Best Robot Vacuums 2024 | Rigorously Tested

The best robot vacuums employ super-smart navigation technology, pick up a significant amount of debris and operate nearly independently. After over a month of testing seven top-rated robot vacuums, I found that the best robot vacuum overall is the iRobot Roomba s9+: I found it to be whip-smart, able to get into the tightest spaces and about as autonomous as it gets. I also determined that the best robot vacuum for pet hair is the iRobot Roomba j7+, a self-emptying model with an advanced camera that excels at obstacle avoidance.

The following is a list of all the winners from the testing process:

To select which robot vacuums to test, I consulted with two industry experts, researched bestsellers from top manufacturers like iRobot and Eufy, and scanned verified customer reviews to determine which models earned praise for their intelligence, maneuverability and cleaning ability. After narrowing down my list to seven of the highest-rated and best-reviewed models, I put them through methodical testing to assess their cleaning power, mapping abilities and battery capacities. Below are the five best robot vacuums that aced those tests.

The iRobot Roomba s9+ has superior cleaning power, a uniquely functional design, the most user-friendly app and more advanced navigation compared with the other robot vacuums I tested. When it comes to suction strength, iRobot says the s9+ has 40 times the strength of the base Roomba model, the 600 series. In practice, I found that the s9+ picked up the most debris—10% more than the runner up and 36% more than the robot in last place. Despite its powerful suction, I found this model to be impressively quiet (though not quite as quiet as the Wyze vacuum).

The robot’s D-shape also helps set it apart, allowing it to actually fit into corners and right up against walls. During testing, I watched it pick up dust against the baseboards that other vacuums missed. It did get stuck on my floor-length curtains (which I anticipated), so be sure to lift long curtains up before cleaning.

Compared with some of the other connected apps, the iRobot app is smoother and more user friendly. It was easy to add multiple robots and name each vacuum whatever I pleased; it was also simpler than I anticipated to flip between this Roomba and three other Roombas I’m testing. This is a helpful feature for people with multi-level homes or those with both a robot vacuum and a robot mop.

The s9+ also had the most advanced technology of any vacuum I tested. It employs vSLAM technology, which utilizes vision-based navigation and mapping. According to Brent Hild, former iRobot director of product management, the benefits of vSLAM navigation are mainly that a robot can build a more robust map of a home (including multiple levels) and can continue a cleaning job where it left off even if it’s been picked up, which LiDAR robots tend to struggle with. (Read my full iRobot Roomba s9+ review for more details on my findings.)

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Pet owners know how difficult it is to clean even a contained accident. The iRobot Roomba j7+ model is my pick for the best robot vacuum for pets specifically because of its obstacle avoidance; it has a built-in camera that identifies obstacles (including pet droppings) beyond its smart map of a home. This robot’s technology is slightly different than just vSLAM: It has a more advanced camera that can actually take photos of obstacles, so you can tell it to what to avoid in the future. iRobot is so confident in the j7’s obstacle avoidance abilities that they offer a “P.O.O.P. (Pet Owner Official Promise),” which offers a free replacement vacuum within a year of purchase if it does happen to run into pet waste.

This model is also a great option for parents of young kids, as the obstacle avoidance works just as well for cords, toys and clothing on floors. Though it managed to pick up an impressive amount of dust and pet hair, it had slightly less suction power than the s9+ in testing and isn’t as adept at getting right up against walls and corners. But the obstacle avoidance technology is a worthy tradeoff for homes that may have an errant toy or mess at any given time.

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Surprised and delighted—that’s how I’d describe my experience with the Wyze Robot Vacuum. Setup was quick and simple. The mapping cycle was quicker than others (about seven minutes total, compared with the two to three runs required for a Roomba to completely map a space), but it did miss the higher-pile rug in my hallway, possibly because it was a bit too high for it to surmount. I don’t hold it against the Wyze vacuum much, though, since the rug was intended to be a challenge, and when I ran another mapping cycle, it clocked the rug and added the hallway to its map.

Compared with the other vacuums I tested, the Wyze robot vacuum required no assistance during its full passes through my home—it quietly breezed through the apartment without sucking the curtains up or getting stuck under furniture. It performed exceedingly well in debris pickup tests, picking up approximately 61% of the coffee, baking soda and Cheerios scattered on the rug in just one cleaning cycle—scoring third overall in this category. And while debris pickup doesn’t tell the full story, I was super impressed with its cleaning abilities.

The thing you’re sacrificing most of all with this vacuum is a self-emptying base. If you’ve had a robot vacuum before, you likely know that their small dustbins can fill up quickly, sometimes requiring a mid-clean empty, but if this isn’t a deal breaker for you, this is a fantastic option for the price. (Read my full review of the Wyze for more detail.)

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The Eufy Robovac G30 is a comparatively affordable smart-mapping robot that uses “Smart Dynamic Navigation 2.0.” This means it maps your home using a gyroscope (which helps a robot learn its orientation in a space) and accelerometer smart sensors (which gives a robot a sense of gravity in order to determine acceleration) to learn a home. It follows a focused, zig-zag route, unlike other vacuums that use LiDAR or vSLAM navigation. This robot effectively mapped my home, methodically cleaning on each run. It doesn’t self-empty or support boundary guidance, but Eufy offers some upgrades if you want: For a little over $100 more, the G30 Edge includes boundary strip avoidance.

I was surprised to find that the Robovac G30 was the only robot able to slither under a mid-century desk I keep in my living room, something I didn’t think was possible. It doesn’t have a protruding LiDAR sensor and is slimmer than the other vacuums, so it’s able to clean under furniture that other robots can’t. It’s also very quiet, which is a welcome reprieve from some of the louder vacuums, like the Roomba i3+. A note: Some vacuums (like the Roomba i3+) are intrusive when listening to music or watching TV at a normal volume, so if I don’t have to turn the TV or music up to hear over it, I’m pleased. This vacuum didn’t fare as well as the others in debris tests, picking up 39% of debris, but this test is only one factor when considering a robot vacuum. Based on my findings, the Robovac G30 is nimble, quiet and affordable.

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The Roomba i3+ EVO has the best blend of affordability and smart features, making it a great pick for a first-time robot vacuum owner. It uses a variation of vSLAM navigation called SLAM, meaning it operates without a visual sensor (camera). “Instead, it navigates using a variety of sensors, including an optical floor tracking sensor, gyroscope and bump sensors to clean systematically like a vSLAM robot would,” says Hild. The main drawback here is the lack of premium Roomba features (like an obstacle-detecting camera or super-powerful suction). Plus, compared with the other models on the list, this one is definitely the most obtrusive in terms of sound.

Still, the i3+ Evo is the perfect model if you’re hoping to break into the world of Roombas without the expensive price tag of one of iRobot’s more premium models. With a self-emptying base, it’s highly self-sufficient, and compared with similarly priced or more expensive vacuums, it has a great navigation system. It picked up 55% of debris during testing, which fell right in the middle of all the vacuums. (The debris tests should be taken with a grain of salt though, since they don’t tell the full picture of a vacuum.) Plus, you’ll be buying into iRobot’s highly rated customer service and user-friendly app interface.

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For those looking for a two-in-one robot vacuum and mop combo and don’t want to spend a fortune, Bissell’s SpinWave Wet And Dry Robotic Vacuum is a great midrange choice—especially if you don’t need extra frills like advanced smart mapping and smart home compatibility. Product tester Camryn Rabideau, who ran the vacuum through its paces for our Best Robot Mops roundup, vouches for the machine’s straightforwardness, ease of navigation and “unmatched” scrubbing technology. (Read her full review of the SpinWave Wet And Dry to get into the testing details.)

The key to the SpinWave’s dual functionality lies in its two interchangeable cleaning “tanks,” or canisters—one for dry vacuuming and one for mopping. The Spinwave’s vacuum tank features spinning edge brushes to coax dirt out of corners and crannies, while a rotating brush roll helps the debris get sucked up by the vacuum. Rabideau was impressed with the robot vacuum’s suction power, which was effectively able to tackle both dirt and large clumps of pet hair. The mopping tank, meanwhile, utilizes a rotating microfiber brush heads that can effectively scrub away tough stains from the floor. “The SpinWave had no problem soaking up a water spill, removing a sticky soda stain or cleaning dried-on mud, and it left the floors clean and fresh, thanks to the Bissell Multi-Purpose Floor Cleaner that you put into the tank along with fresh water,” she reports.

Despite the SpinWave Wet And Dry’s lack of smart mapping, Rabideau was able to easily control the SpinWave remotely, as well as set cleaning intensity, program cleaning schedules and monitor any maintenance needs. She also appreciates this nifty feature in the machine’s cleaning technology: “On its first pass, it would bump into the edge of the rug I set out, but when it came back to the area, its cleaning algorithm ‘knew’ to turn around before it ran into the carpeting,” she says.

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What I Plan To Test Next

There are three more trending and highly rated robot vacuums I plan on testing from the brands Roborock and iRobot. If you’re looking for more options, they may be worth checking out.

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Other Robot Vacuums I Tested

I tested two other robot vacuums that didn’t make the cut—both were fine in terms of suction, but they didn’t have the same level of reliability when it came to intelligence and self-sufficiency.

Shark AI Ultra Self-Empty Robot Vacuum: This Shark model clocks in at a higher price point but was difficult to get properly functioning. The app has a tendency toward quitting and freezing, and the robot stalled several times during each full cleaning cycle for no obvious reason, needing to be rebooted and the app restarted (requiring a login each time).

Miele Scout RX3 Home Vision: This vacuum offers live video feed while cleaning, an interesting selling point I wanted to see firsthand. Unfortunately, the interface of the app was clunky and prone to freezing, didn’t offer an archive of cleanings and, more often than not, was unable to load the video feed. It performed well in debris tests, but was overall difficult to use and required above-average human assistance, especially when considering the high price point.

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How I Tested The Best Robot Vacuums

Each model went through the same extensive testing process, which allowed me to accurately compare their features and efficacy.

The Testing Environment

My at-home lab is a 750-square foot one-bedroom apartment that has countless obstacles and surfaces for a robot vacuum to encounter, including parquet wood flooring, medium-pile carpet, several low-pile area rugs and two different types of tile. I also have a decent amount of furniture, curtains in both rooms and a French bulldog who has a tendency to leave toys strewn about and relieve himself on the floor from time to time.

Mapping And Navigation Test

I first sent each robot on a run to create a comprehensive map of my entire apartment and how they note walls, furniture and separate rooms. (Some robots require a mapping run, but others use the first few cleans to fully map the space.)

To see how the robot vacuums perform in difficult conditions, I ran them through two to three full cleaning cycles through my entire apartment, not making an effort to pick up dog toys, lift curtains out of the way or hide stray cords. As I ran these cycles, I recorded several important observations: how many times they got stuck or required human assistance, their noise level during cleaning, their mapping abilities and how well they were able to maneuver around furniture and over rugs.

To simulate how these bots would work in a multi-story home, I also brought the robot vacuums to the stairwell to see if they would hurl themselves off the stairs or avoid peril.

Suction Test

To measure how much each robot picked up, I ran them each through a cycle while confined to a 3- by 5-foot area, atop a rug with multiple pile heights for an added challenge (some robots tend to have difficulty getting up onto and cleaning high-pile rugs). Then, I vacuumed and shook out the rug between each test.

To ensure consistency, each robot was set to “auto” cleaning mode, which is meant to adjust suction level for different surfaces. I sprinkled set volumes of baking soda, coffee grounds and Cheerios onto the rug to represent common types of household messes. The coffee grounds and baking soda represented anything from potting soil to flour to dust, while the Cheerios stood in for larger pieces of debris like dog food, crumbs or, of course, cereal. Then, I weighed the total debris picked up after each robot completed one cycle.

Once the robots were finished, I checked how much their dust bins had collected from the floors, taking note of how easy it was to locate and empty the bin.

App Performance

All of these vacuums come with free apps to schedule cleaning, including when you’re not at home. I made note of whether these were clunky to operate, consistently lagged when opened or lost connection to the robot. I also tried to start each one remotely to see if they would easily start a cleaning routine while I was out of the house.

I evaluated the apps’ stored floor plans (all but the Eufy Robovac G30 allow for setting boundaries or no-go zones), as well as how well they informed users of issues, maintenance needs and when it’s time to update the robot’s software.

Editor’s note: To see Rabideau’s methodology for testing the Bissell SpinWave Wet And Dry Robotic Vacuum, see our story on the best robot mops.

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How To Pick A Robot Vacuum

Through research and testing, I concluded that the three main criteria to consider when shopping for a robot vacuum are intelligence, maneuverability and cleaning ability.

Intelligence

Intelligence covers an array of abilities a robot vacuum might have, mainly its capacity to properly map a space, remember the layout of your home and avoid obstacles. In general, the higher the price point on a vacuum, the “smarter” it is, but there are exceptions of course.

There are three main navigation methods for robot vacuums: multi-pass/random bounce, LiDAR (laser navigation) and vSLAM (visual simultaneous localization and mapping).

• Multi-pass/random bounce navigation: This is the least efficient method and is often found on budget vacuums. It uses collision sensors, cliff sensors and ground sensors to navigate and set boundaries. “The downside is that the vacuum operates in a random fashion, bumping into things and randomly veering around the room,” says Wyze senior product manager Hongfei Ning. “It takes forever to clean a room (roughly 3x longer than LiDAR) and may result in missed spots causing incomplete floor coverage.” Hild, former iRobot director of product management, recommends random bounce vacuums for small rooms like dorms and studios.
• LiDAR: Also known as laser navigation, this technology uses a spinning laser sensor mounted on top of the vacuum that maps out your house while the vacuum is cleaning. “This LiDAR sensor fires a laser in every direction, collecting data from the reflected laser light thousands of times per second,” says Ning. “This helps the robot vacuum sense the surroundings, map out the entire house and figure out its location. As a result, the vacuum can thoughtfully plan its cleaning path and easily cover the entire floor with extreme efficiency.” However, LiDAR vacuums can get tripped up when they’re moved during cleaning (say, when you extricate it from a tangled cord) and aren’t able to map multiple levels of a home.
• vSLAM navigation: This technology—which you’ll find in iRobot’s high-end models (the J and S series)—uses a camera and optical sensors to capture data points in the robot’s environment, enabling the vacuum to create a particularly good map of its surroundings, as well as help it understand where it is in the house while it’s cleaning. SLAM navigation (which drops the “visual” piece), “navigates using a variety of sensors, including an optical floor tracking sensor, gyroscope and bump sensors to clean systematically like a vSLAM robot would,” says Hild.

Maneuverability

Some vacuums simply lack the ability to power through high-pile rugs or multiple surfaces, which to me, kind of defeats the purpose of an automated cleaning product. All of the vacuums on our list were able to move from hardwood to tile to carpet with ease, but some are slimmer than others (like the Eufy Robovac G30), allowing them to scoot under furniture. The very best of this list, the Roomba s9+, is actually D-shaped, which makes it fabulous at sucking up dirt from walls and corners. Other robots account for corners and walls with long, spinning bristles on their fronts that loosen debris and sort of drag it under the robot (like a crab digging through the sand).

Cleaning Ability

Of course, it’s important for a vacuum to be able to lift and remove dirt and debris from a room. There are several factors that play into these abilities, like suction power, bristles or rollers and battery life. While robot vacuums are not yet a rival to the suction power or precision of an upright vacuum, most of the vacuums on our list have multiple suction strengths (which you can either change throughout cleaning or let your robot automatically sense what type of floor it’s on). Higher suction power means more of a drain on battery, though.

Brush rolls are another consideration: Bristle brush rolls tend to get more hair caught in them (requiring more frequent cleaning), but I found that Roomba’s rubber brush rolls (like the ones on the winner, the s9+), tend to stay cleaner and pick up more debris.

Just be aware: Upright and stick vacuums are also essential for sucking up crumbs from underneath couch cushions, dusting blinds and cleaning baseboards, so you don’t want to ditch them in lieu of a robot. Plus, you can clean up concentrated messes immediately, while a robot vacuum might take up to an hour to reach the area. Instead, add in a smart little guy for routine maintenance: I find that a robot vacuum helps me clean about 75% of the floors, while the other 25% is underneath furniture and needs to be cleaned from time to time.

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My Expertise

I’ve thoroughly tested and researched a variety of products (mattresses to spray cleaners) for shopping guides and reviews during my five-year journalism career. I’ve written for brands such as the Strategist, Domino, Insider Reviews and Real Simple. See my Forbes Vetted author page for more of my work.

For this tested story on the best robot vacuums, I spent approximately a month testing seven robot vacuums, recording their quirks, benefits and differences. I also included fellow product tester Camryn Rabideau’s findings from her extensive testing of the best robot mops on the market.

I also reached out to Brent Hild, former director of product management at iRobot, and Hongfei Ning, senior product manager at Wyze, to learn about all things technical when it comes to engineering top-of-the-line robot vacuums.

This story is regularly updated for accuracy, clarity, and to assess whether our tested picks are still the best in their categories (and if further testing is needed). It was most recently refreshed in October 2024 by home writer Fran Sales; updates are overseen by senior reviews editor Anna Perling and senior home editor Amanda Arnold.

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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is It Worth Buying A Robot Vacuum?

Whether more expensive robot vacuums are worth it depends on your needs. Based on our extensive testing, we stand by the iRobot Roomba s9+ as the best robot vacuum overall—even though it’s the most expensive model on our list. That sticker price might be worth it if you value suction power, advanced vSlam technology, and thorough cleaning in corners and against walls.

That said, our top budget picks are also worthy investments for those who don’t need all the frills or are shopping on a budget. Neither the Wyze Robot Vacuum and the Eufy RoboVac G30 will cost you more than $200; both models run effectively but quietly, and the biggest thing you’ll be sacrificing is the self-emptying capability.

What Are The Downsides Of Robot Vacuums?

While experts and users agree that a robot vacuum is a fantastic tool for everyday cleaning, certain jobs are better suited for an upright or handheld vacuum. These include cleaning baseboards, getting in between couch cushions, fitting underneath furniture and conducting super-deep cleans. That said, robot vacuums have come a long way. “When the Roomba first launched in 2002, consumer sentiment was a bit skeptical that a robot vacuum could clean floors like an upright vacuum,” says Hild. “In fact, over the past several years, the robot vacuum segment has outpaced that of the upright vacuum segment.”

How Long Do Robot Vacuums Last?

In general, Ning says you can expect a robot vacuum to last anywhere from four to six years depending on daily wear and tear. However, Hild tells us that iRobot often hears from customers still using their original Roombas from 2002—so your vacuum may last even longer with proper care.

What Robot Vacuum Has The Most Powerful Suction?

Our top overall pick, the iRobot Roomba S9+ features one of the most potent suction motors in iRobot’s lineup, making it highly effective at picking up dirt and pet hair on both hard floors and carpets. It also comes with advanced navigation and dirt detection features, which help optimize its cleaning routes.