player in the hybrid game until a release in the winter of 2022. While the introduction of a mopping pad to Shark's smartest robot vacuum is huge in its own right, the Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 also welcomes a new feature that's ideal for carpeted homes with pets.
The Matrix Clean system shines during both wet and dry cleaning. During regular vacuuming, it delivers 30% better carpet cleaning (compared to the older RV Shark models) by digging deeper into carpet and taking multiple passes in a crosshatch pattern to loosen and grab debris from multiple angles. "Matrix" also applies to the AI Ultra's mopping, which vibrates 100 times per minute to scrub stains.
This Shark robot vacuum also has one more stand-out feature: spot cleaning mode. If your pets have made an area of your home extra sticky, then send this hybrid vac to scrub the floors. Spot cleaning isn't unique in the robot vacuum world, but few vacuums do it better than Shark.
Who it's for:
Pet hair is stubborn and often requires the "and one for good measure" approach when it comes to cleaning. If you expect true thorough cleaning (past the super visible surface-level shedding) from a potential robot vacuum, you'll appreciate the extra effort that the newest Shark vacuums puts in on dirty spots, even if it has already gone over them once.
While the Shark Matrix 2-in-1 would be fine in fully carpeted rooms, it's probably best for homes without a heavy rug situation, as the bot requires you to manually point out rugs or carpets in the app and can't vacuum while the water tank is attached. If you want to save a little bit of money, you can skip the self-emptying and pay less than $300 if the vac is on sale, but the auto-emptying feature is particularly useful for pet hair and allergy sufferers.
Read our full review of the Shark Matrix 2-in-1 (previously called the Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1).
Why we picked this:
Shark made serious moves with its 2023 slew of vacuums. The most affordable of those is the standalone Shark Matrix, which defies the outdated association of cheap robot vacuums with navigation not much more advanced than bumping around and hoping for the best.
This $299.99 (or $199.99 on sale) packs essentials like LiDAR-powered home mapping and virtual boundaries, plus Shark's newest claim to fame: its Matrix cleaning technique that vacuums in a crosshatch pattern to grab any debris missed from the first angle.
Who it's for:
The standalone Shark Matrix obviously forgoes the optional self-emptying dock to keep the price point low, so the ideal buyer here would be someone who can deal with manually emptying the dust bin if it means they can send their robot vacuum to specific rooms or areas to spot clean.
Why we picked this:
Autonomous wet and dry cleaning plus auto-emptying is typically a pricey checklist, but this Yeedi makes the whole process hands-free for less than $300 — the sale price we see constantly at Amazon.
The presence of room mapping is also impressive at such a practical price point, despite undercooked quirks like only having the capacity to hold a map of one floor at a time. This Yeedi model's shaky navigation around furniture is less annoying when you can still enjoy the convenience of targeting specific rooms and setting virtual boundaries in the app.
Who it's for:
This packed budget model has serious value for folks who would like to try the triple threat that is room mapping, mopping, and automatic emptying, but who definitely don't want to spend more than a few hundred dollars. We think it's a better value for most people compared to the more expensive Yeedi Mop Station Pro that we reviewed — because if you were willing to spend more than $500, we have other models to recommend (see the previous suggestions in this guide).
While we were pleasantly surprised by this Yeedi's debris pickup and light mopping during our at-home tests, we aren't as confident in its abilities to conquer homes larger than a two-bedroom apartment. This is because its VSLAM mapping isn't quite as accurate as the laser-based LiDAR system used by more expensive robot vacuums. Its slender, minimalist dock is similarly ideal for smaller spaces.
Why we picked this:
iRobot's summer 2023 product drop also extended mopping capabilities to one of the more affordable existing Roombas. At $549.99 for the self-emptying version or $349.99 for the standalone vac, the i5 more than halves the $1,399.99 price tag of the Combo j9+. $349.99 matches the going price of the Roomba i3, which is nearly identical to the i5 but doesn't mop.
The i5 series is one of iRobot's Swap and Mop models that can't vacuum and mop on the same cleaning run, meaning you have to be around to physically swap the dust bin for the water tank. The convenient part is that, despite its inability to detect small obstacles like phone chargers, the i5 remembers specific rooms as well as the carpeted spots you want it to avoid while mopping. (A 2022 firmware update unlocked Imprint smart mapping capabilities for all Roomba i series vacuums, aside from the i1 and i2).
Who it's for:
The cheapest mopping Roomba will satisfy anyone who can settle for not-the-most-thorough-but-decent cleaning if it means they don't have to spend much more than $500. This is especially true in homes where only one or two rooms, like the bathroom or kitchen, will require mopping. Potential i5 owners will also have to be OK with having to physically switch out the water tank for the dry dust bin depending on which flooring they're trying to tackle, since the i5 is a Swap and Mop Roomba rather than the design with a mopping pad built in.
Frequently Asked Questions
In an unspoken sort of way, Roomba has been crowned as "the best" on the sole basis that it's the most established brand in the robot vacuum market. But Shark has the automatic advantage of being a brand that's cemented in the vacuum market as a whole, from stick vacuums to handheld ones, to ones with huge canisters.
At any rate, general comparison of robot vacuums between the two brands doesn't work so well. Like the Instant Pot vs. Ninja Foodi debate, Roomba has significantly more models to choose from at a range of prices and features that can be tailored to your needs. Shark's whole lineup is generally more budget-friendly than its most direct counterpart from Roomba.
Whether iRobot, Shark, Roborock, or any other brand is the best at actual cleaning is pretty subjective. "Best" to someone with four dogs and lots of carpet may not mean "best" to someone with a huge house with stairs and 100% hardwood. iRobot has made huge moves when it comes to suction power over the last year, and both Shark and iRobot have expanded their lineup of mopping robot vacuums to hit several price points.
If you prioritize thorough spot cleaning, Shark would win. Its 2023 line of robot vacuums are equipped with Matrix mode, which goes over heavily-soiled areas multiple times to ensure the job is finished. However, your hot take may be that thorough cleaning doesn't matter if the vacuum can't even get to the right spot because it's stuck on something. iRobot's small object detection technology is currently the gold standard for a bot's ability to recognize and avoid pesky obstacles that are typically blind spots to other robot vacuums, like phone chargers and pet waste.
Whether robot vacuums are worth it or not comes with a caveat: It can't be just any robot vacuum. A cheap robovac that acts drunk — scattering crumbs rather than sucking them up, bumping into walls, getting stuck on area rugs — is completely missing that convenience factor that draws people to robot vacs in the first place. Here's some extra criteria specific to your home can help narrow your options:
Suction power: A vacuum is the one purchase that you hope sucks a lot. Suction power is typically measured in Pascals (Pa), averaging between 3,000 to 5,000 Pa for a decent contender that's been released in the past year or so. (For reference, though, a new 2024 Roborock model, announced at CES, cleans with 10,000 Pa.) Stronger suction will be needed to pick up heavier pieces of debris like pellet cat litter (be sure to set a barrier around Legos) and to pull patted-down pet hair from rugs.
Floor type: Expanding on the point above, carpeting and rugs require stronger suction than hard floors, as well as an extra-wide or self-cleaning brush roll to prevent hair from wrapping. Folks in homes with multiple floor types might consider a bigger, sturdier robovac with large wheels that can hoist itself over mats, rugs, and transitions from carpet to hard floors.
Automatic emptying: Because robot vacuums are typically under four inches tall, their onboard dust bins are also small — which means they frequently require emptying. (Dustbins fill up particularly quickly in homes with pets.) A self-emptying vacuum takes that job out of your hands, emptying itself into a larger dustbin in its charging dock. These larger bins can typically hold weeks of dirt without needing to be cleaned or dumped out.
Home layout: Every robot vacuum is equipped with sensors and drop detection. But if your home has lots of rooms, lots of turns, or lots of close-together furniture, you'll have fewer navigation issues with an advanced model that uses LiDAR to map exactly how your home is laid out, including labeling of specific rooms, mental notes of staircases and walls, and ability to deploy zone cleaning.
Low-profile furniture: No one should have to be scared about what's accumulated under their couch over the past year. A robot vacuum measuring three inches or less in height should be able to scoot under most low-hanging couches and beds.
Battery life and square footage: One of the main complaints people have about their robot vacuum is that it craps out in the middle of the floor. Larger spaces require more time to clean, and it all depends on how annoyed you'll be if it only finishes a few rooms at a time. Average run times for the list below range between 90 and 150 minutes, which translate to about 500 and 2,600 square feet covered on one charge. Some clock in up to 180 minutes on one charge.
App control: WiFi-enabled robot vacuums can be synced with a smartphone app to control scheduling, manual start, cleaning settings, as well as telling your vac to make its rounds when you're not home. Low-end models that don't connect to WiFi will usually come with a separate remote. If you're used to asking Alexa or Google to turn off the lights or tell you the weather, a model with voice integration will blend in nicely.
Leah Stodart is a Philadelphia-based Senior Shopping Reporter at Mashable where she covers essential home tech like vacuums and TVs as well as sustainable swaps and travel. Her ever-growing experience in these categories comes in clutch when making recommendations on how to spend your money during shopping holidays like Black Friday, which Leah has been covering for Mashable since 2017.
Leah graduated from Penn State University in 2016 with dual degrees in Sociology and Media Studies. When she's not writing about shopping (or shopping online for herself), she's almost definitely watching a horror movie, "RuPaul's Drag Race," or "The Office." You can follow her on X at @notleah or email her at [email protected].
This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.
