The best robot vacuums for 2022

When we think of robot vacuums, one of the first brands that likely comes to mind is iRobot, and for good reason. One of the OG bot vac brands, iRobot’s “Roomba” was the gateway product that helped automated cleaning become a staple of modern homes, instead of a luxury purchase for those of us making the big bucks. Nowadays though, there are excellent robot vacs from a number of different companies, including heavy-hitters like Roborock, Neato, Shark, and Samsung.

Designed for peace-of-mind cleaning that happens when you’re at work (or at least in another room of the house), robot vacs can be programmed to run on daily and weekly schedules and are smart enough to know what rooms to sweep, the parts of the home to stay away from, when it’s time to recharge the battery, and how to start and stop cleaning when Alexa tells it to (all of the above features are available with most robot vacs, but not all of them).

We’ve tested dozens of robot vacuums, and our pick for the best is the iRobot Roomba S9+. The S9+ is the Ferrari of robot vacuums, offering advanced navigation and emptying its own dust bin. We’ve also included our picks for the best value robot vacuum, as well as the best models in other categories. Still not sure which model to get? Check out our robot vacuum guide that can help you decide.

irobot roomba fathers day sale s9 plus 720x720

iRobot Roomba s9+ (9550)

The best overall

Pros

  • Superb cleaning performance
  • Self-emptying dust bin
  • Multi-floor smart mapping
  • Precise object detection and navigation

Sure, a robot vacuum makes cleaning your floors a heck of a lot easier. But, you still have to empty the dustbin just about every time you run it. With its Clean Base and compatibility with Alexa and Google Assistant, the S9+ is the latest model from the esteemed company that’s capable of literally vacuuming without having you lift a finger. Just say “Alexa” or “OK, Google, ask Roomba to start cleaning,” and your S9+ will start cleaning. The best part about the S9+ is that it sucks dirt and debris into an anti-allergen base that holds up to 30 deposits (60 days of dirt).

In addition to being one of the most user-friendly robots you can buy, the S9+ adopts a new D-shaped design to allow for better edge and corner cleaning. Naturally, it’s outfitted with the latest tech under the hood — consisting of a new 3D sensor in the front bumper that enhances Roomba’s wall detection, a more powerful cleaning head, and intelligent mapping. It can tell where it has already been and where it still needs to clean. The robot can clean your entire home, or you can instruct it to clean specific places. Its sensors can locate the higher traffic areas in your home, and the robot will be extra attentive to those dirtier areas of your floors. The S9+ is perfect for those that can’t fit a regular upright-vac cleaning into their packed schedule, thanks in part to the many automations and customizations the bot is capable of.

While the iRobot Roomba S9+ is expensive, its performance and features are top-notch. If you want the best of the best in terms of robot vacuums, the S9+ is the way to go.

iRobot Roomba s9+ (9550)

iRobot Roomba s9+ (9550)

The best overall

The Neato Botvac D10 robot vacuum.


Neato Botvac D10

Best for edges and corners

Pros

  • D-shape makes it ideal for cleaning nooks and crannies
  • LiDAR mapping means detailed cleaning blueprints
  • Intuitive app
  • 300-minute runtime

Cons

  • Can get stuck on certain furniture

The Neato Botvac D10 uses the company’s calling card, a D-shaped cleaning profile, to better tackle your home’s many nooks and crannies. We’re talking about specific areas like baseboards and door trim where dirt and dust can go unnoticed.

At the top of the Botvac hierarchy, the D10 delivers a whopping 300-minute cleaning runtime, ideal for cleaning medium- and large-sized houses with multiple stories and floor types. This model is on top of the D10’s LaserSmart SLAM technology with integrated LiDAR, an advanced mapping and AI system that creates a detailed blueprint of your entire home, a guiding map that your D10 will use to navigate each part of the domicile while avoiding furniture and other items you don’t want the vacuum to hit.

We’re also big fans of the Helix Multi-Surface Brush, which allows the D10 to clean a much wider surface area when compared to the more traditional brushes of today’s robot vacuums. As a bonus, the state-of-the-art brush also allows the D10 to vacuum much more quietly than competitive bots.

Neato Botvac D10

Neato Botvac D10

Best for edges and corners

irobot roomba j7 plus review  4 of 12

John Velasco / Digital Trends

iRobot Roomba j7+

Best for object avoidance

Pros

  • Good job at avoiding wires
  • Lower-profile self-emptying base
  • Solid all-around cleaning
  • Efficiently cleans in zigzag pattern

Cons

  • Deep carpet cleaning performance is lacking
  • Somewhat loud while vacuuming

There’s a good reason that iRobot’s product line is featured twice in this roundup. While the Roomba j7+ may not offer the same suction power and full 3D environmental scanning as the leading s9+ model, it still packs in plenty of great cleaning tech for a few hundred dollars less than the flagship Roomba.

Chief among the j7+’s vacuum capabilities is something that Roomba calls PrecisionVision Navigation. This cleaning tech ensures that the j7+ avoids things like shoes, wires, and other floor-based obstacles when cycling through the many rooms of your home. There’s also Reactive Sensor Technology, an avoidance feature that allows you to tell the j7+ where it isn’t allowed to clean.

The j7+ does a great job of tackling messes by vacuuming in zig-zagging patterns and is also smart enough to return to its charging bin/dirt disposal tank when the battery is low and when the dustbin is chock full of debris.

iRobot Roomba j7+

iRobot Roomba j7+

Best for object avoidance

dont miss these deals walmart prime day sale 2021 eufy robovac g30 verge

Eufy BoostIQ RoboVac 30

Best multisurface

Pros

  • Adaptive cleaning
  • Great price
  • Customizable companion app

Cons

  • Not compatible with voice assistants
  • Sensors can be finicky sometimes

Whether you need a quick sweep or a full home detail, the Eufy RoboVac G30 is your best bet for getting the house spotless. With Eufy’s Smart Dynamic Navigation 2.0, your RoboVac takes a detailed scan of your home that the vac will reference during each cleaning. Where other robot vacs set off on randomized paths when enabled, the RoboVac will build its cleaning course based on what floor it’s located on, the room, and the surface type it will be cleaning.

Featuring 2000Pa of suction power, the RoboVac will have zero issues with whatever carpeting, tile, hardwoods, or other surfaces your home has to throw at it. Plus, with the included BoostIQ technology, the RoboVac will automatically increase suction power when it moves from a hard surface to a carpeted area, so you won’t have to worry about adjusting suction strength in the companion app.

Speaking of which, the Eufy app (for iOS and Android devices) is your one-stop command center for your Eufy RoboVac G30, allowing you to assign spot cleaning duties, create vacuum schedules, view the bot’s cleaning history, and more.

Eufy BoostIQ RoboVac 30

Eufy BoostIQ RoboVac 30

Best multisurface

Samsung Jet Bot AI+

Best for home security

Pros

  • Home security patrol feature works well
  • More efficient cleaning performance
  • Good at avoiding obstacles
  • Minimal disposal with self-emptying system

Having a mobile security camera that you can access on the go is never a bad idea. Fortunately, the Samsung Jet Bot AI+ boasts a powerful security camera that you view through the SmartThings app. Once in a room, the vac will scan the environment and send you a notification if it detects a motion. While it won’t cue up automatically, you can still build a schedule for the vac to follow.

In terms of cleaning features, there’s plenty on board to get your house spotless. Lidar sensors create detailed maps of your home while navigating the vac to all the hard-to-see cracks and crevices, employing a main roller brush and side-sweepers to grab whatever dirt and pet hair is around. Object avoidance is on-point, too, combining lidar and the camera to keep away from valuables and furniture while still getting the job done.

Voice controls, a 90-minute runtime, and automatic dirt disposal are all sweet additions to this Samsung package. While the price is a bit on the high side, the Samsung Jet Bot AI+ is a phenomenal patrol vac and a solid cleaner, too. Read our full review of the Samsung Jet Bot AI+, and learn about how the vacuum uses A.I.

Samsung Jet Bot AI+

Samsung Jet Bot AI+

Best for home security

roborock prime day deals 2022 s7plus autoempty 1


Roborock S7+ with Auto-Empty Dock

Most versatile

Pros

  • Smart navigation makes it efficient
  • Quiet operation
  • Sonic mopping requires fewer passes to mop
  • Goes over dividers/humps with ease

Cons

  • On the pricey side
  • Rubber brush can still get tangles

The Roborock S7+ is an all-in-one vacuum, mop, and whole-home detailer. On the vacuum end of things, the S7+ features an advanced lidar scanner to build intuitive apps for your home, covering multiple floors in a pinch. When it comes to tackling the deep-seated dirt in those carpet fibers, the S7+ employs 2500pa of suction power to draw out the dirt that normally escapes us.

For mopping capabilities, the S7+ uses a sensor-driven water tank that only shoots out water when cleaning, so no need to worry about watermarks on your carpet. We also love the Sonic Vibration technology that scrubs floors up to 3,000 times per minute, getting up grease and other substances that have been glued to the floor for weeks.

The S7 can seamlessly traverse multiple floor types and clean for up to 2.5 hours on a single charge. We’re also big fans of the auto-empty dock that can store up to eight weeks of detritus. Once the dust bag is full, you’ll receive a notification to pull out the bag and replace it. For those concerned with airborne allergens, rest assured that the dock’s multilevel filtration will catch up to 99.9% of allergens.

With the Mi app (for iOS and Android), you can create customized cleaning zones for the vac, save and load specialized cleaning maps of your home, and access real-time video of your vacuum mid-clean by tapping into the S5’s onboard camera. There’s also Alexa, Google Assistant, and HomeKit compatibility, so you can fire up the vac or tell it to stop cleaning using voice commands.

While you can purchase the Roborock S7 as a stand-alone vac, you’ll want to grab the Roborock S7+ with Auto-Empty Dock bundle for automatic dust-emptying.

Roborock S7+ with Auto-Empty Dock

Roborock S7+ with Auto-Empty Dock

Most versatile

Eufy BoostIQ RoboVac 11S on a carpet next to a sleeping child.

Eufy RoboVac 11S Slim

Best low-profile

Pros

  • Slim top-down design
  • Great price
  • 1300Pa of suction power
  • Anti-drop sensors

Cons

  • No voice assistant support

Eufy’s BoostIQ vacuuming tech has been around for a few years now, but the renowned manufacturer has been making continuous improvements to an already-great suction feature. And with the arrival of the Eufy RoboVac 11S Slim, the minds at Eufy shifted development to an improved chassis design.

Measuring only 2.85 inches from top to bottom, the 11S Slim was built with our most delicate furniture in mind. This Eufy vac can easily get underneath couches, chairs, beds, and many bureaus, and 1300Pa of total suction power means there’s no pile of dust bunnies left untreated.

The 11S Slim serves up about 100 minutes of performance time, but once the battery starts depleting, the vac will automatically return to its charge base to re-juice. Rounded out by a triple-layer filtration system, an accommodating 0.6-liter dust box, and several onboard automation options, the Eufy RoboVac 11S Slim is a great budget buy, and not just for its smaller stature.

The only drawback here is the lack of voice assistant support. Sorry, Alexa and Google Assistant households.

Eufy Robovac 11S

Eufy RoboVac 11S Slim

Best low-profile

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the advantages of owning a robot vacuum?

A robot vacuum turns the normal push-and-pull labor of vacuuming your whole home into an automated cleaning experience. Additional customizations for scheduling and bot settings are adjustable in the bot’s companion app. You can also use a number of voice assistants to give commands to the bot.

What does a robot vacuum look like?

Typically, robot vacuums are puck-shaped and often measure no wider than 10 to 12 inches. Casing colors are usually hues that will blend in well with common home decor, with white and black featuring prominently across multiple brands.

What tools do you need to clean your robot vacuum?

Many of today’s leading robot vacuums come with dirt-disposal stations that your bot will automatically connect to for emptying its internal debris tank. These stations often feature disposable dirt bags that can carry dirt for as long as 60 days before replacement is necessary.

Editors’ Recommendations