The Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra carries only a modest premium over the standard S20, with a price tag that comes in just shy of $1000.

And while that seems like a steep price to pay, it’s competitive in the world of the best robot vacuums. For this price, you're getting a machine that vacuums and mops effectively, delivers strong suction performance, independently navigates around the home, and incorporates several genuinely advanced features.

Like the non-Ultra Yeedi S20 Infinity version that I also reviewed, this robot vacuum also uses two cleaning solutions for cleaner floors – something I appreciate when testing for the best vacuum. Read on to discover how the new Ultra model (currently discounted to $849.99 at Amazon) compares to its predecessor and if it's truly worth the premium price tag.

The One-Minute Summary

When I reviewed the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra’s non-Ultra predecessor, I was impressed, if not quite blown away. While this upgraded version is not perfect, it gets much closer. It’s quieter in operation. Its vacuuming is just as good. Its mopping seems even better. And it’s easier to maintain.

It also keeps the things that I liked about the previous version, including the two cleaning solutions and the Matter-certified smart home support. It adds a few new features like an AI Agent Mode, though the touted 'Jet Spray' addition doesn't feel like a worthwhile addition.

I also think that, despite the price, it’s competitive with other models that offer the same type of cleaning experience. Just be prepared to spend close to a thousand dollars for it. Of course, that’s typically the case with the vacuums of this variety. You’re paying for the convenience and hands-free operation. A typical vacuum offers a deeper clean, but requires some elbow grease, and the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra allows you to postpone those deep cleans and keep up regular cleans with ease.

Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra: Specifications

Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra: Setup

For a product that’s mostly already assembled and arrives in just a few pieces, the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra does take a little while to set up. Now, it’s not complicated. The base station is intact except that the extended base plate needs to be attached (and it just drops in), and the robot vacuum itself already has all the brushes installed. Opening and adding the two different included cleaning solutions is not difficult.

Really, what takes so long is removing the various sheets of plastic and smaller pieces of styrofoam used to keep the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra safe during transport. It’s a little annoying and feels a bit wasteful, but it does at least keep everything extra safe until fully set up, even if it takes five minutes to remove everything.

The physical assembly is otherwise straightforward and takes about three minutes of work. Plug the base station in, add the extended base plate, put the robot vacuum all the way back in the base station, and then just power on both the base station and robot vacuum. At that point, the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra just needs to map your space before cleaning.

To fully finish setting up the robot vacuum, you will want to go through the app setup as well to get access to all the functionality of this vacuum. I did have some initial trouble connecting the robot vacuum to my phone (the whole process starts with a Bluetooth connection between a smartphone and the S20 Infinity Ultra), but I do have some wonky internet. Once connected, I had to just go through the prompts to finish setup. I would say the app setup process, not including my technical WiFi difficulties, probably took ten to twenty minutes.

Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra: Design and Features

One thing, among many, that I’ve noticed about expensive robot vacuums is that they all talk to you. They talk when they start up. They talk when they’re done. They talk when something’s in the way. But not all of the vacuums let you talk to them. The Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra, with its Matter Ecosystem support, lets you do so via voice assistant (as long as you’ve set up the robot through the Yeedi app already). I was able to connect through Alexa.

And like most expensive tech these days, the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra also uses AI. You can run the vacuum in AI Agent Mode in the app, and the vacuum will adjust on its own the various cleaning settings, like suction power, to clean my floors as it sees fit. And truthfully, when using the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra more passively (and not to vacuum up large messes), I ran it in this mode.

While features are a bit more fun to write about, the actual design of the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra can’t be overlooked. I don’t quite mean the durability or build – those are on par with every robot vacuum I’ve tested above $500, but there are a couple of additions that make cleaning easier.

I really appreciate that the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra uses two different cleaning solutions with its mopping capabilities. There are two cleaning solution-specific reservoirs inside the base station – along with the much bigger 4 and 2.2 litre respective clean and dirty water reservoirs – for those solutions, which help break down stains and feel more like a deep cleaning.

The base station also has a decently sized 2.5-litre dust bag. It can probably hold a good month or two of auto-empties from the robot vacuum before needing to be replaced. Also, it's worth mentioning that the base station is that it does mop drying, so be prepared to wait a few hours after mopping for the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra to fully dry the mop roller.

As far as the robot vacuum itself goes, it’s flat on top – no little lookout tower in the middle – with just a magnetic top plate hiding its onboard dustbin and onboard controls, so that it can fit under furniture like a couch that some other robot vacuums can’t.

On the bottom, it may have just one side brush, but at least the bottom roller brush hoovering everything up, has zero tangle technology, a good option for those dealing with lots of pet hair. I find some variation of this type of anti-tangle tech on most mid-range to premium robot vacuums, so I’m a little more impressed by the Ozmo Roller 3.0, Yeedi’s mop roller, which not only mops a very even 27cm wide path, but lifts when going over carpet, and, most importantly, can extend out a couple of inches to get into edges and corners.

What Is the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra Like to Use?

Interacting with the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra is much the same as its smaller sibling, the non-Ultra version. Press the center button on the robot vacuum itself, and it will just start – usually using whatever settings were selected the last time the app was open. If you press the button without setting up the app, it does a standard level of vacuuming and mopping.

Within the app, starting to clean is pretty straightforward as well. If AI Agent Mode is selected, all you have to do is press start for a cleaning. If you want something specific, you can manually adjust several settings specific to that cleaning, such as cleaning mode (vacuum only, vacuum and mop, vacuum then mop), four levels of suction power from quiet mode to max, water flow level up to 50 (mL presumably), three levels of cleaning speed, and whether I want it to do one or two passes. My only issue here is that the app wanted to collapse this menu when I changed the water flow level, even though I was not done choosing my settings.

It’s also worth noting that the app allows you to choose some station-specific functions – Empty Bin, Wash Mop, Dry Mop – at will, which is nice. The app also lets you create a schedule as well as clean specific rooms or even specific zones if there’s a specific spill that needs cleaning – something I had to do for the vacuuming and mopping tests below.

Speaking of the map, I had no trouble dividing or combining rooms, though I didn’t need to with how accurately the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra mapped out my space. I was also able to select rooms and select what kind of flooring is in that room (hardwood flooring, marble, etc.) as well as whether there’s carpet (a separate selection for some reason). You can even add furniture on the map, though this doesn’t seem necessary, and create a second map for another area in your home.

I want to mention some general things when the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra is running. First, it’s among the quieter robot vacuums I’ve used. At standard vac and mop settings, this robot vacuum registers around 56dB in volume. That doesn’t mean you can’t hear it while going, but it’s quiet enough to ignore.

Also, I’ve already mentioned how this robot vacuum can get under furniture easily thanks to its flat top. What I haven’t mentioned is object avoidance, which I found to be very good here. Since I had it set to be very sensitive, it registered and avoided just about everything I would put in front of it, even thicker cables like an HDMI cable, only having trouble with a translucent container with water. That said, I still suggest picking up before running the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra as it gives a good six-inch berth to anything it’s trying to avoid, so it will leave fairly large spots untouched because it’s avoiding a frisbee sitting on the floor.

Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra: Vacuuming Tests

When testing robot vacuums, we reviewers like to spot clean an area covered in different-sized granules to see how the unit responds. Usually, it’s cereal, lentils, and sugar. I had run out of lentils, so I used long-grain rice instead. For the vacuuming tests, I ran the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra on both hard flooring and carpet.

After having run my tests, I found this robot vacuum to do well on both surfaces, but still not quite catch everything put down in front of it, especially if it wasn't set to deep cleaning and two passes in the app. This was particularly true on hard flooring, where it did kick a Cheerio or two around and left a trail of sugar on its first pass. It did pick up the rice immediately, however.

The story was much the same on carpet, though it didn’t kick the cereal around. It still needed an extra pass to pick up all the sugar. With a suction power rating of 22000Pa, the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra is as powerful a robot vacuum as I’ve come across.

It still does not replace the need for a regular vacuum for deep cleaning. This is true more on carpet than on hard flooring, because the mop brush is not involved (it lifts up 15mm off the floor to keep it from getting wet), and that mop brush is the only part extending out, meaning that the vacuuming alone is not getting to the edges and corners where dust tends to build up most.

Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra: Mopping Tests

I was more impressed with the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra’s mopping than its still-good vacuuming. A big part of that is that 27cm cleaning path width from the mop roller that is not only covered in a micro-fiber type fabric but puts 2800pA of downward pressure as it’s mopping. Also helpful is the fact that the mop roller extends out when cleaning. The Ozmo Roller 3.0, as Yeedi calls it, is how this robot vacuum is able to get into the edges and corners of a room.

As mentioned before, the addition of the two cleaning solutions is also something that I believe adds to this robot vacuum’s cleaning prowess. And, of course, the fact that it has the new 'Jet Spray' feature, to handle stains one would normally grab a wet/dry vacuum for, is nice, though I have to select a zone for the feature to use it, as opposed to doing it on its own. To test this feature, I rubbed some wet dirt on the floor and selected 'Jet Spray.' The Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra seems to spray water at the corner of the zone just to add extra water that it would push around instead of directly on the dirt, strangely enough. However, it also sucked everything up and left a very clean floor. I can’t decide if this feature is useful or a gimmick, but again, the floor was clean.

For the actual mop testing, I put some soy sauce, ketchup, and mustard on the floor all at once to see how the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra would fare. The robot vacuum needed just one pass to mop everything up and leave a clean, non-sticky floor.

Just be aware that if you’re mopping large areas – I’m usually covering about 7 - 800 square feet on a usual cleaning - the robot vacuum will return regularly to the base station to fill up water and wash the mop roller. I appreciate the thoroughness and cleanliness, even if it does mean that the actual cleaning time for that space is about an hour.

Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra: Maintenance

When I reviewed the non-ultra version of this model, I felt that the ability to clean it up and maintain it was good, but not great. I could get to the onboard dustbin if I needed to, I could remove the central roller brush if something got tangled, and the app would let me know when certain things needed to be refilled or replaced.

But figuring out how to clean this robot vacuum is just a little bit easier than the previous model. That’s because the mop roller brush is actually removable, something that was not the case on the previous version meaning if it ended up trying to mop up a mess too big for it and something got behind the mop roller, I would have to use a Q-tip to get behind the mop roller and do what I could, hoping that running the mop wash feature in the app would be enough to finish the job. With the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra, I can just remove the mop roller, clean it, clean behind it, and put it back in. Much easier.

The water tanks are as easy to access as they are with any other model. I will say that the door covering the cleaning solution reservoirs and the dustbag requires a little more force than expected to open. Out of all the expensive, feature-filled robot vacuums I’ve tested, I think this might be the easiest to clean. Just expect to spend a little money down the line to replace the cleaning solutions and dust bags.

How Does the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra Compare?

Homes and Gardens’ top robot vacuum pick at the time of writing is the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller, which has an MSRP of $1,599.99, though it is currently being offered up for a slightly more reasonable price of $1,049.99. It has a lot in common with the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra thanks to its excellent mopping and object avoidance, not to mention its fairly low maintenance. The reviewer of the Dreame robot vacuum did find the app a bit overwhelming and not consistent when cleaning carpets.

Considering the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra costs $999.99, I find it a very competent alternative to the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller. After all, the app only becomes a bit much if you’re digging into all the various extra settings, and the carpet cleaning is good. That said, the Dreame is a little stronger in the vacuum compartment since it has 30,000pA of suction power, requiring fewer passes to handle vacuuming up, say, some spilled sugar.

It’s also worth comparing the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra to the Yeedi S20 Infinity, which has an MSRP of $899.99. While the Ultra has the jet spray feature, I think the Ultra is worth the extra cost mainly because of the removable mop roller and quieter operation. That said, the non-Ultra version has a dustbin that doesn’t require dustbags, so it has less recurring costs in the long run.

How I tested the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra

We take a methodical approach to how we test vacuums, which involves in-depth and standardized performance tests, running benchmarks, and living with the product to see how it fits into everyday cleaning.

For the Yeedi S20 Infinity Ultra, I used it for a week, running it every day in an area regularly occupied by five adults and two French Bulldogs (with the odd appearance of a reclusive cat). I ran it typically with vacuum and mop functionality together – often with the AI Agent Mode on – though I’ve run it with just one or the other for testing.

As far as targeted tests go, I did run it to pick up about a quarter cup of sugar, rice, and cereal, testing with each type of substance individually on both hard flooring and carpet. I also tested the mopping by running a test with ketchup, mustard, and soy sauce.

Next, explore our guide for choosing the best vacuum for pet hair for your home.

The Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal robot vacuum uses unique technology to show you just how dirty your floors really are. It's the dream for anybody passionate about immaculate floors.

It has many of the same capabilities as the best robot vacuums available, but the added UV light helps identify and clean even the toughest stains, and ones you might not have known were lingering on your floor.

The Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal is certainly one of the more expensive options out there, but its unique features are genuinely useful, and its cleaning power is outstanding. It’s certainly not without its flaws, however.

One-Minute Summary

The Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal is designed for those who have an extra passion for clean floors. Most robot vacuums will clean the floors well, but the PowerDetect UV Reveal will actually show you the dirt and stains you can’t see as it cleans them.

Like most high-end robot vacuum cleaners, it will both vacuum and mop your floors, but I particularly appreciate how the mop actually scrubs the floor instead of simply dragging the mop pad around, as many less expensive robots do. The mop pad on the PowerDetect UV Reveal vibrates back and forth and can even extend out to the sides for robust corner cleaning.

The docking station empties the dustbin and washes the mop automatically, and I enjoy the included odor neutralizer that keeps the dirty mop water from smelling too strong when it’s time to empty.

It navigates the house well after the initial mapping run, and I was impressed with how high the body lifts up to overcome obstacles like moving from my hardwood living room to the tile kitchen. Shark’s 'NeverStuck Technology' certainly lives up to its name.

It’s not perfect, though. It’s a bit noisier than other robot vacuums I’ve tested, and its performance on carpet is less than spectacular. It also can’t map more than one floor, so if you want a multi-level cleaner, I'd recommend the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller.

It’s also expensive. $1,299 is a high price for a robot vacuum when there are plenty of other models, such as the eufy X10 Pro Omni, that will clean your floors well for much less. Features like the UV detection and NeverStuck are good for pet owners or young families with lots of spills, but you’ll have to decide if it's worth the investment.

Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal: Specifications

Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal: Setup

The setup process is similar to that of almost every robot vacuum. You take everything out of the box, assemble it all, and connect everything through the app.

The box was well packaged, but I was a bit disappointed in the lack of extra parts. Shark includes one bottle of cleaning solution, which is good for one water tank, and an extra side brush, but every other robot vacuum I’ve tested has come with several spare parts.

Setting up the app took a bit longer than I expected. It took three tries for it to find my Wi-Fi and connect to it, and I was quite close to the router during setup. The process is thankfully quite simple, with only a few screens to go through, and that was the only issue I experienced during setup, but it wasn’t quite as seamless as I’ve seen previously when adding a robot vacuum to my smart home setup.

Mapping my house was fairly straightforward, and I was impressed with how well it detected my furniture. Once it has a map, you can split or merge rooms, but I couldn’t find a way to manually adjust the borders once they're set, something I appreciate about the Roborock Saros Z70. Oddly, it did ask me to remove the mop pad before doing the initial mapping, but it’s easy to reattach, so it wasn't an issue.

Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal: Design and Features

As the name suggests, the flagship feature of the PowerDetect UV Reveal is the UV light included in the front sensors. This is the first robot vacuum in the industry we've seen with a built-in UV light and is the stark upgrade from the Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 that we tested and loved last year.

The PowerDetect UV Reveal is a little taller than some others to accommodate the UV light. There are three touch buttons on top for sending it to vacuum, mop, or return to the dock, along with the housing for the mapping sensors.

The front is where the UV light, cameras, and other sensors live that help it detect stains and navigate the house. The back is where it docks to the station to self-empty water tank and dust bin.

Underneath the vacuum lies everything you’d expect – the brushes, wheels, and mop pad – and something you might not: LED lights. The PowerDetect UV Reveal has a set of LED lights underneath that change colors depending on what it’s doing. A blue light indicates that it’s detected a stain, purple means it’s increasing suction to pick up extra dirt, and white means it's operating as normal.

You can turn both the UV light and the colored light modes off if you want, change how frequently it washes the mop pad, and set how long the mop pad should dry between uses.

While cleaning, the PowerDetect UV Reveal did an outstanding job of avoiding obstacles and cleaning the floors quickly and efficiently. It moves a bit faster than some other vacuums I’ve tested, but I didn’t notice it leaving behind dust.

The stain targeting features on the PowerDetect UV Reveal are quite impressive. When cleaning stains, it will ramp up the mopping power and circle around to target the stain area head-on. It essentially draws a box around the stain and traverses back and forth across it to make sure it’s thoroughly cleaned. The only downside is that it has to return to the dock before it comes to target the stain, but it still does a great job of it.

While vacuuming, the DecibelX app showed 66 decibels and when cleaning in the dock it showed 72 – a similar noise level to standing on a quiet street. I recommend running it during the day when everyone is out of the house.

The Shark Clean app is fairly straightforward and easy to use. You can start and end cleans across the whole house, specific rooms, or even individual stains. You can create schedules and edit the map, too.

I do wish it gave you more options for editing the map of your home, for instance, you can’t identify furniture or curtains or even adjust the room boundaries once they're set, but it still works well.

I also didn’t see anything in the app to indicate water levels or conditions of the brushes, which is a little disappointing. Even trying to purchase extra accessories through the app can be frustrating because the Shop tab takes you to the Shark homepage. I struggled to find any of the accessories, like an extra cleaning solution, anywhere on the site.

The app is also lacking some key features, such as forcing a cleaning of the vacuum or manually checking for software updates. I never experienced any issues with the app, but it's a little light on features. The Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller, however, provides more customization in comparison.

The docking station houses the two water tanks, along with the air freshener capsule, which is a welcome touch to reduce odors that emanate from the dirty tank.

As with most high-end robot vacuums, the dock handles emptying and cleaning the vacuum, so you shouldn’t have to interact with it until it's time for any robot vacuum maintenance.

Speaking of the dock, another unique feature of the PowerDetect UV Reveal is that, unlike most other self-cleaning robot vacuums, it does not use bags to collect the dust and dirt. There's just a large bin on the side of the dock where all the grime collects that you empty straight into the trash can. I appreciate it because while you might have to rinse it out every so often, it's one less extra accessory you have to buy.

Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal: Vacuuming

I ran our standardized vacuuming tests on the PowerDetect UV Reveal to try to get a good feel for its vacuuming capabilities. I ran the tests on hardwood and thick rugs. I tested the vacuuming capabilities using sugar, lentils, and cereal to represent fine, medium, and large debris.

The PowerDetect UV Reveal had no problems picking up the sugar, although there was some left over in the grooves of my tile floors, however every robot vacuum I've tested has had the same issue.

When I went back over it on a higher suction mode, it picked it up. Sadly, there is no option to choose a higher suction mode for spot cleanings; you can only do so for room or whole-home cleanings.

The lentils were picked up just as easily as the sugar. And, of course, since they are larger, they didn't get stuck in the grooves of the tile. The PowerDetect UV Reveal was able to pick up all the lentils along the edge of the wall with no problems as well.

The cereal was the hardest one to get, but it still performed better than I expected. It missed a few on the first pass, but picked up the rest on a second pass. It did also drop a small bunch of crushed up cereal in front of the dock as it was returning, but picked it up as it went for the second pass.

Vacuuming the same materials on soft flooring demonstrated similarly strong performance. I was impressed with how easily it picked up all three materials. It picked up the sugar on the first pass with no issues.

The lentils were picked up easily on the first pass, too. None were pushed around or spread out as it vacuumed, and it only took a couple of minutes to clean the whole area. For cleaning carpets daily, this is outstanding performance.

The PowerDetect UV Reveal also did an impressive job with the cereal. I was expecting it to push more of them around and leave quite a few more on the first pass than it did. It still took two passes to get all of it, but for smaller messes or just a few pieces it will do quite well.

In my two weeks of testing, I never had to manually clean the rollers due to pet hair or human hair being stuck in them and it certainly cut my need to manually vacuum by 80-90%.

Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal: Mopping

I used our standardized ketchup and mustard tests to vet the PowerDetect UV Reveal's mopping abilities across messes with different properties.

I used the spot cleaning mode for both messes, and the first thing I noticed was that there is no option to increase the intensity of the mopping during spot cleaning. When the vacuum first got to the stain, it seemed to evaluate the mess, then began cleaning very methodically.

It would roll over part of the mess, then stop and proceed to scrub the mop pad back and forth over where it sat to ensure the ketchup was cleaned up. It repeated this process across the entire area where the ketchup was.

It took about 20 minutes to clean the entire area, but it was done incredibly thoroughly. There was no ketchup or smears anywhere in the area.

The mustard was a bit tougher. Mustard is a thicker and oilier substance than ketchup, and it took two attempts to get it fully cleaned.

One thing to note is that sometimes the dock may not automatically wash the mop pad after a clean, particularly if it was a spot clean. The dock doesn't seem to be able to detect if the pad is dirty enough to require cleaning; it seems to judge it based on the time spent mopping.

In order to force the dock to wash the mop pad, I had to send it to mop an entire room and refill the clean water tank to full. As of publish time, an option to force the mop to the dock to clean it in the app was not available, although there may be software updates to allow that option in the future.

Overall, this is a thorough solution to mopping your floors daily, without having to do so yourself.

Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal: Maintenance

One of the benefits of paying for a higher-end robot vacuum is that they come with self-cleaning features that minimize your maintenance effort.

After each clean, the PowerDetect UV Reveal returns to the dock where it empties the dustbin and thoroughly cleans the mop pad. You can even customize how often the mop pad gets washed during a cleaning cycle and how long you want it to dry between cleans.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t automatically sense when the mop needs cleaning, which is why you need to set those cleaning cycles yourself, but that’s not a deal breaker for me. The default interval is 15 minutes, and I found that to be adequate during my testing.

The tanks are easy to empty and fill, and it manages water use well. When emptying the mop water and the dust bin, the integrated odor neutralizer was very welcome as it kept them from ever acquiring foul smells from all the dirt and grime.

The Shark Clean app seems to be somewhat unreliable when it comes to notifying you when parts are wearing out. Regularly checking the brushes when cleaning your robot vacuum is a good habit to get into.

Overall, as with most self-cleaning robot vacuums, the maintenance is minimal. You’ll need to empty and refill the water bins every two weeks or so, depending on how often you clean, while Shark claims the dustbin can go up to 60 days without emptying. After two weeks of testing, there’s still plenty of room left in my bin, so Shark's claims appear to be accurate.

How Does the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal Compare?

The Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal proved highly effective at vacuuming and mopping, outperforming many robots we've vetted at Homes & Gardens. Its unique UV feature is genuinely useful, even if it isn't necessarily essential. It costs $1,299 at SharkNinja at full price, but is often discounted to around $950.

Our best-on-test robot, the Dreame Aqua10 Roller, does a better job at mopping and navigating, it’s quieter, and it can handle multiple levels in your home, but it costs $1,599.99 at Dreame at full price.

At the more affordable end of the spectrum, the eufy Omni S1 Pro is one of our favorite robot vacuums, and as it's been succeeded, it's often available for as low as $699.99 at eufy. It's the best we've tested on pet hair, pulling more from carpets than a full-sized canister vacuum.

The Yeedi S20 Infinity isn’t the most durable vacuum out there, but for $999.99 on Amazon (and often discounted to as low as $799.99), it has some of the strongest cleaning capabilities for the price.

How I Tested the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal

We have a rigorous approach to how we test vacuums to ensure that every review is thorough, honest, and comprehensive.

I tested the Shark PowerDetect UV Reveal in my home, which I share with my partner, two small children, and a dog, for about two weeks. I used it daily to vacuum and mop my floors, in addition to testing specifically with sugar, lentils, cereal, ketchup, and mustard.

Next, discover which vacuums top our guides of the best vacuums for pet hair and the best Miele vacuums, after our robust testing sessions.

Love the latest product news and helpful shopping advice? Sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox.

With its self-cleaning dock, rotating mop and LiDAR navigation, the eufy Omni C28 robot vacuum has the hardware to compete with vacuums, mops and hybrids that can cost considerably more. And in everyday use it largely holds its own.

For combined cleaning it performs well on hard floors and with pet hair, and it sits comfortably among the best robot vacuums for mopping.

There are a handful of sacrifices to be made, in terms of noise and fine debris, for the slightly lower 2-in-1 price, but overall the eufy Omni C28 punches above its weight in ways that matter. Read on to find out more.

The One-Minute Summary

The eufy Omni C28 is a well-built robot vacuum that punches above its weight. It handles everyday cleaning reliably, mops hard floors well and automates enough of the maintenance side of things to feel like it's earning its keep.

The dock takes care of emptying, mop washing and drying after every clean. In testing, a full week passed without needing to do anything beyond refilling the water tank, and the filters are still going strong after weeks of daily use.

Hard floors are where the C28 is the most convincing. During tests, as well as everyday use, stains were removed first time, without streaking, and the robot made vacuuming larger debris look easy. It was particularly good at handling pet hair and dander on both hard floors and when cleaning carpets, especially on deep clean mode. Fine debris like sugar was more hit and miss but setting the robot to double up its run easily solved that.

The app is clean and easy to navigate once you're familiar with it, although it can feel a little sparse on finer controls. There's no per-room suction adjustment, for instance, which feels like a missed opportunity at this price and it's not possible to just mop – only vacuum then mop. The dock is chunky and needs a permanent home with clear space around it but it's notably more compact than some rivals including the Roomba Combo Max 705. If space is tight, the slimmer Roborock Q7 M5 is worth considering.

At $799.99 the Omni C28 represents solid value for a robot with this level of automation and mopping capability. You're paying for a machine that reduces the cleaning load rather than adding to it, and for most homes it delivers on that. If the price is still a stretch, the C28's sister robot, the eufy Omni S1 Pro is a close alternative worth looking at.

eufy Omni C28: Specifications

eufy Omni C28: Setup

Setting up the eufy Omni C28 is easy because eufy packs everything neatly in the box. The robot, Omni Station, water tanks and documentation all sit in separate layers so lifting out each component takes seconds and assembly takes minutes.

The dock itself just needs its detachable base clipped into place and the protective films removed before putting it in place. Eufy recommends leaving 0.5 meters on either side and roughly 1.5 meters in front so I placed mine along the side of my kitchen island which left enough room for the robot to dock and leave comfortably.

As soon as you place the robot on the dock it powers on automatically and begins charging. A full charge takes around 3.5 hours, although the robot began its mapping run well before reaching full battery during our setup.

Next comes the smart home setup. Download the Eufy app, connect to a 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi network – the app is very particular about this – and follow the pairing prompts. In my case the robot appeared in the app instantly and connected on the first attempt, which is rarer than it should be when setting up robot vacuums. At no point did I experience errors or the frustrations I've had with other robot vacuums recently – namely the Roomba Max 705.

Once connected, the C28 performs a mapping run to learn the layout of your home. This first pass scans the space rather than cleaning it, using the robot’s LiDAR navigation system.

I opened all the interior doors and moved a few shoes and cables out of the hallway before starting the run and the robot worked methodically around the rooms, tracing walls first before filling in the center of each space in about 20 minutes. It created a clean floor plan that required only a few small boundary adjustments.

After the map appears in the app, you can divide rooms, draw no-go zones and customise cleaning preferences before starting the first proper clean. The room layout looked accurate from the start, and drawing a no-go zone over the dog’s water bowls took only a few seconds.

The final step involved filling the clean water tank and the eufy Omni C28 was then ready to start deep cleaning my home. This whole process took no more than 30 minutes, including the detailed mapping run.

eufy Omni C28: Design and Features

The Eufy Omni C28 looks like a typical robot vacuum – a low, round disc with a LiDAR turret on top. This turret is fixed in place, unlike the retracting turret on the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller, which can prevent the C28 from cleaning under low-profile furniture.

There are two physical buttons – one to start and stop the robot and one to make it return to the base. There's additionally a panel on the top of the robot which hides a small compartment that clips in and out and which houses the onboard filter.

Flip the robot over and you'll find two counter-rotating brushes that pull dust, dirt and trapped debris from corners toward the center suction channel. A wide main mop roller then sits top-center.

This roller spins as the robot moves which means it cleans dirt from hard floors, rather than dragging it, and retracts fully to keep the wet mop off your carpets as the robot moves between rooms.

Navigation comes from the LiDAR sensor plus both front-facing and rear-facing laser sensors, which scan the room to build a 360-degree map of your home.

The dock is large and bulky, as is standard, but it takes up less space than other robot vacuums I've tested, namely the Roomba Combo Max 705. The clean and dirty water tanks sit side-by-side on top of the dock, and then the washing and drying system for the mop is built into the base. The dock handles emptying, rinsing, drying, and refilling automatically, so you rarely need to interact with the robot itself.

Most of the robot and dock's other features live inside the eufy app. The app itself is dark-themed and cleanly laid out. The home screen keeps things simple with a large card showing the robot's current status and battery level, a one-tap start button and smaller tiles below for scheduled tasks and dust bag capacity. It doesn't feel cluttered, and the most-used controls are easy to reach without digging through menus.

From the map screen you can divide rooms, draw no-go zones, set no-mop areas for carpets, and direct the robot to clean specific rooms on demand. You can also schedule regular cleans, adjust suction power, and control how much water the mop uses. It's a well-laid-out app that isn't overwhelming – like the Dreame Aqua 10's app – and doesn't take long to get comfortable with.

That said, it does have its limitations. There's no per-room suction which feels like a missed opportunity at this price. If you want more power in the kitchen and less in the bedroom, for example, you're running them as separate cleans. There's also no option to just mop – you either set it to vacuum, or vacuum them mop. Neither issue is a dealbreaker but they are a little disappointing.

If you'd rather skip the app, or want more hands-free control, the C28 additionally works with Alexa, Siri, and Google Assistant. To set it up, open the eufy app, tap the menu in the top left corner, and select Smart Integrations – from there, on-screen instructions walk you through linking whichever assistant you use.

What Is the eufy Omni C28 Like to Use?

Day-to-day, the C28 is a largely (and thankfully) hands-off machine. Once the map is built, the app becomes the main way to run it and it's straightforward enough that most settings are easy to find without much poking around.

You can switch between House, Room, and Zone cleaning modes, adjust suction across three levels, and set the mop's water flow to low, medium, or high. Scheduling works across any day of the week, and a Do Not Disturb window silences the robot and pauses automatic dust collection during set hours.

This is handy if the station lives near a bedroom or you'd rather not hear it cycle at 6am because it's not the quietest of robot vacuums I've tested.

At 57dB on Quiet mode, the robot is silent enough to clean carpets during a call or in the background while working. Turbo and MAX modes are noticeably louder – 69dB and 73dB respectively – which is more in line with a traditional vacuum and much more noticeable, although not distractingly so.

The loudest the eufy Omni C28 gets is when it's emptying the dustbin, pushing the decibels up to 85dB on average, but it's a short blast rather than a constant noise. Then, a loud noise comes from the dock as it cleans the mop before the station starts humming as it dries the mop. This hum isn't loud but it lasts for hours and once you notice it, it's hard to ignore it.

The map the eufy app builds is detailed and, in testing, matched the actual layout of my home well. We have a drum kit in the living room and while other robot vacuums have struggled with navigating it, the eufy Omni C28 had no problems mapping the correct shapes.

Rooms divide automatically, and while the labels it assigns aren't always intuitive, a few minutes spent tidying the floor plan before the first full clean pays off. No-go and no-mop zones draw directly onto the map and stay put between sessions. From there the robot works methodically, moving in tight rows rather than the erratic bounce-and-correct approach of older models – you can see it making progress rather than wondering where it's going.

Obstacle avoidance is decent but not foolproof. It handles chair legs and furniture bases reliably, slowing and steering around them without fuss. Smaller things on the floor, like messy cables or a shoe left in a doorway, are less consistently spotted and can cause it to stall or reroute. During one test, it managed to pick up my son's headphones – the cable was hanging over the edge of a windowsill – and dragged them around until I noticed.

The bumper manages the odd light contact without drama, and furniture rarely ends up shifted. Crossing between hard floors and rugs is smooth and despite having a tall threshold between the Karndean flooring in my kitchen and the solid wood of my hallway, the robot handled it without problem.

The carpet detection sensor does its job well, lifting the mop pad before the robot moves onto carpet rather than dragging it wet across the pile. Other models, namely the Roborock Q7, have in the past smeared stains onto my carpet after mopping.

Battery life is one of the C28's stronger points. Eufy quotes 251 minutes on Quiet suction in vacuum-only mode, and in testing this stood up, lasting over four hours – enough to cover our home in a single pass. Mopping brought that down to a little over two hours on the same setting, and MAX suction with mopping dropped it down to an hour and 10 minutes. It should also be noted that if the battery gets too low, the robot will return to the base to charge automatically before picking up where it left off.

If I was being picky, the app sends too many notifications for my liking. There are water refill reminders, low battery alerts, clean complete, all of which are useful at first – especially if it's something you need to intervene on – but can become annoying and there's no obvious way to dial back which alerts you receive. Other than turning them off completely, which is also not ideal.

eufy Omni C28: Vacuuming Tests

To test how well the Eufy Omni C28 vacuums, I ran a standardized set of tests on both hard floors and carpet, using sugar for fine debris, lentils for medium and cereal for larger pieces.

When cleaning hardwood floors and kitchen laminate, the results were mixed. Lentils and cereal were both picked up cleanly without being flung across the room. The cereal in particular was dealt with better than expected and rather than being crushed and left as dust on the floor, most pieces were lifted whole on the first pass. A few were nudged briefly before being collected, but very little was left behind.

Around the edges and baseboards, which can be one the hardest cleaning tasks to get right, the side brushes did a great job of sweeping debris inward rather than scattering it.

Similarly on carpet, lentils and cereal fared well, though not quite as cleanly as on hard floors. Coverage was consistent enough that a second pass wasn't always necessary and pet hair on deep clean mode was a genuine surprise on both hard floors and low-pile rugs . On thicker carpet, surface hair was removed well, although deeper strands occasionally needed a follow-up to remove the dander.

Across both hard floors and carpets, however, the Omni C28 struggled to pick up the sugar. In fact, it left large amounts of it behind – you could see the lines of the brushes running through it, leaving a pattern rather than a clean floor. A second pass improved things, but it never fully cleared and I had to manually sweep the floor to get rid of it.

One thing to note is that the eufy Omni C28 cannot handle is small rugs. I have a thin mat by my back door and it got caught in the rubber brush roller repeatedly to the point I had to remember to remove it before each clean.

All in all, the C28 reduced the need for manual vacuuming by around 60% over my testing period. Hard floors and rugs were handled well enough that I didn't have to vacuum everyday, although carpeted areas still benefited from a weekly run with a full-size vacuum, particularly for fine debris and dust.

eufy Omni C28: Mopping Tests

To test how the eufy Omni C28 handles stains and spills, I ran standardized tests on hard flooring using ketchup and mustard.

Both performed well – among the best mopping results I've seen from a robot vacuum at this price. Ketchup lifted cleanly on the first pass with no streaking and no residue left at the edges.

Mustard, which is thicker and oilier and is usually more likely to leave a trace, was handled just as well – gone in a single run without needing to send the robot back. In both cases the rotating mop lifted rather than smeared, which sounds like a low bar but is something a surprising number of robot mops still get wrong.

In everyday use, fresh spills like drink splashes, muddy paw prints, and general kitchen mess were also reliably cleared in one clean. The one failure was a dried coffee stain near my bin, which the C28 didn't – and couldn't – shift. No matter how many times I sent it over the stain.

The best way to get streak-free floors is to add a cleaning solution to the clean water tank before each run. Eufy's own floor cleaning solution costs $20.99 and is sold separately; the brand doesn't include it in the box as standard. You can technically use any compatible floor cleaner, though doing so could invalidate the warranty so approach with caution.

Considering Dreame gives you its standard solution and pet-friendly solution (plus spares of each) with the Dreame Aqua10 this felt a little tight.

For a home that's mostly hard floors, the mopping performance and stain removal makes a strong case for the C28. I barely needed to manually mop at all during the testing period and that's not something I can usually say about many robot vacuums, let alone ones at this price.

eufy Omni C28: Maintenance

For a robot at this price, the expectation is that it largely takes care of itself and for daily use, the C28 mostly delivers.

After each clean, the robot drives back to the dock where it automatically empties its dustbin into a built-in dust bag, washes the mop using water from clean water tank, and pumps the dirty water into a separate wastewater tank.

In practice though, this means the station stops odors and prevents mold from building up on a damp roller, and you can run the C28 daily without much hands-on intervention. The only real maintenance is emptying and refilling the tanks every few days depending on how hard the robot is working. You can check in on the status of maintenance, and keep track of any errors in the app if your robot vacuum keeps getting stuck or isn't working as it should.

The DuoSpiral brushes are designed to reduce tangling, and they do fare better than a single, but in a home like mine with long hair and pets, the rolling brush still needed attention every few days or so. It's not a difficult job, but it's a chink in the otherwise almost flawless armor of this robot's hands-free nature.

Beyond this, the app tracks all of the robot's components through its Accessory Services screen. This shows how much each part has been used – via a percentage – and how long it is until it needs replacing. Knowing how to clean a robot vacuum is important, especially if you want to extend its lifespan so this a small but useful addition. It won't reduce the physical work of replacing the parts, but it takes the guesswork out of knowing what needs attention.

How Does the eufy Omni C28 Compare?

the eufy Omni C28 is a mid-range vacuum cleaner that, on test, demonstrated the ways in which it outperforms many high-end robot vacuum cleaners.

The Omni C28 appears to be a stark upgrade from the eufy X10 Pro Omni, our favorite mid-range model thus far. Surprisingly, the Omni C28 can be found at a similar price when on sale, despite its stronger performance across the board. Find it for around $499.99 to $799.99 at eufy.

The eufy Omni S1 Pro has long been our favorite from the brand. The Omni C28 has stronger suction and more thorough mopping, but the Omni S1 Pro has stronger performance on pet hair, and no hair wrap. The eufy Omni S1 Pro is available for around $700 to $900 at eufy, depending on promotions.

How I Tested the eufy Omni C28

Testing a robot vacuum properly takes time and how we test vacuums reflects that.

I tested the eufy Omni C28 over three weeks in a home with a mix of hard floors and rugs and which contains children and a chocolate labrador. During this time, it replaced my regular vacuum.

To keep performance tests consistent, I set the robot to vacuum sugar, lentils, and cereal off both hard floors and carpet, while for mopping, I tasked it with clearing up ketchup and mustard stains. Noise levels were then measured using the DecibelX app across a range of settings.

Beyond the benchmarks, I used the scheduling and manual controls in everyday use to get a realistic sense of how much the robot reduced cleaning time versus how much it added back in the form of maintenance and intervention.

Next, learn how to choose the best vacuum for every home and budget.

Love the latest product news and helpful shopping advice? Sign up for our newsletter and get the latest features delivered straight to your inbox.

The Yeedi S20 Infinity is part of the premium, flagship genre of robot vacuums, with high price points that may not appeal to everybody. But if you're looking for genuine hands-free cleaning, this is worth the spend.

It runs more quietly than the best robot vacuums out there, and it does an outstanding job vacuuming and mopping, doing much of your home's deep cleaning for you.

It uses cleaning solution, which is something that I wish more robot vacuums would do. After all, you wouldn’t mop your floors with plain water, so why would you have your robot vacuum do the same? The Yeedi S20 Infinity [at Amazon] is also Matter-certified, meaning it can connect to any smart home system out there. Read on to find out why I rate it so highly.

The One-Minute Summary

It can be tough to recommend a premium product sometimes, because as good as they are, they’re expensive and there are cheaper models that often punch above their weight. That’s the case for the Yeedi S20 Infinity.

The Yeedi S20 Infinity [at Amazon] performs better than most of the competition. It runs very quietly while still doing a stellar job vacuuming and mopping. It also has a very long battery life and has most of the features one could think of, including being able to connect to any smart home ecosystem.

That being said, it’s pricey, and the Yeedi S14 Plus is much cheaper and covers 90% of the same territory. You’ll have to decide if paying the difference is worth the smart home support and the deeper clean owed to higher suction and dedicated cleaning solution.

The Yeedi S20 Infinity is available for $1,599.99 at Amazon.

Yeedi S20 Infinity: Specifications

Yeedi S20 Infinity: Setup

When unboxing the Yeedi S20 Infinity robot vacuum, I was struck by how little assembly was required, but also how tedious certain aspects of it still are. When I pulled everything out of the box, the side brush was already installed on the robot vacuum itself. In fact, on the unit, all I had to do was remove some plastic wrapping and the foam lining.

The base station took a little more work, however. The whole thing is on the heavier side so it takes a bit of muscle to get it out of the box, and there’s a base plate that needs to be installed.

Everything is covered in clingy plastic that needs to be peeled off section by section. While I appreciate the fact that it’s there to keep the base station safe during transport, it does mean a little extra work to unbox, and it isn't the most eco-friendly design choice. In total, fully unboxing the Yeedi S20 Infinity takes maybe five minutes.

Setting it up is fairly straightforward. Besides powering the base station and the robot vacuum, most of the work is during the app and smart home setup, which mostly consists of following the on-screen prompts, though you do need to pair the robot vacuum (there’s a button to hold down next to the power slider) and you should know the WiFi info of the network you’ll be connecting to.

Of course, it’s not fully set up at this point, as it needs to map your home. Getting it to do so is a press in the app, but it takes some time to go from room to room and map out the floor plan. I found that once that’s done, the map created is fairly accurate. It’s worth noting that you can’t fully set up the Yeedi S20 Infinity robot vacuum without a smart phone.

Before running, you'll need to fill up the clean water tank and the regular and hard cleaning solution reservoirs if you chose to get them, as they’re an additional purchase.

Yeedi S20 Infinity: Design and Features

The Yeedi S20 Infinity follows the looks of most of the other Yeedi robot vacuums I’ve tested. Its colorway is a black and gray affair with splashes of red, usually on levers or buttons. The robot vacuum itself is flat on top – great for fitting under furniture where dust tends to build up – with a removable faceplate that hides the power slider, pairing button, and onboard dustbin.

There’s also the onboard water reservoir on its back, which is pretty small. Where this robot vacuum is a little different than most, though similar to other more premium models from Yeedi, is how it’s arranged underneath. The brushroll used is the kind of anti-tangle one I see a lot with alternating lines of brushes and silicone that’s good for dealing with lots of hair, especially as a vacuum for pet hair. There’s just one side brush, which has a unique angle to push debris in front of it instead of kicking away.

And the Ozmo Roller 2.0 mopping roller brush is probably the most innovative improvement that I’ve seen on a robot vacuum. Not only does it extend out to mop edges, but its form factor means that it’s spinning but doing so in a forward to back motion instead of a circle like most mop pads that spin. This means that it mops up spills instead of moving contents around.

While you can control the Yeedi S20 Infinity through the app, and there’s plenty of fine tuning such as turning off the voice that announces every little thing the robot vacuum is about to do or scheduling cleaning, this robot vacuum supports the Matter smart home standard. This means that it can be connected to just about any ecosystem and voice assistant you use.

The base station also holds a few important design improvements and features. Notably, it holds both regular and heavy-duty cleaning solution, for different spills. The base station will also wash and dry the mop regularly during and after cleaning. Also worth noting is that while you do have to buy those cleaning solutions separately (both the regular and heavy duty solution is available at Amazon), you won’t have to buy dust bags as the base station’s dust bin is a removable, reusable canister that can easily empty into the trash the one time a month it’s required.

A little less impressive are the size of the water tanks. It’s not a dealbreaker, but the robot vacuum likes to wash its mop fairly regularly so under default conditions, I have to fill up the clean water tank and empty the dirty water tank every two to three uses.

What Is the Yeedi S20 Infinity Like to Use?

When it comes to interacting with the Yeedi S20 Infinity, I find using it to be on par with any other recent robot vacuum I’ve used. While there’s a button on the vacuum itself that will set it to start cleaning, this is the kind of device where I instinctively turn to the app for whatever I plan to do, whether that’s creating a schedule or choosing the parameters of a cleaning.

Adjusting the parameters is easy per usual as everything is in a menu that you can pull up from the bottom. Choosing vacuum and mopping strengths and the number of passes gives quite a bit of flexibility. However, if you don’t want to think about it, there is an AI mode that will adjust on the fly, which makes things more intuitive.

While I don’t recommend robot vacuums for deep cleaning your home – even when they’re as powerful as this one – in its day-to-day use, I’ve found the Yeedi S20 Infinity to do a fantastic job of keeping dust and debris off the floor. Pet dander, little pieces of food, and random dust all get sucked up for a floor clean enough that I don’t mind walking across it barefoot.

I was also impressed by how silent this robot vacuum is. The last robot vacuum I tested was the Yeedi S14 Plus, which I already found to be on the quiet side. The S20 Infinity is even quieter (unless you have it at max vacuum suction settings), running at around 56 dB. Of course, the self-emptying on the base station is louder at 76 dB but that takes a very short amount of time.

The object avoidance was good as it recognized objects quickly and navigated around them. Plus, you can toggle a setting in the app to take a wider berth to objects – essentially an “avoid hitting my dog” button.

It mops the floors evenly with its wide, six-inch cleaning path. I didn’t find any streaking or uneven washing, and as I’ve used this robot vacuum on carpet, I didn’t have to worry about the roller getting the carpet wet as it automatically lifts up when used.

Lastly, since I used the Yeedi S20 Infinity in a carpeted room that was on a different floor, it had to last at least half an hour of testing without using up too much battery. And since the battery life its very long, rated at 254 minutes, it’s not something I had to worry about. Of course, it does have fast charging to the tune of 6% of the battery in three minutes if you somehow manage to run that battery out.

The Yeedi S20 Infinity is available for $1,599.99 at Amazon.

Yeedi S20 Infinity: Vacuuming Tests

For the vacuuming tests, I ran the Yeedi S20 Infinity by cleaning hardwood flooring and low-pile carpeting. I used flour, sugar, lentils, and cereal to see how well this robot vacuum would do with debris of various sizes. While it had already done a good job with dust and pet dander, using these controlled tests was illuminating in a way I didn’t expect.

The Yeedi S20 has 19,500Pa of suction, which means that it should vacuum everything up in its path without mercy. While it certainly does have powerful suction, it still had some areas it struggled in.

Now, it sucked up the lentils and cereal with aplomb, besting the Yeedi S14 Plus that tended to shoot lighter particles like lentils out like it’s playing hockey. And it did so effectively on both hard and carpeted flooring.

It handled getting pieces of debris at the edges well on hardwood, though it struggled a bit on carpet between the carpet and the molding, which is one of the hardest cleaning tasks and not something I can really hold against the robot vacuum.

That brings up probably the most important point for a flagship robot vacuum, and that’s the fact that no matter how powerful one is, it can’t beat manual deep cleaning with your best vacuum cleaner. Whether it’s cleaning up lentils at the edges of my carpet, mopping up large amounts of ketchup, or getting a bunch of flour and sugar, most robot vacuums aren’t going to be able to spot clean a big mess as easily as I can with a regular vacuum.

Vacuuming up sugar and flour definitely highlighted that shortcoming as well as any other test or observation. Namely, the Yeedi S20 Infinity took a long time and multiple passes to mostly suck up these smaller particles on hard flooring as it did on carpeting. However, it did better on carpeting as it mostly captured all the sugar and flour, while I had to manually clean up some remnants on hard flooring even after two passes.

Yeedi S20 Infinity: Mopping Tests

When it comes to mopping, the Yeedi S20 Infinity has a leg up on most other robot vacuums. It’s actually surprising how few robot vacuums use additional cleaning solution, considering the goal is clean floors. Along with the eufy Omni S1 Pro, the Yeedi S20 Infinity is one of the few.

Also in its favor is its “Ozmo Roller 2.0” brushroll, which rolls the same way as a regular brushroll as opposed to either a flat pad that’s pressed against the floor or the spinning round mop pads that a lot of premium models come with.

This roller then combines the even cleaning surface of the former flat pad and the spinning pressure and motion of the round mop pads. It’s the best of both worlds and it showed in our mopping tests.

The Yeedi S20 Infinity sucked up the mustard and ketchup that I set out in front of it quickly and in one pass. Now, this isn’t a true replacement for the best vacuum-mop combos, despite the marketing, as it does get overwhelmed a bit with a lot of liquid. In this test, even though it did two passes and got most everything it was supposed to, it did still leave thin lines of mustard and ketchup at the edges of its cleaning path.

It did at least get to the edges of the room with some ketchup I had squirted over there. And it left the rest of the floor outside of the remnants it left behind very clean. While another pass would have probably gotten the rest of what was left, I was impressed with its mopping skills.

The Yeedi S20 Infinity is available for $1,599.99 at Amazon.

Yeedi S20 Infinity: Maintenance

The aforementioned vacuuming and mopping tests provided a good chance at looking under the hood. After all, learning how to clean a robot vacuum is going to affect its performance and longevity.

Luckily, it’s mostly straightforward. The brushroll and the cage that contains it are easy to remove, making it easy to get to anything that gets tangled in there. A filter that sits behind the Ozmo Roller 2.0 mopping brushroll comes out just as easily to be emptied out and cleaned.

Outside of that and the filter inside the robot vacuum’s own dustbin, none of the other parts are easily removable, if removable at all. That mopping brush may get washed and cleaned in the base station, but the area behind it is basically inaccessible to clean. And when you’re mopping up a bunch of ketchup and mustard, you’re probably going to have to clean the underbelly of this robot vacuum somehow.

As far as the routine maintenance goes, the base station does a good job of automatically emptying the robot vacuum’s contents into its own dustbin every time the robot vacuum docks. And that dustbin is big enough that it will only need emptying once a month. I also appreciate that it's a canister and not a dust bag that eventually needs replacing, with more recurring purchases.

The water tanks are a little bit smaller than average. I have filled up the clean water tank after every other clean and emptied the dirty water tank almost as much. I do appreciate the fact the Yeedi S20 Infinity always washes and dries its mop roller, but it’s probably a major reason why it runs through water so quickly.

How Does the Yeedi S20 Infinity Compare?

With an MSRP of $1,599.99 at Amazon, the Yeedi S20 Infinity robot vacuum fits into the premium flagship level of robot vacuums, not only for its price but also its feature set. Not only is there the high suction vacuuming and spinning brushroll for mopping, but Alexa and Google Support are built in as is the ability to use two actual cleaning solutions. It's often discounted though, as it is now at the time of writing, with almost a third off the full asking price at Amazon.

The Yeedi S14 Plus is an interesting comparison, mostly because its MSRP of $1,199.99 is also out of reach for many, but the frequently discounted price of $549.99 puts it within reach of those that are price conscious. You don’t have any smart home ecosystem support and you can’t use a cleaning solution, but it’s still a very solid option that will get you most of the way there for a much smaller spend.

The Eufy Omni S1 Pro has a similar MSRP to the S20 Infinity, but is often discounted to as low as $900. It also uses cleaning fluid to help with mopping but doesn’t have the suction power of either Yeedi robot vacuums.

How I tested the Yeedi S20 Infinity

There is a lot that goes into how we test vacuums, which includes going through the app with a fine tooth comb, running benchmarks, and simply living with the product to see how it fits into everyday cleaning.

For the Yeedi S20 Infinity, I used it for a week running it every day in an area regularly occupied by five adults, two French Bulldogs, and a reclusive cat. I ran it typically with vacuum and mop functionality together, though I’ve run it with just one or the other for testing.

As far as targeted tests go, I tested it using a quarter cup of sugar, lentils, and cereal, testing with each type of substance individually on both hard flooring and carpet. I also tested the mopping by running two tests, first with a quarter cup of ketchup and second with the same amount of mustard.

The Yeedi S20 Infinity is available for $1,599.99 at Amazon.

Next, learn how to choose the best vacuum for every home and budget.

Shark has introduced an upgrade to the best-selling PowerDetect 2-in-1 robot vacuum range. The new PowerDetect ThermaCharged promises cleaner floors and fewer odors than previous Shark robots, leaving homes feeling spotless without having to lift a finger.

Now with heated mop washing and drying, the robot cleans floors with a roller that's always freshly sanitized, and banishes the nasty smells that come from leaving it dirty. And for the new release, Shark has discounted the PowerDetect ThermaCharged by a huge $400.

If you've been waiting for the chance to free up hours of your precious free time, this is it. The Shark PowerDetect was already one of our best robot vacuums after testing, and this new model is an upgrade that costs $100s less.

The Shark PowerDetect ThermaCharged Robot Vaccum: Everything You Need to Know

The PowerDetect ThermaCharged upgrades from the previous PowerDetect robot vacuum with heated mop washing and drying, promising cleaner results than all other Shark robots. Washing the mop with 185°F and drying it with 175°F air, it prevents the growth of mold, bacteria, and odors that thrive in cold, wet conditions.

It also comes in a new colorway, in a sleek but subtle black and gold. As a robot vacuum and its station are on show in your home at all times, it's a nice touch to go for one with more of a lush aesthetic.

Otherwise, its specs are the same as the model we tested – and we love how low-maintenance it is. It's designed to do as much of the work as possible, emptying its own debris and navigating around obstacles effortlessly.

It can vacuum and mop your floors so thoroughly that it removes old stains from hard floors, and pulls dust and debris from carpets. It even lifts itself over small thresholds and obstacles so that it hardly ever gets stuck, so you can confidently leave it running while you sleep and wake up to spotless floors.

The Shark PowerDetect ThermaCharged Robot Vacuum and Mop is discounted to $799.99 for a limited at SharkNinja.

What to Shop

A robot vacuum handles floorcare for you, freeing up your time while revolutionizing the amount of effort required to maintain our homes. We've tested 82 of the best vacuums and robot vacuums and here a few more of our top recommendations.

All prices were correct at time of publication.

Next, see why we rate the best Dyson alternatives and the best vacuums for pet hair so highly after our test sessions.

Like washing machines and dishwashers before it, the robot vacuum has given us back hours that would otherwise be spent on chores. You can now enjoy daily vacuuming and mopping without lifting a finger.

But they can be expensive, so when the big sales come around, I always shout about robot vacuum deals to anyone who wants an easier life at home. The Yeedi S14 Plus is discounted right now by a huge $700 for a limited time. Grabbing this early Amazon Prime Big Deal Day offer makes it significantly cheaper to reap the benefits of this award-winning technology.

Of the 22 we've tested, the Yeedi S14 Plus is easily one of the best robot vacuums, and it's never been cheaper than this.

The Yeedi S14 Plus will free up hours of weekly chore time

They're only small, but robot vacuums have evolved to house powerful motors and fast-spinning mop pads to leave our floors immaculate without us really doing anything. And the Yeedi S14 Plus is one of the most impressive of them all, as seen above in our comprehensive vacuum tests.

It boasts 18,000Pa suction – for comparison, most robot vacuums have around 5,000Pa to 16,000Pa, so it's one of the best vacuums for pulling up dirt, debris, and hair from carpets and hard floors. Surprisingly, not every robot can vacuum this well, as many of them tend to leave a mess behind.

Tester James Holland said in their review that this robot vacuum's raw cleaning power means it 'absolutely sucks up everything in its path. The three different substances that we use signify three different sizes of debris. And no matter which size we talk about, they were sucked right up.'

Another common robot vacuum drawback is their inability to get into the corners, but the Yeedi S14 Plus's side brush and mop rollers are extendable to overcome this, meaning it vacuums and mops your floors the right way.

And to keep things hands-free, the docking station empties the robot between cleans, washing and drying the mop pads to keep it at its best and prevent any nasty odors or mildew building up.

At this price, a robot vacuum wouldn't be able to clean half as well as the Yeedi S14 Plus, which is what makes this such a stand-out deal.

The Yeedi S14 Plus is available for $699.99 at Amazon, its lowest price ever.

More to shop

Still shopping around? Here are a few more of our favorites that we loved during testing.

All prices were correct at time of publication.

For more floorcare inspiration, we've tested the best vacuums for pet hair and the best Dyson alternatives.

The Yeedi S14 Plus robot vacuum is a strange creature. It’s more powerful than most of the competition out there, which doesn’t always work in its favor as you’ll see in our vacuum tests. It does a great job with edges and corners yet some parts including the mop roller aren’t removable.

If something happens, you better hope that the warranty will be honored. That’s a frustrating thing to consider if you’re looking for one of the best robot vacuums around. Luckily it gets discounted quite a bit so punches above its weight at its lower price.

Its shortcomings are pretty small, as long as you don’t want a bunch of extra features like voice assistant support or the ability to use it as a drone to spy on your pets. It has great object avoidance, runs fairly quietly, and is virtually hands-free in day-to-day use.

Yeedi S14 Plus: Specifications

Yeedi S14 Plus: Setup

One of the first things I appreciated about the Yeedi S14 Plus is the fact that its packaging comes without big styrofoam blocks. Yes, there’s a little bit of plastic covering on the robot and base station themselves, but the packaging to keep them safe and stable inside the box during transport is mostly made of cardboard and recycled materials – great news if, like me, you prefer to shop sustainably for your home.

Actually unboxing the unit is very straightforward with essentially the two pieces stacked on top of each other. The base station is a bit tricky only insofar that it’s a bit bulky and heavy, and the indented handle is halfway down the back. I had to feel around the back to find it and then hold the base station by that handle and the cavity for the robot vacuum to lift it out of the box.

Outside of that, everything is almost fully pre-assembled. All I had to do was plug it in, attach the baseplate, and place the robot vacuum in its cavity to charge. You also have to turn the robot vacuum on via a power slider situated under its top cover to actually use it as well.

Going through the app as part of your smart home setup takes a little longer, but is just as easy. Once the app was downloaded, I just had to follow the directions, half of which was pairing the Yeedi S14 Plus to the app (you press a button next to the power button and then put in the WiFi password in the app once they’ve connected).

Once I followed the online prompts, the Yeedi S14 Plus was ready to go. The final step is having it map your space, which takes a button press and a little bit of time to let it do its thing. Afterwards, manipulating the map including adding no-go zones or areas where it cleans a particular way is easy to add once you’ve finished mapping. It can map multiple floors as well.

Yeedi S14 Plus: Design and features

Since the Yeedi S14 Plus is of the mopping variety, the whole package is pretty big. The base station has two water tanks – one for clean water and one for dirty – that are transparent so you can tell when the clean one needs refilling and the dirty one needs emptying. Also contained in the base station is a 3L dustbag, which the robot vacuum automatically self empties into whenever it returns to base.

The base station also washes the robot vacuum’s mop roller whenever it returns home and then dries it to avoid buildup of bacteria, mold and mildew something I always appreciate. I also like that the insert for the power cable is recessed and the cable itself is angled so you can set the base station flush against the wall, though the cable itself is a bit stiff.

As far as the actual robot vacuum, there’s a lot going on. Interestingly, it’s completely flat up top, unlike most robot vacuums, so that it can actually go under furniture, where dust tends to build up, that other units can’t. In fact, I actually had to clean cobwebs off it for some of the pictures used in this review from the times it went under the couch to clean.

It has a lid held on magnetically, which hides the power and pairing button along with the smaller onboard dustbin that pulls right out if you need to empty it. The center of that lid is cut out for the main button, which is usually lit up and can be pressed for an automatic start.

Underneath is where a lot of the magic happens. The side brush sits on an extendable arm to get to edges and corners. The center brush roll uses bristles and rubber lining organized in a v-shape to avoid tangles. And the mopping brush, which this model uses in lieu of a flat mop pad or rotating mop pads, can extend outward like the side brush to also mop edges and corners. This is a stand-out feature, compared to other robots' limited mopping reach.

Also worth noting is the fact that this robot vacuum has 18,000Pa of suction power – that’s a lot – and 4,000Pa of downward scrubbing power. For reference, our current favorite is the eufy Omni S1 Pro, which has 8,000Pa suction. The brush roll can lift up 0.39 inches to avoid wetting carpets and it can climb 0.79 inches to get over certain types of obstacles like door thresholds.

The robot vacuum also likes to talk to announce what it’s doing, but it doesn’t support any voice assistants – a shame, as this is one of the main ways voice assistants can be used to streamline things at home. That said, the app is very easy to use, whether it’s starting a cleaning or scheduling it to run on certain days. There are plenty of options beyond that on how you want it to run. You can even make it wash or dry the mop roller manually.

What is the Yeedi S14 Plus like to use?

The thing that stood out initially when using the Yeedi S14 Plus is how quiet it is (for a robot vacuum). At around 60dB on average during use, it runs quieter than quite a few other robot vacuums I’ve used, That’s a godsend when you have a robot vacuum that takes about an hour to vacuum and mop about 750 square feet – a typical time for these types of mopping robot vacuums since they return to their base station regularly to clean off.

During use, the Yeedi S14 Plus does a stellar job sucking up any debris, from cut grass tracked in by dogs (or me) and hair, to dust and fallen food particles. There are some caveats as you’ll see in your specific tests below, though that really amounts to using an actual vacuum or mop for big spills or when deep cleaning your home. On a day-to-day basis, using this vacuum has kept me from having to really do any deep cleaning during the month and a half that I’ve been testing it.

The clean water tank does seem to run out quickly and I have to fill it up every week, but, again, that’s to be expected. As far as mopping the floors goes, the Yeedi S14 Plus delivers an even layer of water, leaving no other spill behind, that dries quickly making it ideal if you have floors that are susceptible to water damage, like when cleaning hardwood.

I have quite a few ledges in the areas that are ideal for testing due to having rooms that are a literal step down as well as a room at the top of a set of stairs. The Yeedi S14 Plus will go to the edge to clean but stays safely where it should. It also does a good job getting edges and corners thanks to the extendable side brush and mop roller.

I was also impressed with its object avoidance (shown above). Now, there are some things that robot vacuums have yet to master and it’s no different here. Cords, strings, long thin things will get stuck. I had the end of a dog toy as well as a backpack strap get caught when I wasn’t paying attention. Otherwise, however, it sees and goes around objects, which I tested not only with furniture but by placing shoes and smaller objects in its path.

Yeedi S14 Plus: Vacuuming tests

While the Yeedi S14 Plus does a good job in day-to-day vacuuming, leaving floors free of dust and debris, including edges and corners thanks to the extendable side and mop rolleres, the capabilities of this vacuum become clearer with some targeted tests.

Specifically, I ran six tests to get a better idea of its strengths and limitations. Those tests consist of having it vacuum up individually a quarter cup worth of sugar, lentils, and cereal, first cleaning hardwood flooring and then separately on carpet. All substances were placed so that some of it would be along a wall to see how the Yeedi S14 Plus would do with edges.

The Yeedi S14 managed to get into the edges between the trim and flooring just fine, no issues whatsoever.

The first thing that becomes apparent is that no matter the substance, the Yeedi S14 Plus’ 18,000Pa of power is more than enough. It absolutely sucks up everything in its path. The three different substances that we use signify three different sizes of debris. And no matter which size we talk about, they were sucked right up.

Interestingly, the results of this testing remained consistent regardless of whether it was on hard flooring – specifically wood flooring in this case – and carpet, except that some of the issues are a little exacerbated on hard flooring.

Now, the only issue the Yeedi S14 Plus had with the Honey Nut Cheerios was that, when I asked it to clean the area containing the cereal, it would do a certain amount of passes and then call it a day even if there were some left.

To do these tests, I always would select a zone to do a spot clean and have it clean that area. In general use, however, where it has free reign and is supposed to keep cleaning the entire floor, I have yet to find it to leave anything behind.

The Yeedi S14 Plus struggled the most with the lentils as these are lighter pieces of debris but still have enough heft to them that the overzealous sidebrush would just shoot them out all over the floor instead of just right in front of the vacuum. It’s good to remember that the side brush's sole job is to push debris in front of the roller brush so it can suck up whatever it passes over. Sending debris flying makes that job harder. Again, the vacuum would deem the job done once it had done a certain amount of passes in an area when cleaning a zone, meaning that there were lentils left on the ground.

The robot vacuum did a better job with sugar as the little specks were too light to be scattered by the side brush. Of course, when I asked the Yeedi S14 Plus to clean up the sugar as well as the lentils, I did find that it would dump a bunch of them on the base plate as it would back into the base station to self-empty.

It's important to note here that we run these tests to see exactly what a robot vacuum is capable of, but if you're not often needing your robot to vacuum large volumes of mess, this shouldn't pose an issue.

And while it can be frustrating, I think it highlights an important aspect of any robot vacuum, not just the Yeedi S14 Plus, that these machines, as much as they’ve improved over the years, just can’t be used for deep cleaning. During regular day use, I don’t have issues with the Yeedi in any of the facets mentioned in this section. But throw a scoop of anything on the ground and you’ll come away frustrated.

Yeedi S14 Plus: Mopping tests

The mopping tests, of which there are two, somewhat reiterate the final findings of the vacuum tests. And that’s the fact that the performance is there in spades, but just not for deep cleaning.

The first mop test was to clean up a quarter cup worth of ketchup, while the second was a quarter cup of mustard – I also added some coffee to the second test for a different consistency of liquid.

Now, the Yeedi S14 Plus didn’t have any issues spreading the substances in either test, something I have witnessed with other mopping robot vacuums, especially ones with a flat mop pad. And it could suck up just about anything on the first pass. It also did just fine getting any substance stuck near an edge – another issue with some robot vacuums. My floor did smell a bit like ketchup for a bit since this robot vacuum doesn’t use any cleaning solution.

Where it seemed to have issues was with the amount of substances and where it would get stuck. So yes, the ketchup, the mustard, and the coffee all came right up. And all was clear until the Yeedi S14 Plus would start backing into the base station to be cleared out. All of a sudden, a bunch of whatever it cleaned up would be left behind – a good reminder that a mopping robot vacuum isn’t quite the same as the best vacuum-mop combos.

After turning the robot vacuum over, it was clear that a bunch of the substances had also gone up the cavity for the roller brush, even though I had them only mop. This meant that not only did it leave a bunch of cleanup behind right in front of the base station as well as on the base plate, but that robot vacuum itself required some cleaning out. Leading me to the next section…

Yeedi S14 Plus: Maintenance

One of the nice things about a robot vacuum like the Yeedi S14 Plus is that, unless you try to clean up a quarter cup of ketchup with it you shouldn't have to clean the robot vacuum often. The clean water and dirty water tanks will need to be replenished based on how often you use them. Considering I run the vacuum three times a week, I typically have to take care of the water tanks once a week.

And the self-emptying feature on the base station means that after a month and a half of use means that I have yet had to empty the robot vacuum’s onboard dustbin nor have I had to empty the dustbag in the base station. Plus, the mop washing and drying that occurs after every mop use keeps the undercarriage relatively clean.

The roller brush that’s responsible for vacuuming uses that V-shaped bristle design that robot vacuums with “anti-tangle technology” use and I haven’t had to untangle anything from it other than things it shouldn’t have picked up in the first place like a backpack strap.

Now, when I had to turn over the Yeedi S14 Plus to clean out the ketchup, I had to disassemble what I could from the undercarriage and I learned a few things about how to clean this robot vacuum.

First, the side brush did have a collection of hair wrapped around it, but not the main roller. Removing the hair wasn’t difficult. However, I had to pull it off because I couldn’t remove the sidebrush, which is a concern if anything were to happen to it.

I also got to see that the mop roller isn’t removable either, though there is a scraper with a filter next to it that can be removed and cleaned. The vacuum roller brush is at least removable and easily cleaned as is a tray below it.

All in all, the maintenance on the Yeedi S14 Plus is easy because it’s mostly hands-off during regular use and pretty easy to clean if something happens. On the flipside, the fact that certain elements can’t be removed in case of some issue is of concern if common robot vacuum faults happen down the line.

How does the Yeedi S14 Plus compare?

With an MSRP of $1,199.99, the Yeedi S14 Plus is pricey, but less expensive compared to some of the competition. Yeedi products are also frequently on sale, so you should make sure to wait for a promotion before buying.

At the time of writing, it’s at its lowest price of $699.99 at Amazon, but it’s been discounted to the $900 - $1,000 range seven times since its release and spent most of the rest of the time around $1,200. This robot vacuum has been available on Amazon since early 2025.

Of course, the price history is not quite as transparent on its direct site, but it’s discounted from $1,199.99 to $899.99 currently.

The Eufy Omni S1 Pro is our current favorite. It has an MSRP of $1,499.99, but is occasionally discounted to as low as $899.99.This model also uses the mop roller technique for mopping and covers a lot of the same ground functionally, though it doesn’t have nearly the suction power of the Yeedi S14 Plus. It also has cleaning fluid refills that can add up. On the flipside, actual cleaning fluid means your floors are cleaned with more than just water and pressure. In essence, the Yeedi S14 Plus gets you most of the way there for potentially much less money.

Of course, you can find decent mopping robot vacuums for much less. If you’re going by MSRP, consider the Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1. Shark is a bit more established of a brand, which works in its favor, but this model also tops out at $999.99 and is regularly discounted to under $700. It’s low maintenance, does a good job generally with vacuuming and mopping, and has good object avoidance. It does, however, run a little louder and has issues with edge cleaning.

Should you buy the Yeedi S14 Plus?

The Yeedi S14 Plus has a lot going for it as a mopping robot vacuum. Setting it up is easy. Using it is easy. And cleaning is mostly as well. It does have some issues with medium size debris, but has a lot of suction power for all sorts of messes.

It’s not really made for high volumes of mess, but does an excellent job of keeping floors and carpets clean so that you can wait much longer between deep cleaning. Just don’t expect it to handle large cleanup jobs.

While it has quite a few features on hand like the mop roller washing and drying as well as auto self-emptying, it’s a little light on some of the features that the most premium models have such as voice assistant support. Opening an app is easy enough in my opinion so I didn’t really miss it.

I was particularly impressed by its object avoidance as that’s usually an issue – still, remove your cords – and the relatively quiet performance during regular use was a nice surprise.

I wouldn’t buy this robot vacuum at full price, but I think the Yeedi S14 Plus is a strong when discounted.

How I tested the Yeedi S14 Plus

There is a lot that goes into how we test robot vacuums, which includes going through the app with a fine tooth comb, running benchmarks, and even just living with the product to see how it fits into everyday cleaning.

For the Yeedi S14 Plus, I used it for a month and a half running it generally three times a week in an area regularly occupied by five adults and two French Bulldogs (with the odd appearance of a reclusive cat). I ran it typically with vacuum and mop functionality together, though I’ve run it with just one or the other for testing.

As far as targeted tests go, I did run it to pick up a quarter cup of sugar, lentils, and cereal, testing with each type of substance individually on both hard flooring and carpet. I also tested the mopping by running two tests, first with a quarter cup of ketchup and second with the same amount of mustard. I included a bit of coffee the second time around as well.

Next, learn how to choose the best vacuum for every home and budget.

Dyson's new robot cleaner is part of a suite of new floorcare appliances, announced at IFA in Berlin on Thursday, that promises to make cleaning easier and more effective than ever before.

The Dyson Spot+Scrub Ai features some major upgrades from their previous Dyson 360 Vis Nav, the most notable being the introduction of a mop and new, AI-powered detection.

As a home tech editor who's been testing and reporting on floorcare gadgets for more than two years, I'm intrigued to see if this new release lives up to Dyson's reputation, and if it could end up being one of the next best robot vacuums.

Dyson's new Spot+Scrub Ai promises to make automated cleaning even easier

The Spot+Scrub Ai is Dyson's first robot vacuum with a mopping function. It uses a microfiber wet roller that cleans itself on the move – not many other robot cleaners have this capability – making sure that each rotation delivers fresh, heated water as it cleans for a more efficient clean.

Dyson's last robot vacuum, the Dyson 360 Vis Nav, while offering some of the strongest suction we'd seen at the time of its release, let us down during testing because of its lack of a mop or self-cleaning station.

It seems as if Dyson listened to users' concerns and developed a more comprehensive system, one with more accurate navigation, an ability to clean itself on the move and in the station, and a dock that stores dust for up to 100 days.

On average, even our favorite robot vacuums (like the eufy Omni S1 Pro) only store dust for up to 60 days, making the Spot+Scrub Ai's station a marked improvement from competitors.

It also boasts 18,000Pa suction – which is at the higher end of what the most comprehensive robots offer these days – but suction power doesn't always equal cleaning power.

That performance also depends on the brushroll, but as the best Dyson vacuums have some of the most effective floorheads and attachments we've tested, I have faith that Dyson's latest robot won't be lacking in that department.

Navigation also plays a huge role when it comes to cleaning ability, and the predecessor Dyson 360 Vis Nav struggled here compared to the competition.

That's why I'm thrilled to see new AI technology being introduced in the Spot+Scrub Ai. It uses an AI-powered camera and LiDAR sensors to identify nearly 200 types of objects, including common household obstacles such as cables and socks, so it can most efficiently adjust it's cleaning, mopping or path for the most efficient and deep clean.

All this while building a layout of your home and automatically naming rooms so you can easily order zone cleaning at the touch of a button. That's in line with the theme at this year's IFA that AI in home cleaning is more advanced than ever, with AI systems now beginning to look after us.

While this is an exciting step for Dyson, many of these 'new' features have been seen in other robots from eufy, Dreame, and Roborock for some time, so I'm curious to get my hands on the new Dyson for full testing and see if it can outshine the current competition with these additional cleaning abilities now in play.

The Dyson Spot+Scrub Ai robot vacuum cleaner will be available in 2026.

What to shop

While we wait for the Dyson Spot+Scrub Ai to be released, here are some of the best-performing robot vacuum cleaners that we thoroughly enjoyed testing.

All prices were correct at the time of publication.

Next, learn more about the best vacuum-mop combos and the best cordless vacuums that we've tested and love.

Robot vacuums are evolving, with the tech world's latest advancements pushing the market to answer household needs like never before.

Every September, Berlin becomes the stage for the latest in home technology – and this year’s IFA has been dominated by robots promising to transform floorcare.

From tank-like stair-climbing vacuums to all-in-one cleaning solutions, brands are racing to overcome the biggest limitations of even the best robot cleaners. As a home tech editor and professional vacuum tester, here's what I was most excited about seeing at IFA.

The robot vacuums announced at IFA, pushing the boundaries of home cleaning

Among the exciting announcements I witnessed at IFA, including the AI home systems that are beginning to look after us, the latest innovations in the robot vacuum market stole the show.

Dreame and ECOVACS have announced some of the most exciting advancements, with stronger cleaning performances and measures to overcome what previous robots have failed at. It marks a significant step towards these automated helpers doing more work, with less input from us.

Dreame Cyber X

One major downside to robot vacuums is their inability to traverse stairs. Dreame's latest innovation solves this automated cleaning nuisance, with huge, almost tank-like legs that can roll up and down steps without any intervention from humans.

Instead of adapting their robot vacuums to do the job, Dreame's created a robust stair-climbing shell for its floor cleaning robots. These can attach to existing models, instantly upgrading how easily they can move across your home. Gone are the days when you had to carry your robot upstairs to clean your first or second floor. Now, it can do it by itself, sensing the height and depth of each step and climbing up like a smooth, silent mini tank.

The Cyber X can climb stairs up to 9.8 inches in height at 7.9 inches per second. That's impressive considering it's a world-first for steps of this size. Its rubber treads avoid damaging hardwood floors or delicate tile, meaning you won't have to worry about unintended scratches dampening the convenience.

There's no word just yet on exactly which models the Cyber X will be compatible with, and there isn't an official release date either. But I'm excited to witness such exciting developments in the world of automated cleaning and see with my own eyes how smoothly this contraption works.

ECOVACS DEEBOT X11 OMNICYCLONE

ECOVACS, one of the global leaders in robotic cleaning, unveiled their brand new flagship: The ECOVACS DEEBOT X11 OMNICYCLONE that can climb steps and thresholds up to 1.57 inches. It's similar tech to what we've seen in Dreame's X50 Ultra that can climb small steps.

It does this using ECOVACS' new TruePass Adaptive 4WD Climbing System. It's a mechanical lift system that doesn't rely on cameras or sensors, but small levers that automatically engage when needed.

This is a direct response to the common robot vacuum fault of steps and different floor types posing issues for a robot's navigation path.

Climbing abilities aside, this robot boasts some impressive specs for vacuuming and mopping your floors. The DEEBOT X11 OMNICYCLONE's 19,500Pa suction is stronger than any robot we've tested at Homes & Gardens – with our current favorite the eufy Omni S1 Pro only boasting 8,000Pa.

It also has a high-density nylon, reinforced mop to break down tough stains, that can adapt up to 0.6 inches to reach into corners and tight spots.

And in between cleans, the cleaning station has fast charging, which can power up the robot while simultaneously rinsing the mop pads or emptying the dustbin.

Next, discover how immaculately the best Dyson vacuums can clean your floors, or consider the best Dyson alternatives to do so on a budget.

Having spent more than a decade testing home tech, I’ve seen my fair share of 'groundbreaking' features, but few have failed to pique my interest quite as much as the Roborock Saros Z70 and its mechanical arm.

As the first consumer robot model capable of tidying, vacuuming and mopping, the Saros Z70 promises to solve one of my biggest gripes with all of the other best robot vacuums I’ve tested – having to clear the floor of clutter.

The robot automatically spots and picks up items like socks, tissues, and lightweight shoes and either throws them away, or stores them in the correct place.

Of course, such innovation does come at a price so, I’ve spent the past four weeks living with the Saros Z70 to see if it lives up to the hype, and its unique offering is worth paying a significant premium for.

Roborock Saros Z70: Specifications

Roborock Saros Z70: Setup

Unboxing the Roborock Saros Z70 feels more like unpacking a major kitchen appliance than a home tech gadget. The box is huge and heavy – at 47lbs, I struggled to lift it myself – and inside is the robot itself, its multifunctional dock, mop pads, a starter set of disposable dust bags, power cables, and a cardboard container with QR codes for the arm to practice with.

It's one of the more difficult builds I've done for a smart home setup.

It’s not difficult to get everything out, but it is time-consuming, not to mention messy. Every roller, sensor, and mop pad is wrapped in sealed plastic with foam spacers, and it took me at least 10 minutes just to strip everything down and sort the packaging before I even had the chance to plug it in.

The dock makes up the majority of this bulk, taking up about as much space as a side table. It needs to sit against a wall with access to power, and enough room for both its built-in ramp and for the robot to maneuver in and out of.

It’s also worth setting it up somewhere easily accessible, too, because it washes mop pads with hot water and uses detergent, so you’ll be topping up its tanks occasionally.

Once everything is unwrapped, the setup largely lives in the Roborock app. Like other smart home tech, you’ll need to create an account, connect the robot to your Wi-Fi network and – in my case – download a firmware update before you can get started.

Roborock’s app is one of the best in the business. It’s intuitive, well laid-out, and full of customization options. It walked me through the Saros Z70 setup smoothly, with the robot being connected on the first attempt. Which is rarely the case, sadly.

Out of the box, the robot had around 80% charge and that’s more than enough to run the first mapping mission. Unlike Roborock’s older models, the Z70 uses its trademarked StarSight Autonomous System.

It took just under 30 minutes to fully map my 700 square foot ground floor – and the payoff is a highly accurate map with nooks and crannies, walls, furniture, thresholds, and individual rooms all identified and labelled.

This new system also means the Saros Z70 does away with the protruding sensors seen on other models, which can so often get stuck under low furniture. You can then divide spaces on the app into rooms, set no-go zones, and even assign cleaning preferences per room. It's a sophisticated map that should ensure your robot vacuum stops getting stuck.

If you want to, then use the OmniGrip arm, you need to activate it via the app, as well as define where objects should be relocated – such as tissues into a bin, socks into a laundry basket or shoes on a rack. Roborock includes a cardboard box with QR codes to act as a target, although you can set your own zones instead. It’s clever, but it feels slightly finicky.

Overall, the setup is straightforward but not quick. From unboxing to the first mapped clean took me almost an hour. That’s much longer than the average 15 minutes and means you have to set some time aside to get it all sorted.

However, once it’s done, you won’t need to revisit setup often – except perhaps to tweak object zones for the arm – so it’s short-term pain for longer-term gain.

Roborock Saros Z70: Design and features

On first impression, the Roborock Saros Z70 is sleek and modern. There’s no tall LiDAR tower; instead, it’s a matte-finish disc in black or silver with sensors, camera,s and bump guards fitted around its circumference. I tested the silver mode,l and it looks slightly dated compared to photos I’ve seen of the full black model, but this is a minor complaint.

Thanks to the lack of LiDAR tower, the Z70 measures just 3.14 inches tall, making it one of the slimmest high-end robot vacuums available. It slides under sofas, sideboards, and beds easily, and its 13.8 x 13.9-inch size means it’s compact enough to maneuver around table legs and corners without bumping or scraping, but robust enough to not feel flimsy or like it could get damaged.

At 10.18lbs, it’s also relatively lightweight, which makes it easy to pick up and carry between floors if you don’t want to rely solely on multi-floor mapping.

On top of the disc is a plastic flap that protects the OmniGrip arm, which sits inside a small hatch. The five-axis arm folds into place neatly when not in use. The flap then opens automatically, and the arm, complete with cameras, LED lights, and weight sensors capable of lifting objects up to 0.66lbs, extends on its own. Or you can manually control it via the app. Just above this hatch is an emergency stop button, which sits below a dual power and dock button.

We were excited to test this model after Roborock announced a robot that could pick up objects, and it was great to see this futuristic tech in action.

Flip the Roborock Saros Z70 over and you'll find dual spinning mop pads, a FreeFlow main brush, the roller and a single rotating wheel. The base of the robot is fitted with a so-called AdaptiLift chassis that helps it climb taller thresholds (up to 4cm) and lifts its mop out of reach of carpets, making it easy and mess-free to transition between floor and cleaning types. This is something that often trips up other robots, excuse the pun.

Beyond design, the suction spec is one of the Saros Z70’s standout features – offering up to 22,000 Pa. Far higher than the 8,000 Pa eufy Omni S1 Pro, which retails for a similar price.

Elsewhere, you can control the Saros Z70 straight out of the box with built-in full voice control. You don’t have to connect it to use voice assistants, including Alexa and Google Assistant if you don’t want to, just say 'Hello Rocky' followed by one of the pre-programmed commands, and the robot is ready to do your bidding.

That said, it is compatible with smart home assistants if you prefer to control it that way. I should note that not all of the pre-programmed 'Hello Rocky' commands are obvious, so it’s worth keeping the voice command card that comes in the box handy while you get used to them.

Alongside app and voice control, the Z70 also doubles as a mobile camera to improve your home security. Through the Roborock app you can watch it drive remotely around your home with its Remote Viewing feature.

If you need or want to, you can also take over the robot itself and even remotely control the mechanical arm, with the built-in Remote Control feature. You can even make video calls through its front-facing camera. In practice, this is a bit of a novelty, but for pet owners or frequent travelers, the ability to see and not just clean your floors could be genuinely handy.

Onto the dock and the Saros Z70 offers everything you need to clear and clean your floors in one place – hot water mop washing, warm-air mop drying, automatic emptying, and detergent dispensing. While simpler models still require manual mop removal or water tank refills, the Z70’s dock is almost entirely hands-off.

What is the Roborock Saros Z70 like to use?

Using the Saros Z70 day-to-day is a mix of wow moments with occasional exasperation. Its navigation and mapping is among the best I’ve seen, with the robot easily navigating wires, chair legs, and toys, rarely needing rescue. The maps it created of my home were accurate, and I could quickly send the robot to specific rooms or ask it to skip others entirely at the press of a button. Noise levels were surprisingly good, too.

In quiet mode, the motor never exceeded 51 dB, but even in standard mode, the Z70 averaged only 58 dB. This means you can still watch TV while it cleans and there were times I forgot it was running, and it just appeared over a threshold (making me jump).

Its noise levels on maximum suction, and when emptying the dock dustbag, are slightly more intrusive – at 65 dB and 68 dB on average respectively – but both were still much quieter than the best handheld vacuums. The robot’s voice prompts can be a bit chatty, but thankfully, you can tone them down via the app.

Then there’s the mechanical arm. It’s great in theory, entertaining to watch and feels super futuristic – with a slow and smooth stretching motion that makes you feel like you’re in a sci-fi movie – but in daily life, its limitations quickly became clear. It reliably picks up socks and paper, but only about half the time.

If it picks up anything larger, like my seven-year-old’s T-shirt, it tends to panic and move round in circles saying it’s “trapped.” This is because larger items block its sensors and cameras and it can’t “see.” In my youngest child’s room, a quick vacuum run became an almost staged performance, adding to cleaning time significantly.

This feature, while clever, feels more novelty than necessity right now. Plus, it’s painfully slow. I could go around an entire floor of my house and pick up everything off the floor in the same time it took for the robot to take a single item to the storage basket. What’s more, no matter which types of shoes I placed in its path – Crocs, soft slippers, flip-flops – it could never quite manage to pick them up. In fact, it rarely identified them as shoes and just thought they were obstacles to avoid.

In terms of the Remote Viewing and Remote Control features, both are useful if you want to check in on it while you’re away or if you get a warning notification that the robot is stuck somewhere when you’re out of the house. I used the Remote Control via the Remote Viewing screen a few times, largely to move the robot from wherever it was stuck, and for picking up awkwardly shaped clutter when the arm was struggling to grab it. Both are fun but are nice-to-haves rather than must-haves.

Interestingly, the most truly impactful features that are more than worth the extra money are those found in the dock. It handles almost everything and my favorite feature is the mop washing and drying. It’s genuinely a gamechanger. The only times you really need to intervene is when replacing the dock dustbag, or topping up and emptying the water tanks. That said, the dock dustbag hasn’t needed emptying in the whole time I’ve had this robot, which is four weeks and counting. You can even get away with only managing the water tanks around once a week, but if you want to avoid mold and mildew I recommend keeping on top of it more regularly.

Generally speaking, the Saros Z70 is at its best when it’s left to run scheduled routines in fairly open spaces. Its navigation and dock features, coupled with its advanced sensors, make the robot accurate and reliable with minimal human effort and there’s a strong chance that anything you don’t like or want to change can be managed in the brilliant app. Just don’t expect miracles.

Roborock Saros Z70: Vacuuming

To put the Saros Z70’s vacuuming through its paces, I ran six tests, three on carpet and three on hard floors – sugar for fine debris, lentils for medium debris, and cereal for large debris. Each test involved scattering a quarter cup of each food stuff across the floor, including edges and corners and recording two runs.

When cleaning hard floors, the Z70 did well with sugar, collecting almost everything in a single pass. It did leave a faint trail in one corner, though a second pass caught it. With lentils, it impressed even more, pulling nearly everything in on the first attempt with very little scatter.

Cereal was the weakest of the three. The side brush sometimes flicked Cheerios across the room, and the suction pulled a few pieces halfway through before spitting them back out. A repeat pass usually fixed this, but it wasn’t spotless and often involved me having to finish the job with my best Dyson vacuum.

Carpet was a similar story. The Z70 picked up most of the fine debris, but I could still see granules left behind in the fibers. Lentils fared better, although it took two slow passes for a clean sweep. The cereal run was, again, the most frustrating, with large pieces occasionally getting dragged or half-chewed before being spat back out. Even weeks after the test, I’m still finding Cheerios stuck in parts of the vacuum or dock. This is where that headline-grabbing 22,000Pa suction didn’t quite live up to what I was expecting.

Pet hair was another weak spot. While the robot can grab surface fur easily, it struggles with embedded hair in rugs and thicker carpet unless you set it for a Deep Clean. This is easy to do and it works really well but I feel like, at this robot’s price, I shouldn’t have to.

After two weeks, I found myself still reaching for my upright vacuum to properly lift pet hair. Hair tangling is also an issue. Roborock’s “Zero-Tangling” brush didn’t quite live up to its name and twice in three weeks I had to stop, flip the robot over, and clear strands. This is far from a disaster, but it’s also far from the hassle-free experience I expect when looking for the best vacuum for pet hair.

Day-to-day vacuuming is much better, though. The Z70 genuinely slashed my manual vacuuming by about 70%. I could leave the robot to run and come back to visibly cleaner floors, especially in the kitchen and hallway. On average, I was still hauling out my main vacuum once or twice a week to finish what the Z70 couldn’t or to just deep clean carpets, but I usually run the vacuum twice a day minimum so this was a huge help.

Roborock Saros Z70: Mopping

To test the Roborock Saros Z70’s mopping skills, I poured a quarter cup of ketchup, and a quarter cup of mustard to clean my laminate floor. These thicker, sticky stains are a good way to see whether a robot mop can scrub or if it simply drags mess around.

With ketchup, the Z70’s dual spinning mop pads removed around 80% of the stain on the first pass, but a faint red smear remained. The robot returned for a second pass, and after about three minutes the area looked clean. That said, on closer look under bright light there was still a faint red residue that I had to manually mop to fully get rid of.

The mustard was more of a challenge. The pads picked up some of the stain immediately, but the yellow streaks were spread out in a thin film across the surrounding area. After two passes, most of the obvious mess was gone, but I had a similar problem with residue as I had with the ketchup test. Also, while the floor didn’t feel sticky afterwards, there was a noticeable odor until I manually wiped the area with fresh water and, even now, the vacuum still has an aroma of mustard. Despite me attempting to wash it all from the wheels, mop cloths and underside.

Outside of these tests, everyday mopping was impressive. The Z70 automatically drops its mop pads for hard floors, applies consistent downward pressure, and can lift them out of the way when it senses carpet. In my kitchen, it handled dried coffee splashes and dusty footprints in one pass. In my hallway, it left a uniform shine with no visible streaking. I absolutely recommend it for day-to-day cleaning and stain removal.

One of its biggest advantages is how dry it leaves the floor. After a full mop cycle, I could comfortably walk across the floor in socks within about five minutes. There was no sticky film, and thanks to the dock’s use of hot water and detergent, the air carried a faintly “fresh” scent – closer to just-washed laundry than the musty smell some robots leave behind.

Overall, the Z70’s mopping performance is better than most hybrids I’ve tested. It won’t replace a deep manual mop for heavy, sticky spills, but for day-to-day maintenance, it’s thorough, quick-drying, and reliable. I spent noticeably less time reaching for a traditional mop and I loved the fact the dock handled most of the mop and water maintenance.

Roborock Saros Z70: Cleaning and maintenance

One of the Saros Z70’s biggest selling points is how much of the routine it takes off your hands. The multifunction dock empties the dustbin, washes the mop pads with hot water, dries them with warm air, and even dispenses detergent. It's super easy to avoid common robot vacuum faults as it maintains itself well.

It works great and it made me realize how much time I spent before manually filling and emptying buckets and maintaining mops. Of course, it doesn’t remove you from the equation entirely, but it’s enough to be noticeable.

Even though the built-in dustbin is tiny at 0.19 quarts, the dock’s 2.8-quart bag solves that, lasting roughly six to seven weeks in a medium household. And if the integrated dustbin becomes too full mid-clean, the robot will go back to the dock, empty the bin into the dustbag and then resume its session.

After each mopping cycle, the cloth pads are flushed with hot water and they come out fresh and odor-free, even with daily use. Drying takes a few hours but is fully automatic, a big step up from earlier docks where damp pads quickly turned musty.

You’ll still need to roll up your sleeves occasionally. Long hair wraps around the roller brush, despite Roborock’s “Zero-Tangling” design. Over three weeks, I had to cut strands away twice, not bad, but not tangle-free. The side brush can also snag threads. The filter is washable and needs rinsing every couple of weeks, depending on dust levels.

Both the app and manual have clear guides for removing rollers, pads, and filters, and everything clicks in and out without tools.

Overall, the dock gets rid of most day-to-day chores by dramatically reducing both the physical and mental load, which means when you do need to intervene, it doesn’t feel that bad.

How does the Roborock Saros Z70 compare?

At $1,600-$2,600 (depending on promotions), the Roborock Saros Z70 sits firmly in the premium tier of robot vacuums.

The eufy Omni S1 Pro undercuts the Z70 at $1,499 and impressed us with its balance of vacuuming and mopping. It handled pet hair better and never once wrapped with fur in testing. Its mop pads also self-clean, though without the hot-water wash and drying cycle on the Z70 dock. Its 8,000Pa figure sounds modest compared to the huge numbers promised by the Saros Z70 but in real-world tests it picked up debris on carpet reliably. If you want consistent deep cleaning at a lower price, the S1 Pro may be the smarter buy.

Elsewhere, the Roborock Saros 10R is effectively the Z70 without the mechanical arm, coming in at around $1,300-$1600. It has an almost identical dock, mop system, and StarSight sensors, but its larger internal bin makes it less dependent on dock emptying. What it lacks is the novelty arm but if you don’t see this as essential – and for most people it won’t be – the 10R offers a similar experience for almost $1,000 less.

That leaves the Z70 in a strange position. It’s more futuristic and has a host of features that just about warrant charging the extra money for, but in terms of raw cleaning performance, especially on carpets and with pet hair, it falls short of cheaper models. You’re paying a premium for innovation and the “wow” factor, not necessarily better results.

Should you buy the Roborock Saros Z70?

The Roborock Saros Z70 is, without doubt, one of the most innovative robot vacuums I’ve tested. Its StarSight navigation is superb, its dock takes care of nearly all the messy upkeep, and its slim, tower-free design makes it easy to slot into most homes. On hard floors, its vacuuming and mopping performance is good, although not excellent, and the mop drying feature is a standout that keeps things fresher than other rivals I’ve used. If you’re tech-savvy and want to experience the future of home robotics, the Z70 delivers plenty of “wow” moments.

Yet innovation doesn’t always equal performance. The OmniGrip arm is more novelty than necessity right now and carpet performance and pet hair pickup are weaker than some cheaper competitors, which, when you’re spending more than $2,000, is a bit galling. For spacious, open-plan homes with mostly hard flooring or with fewer inhabitants, the Z70 makes sense and could genuinely reduce your day-to-day workload. For busier, cluttered households, or if you need deep carpet cleaning, you may find better value elsewhere.

How I tested the Roborock Saros Z70

I tested the Roborock Saros Z70 over a four-week period in my family home with a mix of hard floors and carpet, two children, and a dog. To measure vacuuming performance, I ran a series of tests, including scattering sugar for fine debris, lentils for medium debris, and Cheerios for larger debris across both hard floors and carpets.

For mopping, I made ketchup and mustard stains on my kitchen floor to see how well it could mop away larger, wet and stickier stains. Noise levels were then recorded using the DecibelX app throughout these tests.

Alongside these controlled trials, I used the Z70 for everyday cleaning, tracking how often I still needed to reach for a manual vacuum or mop, and making a note of how clean the floors looked after runs. I also kept track of how often I had to empty the bin, cut hair from rollers or manually maintain the robot and dock.

Next, browse our tested picks of the best Dyson vacuums and the best Shark vacuums.

Samsung has unveiled its most advanced smart home AI yet – a system that can read into your daily habits, spot when your dog is restless, and even alert you if an elderly family member may need checking in on.

It marks a significant leap from AI voice assistants and automated cleaning into something far more sophisticated: A home that anticipates needs, smooths routines, and supports your wellbeing.

At this year's IFA in Berlin, AI is everywhere. The biggest and most technologically advanced brands in the world are implementing artificial intelligence into every facet of our lives, from the best robot vacuums that monitor our movements to fridge-freezers that can learn our daily schedules.

AI in the home is learning more about our habits, health and wellbeing than ever

Two of the most striking AI-powered announcements at IFA are Samsung Family Care and Samsung Pet Care, proving that the smart home gadgets that transform our lives are dramatically evolving.

Using Samsung's Galaxy smartphones and the SmartThings App, you can check on your loved ones' activity and be alerted if anything unusual is happening. If AI detects it first, the SmartThings app will send you a notification to check on them. It'll also give you reassuring notifications, such as 'Mom is spending the day in a healthy way.'

And, with the Samsung Bespoke Jet Bot Combo AI Robot Vacuum, you can monitor your home from anywhere, including detailed information on your pets' activity. If your dog is bored or hasn't been walked enough that day, it will alert you – and even give you the option to send an automated message to another member of your household to walk them.

It marks an exciting, albeit somewhat unnerving, move towards home tech that overtly observes us. The AI advances I am seeing at the press preview in IFA, the world's biggest consumer technology innovation conference, show a trend of AI cleaning and other home appliances being programmed to notice patterns in human behavior. This means it can learn our schedules, and anticipate our needs – taking on some of our mental and emotional labor.

Among Samsung's new features is a sleep assistant that analyses REM data from a Galaxy Ring or Galaxy Watch8 for three nights, then recommends the optimal bedtime for your chosen wake-up time.

The system can also coordinate smart blinds, music, and air conditioning into a single ‘off’ button, streamlining a bedtime or morning routine in seconds. With compatibility across 80% of third-party devices, such as Philips Hue or Sonos Samsung’s ecosystem promises to connect almost every appliance in the house.

But as these devices become more intuitive, they also become more intrusive – collecting behavioral and biometric data.

As Fergal Glynn, Chief Marketing Officer and AI Security Advocate at Mindgard, says, ‘This is important because smart home AI knows things like your sleep habits, your pet’s moods, and even your relatives’ wellbeing. Without good protections, this can lead to privacy violations or even security threats if hackers get access.’

To address these concerns, Samsung has built its system on Knox, the security platform trusted by US and German governments. Knox Vault ensures sensitive data never leaves your device, storing it on an isolated chip rather than in the cloud. Knox Matrix, meanwhile, uses blockchain to detect and contain threats across a connected home. If one device – such as an air conditioner – were compromised, Knox would block access to others and prevent data from being exposed.

Essentially, Samsung can't access its consumer home tech AI's data, and the devices in your home will never upload it to the brand.

Knox is installed on every Samsung smart device by default, offering what the brand calls ‘an ecosystem of security’ alongside convenience. Third-party devices are protected, too, as all third-party information passing through the Samsung hub is encrypted and converted into Samsung’s own coding for protection.

Still, as AI Security Advocate Fergal warns, consumer trust depends on ongoing transparency, ‘As tech firms like Samsung aim to fill billions of homes with AI, how they handle our data shapes trust and security for everyone.

'People must be able to delete their data at any time. Poor data handling looks like collecting more than what is needed, or sharing it without consent. Weak encryption and rare security updates often open the door to hackers.’

As we're reimaging the sophistication of the smart home setup, data protection will continue to shape public perception of AI – and whether individuals trust these giant tech brands.

Samsung isn’t alone in reimagining how AI fits into daily life. At LG's IFA exhibit, orchestral music plays while AI fridge-freezers and washing machines light up in unison. Their new fridge-freezer can predict when you typically open the door and pre-cool food in advance to maintain the internal temperature. And their best washing machines and dryers sense fabrics and soil levels so that the AI software 'cares like you would.'

Miele has also launched their new best dishwasher with AI diagnostics that allows users to fix common faults without calling a technician, saving money and unnecessary service visits.

Its connected cookware also uses sensors and Bluetooth to regulate temperature and prevent spills – from keeping milk rice perfectly stirred to reducing energy use by up to 30%.

Elsewhere at IFA, Roborock announced a new 4-in-1 cleaning system designed to do the same.

Taken together, these innovations signal a shift in home technology – away from machines that simply perform tasks and towards appliances that adapt to our lives. They're no longer performing physical tasks, but doing the mental legwork, too.

Whether that future feels empowering or scary will depend not just on how useful the features are, but on whether tech giants like Samsung, LG and Miele prove they can keep our most personal data safe.

Explore Samsung's AI Home announcements at IFA 2025.

What to shop

If you're keen or intrigued by a connective, adaptable home environment, these smart gadgets will help you create your own AI-supported home.

Next, learn more about the smart home must-haves that can change your life at home.

Today at IFA in Berlin, which showcases the latest innovations in consumer electronics, Roborock unveiled a revolutionary 4-in-1 Homewide Cleaning Combo that combines a washer-dryer with a robot vacuum and mop to save you time on chores without taking up lots of space.

It's a compact machine at the forefront of a new generation of seamless, intuitive automated home appliances, which the brand named today as 'the future of home tech', and I can see why.

With it, you can load your laundry before you go to bed, and wake up to it washed and dried, with your floors vacuumed and mopped, all whilst saving space and cutting energy bills.

It speaks to a wider trend at this year's IFA of brands creating innovations that aren't just more 'powerful,' but more in tune with our human behavior, where the best robot vacuums make up part of a comprehensive system that does housework as you go about your day. And, you only need space for a regular washer to enjoy its benefits.

A smart system that saves space, reduces chore time, and cuts bills

'This is the future of home tech,' says Yuxin Li, marketing manager at Roborock, 'combining appliances together, saving space, saving on energy, and doing so much of the work for you.

‘Modern homes have less space, and instead of having all of these different appliances, we wanted to combine them into one smart system, especially for small homes and apartments.'

But don't be fooled – this isn't just a small space design. Anyone who prefers not to have appliances take up their precious space will appreciate an intuitive machine that drastically reduces how much time you spend on housework.

The combo unit is the same size as Roborock’s Zeo X washer-dryer, which doesn't include a robotic helper, and the team was determined not to compromise on either side of the design.

‘The biggest challenge was bringing it all together without making it taller or reducing the size of the drum, while making sure the robot dock is as comprehensive as it would be usually. It hasn’t compromised on functionality at all,' Yuxin proudly shares.

With the help of AI and automation, this is an engineering marvel, one that can drastically reduce how much time and effort you're dedicating to chores, and as part of your smart home setup, can be controlled from your smartphone.

The washer-dryer has sensors to identify soil levels and weight to determine the optimal wash cycle and the ideal dryer temperature. And at the same time, the robot senses what's on your floors, maps your home, and identifies behavior patterns to optimize its cleaning, vacuuming, and mopping.

What’s more, Roborock has built in a clever sustainability feature: Overflow water from the washer is recycled to wash the mop pads. The sustainability credentials go further, as the 4-in-1 design cuts down on the need to manufacture, house, and power separate appliances.

Answering my concerns on durability, Yixin explained that the dryer element and the motor will come with a ten-year guarantee – a strong statement of confidence given the number of moving parts involved.

Elsewhere at the enormous IFA in Berlin, which is the largest home and consumer electronics event in the world, Samsung erected a 'Smart Modular Home', complete with smart pillows to reduce snoring and improve sleep quality, and smart mirrors with daily weather displays. There was a 'smart' version of just about every domestic gadget you can think of.

Other floorcare brands such as Narwal and Tineco are showing off their multi-functional cleaning systems, while LG and Miele tout their AI-powered home appliances.

Tech brands are leading the charge for a new type of home living. Gone are the days where an appliance serves one simple function. We're now living in the future, where our homes listen to us, observe us, and work around us while we live our lives, becoming increasingly free from the constraints of traditional housework.

The Roborock 4-in-1 Homewide Cleaning Combo will be available in the coming year.

What to shop

While Roborock's 4-in-1 system isn't available just yet, the smart home world has already brought us some wonderful devices to ease the strain on our time and energy when it comes to housekeeping.

All prices were correct at the time of publication.

I'll be continuing to report on the latest smart home releases showcased at the IFA in Berlin this week. In the meantime, delve into the best pet vacuums and our tried and tested favorite robot vacuums, which can reduce your canister use by up to 90%.

Robot vacuums are sold as the ultimate time-saver by promising to take at least one household chore off your plate. In reality, having spent more than a decade testing them, they sit much more on a spectrum.

Some offer near hands-free cleaning, some need as much manual input as an upright vacuum, while others actually make the whole process harder. The Roborock Q7 M5 falls nearer to the latter.

For the past two weeks, I’ve been putting the budget-friendly hybrid model through its paces around my home, seeing how well it can handle a range of specialized tasks as well as the real-life impact of two children and a labrador living across three levels of mixed floors – to find out if it could be one of the best robot vacuums if you're on a budget.

One-minute review

The Roborock Q7 M5 cleans as well as you'd expect at this price point. Using it is a breeze – it has no issues navigating, and the smartphone app is intuitive and useful. But it occasionally misses debris when vacuuming, can smear stains when mopping, and requires a great deal of upkeep between cleans.

Instead, I'd recommend spending a little extra for the eufy 3-in-1 E20, the eufy X10 Pro Omni or the Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 – all performed much better on test, and have more useful features such as actual self-cleaning or the ability to capture missed messes.

Roborock Q7 M5: Specifications

Roborock Q7 M5: Setup

Getting started with the Roborock Q7 M5 was straightforward, although not entirely without problems. In the box is the robot, its charging dock, a mop module with two mop cloth attachments, a moisture-proof mat, an adapter and the user manual.

The box is compact but each of these components comes wrapped in mixed plastics and polystyrene, with mixed recycling options. Plus it’s not immediately clear, out of the box, what each part is and the manual leaves a little to be desired. It’s full of diagrams and text, but it’s far from intuitive, with different components having random number and lettering labels. We’ve tested 82 of the best vacuums and robot vacuums, and this was one of the most confusing to get started with. For anyone new to robot vacuums, this could easily feel overwhelming.

Luckily, Roborock’s app fills this gap.

After plugging in the dock in a clear area with good Wi-Fi, as the manual suggests, I installed the app and paired the device by scanning the QR code found on top of the robot.

I then slid the dustbin and water tank unit into the robot, and attached the mop underneath using the Velcro strips. Once connected to Wi-Fi, the app (with the help of voice alerts on the robot) walks you through the setup and mapping process step-by-step. It took around 10 minutes to create a map of my downstairs, meaning the whole setup from start to finish only took around 15 minutes.

This map was detailed enough to identify rooms, hallways, and obstacles, and I was able to draw no-go zones directly within the app. There’s enough charge out of the box to create the first map of one floor, however if you want to run a first clean or map multiple floors, you will need to put it on charge, which takes around 30 minutes to get to 100%.

Overall, the setup was relatively painless but not as seamless as it could be. The app does most of the heavy lifting, while the manual and packaging let it down. For anyone comfortable with tech, it’s unlikely to be a problem, but if you’re less confident you may find the onboarding more daunting than necessary when adding to your smart home setup.

Roborock Q7 M5: Design and features

The Roborock Q7 M5 is a budget-friendly hybrid robot that offers vacuuming and mopping in a single device, via a detachable 0.50-quart dustbin that doubles up as a 0.37-quart water tank.

The robot measures 12.8 x 12.8 x 3.9 inches and weighs 7.28lbs, making it slim and light enough to move around, especially if the robot gets stuck somewhere, and means it will fit under most furniture. A raised LiDAR sensor – one of the most effective robot vacuum navigation types – sits on the top of the body, with bump guards and cliff sensors around the circumference.

The Q7 M5 doesn’t have a self-empty or self-clean dock, which isn’t a surprise at this price point but means you have to empty it yourself between uses.

Onboard controls are minimal, with just a power/clean button and a dock/stop button, It has a practical and functional aesthetic with a mix of matte and glossy surfaces. I tested the black model (it’s also sold in white) and its simplicity means it won’t look out of place in most homes.

The LiDAR system combined with the Roborock app gives the Q7 M5 a surprising level of control for the price. You can use it to identify rooms, spot and avoid obstacles, draw virtual boundaries, adjust suction and water flow levels depending on the floor types in different regions of the house and more.

You can even send it to clean specific zones, which is great for high-traffic areas or when spot cleaning in case something is spilled. Overall, the design is smart and practical and the features are well thought-out, but this robot doesn’t innovate much beyond the basics.

What is the Roborock Q7 M5 like to use?

Living with the Roborock Q7 M5 day-to-day was a mixed experience. On one hand, navigation is great. The LiDAR system means the robot doesn’t blunder around aimlessly. It cleans in logical, back-and-forth paths, avoids furniture well, and consistently found its way back to its dock. It also handled thresholds and uneven floors with ease, moving from hard flooring to carpet without needing help.

The app is a standout, packed with useful features you should look for in a robot. Setting schedules, sending the robot to specific rooms, and marking off zones you don’t want it to enter is quick and intuitive. As is adjusting suction and water flow levels. I loved that I could save different settings for different floors and in practice, this level of control made the Q7 M5 feel smarter than other robot vacuums I’ve used in the mid-range price bracket.

However, while mapping and controls are strong, the actual day-to-day use left me underwhelmed. Noise-wise, the robot registered between 72 and 76 dB, on average, during regular vacuuming before spiking to around 80 dB when clearing large debris like cereal from hard floors, which is what you'd expect in one of the best upright vacuums. It was loud enough to distract my family from watching TV when in the same room and meant we had to be selective about when we ran the device. There is a setting in the app that stops it running between certain times though, so this is a small complaint.

The robot avoided most obstacles well, particularly furniture but it was less effective for smaller items like toys. On more than one occasion I had to rescue it from entanglement and because of the sensor that protrudes from the top, there was one sofa in particular that the robot would always get stuck under. So much so, I resorted to blocking access to this sofa if we were out to avoid this happening. Not ideal.

Plus, with the accuracy of its LiDAR, I expected the Q7 M5 to be better at spotting hazards, or even recognizing areas where it had got repeatedly stuck previously.

Cleaning times varied by room size but the robot managed my 700 square foot ground floor in around 65 minutes on standard mode. Battery life was strong too and it never ran out of charge during my tests, with the claimed 180-minute runtime being true to form. However, for comparison, the eufy Omni Pro S1, which we rated five stars, completed a 500 square foot vacuum in 30 minutes.

The mop module uses a washable microfiber cloth and Roborock recommends dampening it before each use. This adds another step before every run and initially seemed like overkill, considering the robot has a built-in water tank. However, having tried mopping with and without completing this step, dampening it beforehand does improve its performance.

Even though the onboard controls are minimal, in practice, you’ll spend nearly all your time in the app. This isn’t a bad thing. The app is intuitive and well laid-out, and far more flexible than button controls could ever be. Voice assistant support via Alexa, Google Assistant, and Siri Shortcuts adds another layer of control (and convenience), although in my experience the app was the most reliable way to use it.

Despite these largely positives, the real sticking point was effectiveness. After test runs, I often found myself following up with my best Dyson vacuum. Whether it was sugar on hard floors, cereal dust on tiles, or sticky mop residue, the Q7 M5 didn’t leave my floors in the state I wanted.

Add to this the fact that everything from dustbin emptying to mop cloth washing is manual and the Q7 M5 ended up adding to my chores, not reducing them. While such manual features keeps the cost lower, it undermines the hands-free appeal that makes robot vacuums so attractive in the first place.

In short, the Roborock Q7 M5 is great at finding its way around, but less great at delivering results. It’s a robot that looks clever in the app but doesn’t quite translate that into real-world performance.

Roborock Q7 M5: Vacuuming

To test the Q7 M5’s vacuuming performance, I used three standardized debris types – sugar for fine particles, lentils for medium debris, and Cheerios for large debris. Each was scattered in quarter-cup amounts across both hard floors and carpet.

When cleaning hard floors, sugar was its biggest challenge. Much of the sugar was left behind after a single pass, and even after multiple runs the robot failed to capture it all. Fine dust tends to get pushed around rather than lifted, and the edge performance was especially weak, leaving visible lines of debris at skirting boards and corners.

Lentils were handled better. The robot picked up most on hard floors with only a few stragglers remaining around edges.

By contrast, instead of lifting Cheerios cleanly, the Q7 M5 crushed them, scattering crumbs and dust that it then struggled to collect. The result was messier than when I started and I would have had better luck quickly cleaning the kitchen floor with a brush. I even found myself spotting crumbs and dust for a while, even after manual vacuuming.

Results were better on carpet, across the board. Sugar was still problematic but not as bad as on hard floors, and lentils were picked up well. Cereal was better than on hard surfaces too, mainly because the crumbs and dust couldn’t fly about as easily. Yet it still wasn’t perfect and with the exception of the lentil test, I had to manually finish the job in each case.

One positive was consistency. Once a room was mapped, the robot covered it well in neat lines, rarely missing areas. But coverage means little if the suction and brush design can’t actually pick up debris effectively.

Beyond the standardized tests, pet hair was dealt with well. It only wrapped around the roller on days when my dog was shedding a lot and even then I never had to cut it free. I could just remove it with my hand, meaning that at the very least, this could be a good choice in our hunt for the best vacuum for pet hair. More expensive models such as the Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 struggled more here.

Ultimately, the Q7 M5 proved average at vacuuming. It can manage everyday crumbs and dust on carpet, but struggles with fine particles on hard floors and makes a mess of large debris. For a product positioned as a convenient choice, I noticed I was still vacuuming with my Dyson most days to achieve a good enough clean, which was disappointing.

Roborock Q7 M5: Mopping

To test the Roborock Q7 M5’s mopping capabilities, I created two stains: a quarter cup of ketchup and a quarter cup of mustard to clean my laminate floor, dried slightly to mimic real spills. I then sent the Q7 M5 over each in Mopping mode. Instead of lifting the stains, both were smeared around, leaving sticky streaks across the floor. The mustard, particularly, ended up leaving a yellow tinge to the floor that I had to scrub twice to remove.

In everyday mopping, performance was better but not significantly so. The robot left my floors looking and smelling clean, removing light dust but failing with any sort of mark or stain removal. The lack of any real friction or pressure from the mop cloth means the mopping function largely just drags a wet cloth across the floor, rather than scrubbing. The plus side was that the floors dried quickly, as they don’t get that wet.

Roborock claims the water flow can be adjusted in the app, and this does make a small difference, but even at higher settings, it didn’t remove stains as well as I’d have liked. The mop doesn’t dry itself either, so it must be removed and washed after each run, which adds another layer of maintenance.

Compared with competitors that have oscillating mop pads or self-cleaning docks – such as the iRobot Roomba Combo j9+ – the Q7 M5 feels rudimentary. For light surface dust, it just about suffices, but it’s certainly no substitute for manual mopping. In fact, after using it I often had to mop by hand anyway.

Roborock Q7 M5: Cleaning and maintenance

One of the big appeals of robot vacuums is that they cut the time you spend cleaning. Unfortunately, with the Q7 M5, I ended up spending more time not only cleaning my floors, but cleaning and maintaining the robot itself.

The dustbin fills quickly. By only holding 0.50 quarts and in a busy house full of people, dust, debris and pet hairs, we found ourselves emptying it every three or so cleans. Similarly, the 0.37-quart water tank is enough for a large kitchen but needs emptying after each use to avoid dirty water sitting in it for too long and leading to mold and mildew.

For all the convenience that comes with having a combined dust and water tank, you can’t just switch from one to the other in a single session because the dust and water mixes. This is highly unpleasant to clean and dispose of. In fact, I recommend cleaning and properly drying the water tank before vacuuming – and vice versa – if you don’t want to deal with what I can only describe as a sticky, dusty paste.

The mop cloth must be washed and air-dried after each time it mops the floors, too. The physical act of doing so isn’t difficult – you can just remove the cloth, rinse and put it in the washer – however, because of its poor performance, any wet spills (including the ketchup and mustard from my standardized tests) have a tendency to work their way into the roller underneath. This was not only unpleasant to manually clean, it also meant that I found marks on my carpet for a couple of days following the test because I’d failed to get rid of it all from the roller before setting it on its next vacuum cycle. This undermines the convenience factor significantly.

By comparison, higher-end models with self-cleaning docks can go days or even weeks without needing hands-on maintenance. With the Q7 M5, intervention is needed every time. If low-maintenance convenience is your priority, this robot will disappoint.

How does the Roborock Q7 M5 compare?

At $240-300, the Roborock Q7 M5 is the most affordable robot vacuum we've tested (that's still readily available online).

The Dreame D9 Max Gen 2, sold for around $150-300 depending on promotions, offers similar navigation and suction strengths, although mopping requires the same level of manual upkeep. We're still working on our review of this model but its price puts it at the same entry-level range.

Doubling in price is the eufy X10 Pro Omni, our favorite mid-range robot vacuum. It surprised us on test with good vacuuming and mopping abilities, and if you buy a $21.99 replacement roller from eufy, it never wraps with hair.

Should you buy the Roborock Q7 M5?

The Roborock Q7 M5 looks smarter on paper than it performs in real life. Its LiDAR mapping and app are genuinely impressive for the price, giving you room-by-room control, no-go zones, and customizable suction and water settings that rival expensive models. Navigation is reliable, and on carpet it manages crumbs and medium debris without much fuss.

However, where it falls down is its consistency. Fine dust on hard floors, larger debris like cereal, and anything beyond light surface dirt it struggles with. Mopping is basic and tends to smear rather than scrub, and because there’s no self-cleaning or self-emptying dock, you’ll be emptying the bin, washing the mop cloth, and cleaning the rollers by hand after almost every use. Noise levels are also higher than expected, which makes timing your cleans important if you don’t want to be disturbed.

At $240-300, it undercuts premium rivals by quite some margin, and if your goal is accurate mapping paired with a good app and complementary cleaning skills, it delivers. But for busy households, pet owners, or anyone looking for a truly hands-free clean, you may find it adds to your plate rather than clearing it.

How I tested the Roborock Q7 M5

I tested the Roborock Q7 M5 over two weeks in a family home with hard floors, carpets, two children, and a dog. I ran standardized vacuuming tests using sugar, lentils, and Cheerios on both hard floors and carpets, and standardized mopping tests using ketchup and mustard stains. Noise levels were measured with the DecibelX app.

I also used the robot in everyday cleaning, tracking how often I needed to vacuum or mop manually. Maintenance was monitored by recording how frequently I needed to empty, clean, or untangle the robot. This combination of controlled tests and real-world use allowed me to achieve good insight into its performance and practicality.

For more floorcare inspiration, read our tested guides to the best Dyson vacuums and the best vacuum-mop combos.

Robot vacuum cleaners already feel like a step into the future. These small, slick devices roam around the house, vacuuming and mopping whilst we go about our days.

But now, they're becoming even more helpful, as Dreame's latest model can actually climb steps up to 2.36 inches in height. And for a limited time, the Dreame X50 Ultra is discounted by a whopping $440.

The beauty of the Labor Day sale season means you can bring home one of the most technologically advanced and best robot vacuums at a steal of a price.

Why I'm buying the Dreame X50 Ultra at this bargain price

The Dreame X50 Ultra is the first (and only) robot vacuum to successfully climb steps and thresholds, up to 2.36 inches in height. For anybody that's used a robot vacuum to clean and mop your floors, you'll appreciate this is a gamechanger to avoid having to pick it up every time it gets stuck.

It's a major step, no pun intended, forward for robots becoming completely hands-free.

Technological advancements aside, this is also an excellent robot vacuum in terms of its features and spec. It boasts 20,000Pa suction, which is among the strongest in the market – our current best-on-test, the eufy Omni S1 Pro, has only 8,000Pa suction in comparison.

It has five cleaning modes, whether you want to mop hard floors, vacuum carpets without wetting them, or provide ultra-deep cleaning. And if you're looking for the best vacuum for pet hair, the X50 Ultra promises to tackle hair up to 11.8 inches long without getting tangled.

We're still in the process of fully testing the Dreame X50 Ultra, but it's shaping up to be one of the strongest options out there. Grab it now before the price shoots back up.

The Dreame X50 Ultra is available for $1,259.99 at Dreame.

More to shop

Still browsing? Here are a few extra options to consider from our rigorous testing.

All prices were correct at the time of publication.

For more floorcare inspiration, check out our guides to the best Dyson vacuums and the best vacuum-mop combos.

iRobot has announced the new Roomba Max 705 Combo, the latest and most advanced robot from one of the global leaders in robot vacuum cleaners.

It introduces a 'first-of-its-kind' cover to protect your carpets when transitioning from mopping to vacuuming, and its suction is said to be 175x stronger than iRobot's predecessors.

As a professional vacuum tester, I'm intrigued. iRobot has long been a favorite at Homes & Gardens, but the brand's latest release disappointed us on test, so I look forward to seeing whether the new Max 705 Combo could shape up to be the next best robot vacuum.

The Roomba Max 705 Combo promises powerful 2-in-1 cleaning

iRobot says that the 705 Combo's suction power is an incredible '175x stronger' than previous ones in its range. This is compared to the Roomba 600 series, which came out back in 2010 and shows a marked evolution for the brand.

'The Roomba Max 705 Combo combines more than three decades of our category expertise with the latest technology to deliver an elevated cleaning performance that no other 2-in-1 offers today,' says Gary Cohen, CEO of iRobot.

It's also said to have iRobot's most advanced mopping system yet – the PowerSpin Roller Mop with PerfectEdge – and promises deep corner cleaning and dry carpets thanks to its new mop cover, to help mop floors the right way without spreading dirty water around.

Like previous Roombas, the Max 705 Combo uses AI technology to build a 3D map of your home and identify obstacles to avoid – this includes pet accidents, which is vital if you're looking for the best robot vacuum for pet hair.

A major upgrade is the 75 days of self-emptying, heated mop washing and drying, self-cleaning, and auto-refilling that the new cleaning station can provide.

Robot vacuums are smart home must-haves if you prefer to be hands-off with your cleaning, and having more time between emptying and refilling your station is a nice touch (robot vacuums typically store dirty contents for up to 60 days).

My initial thoughts as a vacuum tester

Roombas certainly stand out from the 19 robot vacuums we've tested at Homes & Gardens. For a while the iRobot Roomba Combo j9+ was our all-time favorite, banishing pet hair and dust while looking stylish in the process.

But the most recent iRobot Roomba Combo 10 Max sadly didn't live up the brand's reputation, and we've since turned to other brands as our go-to recommendations, most notably the eufy Omni S1 Pro.

eufy robot vacuums have been a game-changer for pet hair cleanup, too, even in a home with constant shedding fur.

I'd be delighted to see the new Roomba Max 705 Combo steal the limelight again, but there's no denying that the market has caught up at a rapid rate when it comes to automated home cleaning technology found in robot vacuums.

Dreame's latest Aqua10 Roller, for example, has already devised the mop cover feature that's a first in the Max 705 Combo, and the Dreame can also clean its mop on the go for continuous fresh water on your floors. It also has a head-turning 30,000Pa suction, which is higher than any robot we've tested (iRobot hasn't announced the exact suction power of the Max 705 Combo).

We've also seen a Roborock robot that can pick up objects, showing the interesting new ways that this high-tech market is evolving.

iRobot's 'AI-driven' obstacle avoidance and mapping is standard in most robot vacuums, and it's one of the main ways to use AI at home. But while this feature isn't rare, we have found that Roombas excel in this department, and I'm excited to see whether the new Max 705 Combo can make things even more streamlined.

Ultimately, Roombas may have paved the way for robot vacuum innovation, but other brands have taken note and devised their ways to master automated cleaning. The competition is strong, so I'm excited to get my hands on the new Max 705 Combo to see how it fares.

The iRobot Roomba Max 705 Combo is available for pre-sale in the UK and EU to ship in the next 1-2 weeks, and will be available in the US later this year.

What to shop

In the meantime, here are the robot vacuums we've tested and recommend for spotless floors with minimal effort. All prices were correct at the time of publication.

Next, learn how to choose a robot vacuum cleaner, and the robot vacuum mistakes you should avoid at all costs.

Imagine waking to a home that’s already vacuumed, with clean air and your favorite music playing – without needing a single command. That’s the promise of new AI in the home: Intelligent systems that keep learning and act on your behalf.

Unlike routine-based smart devices, AI uses behavioral patterns and environmental data to adapt device actions in real time. It collaborates across systems, lightens mental load, and quietly makes life easier.

Here, learn more about the smart home must-haves with integrated AI that can transform daily life – and why it’s already more common than you think.

4 smart ways to use AI at home without lifting a finger

1. Ambiance

AI is rethinking how we control home ambiance, say experts.

‘Ambient intelligence is an emerging concept where devices passively understand who’s there and what they need – without commands or wearables,’ says Amod Kant Agrawal, applied scientist at Amazon.

This new tech doesn’t just respond, it anticipates. Wireless signals detect gestures and patterns, allowing systems to follow you with music or adjust lights based on activity, time of day, or even your tone of voice. You’ll find many of these developments in today’s smart home trends.

Samsung’s upcoming Ballie robot, for instance, projects images, feeds pets, and controls connected appliances as it moves with you. It’s a major leap from the routine-based systems in earlier smart tech gadgets.

Russell Goldman, interior designer at More Wow Design, explains, ‘AI adapts to our behavior. It knows when to dim the lights, play music to match your mood, or reduce allergens overnight. It’s perceptive, not programmed.’

2. Cleaning

Cleaning has become smarter and more intuitive. ‘AI learns patterns and adjusts over time – it doesn’t just follow fixed commands,’ says Patrice Williams Lindo, CEO at Career Nomad.

Many of the models in our best robot vacuums guide, including the iRobot Roomba Combo j9+, use cameras and LiDAR mapping to recognize objects such as cords or pet waste. ‘It’s not just reacting – it’s deciding,’ Patrice explains.

Roborock’s latest robot goes further with a mechanical arm that clears obstacles, informed by AI object detection. It solves one of the most persistent frustrations: Having to pre-clean your floor for the robot.

Air quality is evolving, too. ‘AI-driven purifiers now predict changes based on cooking habits or pollen levels and adjust automatically,’ Patrice says. And as we've discovered from testing the best air purifiers, this hands-free feature is becoming increasingly common.

3. Energy

Energy efficiency is one of AI’s most practical benefits. ‘AI maps when people are home, adjusts heating and cooling, and even times it to cheaper electricity rates,’ says Patrice. Ecobee’s Eco+ feature is a standout example – learning patterns and adapting in real time.

Russell Goldman sees the future in cross-system collaboration, ‘Your energy monitor will inform your thermostat. Your wellness tracker will inform lighting and air quality. AI isn’t isolated – it’s becoming a responsive network.’

This connected thinking is central to setting up a smart home. It’s also a major contributor to lower bills, especially when combined with smart plugs and appliance monitoring, which are helpful when cutting energy bills.

Looking ahead, Russell predicts AI-first design, ‘We’ll stop layering tech onto homes and start building homes for AI where even layout and airflow respond dynamically to our routines.’

4. Security

Traditional security systems alert you to motion, whereas AI systems tell you what’s happening. ‘Ring’s new AI-generated alerts describe scenes – like “A person is walking up the steps with a black dog” – reducing false alarms and adding clarity,’ says Patrice.

Devices like the eufy Security Video Doorbell E340 distinguish between people, packages, pets, and cars, and process data on-device, keeping footage private. These features are fast becoming standard across the best home security measures.

Amod points to passive sensing as a key upgrade, ‘Systems can track your phone or smartwatch and unlock doors as you approach – like keyless car entry, but for the home.’

Renters can benefit too. Many renter-safe home security systems now offer AI-powered features without requiring permanent fixtures. And for guidance, a military dad’s top security picks offer simple, effective upgrades with AI baked in.

Next, learn the smart kitchen tech that can transform your cooking, and the smart bedroom tech to improve sleep.

Leading smart home and floorcare brand Dreame has just announced a brand-new robot vacuum cleaner that promises to solve the 'dirty mop problem.'

This is thanks to a new feature in robotic vacuums: a mop that continuously cleans itself. It's a welcome new addition to a rapidly growing market that, with each new release, is taking more and more chore time off our hands.

As Homes & Gardens' resident vacuum tester, I'm a big fan of Dreame's floorcare gadgets, and I'm intrigued by this new release as it may end up being our next best robot vacuum. Here's everything we know so far.

The full low-down on the new Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller

The Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller promises to solve a recurring frustration with robot vacuum cleaners: the dirty mop spreading bacteria across the floors.

As even the best robot vacuums for pet hair can't clean their mop pads on-the-go, they must return to the station every time they need refreshing. But in between these self-cleans the robot continues to mop your floors, dragging germs in the process.

'We realized it’s not only about how strong the mop is – it’s about how clean the mop stays,' says Sean Chen, a managing director at Dreame.

'Most robotic vacuums – even advanced ones – rely on wiping with a single cloth. When cleaning heavy stains, the cloth keeps going even after getting dirty, sometimes creating more mess,' he continues.

This is certainly something we've noticed from our robot vacuum tests, especially those that don't include a cleaning solution. But surprisingly, the new Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller doesn't use a cleaning solution either, just fresh water.

Mopping aside, the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller boasts 30,000Pa suction power. To put that into perspective, the eufy Omni S1 Pro is the single best robot vacuum we've tested, cleaning almost as well as a full-sized canister vacuum – and its suction power is just 8,000Pa.

Suction doesn't always translate to more effective cleaning, but in this case, it's an exciting prospect. It also has an 'AutoSeal Roller Guard' to prevent moisture dripping from the mop when moving from hard floors to carpets.

The mop washes itself with clean water as it spins at 100RPM, while a scraper removes dirty water into a separate tank. This means the roller is always touching the floor with fresh water – one of the major benefits of choosing floorcare gadgets when comparing regular mopping vs wet vacuuming.

This mopping function is a similar design to the Dyson WashG1. Dyson's first wet floor cleaner doesn't use cleaning solution either, but disperses fresh water across the roller and scrapes away dirty water just like the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller. And while it didn't clean as well as the best vacuum-mop combos that do use a cleaning solution, it was still surprisingly adept at mopping and stain removal.

Perhaps more importantly however, the lack of cleaning solution means there are minimal recurring costs. But its stand-out specs don't stop there.

Just like the Dreame X50 that can climb over obstacles, the Aqua10 Ultra Roller can lift itself above thresholds of 3.15 inches. So – door mats, bumpy floors and cables shouldn't stop this robot from getting around.

All in all – the Dreame Aqua10 Ultra Roller boasts some impressive and potentially market-leading features, and we can't wait to get our hands on it to see for ourselves.

The Dreame Aqua10 Ultra will be available towards the end of 2025 at Dreame US and Dreame UK. Pricing information hasn't been released yet.

What to shop

In the meantime, here are three of our favorite robot vacuums with similar specs to the exciting Aqua10 Ultra Roller. All prices correct at time of publication.

Next, discover the common robot vacuum mistakes when choosing and owning a robotic cleaner, and learn about the Roborock Saros Z70 that can pick up small objects.

Robot vacuums might be saving you time, but security experts say they can leave your home open to hackers who can gain access to your floor plans, private footage, and sensitive household data.

In this guide, cybersecurity experts share three easy ways to secure your robot vacuum, plus insights about what your device might be quietly collecting behind the scenes.

Whether you’ve already invested in one of the best robot vacuums or are considering getting one soon, this advice will help keep your data safe from opportunistic hackers.

The data security risks of evolving robot vacuum technology

In May, I reported on robot vacuums being programmed to do other household tasks, such as charging your phone and streaming live videos.

But it raised an important question: Should we be excited or worried about this developing technology? The key risk to your home's security is the fact that Wi-Fi-connected devices such as robot vacuums can become a data gold mine for potential hackers.

Sally Applin, a technology anthropologist and researcher at HRAF, takes a broad view. She asks, ‘Does it have a microphone? Could it listen to the home? Does it have a camera? Could it photograph the home?'

Yoshiaki Shiokawa, a PhD student at University of Bath who has programmed robot vacuums beyond their usual vacuuming function, explains why these features exist.

‘We need to add cameras to understand what the user is doing and the environment,’ acknowledges Yoshiaki, adding, ‘These robots are also connected to the internet, so the security issues need to be considered.'

Poor data security is a common mistake that can lead to identity theft. And securing your home for the holidays can pose a risk, too, as hackers could know when you're out of the house.

So, when bringing a robot vacuum into your home, you need to know how to protect yourself and your home.

1. Set up a separate network

While robot vacuums might seem like a harmless smart home must-have, they’re part of what’s known as the Internet of Things – devices that connect to your Wi-Fi to automate everyday tasks.

But unlike laptops or smartphones, many of these gadgets don’t have the same level of built-in protection. That’s why experts recommend isolating them on their own network.

'Keeping these devices on a separate network from your primary devices can be an extra layer of safety,’ says Jenna Waters, an information security risk consultant at BOK Financial.

‘It helps protect your sensitive data if one of your smart gadgets gets compromised,’ she adds.

One practical way to do this is by setting up a guest network, or if you’re more tech-savvy, a VLAN. This kind of 'digital room' keeps your vacuum from communicating with your phone, laptop, or work files – so even if it’s hacked, the threat stops there. It’s one of the most important steps when learning how to set up a smart home.

Vlad Cristescu, head of cybersecurity at ZeroBounce, explains, ‘If a hacker ever gets in through your vacuum – yes, it happens – they’ll hit a wall.’

2. Adjust settings and update software

Once your vacuum is connected, it’s easy to overlook how many permissions it’s been granted, including access to your camera, microphone, or cloud storage. As soon as you set it up (and whenever you're setting up smart tech gadgets that transform your home), adjust the settings to maximize privacy.

'Disable any unnecessary features or settings on the device and adjust privacy settings to limit data collection and sharing,’ says Jenna. That includes turning off video recording if it’s not essential, and denying the app access to things like your photo library or location.

Updating your robot's firmware might not feel urgent, but it’s one of the most effective ways to stay protected. ‘Firmware updates often include security patches that close known vulnerabilities,’ Waters explains. Make it part of your digital decluttering routine – especially if you’re adding new smart home cleaning tools to your setup.

For robot vacuums that sync with a mobile app, regularly check for updates and don’t ignore push notifications asking for new permissions. Being able to control what your devices can access is a smart home feature designers love for added security.

3. Choose a different email and password

Robot vacuums usually require an account to function, which means your personal email might be tied to an entirely new data stream. Jenna advises creating a dedicated email address just for smart devices.

'It helps mitigate the risk of phishing or social engineering on your day-to-day email accounts,’ she says. That way, even if one device is compromised, the rest of your digital life stays protected.

Avoid common robot vacuum mistakes and choose a strong, unique password. According to Vlad, ‘If your vacuum asks you to set up an account or link to Wi-Fi, always reset the password. Don’t reuse a former one. Use a new, strong password – and store it in a password manager.’

If you’re comparing models, many of the best robot vacuums for pet hair offer password-secure options and support multifactor authentication.

FAQ

What do robot vacuum brands do with our home data?

Robot vacuums aren’t just mapping your floors – they may be collecting data on when you’re home, what your rooms look like, and even what’s said nearby. Some models include microphones or cameras, while apps gather usage patterns, device metadata, as well as door and window locations.

‘While this data is primarily used to improve functionality, many companies sell it to third parties or share it with supply-chain providers,’ warns Jenna. ‘It’s all outlined in the privacy policy – and by agreeing to it, you’re allowing that data to be used in ways you may not expect.’

For those looking to reduce exposure, choosing a camera-free model or one that works offline can help, as these small steps are some of the best security measures for a house.

What to shop

If you're still choosing a robot vacuum cleaner for your home, follow this simple advice to protect your data.

'It is recommended to stick to more reputable brands simply because off-brands may be less likely to have a robust security and privacy program,' Jenna advises.

'It's best to cultivate a zero-trust mindset when choosing any smart devices, including robot vacuums. Some robot vacuum brands prioritize data security and privacy, but it's still crucial to be aware of potential data security and privacy risks,' she continues.

So, here are three robot vacuums we've tested and loved from reputable brands, but for added security, be sure to read through their privacy statements before buying.

Next, learn a military dad's top security picks for the home.

A robot vacuum is a revolutionary addition to any home, but they can be vastly expensive. And, with the majority of people not willing to spend up to and over $1000 on one, it can be an unaffordable luxury.

But, right now, you can save almost $300 on one of our favorite and best-performing models, the iRobot® Roomba Combo™ j9+ at Walmart.

There's no time like the present to snap up this incredible deal and secure one of the best robot vacuums at a fraction of the price.

Save almost $300 on our favorite Roomba

If you've been debating whether you should buy a robot vacuum, now is the time to invest. After all, what's not to like about hands-free vacuuming and cleaning?

Alex David, our gardens contributor here at Homes & Gardens, tested this particular model for over a year, describing it as a 'lifesaver,' and even deeming it the 'best robot vacuum' he's ever tested. So, what makes it so good?

For starters, and most importantly, this robot can vacuum and mop floors, and does both well, effortlessly banishing dirt from carpet and hard floors. It also features three different levels of suction and an automatic Carpet Boost setting for effectively and deeply removing dust and debris from soft surfaces.

Plus, the clever Clean Base® Auto-Fill Dock powers your robot with no need to manually plug it in, with enough capacity to empty debris for 60 days, and refill water or solution for 30. As Alex says, 'I literally can't remember the last time I had to empty out this vacuum.'

It's not just Alex who recommends this model, either. Dan Fauzi, our in-house home tech editor and vacuum testing pro, says, 'A robot vacuum will drastically slash how much time you spend on chores. They don't tend to clean as well as your full-sized best vacuum, but the Roomba j9+ Combo comes close.

'It's one of the only robot vacuums we've tested that can pull pet hair from carpets – plus, it's stylish and the cleaning station doubles up as a side table. I don't remember the last time I saw this premium, high-performing robot sell for such a low price.'

So, what are you waiting for? Grab this great deal while it lasts – you won't regret it.

What to shop

Meet our experts

If you are planning on making a purchase, these are the robot vacuum mistakes you'll want to avoid.

As someone who loves to walk around barefoot but hates the feeling of crumbs, slight stickiness, and hair, my household vacuum can see a lot of action.

However, I am always busy (or feel exhausted from my busy schedule), so there is rarely space for daily vacuuming on my agenda. That's why I was so excited to test the Roomba Combo® 10 Max robot + Autowash in my home.

However, after two months of fighting with it, I have come to terms with the fact that it is far from the best robot vacuum. And while it offers some convenience, it is far from the household saviour I was hoping for, especially at the high price.

Roomba Combo® 10 Max robot: Specifications

Roomba Combo® 10 Max robot: One-minute verdict

For general lint and visible debris collection, this robot vacuum fares well and may be suited to someone who has either hard flooring throughout their home or carpets, but no furry pets.

Whilst the mopping works fine for light floor cleaning, messy spills will need to be done the old-fashioned way: By a human. It's worth knowing that the best vacuum-mop combos can complete great, deeper mopping without our intervention.

However, the main reason my review of this Roomba gets 3 stars is the glitchy mapping and navigation. At this price point, there are other Roombas, such as the Roomba Combo J9+ that we rated 4.5/5 stars, and best-in-class models from eufy, such as the Omni S1 Pro that we tested, which will give you the most automated bang for your cleaning buck and clean how you'd expect them to.

Roomba Combo® 10 Max robot: Setup

The Roomba Combo® 10 Max robot arrived in a large, moderately heavy box weighing around 15.5kg/35lbs (the vacuum alone weighs 5 kg, that's 11 lbs) and had lots of cardboard props to help keep it secure in transit.

As a regular gym-goer, I found it relatively easy to lift each part from the box, especially as the robot vacuum itself was packaged separately in its own heavy-duty compartment with a handle. Someone with less mobility or dexterity, however, may need assistance with this step.

Inside the box was the robot vacuum, the Autowash dock, two high-efficiency filters, two edge-sweeping brushes, two dirt disposal bags, two mopping pads, and the US plug cable (according to the website, in the UK, the UK plug cable arrives separately from the main packaging).

It also came with a quick start manual with five basic steps and easy-to-interpret graphics, including a QR code to help you download the required mobile app, which contains the full owner's guide at the bottom of the app's front page

With the physical components set up and the robot vacuum successfully plugged in and charging, the rest of the setup using the app was straightforward.

It was easy to set up an iRobot account and connect to my home Wi-Fi, ready to start mapping my home. I like that you can give your robot an actual name. As part of a long-running inside joke, my partner and I called our Roomba Combo® 10 Max 'Stephen'.

The iRobot app prompts you to start a mapping run, and tells you how to best prepare your home, such as opening all internal doors and picking up rogue loose objects, such as charging cables and shoes.

The Roomba Combo® 10 Max uses a camera and floor sensors to navigate your home, and has a large bumper bar on the front to help it map out your home by, for want of a better word, bashing its way around.

After the first mapping sequence, the vacuum had missed several parts of my open floor downstairs living space, prompting me to run an additional mapping run straight after the first to finish the job. Off it went again, driving around with seemingly little rhyme or reason, banging into walls and furniture.

On the second pass, the map was more complete, and I was able to label each of the rooms.

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the Roomba had successfully guessed what each of the rooms was, successfully labelling my dining space, living room, and kitchen, as well as identifying the flooring types (carpet in the living room and dining room, and hard floor in my kitchen).

To set up maps for other floors of your home, you need to carry the Roomba to your desired starting location and create a second floor in the map section of the app. The robot vacuum will then run through the same mapping sequence. I am thrilled to say that its stairs recognition works perfectly, and it did not tumble down my very steep staircase.

One of my biggest pet peeves is that you cannot ask the vacuum to remap just one area or room. Upstairs, the robot vacuum mapped my bathroom and home office perfectly the first time around, but didn't do as well navigating around my bed and under-bed storage in my bedroom.

To complete the map, the Roomba Combo® 10 Max robot had to remap the whole floor, a process that can take several hours depending on the size and complexity of your floor plan. For comparison, our testers have seen SwitchBots map a 500 sq. ft. space in around 10 minutes, and eufy cover the same in about 10-15 minutes.

Setting up the water tank in the Roomba Combo® 10 Max + Autowash is very simple. Inside the dock, which opens at the front with a stylish hinge door, there are two large transparent plastic drawers that you can remove fully from the dock. The clear plastic container can be filled using tap water, the lid clipped shut, and the container slid back into place. The gray plastic container is there to collect dirty water once the robot has finished mopping.

This Roomba does not come with any floor cleaning solution, with the instructions assuring that plain water should be enough for most messes. To find out more information, however, you need to do more online research to find the list of iRobot-approved cleaning solutions.

I did not test the mopping function with a cleaning solution, sticking with the recomendation of water, however it is sad to see that there is only one 'approved' option: The iRobot® Braava Jet® Fresh Liquid Floor Cleaner, availible at Amazon, and cleaning with other products (including the very popular Bona hardwood and Bona hard surface floor cleaners) or all-natural vinegar could damage your Roomba robot.

After creating your map and labelling your rooms, you can set up 'favorites' in the app. This is a mandatory step if you want to use the Roomba with a voice assistant and essentially forms the 'commands' that tell your robot exactly what you want it to do.

I set up favorites for each room, as well as each floor in its entirety. This is a very repetitive task, as you have to set up a favorite for every type of task. For example, 'vacuum the kitchen', 'vacuum and mop the kitchen', 'vacuum the living room', 'vacuum downstairs', and so on.

In the end, I added 13 favorites/commands saved. For each of these favorites, I could set whether I wanted just vacuuming, just mopping, or both, as well as the suction intensity, how many passes the robot completes, the amount of water, and the scrubbing intensity.

With these set up and paired with my home Alexa system, I can simply say, 'Alexa, ask Stephen to vacuum the living room' and he will get to work without me having to lift a finger. This voice command functionality is also available with Siri and Google Home assistants.

You can also set up one-off jobs in the app by clicking the '+ new job' button and selecting the rooms, suction power, and so on.

On each of the maps, you can add further detail, including 'do not enter' zones to keep your robot vacuum away from delicate areas, 'no mopping' zones to protect flooring, and 'clean zones', such as 'kitchen sink' or 'entryway' so that you can target high-traffic spots in larger rooms.

In theory, this is a fantastic option. In practice, however, the app is very clunky. When you set up a 'zone' a colored box appears on the map with four movable corners; however, the corners are difficult to move unless you perfect your finger placement, otherwise you simply end up dragging the colored box around.

I consider myself a tech-native, and it is not often that I struggle with new technology systems. This task, however, was so infuriating that I often gave up and just had the robot vacuum clean the whole room rather than targeted spots.

The eufy cleaning app, in comparison, is super user-friendly, our testers report, and there is no issue drawing or resizing a targeted square area to clean in its app.

Roomba Combo® 10 Max robot: Design and features

The Roomba Combo® 10 Max robot was the first product to use the AutoWash Dock, designed to refill and recharge the robot, wash and dry its mopping pads, and empty the dustbin and self-clean to minimize maintenance.

The enhanced Dirt Detect feature is designed to recognize large concentrations of dirt and debris and clean more regularly in those areas. The improved Carpet Boost function also increases suction power when it detects carpets.

It also has an auto-retract mop, which prevents the mop pad from accumulating dust and debris on vacuuming runs. Combined with carpet detection, this means the mop is automatically stowed away when the robot reaches carpet, keeping your softer flooring clean and dry.

Obstacle detection also means homeowners need to declutter and tidy up floors less frequently, with the built-in camera spotting items such as cables and navigating around them.

What is the Roomba Combo® 10 Max robot like to use?

To test the Roomba Combo® 10 Max robot, I used it to clean both floors of my home for one month. The robot has a scheduling feature, which I used for one week without fault. However, as I have an ever-changing daily schedule, I switched to using the robot vacuum whenever I needed it, often using my Alexa to send it off on automated tasks.

So far as noise goes, the Roomba Combo® 10 Max robot clocks in at around 58 decibels when vacuuming, making it quieter than the Shark Power Detect 2-in-1, which we gave four stars.

When it is emptying, however, this jumps to 74.5 decibels, which is classed as moderate to loud, around the same as a typical vacuum.

Given that the robot will empty itself after every cleaning run (with no option to turn this feature off), this is not a vacuum you can run late at night or early in the morning, lest it disturb people's sleep.

This tracks with the noise volume of other robot vacuums we've tested, however, some models, such as the eufy E20 3-in-1 have an app function that allows you to set a timed window permission for the auto-vacuum emptying, therefore stopping it from happening during evening or late night cleaning.

On average, the Roomba took 50 minutes to vacuum my lower floor, measuring approximately 356 sq. ft., when completing one pass around each room. For comparison, the eufy Omni Pro S1, available on Amazon, which we reviewed and rated 5 stars, completed a 500 square foot vacuum (and mopped a third of the space) in 30 minutes.

One caveat to this, however, is that the Roomba Combo® 10 Max decided on several occasions that it did not want to clean my kitchen anymore. Immediately after creating a 'smart map', the robot vacuumed and mopped the kitchen with no problems.

However, after a few days, it would start to clean only the entryway to my kitchen before declaring the job complete and returning home. Even after deleting the downstairs map and remapping the whole lower floor (again), the same thing occurred. It worked fine for a few days, then it decided to cut the task short.

It was like having a temperamental toddler who refused to finish a task.

It is worth noting that my kitchen is the room furthest away from my Wi-Fi router and the vacuum dock, however, this does not really explain why it worked some of the time, and not others. I have contacted Roomba about this mapping and navigation issue, and will report back and update this section when I have any further information.

All in all, however, it did a decent job of vacuuming visible debris such as lint and hair, however, a lot of human hair ended up tangled in the sweeper brush at the front of the vacuum. My partner and I both have shoulder-length, fine hair that falls out a lot, so having to yank hair from the mechanisms every few days upped the maintenance.

When asked to mop, however, it simply wet the floor, and wasn't able to scrub up mud tracked in from the garden on linoleum flooring, even on the highest water level with the scrub feature turned on.

Although I hate to be a downer, I have to mention that the robot also had a tendency to get stuck.

The robot has a bumper on the front half, which, when depressed upon bumping into something, seems to tell the robot which way to go to get out. If the robot cannot work out which way to go, it 'panics' (I cannot think of a better turn of phrase) and it suddenly attempts to reverse out of the situation.

If it is stuck against an empty wall, this is fine. But on two occasions, when the robot got stuck underneath a chair in my dining room and underneath my dresser in my bedroom, it started trying to reverse rapidly against my furniture, the wheels spinning desperately, unable to work out that there was something behind it.

In the end, it usually found its way out, but I did have to pause the programme through the app on one occasion and pull it out myself.

Then came the constant error codes. This might have been an issue with just my vacuum, but there were several instances where the robot suddenly lost the ability to navigate, find its way home, or return the mop pad fully to the closed position. These frustrating breakdowns always led to me manually returning the robot to the dock and, often, switching it off at the wall for a while.

Finally, there is one unnerving feature of the Roomba Combo® 10 Max robot that left me feeling like I was in an Episode of Netflix's Black Mirror.

After vacuuming my bedroom one day before guests arrived, I received an alert after the task was completed to say that the robot had not been able to vacuum one area because of an obstacle. On opening the app, I was shown a picture the robot had taken of the area under my bed. Knowing that the vacuum was taking pictures of my home set me on edge a bit. I have since learned that you can opt out of the feature, but finding the means to do so is not easy.

After googling, I found that you have to navigate to your account page, then privacy, then mapping features to find the off button.

This only happened once, but I would have been far more comfortable with a feature like the eufy Vacoom Omni S1 Pro, tested by head of Solved Punteha van Terheyden, which simply highlights the obstacle area on your home map.

Roomba Combo® 10 Max robot: Vacuum tests

On top of everyday use, I ran the robot through our series of 'pantry tests' to see how the vacuum fared against flour and dry cereal. These are also great for acting as stand-ins for dust and household debris, and part of how we test vacuums robustly.

To test the Roomba's vacuum capability, I first spread out plain flour and sugar on my low-pile home carpet. Using the Roomba app, I directed the vacuum to clean just that room using the standard suction setting and a single pass.

The vacuum picked up most of the flour on the surface, but was unable to get the particles left in the carpet's texture, even when I asked it to repeat the task. The results were the same when I repeated this test on flat linoleum flooring.

Other robot vacuums we've tested, including the eufy E20 combination robot vacuum we reviewed, usually fare better on hardwood floors, even if they struggle with the flour on carpets.

The cereal test was, in a word, disastrous. The Roomba Combo® 10 Max has an edge sweeping brush that spins very quickly at the front of the vacuum, and is designed to pull debris in away from the edges of walls to the rollers.

However, this revolving brush turned most of the cereal into mini projectiles, pinging most of them across my room. Those bits it did suck up were crushed, leaving some powder residue behind. As a final kick in the teeth, because it pushed some of the cereal into a line, when I asked it to do a second pass, it saw this line as an obstacle (as if it was a charging cable) and wouldn't go near it.

One point to obstacle detection, I suppose. No points to practicality. In the end, I scooped up the rest by hand and finished the job with my best cordless vacuum cleaner instead.

After this test, the robot also struggled to empty itself, attempting the self-emptying cycle three times before it threw up an error code. I had to manually remove the robot's dustbin to shift the chunks of cereal and clean the dustbin sensors.

Roomba Combo® 10 Max robot: Mopping tests

The mopping test with this robot was similarly messy.

The mop on the Roomba Combo® 10 Max robot consists of a microfiber pad that lifts up from the top of the vacuum and slots down beneath the vacuum at the rear of the device. It is a very high-tech-looking design, but it doesn't offer high-tech results.

To test this function, I splattered ketchup on my linoleum floors and asked the robot to use the maximum amount of water, two passes, and the scrubbing function to give it the best shot at tackling the thick, sticky spill.

Because the mop pad is small and at the back of the robot, the wheels, spinning edge brush (which still spins even when only mopping), and the rollers all reached the ketchup spill first. As a result, they all became caked in sauce.

The mop then spread the ketchup around the room as it passed back and forth over the mess. The 'scrubbing' feature is the robot simply moving back and forth in slightly janky movements, which was not enough to clean away the residue.

After deeming the job complete and attempting to return to the dock, I quickly realised it was trailing ketchup from the wheels onto my carpet, and I had to rush to pause the job and manually take the robot back to the dock myself.

I was then left with the task of cleaning up the rest of the ketchup myself. A quick swipe with a paper towel showed just how poor a job the mop had done, and I resorted to using my best steam cleaner and steam mop instead.

I ran the autowash function on my robot once it was back in the dock, but I still found myself having to remove the microfiber pad to wash in my washing machine. Had I left it, I fear it would have eventually grown mold.

For comparison, the eufy S1 Omni Pro, our best-in-class robot vacuum, cleaned up coffee, ketchup, sticky sweet drinks and mud during our testing and did not track any of it back to the dock. Its self-cleaning and drying mop function left the pads spotless and dry. It uses a eufy detergent in its water and adds ozone to tap water, increasing cleaning efficiency but the roller mop being at the front of the bot helps it keep the wheels clean.

The eufy X10, which we also reviewed, doesn't use detergent or add ozone to its plain water, and made poor cleaning progress with the ketchup test too, largely moving it around the linoleum floor and needing a manual clean-up session by our tester afterwards.

Back to the Roomba. I then faced having to disassemble to robot to clean the edge brush (which you need a flathead screwdriver to remove, whilst eufy robots click in and out without tools) and rollers.

A damp microfiber cloth was enough to remove the ketchup from the wheels, but the rough-textured rubber made it difficult to get all of the sauce out of the nooks and crannies.

Roomba Combo® 10 Max robot: Cleaning and maintenance

Generally speaking, the day-to-day maintenance of the Roomba Combo® 10 Max robot is minimal. You do not have to empty the dust bin or fill up the mop with water. After two months, I have yet to have to replace the filter bag inside the dock despite the amount of hair my partner and I lose.

The most common maintenance task was removing hair from the edge brush, as the spinning motion often wound the strands up into tight balls, however, this was really easy to do and did not require scissors, as with cleaning a beater brush on a standard vacuum.

The Roomba Combo 10 is also prone to leaving small bits of debris behind in its dock, which I had to vacuum out with my best handheld vacuum cleaner. After about one month of use, I also had to remove the dust bin from the vacuum itself to empty and clean it manually, as the suction on the dock was not fantastic. It removes most of the debris, but larger items (such as the cereal) tend to get stuck.

Besides this, occasionally wiping the front camera can help improve navigation.

How does the Roomba Combo® 10 Max robot compare?

Combined robot vacuums and mops are not hard to come by. One of our favorites is the eufy Omni S1 Pro, available at eufy, which also has an all-in-one base that requires little to no maintenance.

This robot vacuum-mop delivers a more thorough clean than the Roomba Combo® 10 Max robot, and it has a unique spinning mopping bar that’s really effective on tough stains.

Given that the eufy costs around the same as the Roomba Combo® 10 Max robot (typically $1,499.99 and $1,400, respectively), the performance of the eufy far outmatches the Roomba.

That being said, I have routinely seen the Roomba Combo® 10 Max robot on sale for as little as $800 across retailers (including the official iRobot website) and it makes me wonder why that is when others are only briefly discounted.

The iRobot Roomba Combo j9+ is another top-performer that we’ve tested, with a slightly lower price of $1,199. It’s highly efficient at both vacuuming and mopping, however, it doesn’t clean or dry its mopping pad, so you’ll need to do that manually after each mopping cycle. However, given the poor performance of the 10 Max robot, you're often doing this with this model, anyway.

Should you buy the Roomba Combo® 10 Max robot + Autowash?

If you are in the market for a robot vacuum and mop, the Roomba Combo® 10 Max robot is not the one in my opinion. The high price places it in our 'premium' category, but the results are far from stellar, and it is often more work than it is worth.

It might be self-emptying, look great, and work well with voice companions, but the cleaning functions, navigation and mapping are subpar.

The fact that it takes photos of your home is a little unnerving. It alerted me to blocks or obstacles this way.

With more negatives than positives, I have found myself reaching for my regular best multi-surface vacuum cleaner and steam mop instead, with our Roomba Combo® 10 Max robot, Stephen, collecting more dust than he vacuums in the corner of my dining room.

How we test vacuums

At Homes & Gardens, we have a dedicated and thorough procedure of how we test vacuums. At our test center, we test various substances on three floor types (carpet, wood, linoleum) to recreate real-life circumstances.

I tested the Roomba Combo® 10 Max robot + Autowash for two months, in my home on three different surfaces: linoleum, a pile rug, and short weave carpet.

If you are still in the market for a robotic vacuum companion, I suggest learning how to choose a robot vacuum cleaner to find a better-suited model for your home.

After collectively spending 1,000+ hours testing robot vacuums at Homes & Gardens, one thing has become clear: robot vacuums need a clutter-free floor.

This often means spending more time than you usually would to make sure your robot helper isn't coming into contact with any socks, shoes, or cables. Even the best robot vacuums can't do everything.

Until now. The Roborock Saros Z70 is the first consumer robot vacuum that features a mechanical arm to pick up small objects. It's a potential game-changer in the world of smart, hands-free cleaners, but is it science fiction come to life for real, or just an expensive gimmick?

What the Roborock Saros Z70 can do

The Roborock Saros Z70 has a five-axis mechanical arm that can pick up small objects weighing up to 300g / 10.6oz and move them out of the way for uninterrupted floor cleaning.

It uses a camera, precision sensors, and an LED light to determine its position and the weight of each object.

Recently, researchers programmed a robot vacuum to do basic household tasks, and there's even a Dreame robot vacuum that can lift itself over steps, but these don't come close to the Roborock Saros Z70's functionality to actually interact with your space.

It's incredibly impressive technology, and a first of its kind in the consumer market. Thanks to its AI software, it can identify and label up to 50 new objects and return each object to its rightful place.

So the new Roborock could potentially pick up rogue sandals and return them to your entryway, or move socks to the laundry basket – which might just be the best new laundry hack to save time.

'The Roborock Saros Z70 introduces a meaningful advancement in home robotics with the integration of the OmniGrip, a robotic arm capable of identifying and removing obstacles such as socks, towels, and small toys,' shares Quan Gang, president of Roborock.

'By addressing one of the most persistent challenges in autonomous cleaning, navigating cluttered environments, it shifts expectations around what robotic vacuums can do,' he adds.

The robot's environment sensors influence how it cleans, too. 'The Saros Z70 relies on the Starsight Autonomous System,' Quan explains, 'which uses AI to recognize 108 common household items. This allows the robot to determine whether it should vacuum, mop, or avoid an object altogether.'

And if you're looking for the best robot vacuum for pet hair, the Saros Z70 avoids picking up unintended items such as pet messes or glasses. It's programmed to only engage with items it has been explicitly programmed to handle.

Outside of this new exciting technology, the robot boasts some strong performance specifications. It has 22,000Pa suction, which is higher than almost every robot vacuum out there, and certainly higher than the eufy S1 Pro Omni's 8,000Pa, which is our best-on-test robot vacuum.

Is it a gimmick?

We find that an unexpected benefit of owning a robot vacuum is forcing us to declutter our floors more often. As robot vacuums must maneuver around small objects, it internalized a routine of doing a quick pass of the floors to pick up anything that might get in the way.

But now that the robot can do it for you, would this reduce how much we care about tidiness? Leon Huang, CEO of RapidDirect, a global manufacturer of custom components for robotics, smart home systems, and autonomous devices, shares this sentiment.

'It's definitely an advancement – but one that needs to complement, not replace, human cleaning habits. It’s about convenience, not delegation,' he warns. He continues that it's better to use these smart home cleaning tools to save time, rather than offload hygiene to them.

And considering its $2,599 price point, it needs to be able to complete these tasks well. 'Industrial robots have done this for decades. But as a home robot, success will depend on the accuracy of the Z70's sensors to determine object type, weight, and shape, and how quickly it can adjust in real time,' says Quan.

Hrishikesh Tawade, a robotics engineer at Ample who works on robot vacuums and their perception systems, shares this concern around efficiency. 'It can take about a minute to pick up just a single sock and put it in a bin. So a cluttered room could turn a 40-minute clean into a multi-hour affair,' he explains.

Obstacles are one of the main reasons why your robot vacuum gets stuck, but if it is now tasked with removing them each time, this could make the process of cleaning your floors even longer.

Regardless, it's exciting to imagine what this could hold for the future of home robot helpers. 'Whether or not the Z70 is the model to buy, its very existence signals that mainstream home robots are shifting from simple avoidance to active manipulation,' shares Hrishikesh.

Leon agrees, adding, 'If done right, this is far from a gimmick. The ability to pick up clutter before vacuuming means the Z70 could handle a full floor clean, start to finish. That’s a big deal in terms of real autonomy.' It's shaping up to be one of the best decluttering methods for our floors.

Personally, as somebody who tests and reviews vacuum cleaners daily, I'm hugely impressed by Roborock's innovation. Even if it isn't the fastest yet, this technological advancement will improve chore time management, particularly as a robot vacuum can run while you're asleep or out of the house.

'Looking forward, this development opens the door to a new class of service robotics in the home, robots that don’t just clean, but interact with their surroundings in nuanced, context-aware ways,' shares Quan Gang.

'It’s a foundational step toward autonomous systems that can manipulate objects safely, make decisions with discernment, and operate collaboratively in dynamic domestic spaces.'

What to shop

Intrigued? Here's what you can buy right now to automate a large portion of your floor cleaning.

Meet the experts

Next, browse through our tested picks of the best vacuums for pet hair, or learn why having two vacuums is better than one.

Keeping floors spotless can feel like a never-ending task. The time spent cleaning up after everybody in the house can quickly add up, and before you know it, the mess has returned.

That's why it might be time to rethink your approach. As a professional vacuum tester, I can tell you the secret solution is not to have one great vacuum. Instead, you should be pairing one of the best robot vacuums with one of the best cordless vacuums.

This might seem like overkill, but hear me out. The robot will keep your floors spotless, while the small, light, cordless stick is on hand for any mess the robot can't handle. It's the perfect way to cut down on your chore time.

Why having two vacuums is better than one

Nobody wants to be vacuuming every day. What we actually want is clean floors every day, rather than the time spent on chores that could otherwise be spent living.

To cut down on how often you should be vacuuming, let a robot do it for you. It can run daily so that you can comfortably walk around barefoot without that constant layer of fine debris bothering you.

And for all the places the robot can't clean – stairs, furniture, mattresses, awkward corners – a cordless stick can take care of it quickly and conveniently without the hassle of plugging it into the wall or winding and unwinding the cord.

Immaculate floors, minimal effort

Your robot vacuum will handle the day-to-day maintenance, even when you're sleeping or out of the house. The best robot vacuums for pet hair can pick up after your furry friends, and many of our favorite models have a mop, too, for spotless and sparkling hard floors.

Then, whenever the robot misses something (which they often do), or you see some crumbs on the sofa, that's when you reach for the cordless vacuum. That's the beauty of such an agile cleaning tool, and the reason why they're the best lightweight vacuums you can buy.

You can grab it and clean it in a moment's notice. No cord, no lugging a hefty appliance out of storage. They're also the quietest vacuums, and as somebody with suspected ADHD, a cordless vacuum actually helps me clean.

This setup means you'll spend hardly any time cleaning. Part of why vacuuming is such a cumbersome task is owed to the build-up of dirt, but with a robot vacuum, this is completely avoided. You can reduce chore time by up to 90%, as we learned when reviewing the excellent eufy Omni S1 Pro.

You'll also enjoy the extra storage space, as it's much easier to hide your vacuum when storing a cordless stick than one of the best upright vacuums. And while the robot vacuum's cleaning station will take up floor space, these are often used as side tables, with the best example being the luxuriously stylish iRobot Roomba Combo j9+.

Making full use of recent technological advancements can genuinely improve your life. Your floors will be cleaner, you can finally get rid of your old vacuum that's taking up too much space, and you'll have more time to spend on the things you truly enjoy.

What to shop

We've tested 31 cordless vacuums and 18 robot vacuums, so we know which ones get the job done. And as the chief vacuum tester at Homes & Gardens, here are my recommendations to get the most for your money.

Happy to spend a little extra for the best-of-the-best? Pair the eufy Omni S1 Pro with the Dyson V15 Detect and you'll have the cleanest home you've ever seen.

Our expert tester, Head of Solved, Punteha van Terheyden found the Omni S1 Pro slashed her canister vacuum cleaning needs by a whopping 90%.

When you think of robots, what springs to mind? As a home tech editor, robot vacuums are my front runner, but following the CES 2025 tech conference and the unveiling of the most advanced multi-tasking robot vacuum in the world, I'm having to rethink my definition of what that is.

Leading robotic and interactive tech company SwitchBot showcased the K20+ Pro, with a world of multi-functionality now built in as standard. As if vacuuming and mopping your floors and emptying itself wasn't enough, this stackable robot can now also cool and purify your air, patrol your home, help with deliveries, hold your phone or tablet to assist you when you're filming content or making videos to send to friends and family and help you put laundry away.

As Homes & Gardens' home tech editor, I've written about and had plenty of hands-on experience testing and reviewing the best robot vacuums, and I'm intrigued to see how the widened scope of multi-functionality in the Switchbot K20+ will perform in real time.

What can the SwitchBot K20+ multi-tasking robot do?

CES brings together the latest in home tech and this year, I was most intrigued to hear about the K20+ Pro, which is the first of its kind in the world of robot vacuums because of its immense scope in helpful house functions.

Previously, I'd seen robots like the Samsung AI Bespoke Jet Bot watch your home and talk to your family, and the iRobot Roomba Combo j9+, which has a station that doubles up as a table.

But the level of multi-functionality in the K20+ hasn't been achieved before and I'm excited to imagine new ways of using this automated, free-roaming and AI-learning tech to improve my home experience.

Much like the Switchbot robot vacuum K10 pro combo, the K20+ Pro works as any robot vacuum would, moving around the house as it vacuums and mops the floors. But that's essentially the foundation for whatever additional device you want to stack on top, whether it's an air purifier, fan, humidifier, or camera.

You can attach a mount for your phone and tablet to stream a show or video call a friend while your hands are occupied, like when cooking or exercising. Or you could utilize the surface to deliver drinks to somebody in the house, take dry laundry to the bedroom, or bring food from the door to the living room.

The unexpected benefit of this Robot vacuum and its ability to carry items around the house will surely make a difference for anybody with limited mobility. SwitchBot also has a line of home automation gear like smart locks, allowing you to open the door from anywhere whenever a delivery comes. You'll be able to speak to the courier and ask them to place it on top of the K20+ robot.

As somebody who's often moving air purifiers, fans and humidifiers from room to room, I love the idea of a robot that can do it for you, learning which rooms will need cooling or refreshed air quality over time and changing its routine accordingly.

I can also imagine the peace of mind from being able to check on different rooms or even speak to your pets while you're of the house, all in one fancy machine.

My only concern is that, from the experience I've had with robot vacuums, I appreciate that these devices move slowly. Sending items to other rooms or a camera to patrol them won't be a quick movement, and most of the time it'll likely be a task that you could do quicker yourself, or don't mind waiting for.

Also, combining so much variety into one appliance raises the question of how effective each component will be, a sentiment that John Yensen, tech enthusiast and president of Revotech Networks shares.

'I do wonder how packing so much functionality into one device comes at the cost of quality and performance,' he says. 'Consumers will need to see strong performance in all areas to justify the cost.'

'And as someone who lived in a small apartment for four years, this device would need to be a manageable size,' he adds. 'It might deter potential buyers if it's too large, no matter how advanced the features are.'

The different devices can't all run at the same time, so there'd also need to be enough space in the house to store those that aren't being used.

Our Head of Solved Punteha van Terheyden has been testing robot vacuums for months, and her thoughts on the concept are both curious and cautious.

She says, 'First and foremost it would have to be able to clean the floors well. I've used certain robot vacuums that have left a fair amount of mess behind, and if this multi-tasking robot is as hands-free as it claims, I'd hope to not have to use my own cordless vacuum to clean up after it.' This was a problem Ottilie Blackhall, news writer on Solved, also shared in her SwitchBot K10 pro robot vacuum combo review.

'But as long as it can vacuum and mop, the rest should be straightforward,' continues Punteha. 'It's not too difficult to find good-quality purifiers, fans and cameras, so I trust that these elements wouldn't be the snag in this otherwise great idea.'

Punteha has been testing another Switchbot robot vacuum at home for a month and found its function to be excellent.

Personally, I'm excited to see where this advanced tech can take us next. Having a fully automated helper around the house will undoubtedly transform how much work we have to do ourselves. I just hope one day it will be able to do the dishes!

The SwitchBot K20+ Pro will be available in spring this year direct from SwitchBot and other major retailers.

For more automated inspiration, check out our tested guide of the best robot vacuums for pet hair.

The rise of robot vacuums is a welcome innovation for those of us who dread the chore (and let's be real, who actually enjoys vacuuming?). One of the leading brands in the world of self-powered vacuums is Shark, who continues to release high-tech iterations of the smart robot vacuum – and considers some high-profile figures among their fans.

Kris Jenner is just one of Shark's users, having recently shared a promotional video for the Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum (available on Amazon). As Jenner jokingly states in the clip, it 'leaves no crumbs,' reaching every crevice of space for spotless floors.

With sale season in full swing, we are in luck – while this cult-favorite vacuum typically retails for $799.99, it is currently retailing for half price, at a reasonable $399.99.

Shop Kris Jenner's Vacuum Edit

Some of the main selling points include the vacuum's NeverStuck Technology, which lifts & lowers to maneuver over obstacles, as well as its DirtDetect Technology, which senses hidden debris and then boosts suction. Meanwhile, the EdgeDetect technology uses blasts of air to remove debris from corners and edges into its cleaning path.

You can also set cleaning schedules and timers while the vacuum itself holds up to 60 days worth of dust and debris. Additionally, there's a built-in odor neutralizer, ensuring that vacuumed rooms smell fresh and clean after use.

With boxing week due to wrap up in just a few days, we would make a move on this deal before it's too late. Shop the Shark PowerDetect Self-Empty Robot Vacuum below on Amazon, along with some essential accessories we have rounded up below. They're everything you need to prepare your home for a fresh start ahead of 2025.

If you have a mixture of carpet and hard floors in your home, chances are that you have to vacuum and mop on a regular basis – but what if there was a gadget that could take care of both chores for you?

Robot vacuum-mop combos have become popular in recent years, and the latest models are more self-sufficient than ever. They have self-emptying bases that can also refill, clean and dry their own mop pads. The downside, however, is that these high-tech machines are quite pricey, often costing more than $1,000. So when I saw that Shark recently released a 2-in-1 vacuum robot and mop at a more reasonable price point, I knew I wanted to try it out.

I tested the Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum and Mop with NeverTouch Pro Base for two weeks in my multi-pet home. Here’s how it performed in terms of vacuuming, mopping, and overall maintenance, to find out if it’s worth your money as one of the best robot vacuums.

Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 with NeverTouch Pro Base: Specifications

Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 with NeverTouch Pro Base: Unboxing and setup

This Shark robot vacuum-mop combo is easy to set up. Once you remove all the packaging, it’s just a matter of plugging in the base and setting the robot in place to charge. Within an hour or so, it had enough power for me to begin its mapping run, which you have to do before robot will clean.

The Shark app will prompt you to start a mapping sequence, and it tells you how best to prepare your home — make sure doors are open, power cords are tucked away, floors are relatively obstacle-free, etc. The initial mapping run uses a camera on the front of the robot, so it goes pretty quickly and creates a rough outline of your home.

Once it’s completed, you’re able to label rooms and create 'no-go' areas that the robot will avoid. For instance, I made my home office a 'no-go' area, as the floor is always a mess and I know the robot would probably get stuck in there.

Once the map is complete, the app prompts you to do a 'carpet detection' run, which allows the robot to avoid rugs while mopping. The robot actually vacuums the floors while doing this step, which I didn’t expect, so it takes a lot longer than the initial mapping run. I ended up cancelling it and having it finish another time when I was going to be home.

The final step in the setup process is to fill the base’s water tank. It has a handle that makes it easy to lift and carry to the sink and easy to fill up. One thing I did find confusing is that the robot comes with a jar of cleaning solution, but there are no directions that tell you how much to put in or if it’s supposed to go in the tank at all. I looked through the app’s FAQs and product manual but couldn’t find any guidance on how much to use.

After that’s all done, you can set up schedules for vacuuming and mopping. The app allows you to schedule up to two cleanings per day, and you can select specific rooms to clean, as well as whether you want the robot to vacuum or mop. I did find it a bit frustrating that the vacuum and mop setting is only available for whole-home cleaning. I would have liked the option to run both cleaning cycles in just one or two rooms. Ultimately, I scheduled the robot to vacuum on certain days and mop on others.

This is where more expensive vacuums such as the eufy Omni Pro S1 and X10, both of which H&G has reviewed and loved, come out on top. The AI tech in both and the accompanying app can setup a Smart cleaning schedule for you, or you can dictate which room it vacuums or mops (it auto detects carpet vs hard floors). You can also easily customize your cleaning cycles to particular rooms, whole floors or a particular zone you draw on the map. The S1 also auto-detects spills when mopping and concentrate its cleaning on that area.

Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 with NeverTouch Pro Base: Design and features

Shark has offered previous robot vacuums with mopping abilities, but there are a few features that are new to the Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum and Mop. Perhaps the biggest update is its NeverTouch Pro Base, which minimizes the amount of maintenance you have to do manually and how often you have to clean your robot vacuum.

Not only does the base hold up to 60 days worth of debris in a two-liter tank, it also has integrated clean and dirty water tanks. It’s able to automatically fill up the vacuum’s on-board mopping tank, and it also washes and dries the mopping pad after use. This means it can start a mopping run all on its own with no manual intervention required, and prevents the build-up of bacteria, mold and mildew that cause bad smells on mopping pads.

Another key feature is this robot’s PowerDetect sensors, which are able to detect dirt and stains. The robot is able to optimize cleaning in these areas, increasing suction power or going over the debris again for a deeper clean. It’s also equipped with advanced edge cleaning technology that uses a burst of air to get debris away from walls for a more thorough clean.

Finally, this vacuum-mop combo has new 'NeverStuck Technology' that helps it detect and avoid obstacles, as well as lift itself over thresholds and raise its mopping pad to avoid getting rugs wet while cleaning.

What is the Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 like to use?

To test the Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum and Mop, I used it to clean the downstairs level of my home for several weeks. I scheduled the robot to vacuum three days a week and mop once, and I had it run early in the morning so it wouldn’t disturb me during the day. The vacuum is quite noisy during operation, around 62-65 decibels (the volume of laughter and similar to other robot vacuums we've tested), and even more so when it’s emptying its dust bin or cleaning its mop pad. It also emits a low hum for several hours while it’s drying the mop.

While I generally let the robot clean on its pre-programmed schedule, you can also start a clean through the Shark app at any time. You’re able to choose a whole-home clean, specific rooms, or just a spot clean, and you can select whether you want the unit to vacuum or mop the floors. When it’s just vacuuming, the robot actually leaves its mopping module on the base, which I thought was an interesting touch and clever, to avoid the mop getting dusty or covered in debris.

The eufy Omni Pro S1 on the other hand leaves its mophead on the robot even when vacuuming, but lifts it up and away so no debris can get caught on it.

This Shark robot just under two hours to vacuum all the rooms in the downstairs of my home, which is a little over 600 square feet. For comparison, the eufy Omni Pro S1, which we rated 5 out of 5 stars, completed a 500 square foot vacuum (and a mop of third of the space) in 30 minutes.

Nevertheless, I was impressed that the Shark unit was able to easily climb over the thresholds between rooms, as they’re quite high and have been a problem for other robot vacuums I've tested. The robot’s NeverStuck technology also proved to be quite effective as the vacuum never got stuck on any obstacles throughout the course of testing, even when there were dog toys or stray socks on the floor.

Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 with NeverTouch Pro Base: Vacuuming tests

In addition to using the robot for everyday cleaning, I also put it through a series of tests to see how it would fare against different types of debris.

To test the Shark’s vacuuming ability on carpeting, I spread out coffee grounds, uncooked rice, pet hair, and a few puffs of fiberfill from a stuffed toy that my dogs had recently ripped open. Using the Shark app, I directed the vacuum to clean just that room. It sucked up the vast majority of the uncooked rice and all the puffs of fiberfill, but it didn’t fare quite as well with the coffee grounds. I would estimate that it picked up around 80% of the coffee, but there was still a noticeable amount left on the low-pile rug.

Additionally, while it managed to pick up the majority of the dog hair, a lot of the strands ended up wrapped around the vacuum’s brushroll. As someone with two long-haired dogs, this was a major downside for me, as I’d likely need to clean off the brushroll at least once a week to keep the vacuum working properly. For this reason it might not be the best robot vacuum for pet hair. The eufy Pro Omni S1 on the other hand has a rubber brushroll, free from bristles, which meant over months of testing no hair got tangled in it.

I ran the same tests when cleaning hardwood floors in my home, and I also spread a few teaspoons of coffee around along the edge of the wall to test the robot’s edge-cleaning abilities. The vacuum performed better on the hard floors, picking up the majority of all the debris. There were a few stray pieces of rice and a spattering of coffee grounds, but the vacuum was able to pick up more than 95% of everything I spread around the floor.

However, I was disappointed in its edge-cleaning abilities, especially since that’s one of the key features advertised on this model. Only around 50% of the coffee grounds along the edge of the wall were vacuumed up, and the rest was just spread around the area.

Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 with NeverTouch Pro Base: Mopping tests

I also tested out the unit’s mopping abilities on my hardwood floors. The mopping pad is made from microfiber and moves in a back-and-forth scrubbing motion to help remove dirt from the floor. It’s also able to swing out from under the vacuum to get closer along the edges of walls. However, I think it’s worth noting that, unlike more expensive robot mops, this model doesn’t suck up the dirty water as it cleans.

To assess this unit’s mopping abilities, I created a few stains on my floors. I let some mud dry into a caked-on mess, and I also spread a few tablespoons of ketchup on the floor. Using the Shark app, I directed the robot to spot-clean the area, and it went to work scrubbing at the stains.

I was impressed by the robot’s stain-detection abilities—as soon as it drove over one of the stains, it would immediately stop and go back over the area, rotating in circles to ensure every inch was scrubbed thoroughly. It made several passes over both stains, and when it was satisfied that the marks were gone, it did one final pass over the whole space. When all was said and done, there was no dirt or ketchup left on the floor. Impressive!

Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 with NeverTouch Pro Base: Cleaning and maintenance

One of the best things about this vacuum is that there’s no daily maintenance needed. You don’t have to empty its dust bin or fill up its mop with water—the NeverTouch Pro Base takes care of all that for you.

Over the two weeks that I tested this robot, the only thing I had to do was cut hair off its brushroll, but you may not have this issue if you don’t have pets. You will eventually need to empty the base’s dust bin, empty the dirty water tank, and refill its clean water, but the brand says these chores generally only need to be done once a month. On a day-to-day basis, the robot is truly hands-off to operate.

There are a few long-term maintenance tasks that you’ll want to keep in mind, though. The instruction manual suggests cleaning the base ramp and replacing the mop pad every three months (a few replacements are included with the robot). You may also occasionally need to clean off the unit’s dirt detection sensors or the base charging contacts—all of which is explained in the manual.

How does the Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 compare?

Most robot vacuum brands offer models with both vacuuming and mopping abilities, and one of our favorite options is the eufy Omni S1 Pro, which also has an all-in-one base that requires little to no maintenance. This robot vacuum-mop delivers a more thorough clean than the Shark PowerDetect, and it has a unique spinning mopping bar that’s really effective on tough stains. It also cleans the mopping bar as it works, ensuring dirt doesn’t get spread around your floors. However, the main downside of this model is its price point—it retails for $1,499 at full price, making it more than double the price of the Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1.

The iRobot Roomba Combo j9+ is another top-performer that we’ve tested, still with a hefty price point of $1,199. It’s highly efficient at both vacuuming and mopping—it performs particularly well on pet hair—but it's not as self-sufficient as the Shark or eufy. It’s able to fill its own on-board water tank, but it doesn’t clean or dry its mopping pad, so you’ll need to do that manually after each mopping cycle.

Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 with NeverTouch Pro Base: Verdict

If you’re in the market for a robot vacuum and mop and want one that’s low-maintenance, the Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum and Mop with NeverTouch Pro Base is one of the more affordable options out there today. It’s fully self-sufficient, maintaining its own mopping pad and vacuum with virtually no manual intervention, and I was quite impressed by its thorough mopping abilities—it was able to completely remove tough stains from hardwood floors. Plus, it navigated around my house flawlessly, avoiding all sorts of obstacles and climbing over tall thresholds.

However, this vacuum-mop combo does have some shortcomings to note. For me, the biggest downside is that its brushroll quickly gets tangled with long hair, so it may not be the best option for households with pets. The vacuum also doesn’t do a good job cleaning along the edges of rooms, and it’s quite a bit noisier than other robot vacuums, both while cleaning and doing maintenance at its base.

Not for you? Learn how to choose a robot vacuum cleaner to find a better suited model.

Dealing with chronic pain is a full time job in itself, so with a young child, a busy house with two cats and a real full time job here at H&G as head of Solved, vacuuming has been the bane of my life for years.

I can't stand up for longer than two minutes and my wrists, ankles and knees give way constantly thanks to a genetic disorder. Vacuuming was so hard for me. Then I was lucky enough to be sent four top-notch robot vacuum and mops to test thoroughly and review. It is no exaggeration to say these robot vacuums have absolutely changed my life, and help keep my floors clean and sanitized.

Splashing out on one of the best robot vacuums will be the best investment you make this year for your home.

Why splashing out on a robot vacuum is so worth it

Why I love my robot vacuums

I now have two robot vacuums in my home, one upstairs and one down. I've kept my 5-star eufy Robot Vacuum Omni S1 Pro, featured in the video above, downstairs as the mopping capabilities are brilliant for cleaning the linoleum floors in my kitchen. My two cats go in and out all day, tracking muddy paw prints around the space.

Before, I had a good enough health and pain day to mop once a month at best. I cycled between using a traditional mop and bucket, available at Walmart, and a Swiffer Mop with disposable wipes from Amazon in the end as I hated the wet dog smell the mop would get no matter how well I tried to dry the head.

With the eufy, it not only has an automatic mop drying function to ensure no damp or musty smell develops, but it also turns your regular tap water in its clean water bin into electrolyzed Ozone, using patented tech. This gives my floors a far superior clean to other mops I've tried, literally drawing black water from the floors with its antibacterial properties. It uses the same Ozone clean water to clean the mop head when it's done.

When it comes to the robot vacuum element, all three I've linked above are brilliant.

I'm using the SwitchBot Floor Cleaning Robot S10, currently heavily discounted on Amazon, upstairs and I truly love it. It looks modern, has superior anti-collision tech and comes with the bristle-free rubber brushroll, which I have found in my testing to be much better than robot vacuums that have bristles. The bristles will cause hair to wrap around it, even if the design boasts 'anti-hair wrap' tech. The Switchbot robot vacuum K10 pro combo is a great option, too, which Ottilie Blackhall, news writer on Solved has been testing. You can read her SwitchBot K10 pro robot vacuum combo review to find out more.

The rubber brushroll is elite and the Omni S1 Pro and the SwitchBot S10 both have it. You can also buy it separetely for around $20 from eufy to upgrade your eufy X10 Pro Omni robot vacuum and mop, currently heavy discounted at Best Buy.

The difference robot vacuums have made for me

First, my canister use is down by 90-per cent. I only need my Miele vacuum, which is designed especially for, and one of the best pet hair vacuums, now for stairs and sofas or vacuuming upholstery.

Secondly, I run the vacuum daily, and the mopping multiple times in the week. Each function takes around 15 minutes for 500 square feet at home.

Third, there is a lot of internal shame and guilt that can come with being disabled and now, I no longer have to feel wretched that either I can't vacuum when my house needs or, or I have to ask my husband to do it on top of everything else he does to keep our household running.

Finally, the apps for all these robot vacuums I've tested are spectacular. A credit to their developers because they are so easy to use. Some apps drive you around the bend, but these apps are as smart and intuitive as their robot vacuums. Hurrah!

• Shop the eufy S1 Pro Omni for $999.99 at eufy or Amazon
• Shop the eufy X10 Pro Omni for $549.99 at eufy or Amazon
• Shop the Switchbot S10 for $699.99 at Amazon

FAQs

Are robot vacuums worth it?

If you have been debating whether robot vacuums are worth the spend, trust me, they absolutely are. If I had to hand these back tomorrow, I would buy them full price to keep the unexpected benefits of Robot vacuums and the brilliant tech they're loaded with. So to be able to buy with some of the best vacuums deals and best robot vacuum deals, it's a no-brainer for me.

Do robot vacuums work?

Categorically, yes. The best ones we've reviewed rival canister vacuums and reduced my canister usage by 90%. Look for features such as object collision technology and for mopping, being able to add a cleaning solution to the clean water tank will help it do a better job.

Do robot vacuums work on carpet?

In my experience, yes. I found I had to tweak the settings via the app to get the best results for my home, for instance, putting the eufy X10 Omni Pro on Turbo, rather than Standard suction. Give yours a good chance and test out all the different options and settings available to you.

Can robot vacuums go over rugs?

Yes. The good ones, such as the three I've focused this article on all work perfectly fine over rugs, with and without tassels on the end. They can lift up their front to get over bumps and ridges, and if they do become a bit tangled on a tassel, they will reverse back and free themselves. I have been testing mine daily for nearly 12 weeks and have yet to free any of them from a rug.

Do robot vacuums need Wifi?

Yes. Most need it for the apps to connect to the robots.

Next, learn about Roomba vs Shark vacuums.

Having tested my first robot vacuum and mops this winter, I have become an immediate convert, as having these gadgets has reduced our canister vacuum use by 90%. The appeal of having a secondary vacuum upstairs therefore, was too much to resist, especially as I have two cats.

The eufy X10 Pro Omni fared great overall, but I reckon it’s slightly better suited to homes with more hard flooring than carpets, though there are easy settings you can tweak on the app, and an affordable eufy rubber brush head you can swap out to for very effective vacuuming results on your carpets.

It's usually half the price of its newer and flashier sister (the S1 pro) but delivers the majority of the bells and whistles, including self emptying and mop drying, great collision avoidance as well as being an easy-to-unblock-and-care-for robot vacuum. With its small footprint in the home and excellent mapping skills, it deserves a spot as one of our best robot vacuums.

And right now, there are Black Friday Deals for the best robot vacuums up for grabs with an extra $250 off this one in particular, making this a brilliant time to upgrade your cleaning game. You can shop these deals easily on my quick links, below:

• Up to $250 off the eufy X10 Pro Omni at Amazon
• Up to $250 off eufy X10 Pro Omni at Best Buy

The eufy X10 Pro Omni robot vacuum and mop is a brilliant buy overall

Setting up the eufy X10 Pro Omni robot vacuum and mop

The eufy X10 Pro Omni robot vacuum comes with a self-emptying docking station, electrical cord, and ramp. It doesn’t use any mopping fluid as standard, or come with spare brushrolls or mop heads, unlike its newer sister the eufy Omni S1 Pro, which I also reviewed and loved.

This X10 Pro Omni was an easy setup, going from box to charging in under 10 minutes. This was largely thanks to its large, visual start-up diagrams sheet, which came doubled up on a part of the cardboard box to save on paper, a nice touch that's better for the environment than separate cardboard or booklet.

Only one step was unclear so I used the QR code on it to read the expanded instructions online. The blue things it tells you to remove in step five, by the way, are foam squares to protect the device’s various ports and tech in transit.

Then we were off. It arrived with 1% charge and took a couple of hours to get to 45%. It needs at least 30% to map and get going on its maiden clean.

I tested the eufy X10 Pro Omni on the top floor of my home to see how good its anti-cliff technology really is, and watched as it impressively did what I can only describe as an abrupt, powerful, emergency stop at the top of the stairs during mapping to avoid a long tumble down. It automatically allocated the area a ‘no-go zone’ (something you can also do for it manually on the app) for its future reference.

Mapping 500 square feet took around 15 minutes and was accurate, identifying furniture and noting it on the map over time as well. The eufy app is excellent, allowing you to connect it to an unlimited number of its robots in your home and edit the map. As I already had another eufy robot vacuum, the Omni S1 Pro, the WiFi on the app connected automatically, putting my new X10 Omni Pro robot vacuum on the same network as its sister technology, downstairs.

For anyone loading the app for the first time for setup, WiFi setup is easy. Just select your network and pop in your network password. If your house is particularly large, you might need to set it up near your router as weaker WiFi signals can delay the app.

Vacuuming on carpet with the eufy X10 Pro Omni robot vacuum and mop

On its maiden voyage on my mostly carpeted, rug-free top floor, the brush roll head was wrapped with hair within the first 10 mins. I only realized as it encountered a blockage that I cleared (a beaded necklace in my daughter’s room) so I spotted it when I turned it upside down.

This is where the eufy Robot Vacuum Omni S1 Pro, the flagship model I previously tested, has an immediate and clear edge on this X10 Pro Omni, its older sister. Whilst the S1 Pro has a rubber brush roll, free from bristles and does not trap any hair, and two spinning arms at the front, helping catch any and all debris in its path, this one only has the spinning arm on one side and a rubber brush head with added bristles that makes it a hair-wrapping magnet.

I have two cats that shed, long hair myself and a daughter who brushes not only her long hair all over our home, but her Barbie and dolls’ hair too. This model is touted for being great for pet hair and I didn’t actually see any in the brush roll so the powerful suction tech does work brilliantly for pet hair.

Most robot vacuums have between 2000-13,000 Pa suction power so this one, at 8,000 Pa is on the more powerful end. However the longer human hair did get caught.

After its third vacuum, the brush roll was wrapped in hair and I removed the brush roll from its housing and with a pair of hair scissors, manually worked to get rid of it all. Yuck.

This is one thing I hate about even the best vacuums, be it best cordless, robot or otherwise. It took me a couple of snips to remove the hair from the length of the brushroll, however it took a further 10 mins of careful and precise snipping and pulling to get the hair untangled and free of the metal ends fixtures.

Engineers at eufy told me there is a mechanism in the base station that reverse-rolls the brushroll to pick off and suction up any hair at the end of every vacuum cycle. However, I didn't find this very effective.

The good news is, you can buy the bristle-free rubber brushroll from eufy at $19.99 to enjoy the same truly hair-wrapping-free vacuuming power as the S1 Pro. I was sent one to test and there was no more hair wrapping during vacuuming. Hurrah!

With the Omni robot vacuum’s cleaning intensity and suction speed set to Standard, it left a bit to be desired, as there was visible debris it did not pick up from the carpets, probably due to the trapped and wrapped hair on the bristles. It was stark enough for my husband to ask when I was going to set the robot vacuum on its first cycle – I already had and he didn’t realize because of the debris.

On following cleans, it picked up bigger debris but struggled on the smaller stuff in Standard mode. It also caught pet hair and fluff or other soft debris on the mops during vacuuming and either dragged them around, or dumped them somewhere along the way. It is supposed to lift up by 12mm to prevent this happening, but I noticed it only happened on its maiden clean. I have put this down to there likely being a good amount of pet hair around, and dust in places we don’t vacuum daily, such as under sideboards and my daughter’s bed.

Still, overall, the vacuum’s effectiveness on carpet in Standard mode left a lot to be desired. Whilst overall, the upstairs floor of my home looked tidier for the vacuum clean, on closer inspection it was clear it needed more work. This is despite the vacuum returning to base to empty itself half way through the clean so clearly it was picking up a lot of stuff.

However, the great news is when I tested this robot vacuum on Turbo suction mode and Deep Clean with zero hair on the rubber brushroll, there was an enormous leap in performance, leaving no loose debris on carpet. There was no cause for me to get my Miele canister vacuum out to finish the job.

Since realizing this, I now only use the turbo and deep clean settings for vacuuming carpets with the eufy X10 Pro Omni.

Noise levels of the eufy X10 Pro Omni robot vacuum and mop

I did find this model quieter than the S1 Pro. Around 50-55 dB (a quiet conversation) rather than 60-70+ dB (conversation in a restaurant). The eufy Omni Pro X10 robot is still comfortable and fine to converse over, even with the vacuum a few feet away. I was also able to work at my desk without it being intrusive. The video below, and the picture above shows it vacuuming in my study, where I am filming and photographing it from my desk.

With the S1 Pro, which could go up over 70 dB when vacuuming, I found it was harder to watch TV or have a conversation, even whilst it was on quiet mode.

During mopping, mop cleaning, and mop drying there is very little, if any noise. As the unit is set up in my primary bedroom, I was able to fall asleep with the mop drying going on. It can be set to take two, three or four hours to dry, FYI.

Vacuuming on hard floors with the eufy X10 Pro Omni robot vacuum and mop

Where this robot vacuum excels in my view is hard floors. It picked up absolutely everything in its path. Whilst the object collision technology was mostly great, avoiding people, pets, doors, and stairs, it is a little bumpier by nature than the Omni S1 Pro. Still, this X10 Pro vacuum moved easily around and under many items of furniture in our bedrooms.

It only became confused in a couple of areas of my home, where it had to transition from our linoleum en suite bathroom floor to carpeted bedroom floor. I don’t think it was the change in floor type that confused it as it did fine from the carpeted hallway into the linoleum family bathroom. I think it was the splayed white wooden legs of a vanity table immediately to the right, as it entered the bedroom from the bathroom.

It couldn’t fit through them, so it headed back to the bathroom and round and around at least four times till it figured it out and went back to its docking station. It found this space really hard to understand so I marked it as a no go zone on the eufy app (meaning it couldn’t enter underneath the vanity from the side, only the front) and that resolved the issue.

It does a little bit of bumping into baseboards though, which the S1 Pro, the other eufy model I reviewed recently, does not. The S1 Pro has excellent object collision avoidance technology – promising to recognize at least 100 different types of objects even at night.

This eufy Omni Pro X10 robot vacuum has similar tech, yet it also bumped into a couple of areas where there was a reflective surface, such as the chrome on the bottom of my walk in-shower.

In the scheme of what this unit is capable of, that’s not a problem in my view. It has rubber strips on its front and top edge to avoid causing damage or scratching if it does have a little fender bender, and that’s effective. It has not bumped into people or pets in a month of testing, so in real-world terms, no harm done!

I also ran a few tests to help me compare its vacuuming to the flagship eufy Omni S1 Pro:

• Test 1 – Cereal on hard floors: I used a half cup of round cereal. It picked it all up and the few pieces it flicked away instead of suctioning up were still picked up by the end of the vacuum cycle. I did the test on standard and turbo mode with good results on both.
• Test 2 – Cereal on carpet: It performed largely the same as on hard floors, but fared better in turbo mode in picking up on the first round.
• Test 3 – Flour on hard floors: I used a teaspoon of flour and it picked it all up, again on two passes. Flour is a good substitute for dust in vacuum testing, however, it's worth noting in a normal day-to-day situation, that much dust won't accumulate on three square feet.
• Test 4 – Flour on carpet: Having learned my lesson on another other eufy robot testing I did, I used just a teaspoon of flour rather than a cup. It performed fine, picking up 80 per cent on the first pass. I ran a secondary pass to pick up the rest and it managed to do so just fine. This is a setting you can tweak in the app mid cycle if needed.

Mopping with the eufy X10 Pro Omni robot vacuum and mop

I have a messy kid and two cats who love staying out all night and tracking muddy paw prints into my house first thing in the morning.

Regular mopping fared great with this eufy robot, leaving my floors clean and quickly dry. The self-cleaning and mop-drying functions are my favorite features of the mopping system, meaning I do not have to wash, ring out or figure out how to dry the mop heads without them smelling like damp, wet dog.

I ran some other measured tests too. As my cats' paws are generally dry by the time they get upstairs, I brought mud, mixed with water, in from the back yard and spread 100 ml of it on the bathroom linoleum. The mop tackled my proxy-wet-and-muddy-paw-prints with ease on the first pass.

The manufacturer notes not to let the machine mop up excessive amounts of liquid so I tested it with just 100 ml of ketchup and milky coffee on linoleum, which it picked up without issue in one round of mopping on standard mode.

However, as the eufy X10 Pro Omni robot does not come with a cleaning solution, and doesn't have eufy's awesome Eco-Clean Ozone (a built-in ozone generator in the station's clean water tank that creates ozone to deeply clean surfaces) it didn't smell clean on that first round.

I sent the mop back around for a second load of mopping via the app and here, it cleaned the floor to what looked like an acceptable standard. I could no longer smell any of my test materials in the bathroom, the floor looked clean and was non-sticky to touch.

However, when I got down to floor level, I could smell ketchup so I used an anti-bacterial multi-purpose cleaning spray, and with some white tissue, wiped the floor in the area the spills had been previous to robot mopping. It brought up what looked and smelled like all three of my cleaning test materials, as you can see pictured below:

I asked eufy's team if it’s safe to add a cleaning solution into the clean water tank and one of their engineers advised, ‘Unlike the S1 Pro, the X10 doesn’t have an automatic cleaning solution dispenser, as it’s designed as a 5-series model focused on essential cleaning needs.

'However, X10 does support adding cleaning solution, but we recommend only using eufy's own RoboVac Hard Floor Cleaning Solution (2 Bottles) at a 1:200 ratio to avoid any risk of corrosion to internal tubing.'

I did not have this solution to test with, but it compatible with the X10 Pro Omni, X8 Pro, X8 Pro SES, X9 Pro, G10 Hybrid. The S1 Pro I tested last month came with eufy cleaning solution included, and I found it to draw black dirt straight out of the hard floors of my home. The Omni Pro X10, without cleaning solution, pulls light gray dirty water, so I do rate their solution.

Whilst this Omni doesn’t have black dirty water on emptying after regular, and not spillage-type mopping, this might also reflect the fact we wear shoes sometimes in the kitchen downstairs, and not upstairs so downstairs is just dirtier overall than my hard floors upstairs.

I noticed on usual day-to-day mopping, which I run cycles for every other day, also lifted dried toothpaste speckles in my daughter’s bathroom, and dusty grime around the back of the loo from a sticky cleaning supply spill I hadn’t noticed. Great stuff, as I can’t get be on my hands and knees to clean it myself due to disability and chronic pain.

I also highly rate the ‘edge-hugging mopping’ function, which adds five minutes to the mopping time for every 100 square feet of cleaning. It cleaned off any dust on the sealant around the edge of the linoleum bathrooms floors, where the floor meets the baseboard and somewhere I have probably neglected… forever.

The two round spinning mop heads retract upwards 12mm during vacuuming and to avoid making the carpet wet or picking up dirty, debris or hair and I like this feature a lot. Nobody needs regular moisture on carpets, which means a risk of mold in the fibers or underlay. I also want clean mop heads to work on my hard floors and having mop heads that touch the carpet on every clean would be, well, gross.

The Omni Pro X10 self cleaned and dried its mop heads after use and I have used it at least every other day during a month of testing in my home and am yet to have any problem with the mop head. Unlike the flagship model, it doesn’t come with spares but you can buy X10 pro mop pad replacements on Amazon for around $22.99, though during Black Friday this is reduced to $15.99 for eight.

It is worth noting that in the base settings, you can choose between 2, 3, and 4 hour auto mop drying. It’s not very noisy at all and I was able to sleep easily while it was going on in my bedroom, which is where our upstairs eufy robot lives. The cord is 57 inches long, the base unit needs 50cm clearance on the front and both sides. I don’t have that clearance space to give it on its left side, but it functions fine, just FYI.

Maintenance and cleaning of the eufy X10 Pro Omni robot vacuum and mop

It's pretty self sufficient and just needs empty of dirty water tank, and topping up of the clean.

The mop self-cleans and dries.

It's easy to remove the brushrolls and free any blockages, or remove hair as I've explained earlier in this review. I highly recommend upgrading to the rubber-only brushroll, and cleaning solutions to notch it closer to the Omni Pro S1 functionality and effectiveness.

My verdict

The eufy X10 Pro Omni is a really solid robot vacuum and mop and shares a lot of great features with its more expensive big sister, the Omni Pro S1.

All the automation advanced technology you get with this one at this price point makes this a 4.5/5 stars for me. It’s comfortable and quiet to have running at all hours of the day and night, and is reliable, doesn’t get stuck under things and won’t be nipping by anyone’s toes. It reduced our canister vacuum use down by 75 per cent, as we still need to do a couple of weekly cleans with our Miele vacuum canister.

The eufy app is also a credit to its developers as it is so intuitive, easy to use and as far as my two months of daily use of it go, glitch free. You can pick a floor, a room, or drop a one-off cleaning zone square onto the map and it’ll head there for a targeted clean. This is especially handy for our house with two cats and a busy kiddo and plenty of debris and spills.

You can also up its suction, or the number of times it cleans an area mid cycle, as well as prompt self-emptying, mop cleaning and drying.

As a person with physical disabilities, chronic pain, and an obsession with cleanliness in my home, I am thrilled to have access to this robot vacuum.

How we test robot vacuums and mops

In order to test this robot vacuum fully, I tried them out in my home for a minimum of one month. This included using all of its functions, all of its levels, over hard floors and carpet.

This included daily vacuuming, and mopping every other day.

I considered its object collision, mapping, app functionality, suction power, debris removal, mopping effectiveness, ease of cleaning and maintenance, the cost of additional parts and replacements or top ups. Throughout my testing, I compared it to the flagship model, the eufy Omni Pro S1 and had a great base of comparison having run the same tests, over the same period, in my home.

I also made sure to measure the amounts of cereal, flour, and liquid spill test materials to be able to make objective comparisons of this robot vacuum's efficacy.

Whilst some of our other experienced vacuum testers also have access to a test center with different types of flooring, I do not live near, but made sure to test on hard floors and carpets. I also have two cats so using the robot vacuum daily was an important test to see how much my canister vacuum use would drop. I saw a reduction of 75 per cent, which in any household is significant, but particularly effective for me as a disabled and mobility-limited person.

To learn more, visit our in-depth guide on how we test vacuums. Our vacuum jargon-busting guide is also thorough and helpful in figuring out the tech-y words manufacturers often use in their product information.

Next, if you've always wanted a Dyson vacuum without the Dyson price tag, delve into our best Dyson alternatives for stellar technology at a fraction of the cost.

As someone with two cats, a messy eight-year-old child, and a personal aversion to crumbs, debris and mess, the canister vacuum in our house usually gets trotted out multiple times a day.

But as a disabled person with limited mobility, chronic pain and a genetic disease that leaves me prone to dislocating my joints during simple activities, vacuuming is physically very hard. That’s why I was thrilled to test the eufy Robot Vacuum Omni S1 Pro with self cleaning, emptying and mop drying.

It has all the bells and whistles you’d expect of a top-of-the-range and pricey robot vacuum to rival the OG Roomba, and I hoped it would be the key to unlocking easier daily cleaning in my home without pain. I'm thrilled to report it really has.

Overall, I can confidently declare it to be one of the best robot vacuums on the market, entirely worthy of its price-tag. I’m really thrilled to have one at my disposal, but my Miele canister vacuum is staying put for large powdery spills.

What I loved about the eufy Robot Vacuum Omni S1 Pro

eufy Robot Vacuum Omni S1 Pro: Specifications

Setting up the eufy Robot Vacuum Omni S1 Pro

It came in a large, moderately heavy box (the vacuum and its docking station alone weighs 13.8 kg, that's 30.4 lbs) with lots of internal packaging to keep it intact in transit. As I have chronic pain, I was unable to lift it out, but my husband did so with ease.

Aside from the base unit and robot vacuum itself, it came with a spare mop roller, one bottle of its non-toxic cleaning fluid for mopping, a UK and US compatible lead for the mains at 56-inches long, full manual and a large nine-step A3 document with simple Quick Start instructions and graphics, which made setup an absolute breeze and not at all overwhelming.

I’ll be honest that I put off starting the review for my first ever robot vacuum as I had no idea what to expect in terms of setup, and needed the time, mental energy and a low-enough-pain-day for it. Thankfully, it was easy and quick, taking 15 minutes overall. If we hadn’t needed pictures or have our excited daughter wanting to get involved, setup would have been complete in under 10 minutes.

Each step was simple, went exactly as described or pictured on the Quick Start sheet, and the vacuum came already loaded with 57% charge. It charged to full within 90 minutes, which it encourages users to allow before mapping or using for the first time.

The accompanying eufy app (available on Apple store and Google Play) was simple to sign up and use, leading to the vacuum precisely mapping our downstairs area, which has linoleum floors in the kitchen-diner and bathrooms, and carpet, plus a medium-pile large area rug in the living room, and jute in the entryway. To add an extra floor, the base unit needs to be taken upstairs to allow the robot to return to base and therefore save the map. Its stair detection tech was superb and it mapped upstairs as easily as it mapped down.

The app also allows you to add multiple vacuums with ease, skipping WiFi password-requesting after the first robot is on board.

It took my eufy Robot Vacuum Omni S1 Pro 7 mins to map our 500 square feet ground floor accurately and about the same upstairs. We lifted everything we could off the floor and out from under our three sofas so even if later on there are things under there, the robot knows the layout of our ground floor well.

It maneuvered easily around the dining table, chairs, and switched between flooring with ease, including the in-built jute portion of our entryway flooring. I also discovered later that if we moved something in our home, such as our cat-scratching post, it would automatically re-map the change and remember it, meaning it didn't skip any areas just because something had moved.

Vacuuming with the eufy Robot Vacuum Omni S1 Pro robot

It navigates within two inches of an obstruction such as a chair leg, then spins around it with next to nothing clearance so its two spinning brush arms can go all around without missing any flooring.

It handled the fluffy 2-inch tassels of our area rug with ease, and usually did not get tangled or stuck. When it did get itself into a pickle, it reversed and went around, or lifted up its front end, untangled itself and carried on. If you ever saw Batteries Not Included, it looks like one of those flying robot-aliens when they lifted their front legs up in excitement. The clearance was impressive.

The two spinning brush arms that sit on the front corners of the vacuum protrude out further than the body of the robot vacuum, meaning it can clear debris right up to walls, baseboard and doors without scratching anything.

When it ran over a phone charger wire, it reversed back to eject it. A few of my daughter's loose Barbie hair got tangled around those arms but with a one-button click and clean system, it was easy to remove the arm and clear the hair. The minimal amount of hair on those front arms did not impede its spin or function.

The only item item that confused the robot in my home was a rogue rubber door stop. It gently nudged it three times then changed course.

During month-long testing, I encountered one blockage in the rubber roller – which by the way is the key to not getting tangled with hair and in my view worth its weight in gold. After it announced the block and paused its vacuum cycle, the app prompted me with step-by-step instructions to fix the blockage. It was easy and resolved the problem.

Afterwards I put it back together and turned it the right way up, and clicked the confirmation on the app screen that I'd cleared the blockage and on went the clean. The red tabs and indicators make it really easy to see which parts you need to push, pull, squeeze or lift to maintain it. That makes it a breeze to clean and maintain – more on this later.

The noise levels were as loud as a vacuum cleaner, according to my Decibel X phone app, but it sounds quieter than my Miele Complete Cat and Dog C3 vacuum, which we've also reviewed, though it turned out to be around 10 decibels louder than its older sister, the eufy X10 Pro Omni robot vacuum and mop at the same suction setting.

The mopping function itself was quiet, but noisy when the dirty water drained at the base station. My decibel app found that to be as loud as a hairdryer (60-80 decibels) but that was short lived, lasting only 20-30 seconds. I tried to avoid this during my husband’s video meetings in the kitchen, but sometimes it cut in to them and he had to mute himself.

I love how accurate the Pro S1's mapping has been, allowing it to move underneath our sofas, which have half a foot of clearance from the floor. The height of this robot is 3.77 inches and that means the minimum clearance it needs is 4 inches.

Its sister, the eufy Omni, for comparison, banged into my highly-reflective chrome shower door, though it largely avoided other obstacles around the home. I don’t have anything that fits this description in our home to test it out. They recommend 4.3 inches clearance for smooth cleaning under furniture, but also say its infrared tech will help it see in the dark if you decide to runs yours overnight. I found it to work just fine in bright light, daytime and dark. The only area it got stuck on was under my TV stand so I marked it a ‘virtual no go zone’ on the map which stopped it getting wedged.

After testing the eufy Robot Vacuum Omni S1 Pro in my home over the course of a month, I found our cadence of use to be vacuuming every evening before my daughter went to bed, and mopping once midweek in the day time, and again on the weekend or when there were spills, such as a bright blue crushed ice drink, below.

The eufy S1 Omni Pro robot vac cleaned it up on a zoned clean, which is when you draw a box on the map via the app, for it to do a targeted vacuum, mop or combination with ease. It left no sticky or blue residue and did not spread it at all. It also was clear to me the robot’s sensors were detecting exactly where spilled liquid was, as it went over that section in close detail till it was all mopped up.

This robot vac has excellent 3D MatrixEye™ Obstacle Avoidance collision sensors and technology and didn't bang into anything over the course of a month of daily cleans. I did, however, find clearing the floor or side tables and toys off the ground made the cycle a little quicker, as the robot didn't have to navigate around lots of stuff it didn't expect to find.

If it was quieter, I wouldn’t bother clearing stuff off the floor to speed it up. I should make it clear that the noise levels are not painful or bothersome. I just can’t watch TV at a normal volume and have to speak louder to my husband or daughter during it.

Test 1: Cereal on kitchen Iinoleum floors

I poured a cup of dry cereal over the kitchen floor and set a zoned clean on Standard suction. It handled the volume of cereal with ease and only bumped a few pieces of the cereal debris forward or to the side, taking in 99% of the debris on its first sweep.

During this test, I realized I had zoned the space inaccurately so after it had completed and returned to base, I set it on a room vacuum for the kitchen only, and it set to work. It grabbed all the extra cereal with ease, and some rogue cat litter. I noticed at a lower volume of cereal, it didn’t ping any of them outwards.

However, when it returned to base and commenced dust collection (it’s self emptying function) it spat out a quarter cup worth of cereal.

It is worth noting I checked the robot and the base unit after the same happened following a flour vacuum test, and noticed there was a lot of cat fur, about two handfuls, blocking the dust tube, as well as a hair band, and a square of plastic. After a month of regular testing, this problem did not occur again no matter what I tried, so I’m putting the self-emptying fails that day down to a rogue blockage.

The plastic I had found in the self-emptying chute was an unusual blockage that the eufy engineering team did not expect to occur. I also checked with the eufy engineering team, who viewed my footage of the fail, pictured above, and they told me the volume of flour I'd used in the test was likely too high, and may have clogged the robot's filters, stopping its usual suction prowess.

Our home tech editor, Dan Fauzi, adds, 'When I test vacuum cleaners, I use flour as a stand in for dust in a test center. The volume of flour used in this test is more than normal and isn't representative of a typical household's level of dust.'

I agree with them both and used less moving forward.

The small square opening of the self-emptying function, which is around 1 inch by 1.5 inches, is a key part of the self-emptying function so it became clear to me why the intense spitting out of vacuumed contents had occurred at the base earlier in testing.

It was obvious too that it also picked up a lot of cat fur from our carpets, though I used my manual floor fur scraper and collected a decent amount following a vacuum on Standard suction.

I have not seen a better result for removing pet hair from my carpets than hand scraping, using a pet hair scraping tool from Amazon, even with my canister pet vacuum. The next time I’m in the market for a vacuum, I’m definitely coughing up for one of the best pet hair vacuum cleaners as even when I had professional cleaners in every other week, they would vacuum the house top to bottom and still scrape a bucket load of fur from the carpets.

I was really pleased to see the robot vacuum’s anti hair-wrap technology, which is a rotating rubber brush rather than a bristled one, stayed entirely fur and hair free. I shed hair and so do my cats, and I am usually cleaning my canister vacuum's floorhead and brushroll mid vacuum (learn more with our vacuum jargon buster).

To compare, after a month of use, there was no hair wrapped around the rubber brushroll, whereas after the first use, its sister robot vacuum the X10 Omni Pro had hair wrapped around half of its rubber and brush combo roller.

Previously, when I had a budget cordless vacuum I purchased for under $200, I had to remove the brushroll every month, and over a trash bag, cut a nauseating amount of human and pet hair out of the brush to get it functioning.

This SI Pro robot vacuum has zero hairs caught on the brushroll or the front arms after a month of use. Impressive.

Test 1.1: Cereal on carpet

I used an eighth of a cup of cereal on the same amount of floor space, this time on carpet, it did a great job clearing it on Standard suction and only pinged a few pieces away from itself, which it collected on its next run. Even when the cereal was right up against the edge of something such as our sideboard, the robot vacuum did not falter or miss.

It became clear this robot vacuum can handle larger debris particularly well, which I would consider more typical of everyday spills than large volumes of flour, especially if you have kids, grand kids or pets running around. Most household vacuum manufacturers warn against using their vacuums on dense dust for the same reason: thick dust can clog filters and bust motors.

It is worth noting that I have never spilled a whole bowl, or cup full of dry cereal or flour anywhere in my home naturally, so my debris tests were on the over-zealous side. In normal every day spills, the eufy Robot Vacuum Omni S1 Pro did brilliantly, never leaving any debris behind.

Having cleared the earlier blockage in the dust-emptying chute, I was interested to see what it did after it returned to base post-cereal-on-carpet vacuuming. It did not empty itself on this occasion, as it needs to vacuum a certain square footage before emptying. I prompted it to on the app instead, and it didn’t kick out any debris. Hurrah!

As an aside, this is a worthy moment to note this appliance’s brilliant battery power. It used just 4 per cent during these tests and returned to 100 percent within 10 minutes. The real-life benefit is if you have a large home, the robot should get through a lot of cleaning before it needs to pause for a battery recharge. It will still periodically return to base to empty its dustbin, dirty water and clean its mop.

Test 2: Flour on hard floors

On Standard suction mode, it tripled the spread of the flour debris field and pushed flour particles over other clear areas of the cleaning zone in the kitchen. This made the kitchen floor slippery and a bit of a hazard.

On Turbo suction mode, it picked up more of the flour debris but on Max Power, it started puffing flour out of it vents creating a real mess on the floor and in the air, so I switched it back to Standard suction mode via the app. Afterwards, there were areas of flour in kitchen zones I hadn’t spread it for testing, that were visible to the eye, as pictured below:

The flour was even pushed by the robot vacuum into the crevices of the linoleum floors, which is designed to look like wood flooring. The robot was unable to suction that up. My Miele canister vacuum for pet hair made light work of the floor and cleared the crevices and floor debris in one pass.

Again, it's worth noting that it's not a usual amount of day-to-day dust spillage, and I haven't had any problems on day-to-day cleaning, which is why I have rated this a 5 star robot vacuum.

Test 2.2: Flour on carpet

Given what I experienced during the first round of tests, I used much less flour on my carpet, around an eighth of a 1/4 cup. The robot did not pick it all up on standard suction mode, or turbo, though the mode turbo fared a bit better. I have asthma and so does my daughter so I didn’t use the max mode again as I didn’t want more flour particles in the air.

After a month of testing I am yet to have to empty the docking station, and the manufacturer says it holds up to 68L of dust. That's a lot...! After this testing experience, I am going to review how much flour we use in our testing as I don’t think this is an entirely representative or helpful medium. If you drop a bag of floor, you’ll likely sweep the majority, then hoover the residue.

Mopping with the eufy Robot Vacuum Omni S1 Pro

Eufy’s mopping mix cartridge, which comes included, just needs to be turned upside down and placed in the tank area as indicated. Then, fill the removable clean water tank, pictured above, with tap water to the max fill line.

The base station comes loaded with Eco-Clean Ozone™ tech that electrolyzes your tap water in the machine for extra cleaning power. This acts as a sanitizer, killing germs on your floors, your machine, and in the mop-cleaning cycle.

The Pro S1 robot vacuum took just 3 minutes to mix and go, mopping the kitchen diner in around 10 mins. I set it to 2 out of 4 for wetness and the mix dried in under 10 minutes, leaving a subtle but slip-free shine and no sensation of stickiness that some chemical cleaners can leave.

It is very lightly fragranced but not enough of a fragrance for even my hound of a nose to pick up on any particular scent. The Eufy multi-surface non-toxic floor cleaner is the only one recommended for use with this system by the manufacturer, and it’s around $22 for a single Eufy hard floor cleaner 600 ml refill on Amazon.

Over the eight mopping cycles I ran on my 250 square feet of hard floors in a month of testing, around half a tank of water was used. It is not possible to tell within that, how much of the mopping mix was used up. I am yet to be prompted to replace the Eufy cleaning solution. When I have real world usage to report, I will update this article.

The mop function is self emptying into the docking station and it has a separate dirty water tank to avoid nasty smells being spread. Similarly, the auto-drying function on the mop roller is fantastic, the noise unobtrusive and excellent, meaning the foam mop brushroll doesn't end up smelling like a wet dog. It still looks pristine.

Using the eufy Robot Vacuum Omni S1 Pro with pets in the house

My two cats were both freaked out and intrigued by our new helper but after some initial heckle-raising, they quickly relaxed and popped up on higher surfaces to watch our robot vacuum, which we have now affectionately nicknamed Euphegenia Doubtfire, at work.

The eufy Robot Vacuum Omni S1 Pro does not overlap its mopping, and made clean, joined up lines with ease, clearing my cats’ muddy paw prints in one pass. It also mopped around their food mats without disturbing their water bowls or knocking their shallow food plates. I forgot to lift these off and away for its maiden mop.

On every mopping cycle, the robot’s sensors were able to distinguish between the jute doormat in the kitchen and hall, the linoleum floor, and the spot where the carpet of the living room meets the hard floors, which is separated by a set of doors we usually have open.

Even when it navigated up to my cats' scratching post, it hopped up – it can rise 1.5 inches – and gave that a good vacuum too.

It tackled sticky, sugary liquid spills with ease, and much like the tests available to view on the manufacturer’s website, blasted through coffee, milk and ketchup stains with zero issue, residue or spread.

The manufacturer does warn not to use the robot on too much liquid as that may damage its motor. This just means much like a normal, manual mop-worthy household spill, use paper towels to collect some of the excess liquid first.

The eufy Robot Vacuum Omni S1 Pro on different surfaces

During vacuuming, it had no problem going over our medium pile area rug, which has a changing design that includes ridged arcs, as well as horizontal and vertical lines. It actually fared impressively better than when I manually vacuum between the ridges with my Miele corded canister pet vacuum as I find it physically difficult to push over the ridges.

Cleaning and maintaining the eufy Robot Vacuum Omni S1 Pro

I'll be honest, that there hasn't been much for me to do. The mop self cleans and dries, the rubber brushroll is anti-hair tangling, and the vacuum and mop both empty into the base tower.

So far, all I've had to deal with was the rogue plastic blockage in the chute. I also emptied the dirty water tank, for my own curiosity, rather than needing to because it was full. I emptied it down the toilet and cleaned the inside with dish soap. Simple.

When the 64-liter dust bag gets full, I'll just have to bin that and replace it with a new bag. Whilst the filters are free for life, you will have to purchase the dust bags and mopping solutions when you run out and generic ones are not advised by the manufacturer.

Having had both a bagless and bagged vacuum before, I’ll take the cost of a vacuum bag any day as I loathe the filth and dust of cleaning a bagless vacuum dust bin.

My verdict eufy Robot Vacuum Omni S1 Pro

I suffer chronic pain from a genetic connective tissue disorder and vacuuming is especially hard on my body, leading to pain flares and injuries such as dislocations. And yet, vacuuming remains one of those household chores that is vital daily in our home because of our two cats and averagely messy eight-year-old child.

When I was in better health, I vacuumed daily, if not twice daily to keep our home clear of dust, crumbs and fur, but my health has declined so much I rarely have days where I feel well enough to even vacuum the living room. I now can no longer put weight on my right foot, which makes any kind of housework extremely challenging.

This robot vacuum is therefore a really welcome and helpful addition, alleviating the daily vacuuming person-power our busy little household needs, and tackling it well. I love the automation, the bells and whistles it has for self emptying and mop drying, and the easy-to-use and very handy app. You can even set daily cycles up so the robot sticks to a particular cleaning schedule that helps you keep on top of cleaning.

I adore also how effective the robot and mop is and am not holding the flour blooper against it. Nothing in my testing found it was unable to handle day-to-day debris, dust and mess (human, pet and otherwise).

After the eufy Robot Vacuum Omni S1 Pro mops finishes, the level of debris collection and cleanliness is akin to when we used to have a professional cleaner come in weekly for a thorough clean. I really love this robot vacuum and it has replaced our need for a canister vacuum downstairs almost entirely.

We will keep our Miele canister vacuum as the robot can’t do the stairs or deal with excessive powdery-filled mess.

If you’re considering investing in a robot vacuum and mopping system to help you keep on top of household cleaning, this one is absolutely worth the spend, especially if you have pets, or like me, are disabled or in pain.

Next, delve into our best Dyson alternatives, fully tested by our experienced home tech team for an awesome but more budget-friendly vacuum for your home.

Gone are the days of tangled cords and cumbersome handles; robot vacuums are the new frontier when it comes to keeping our homes tidy. As evidenced in a recent clip posted to Instagram, Courteney Cox is on board with the trend. The Friends star has partnered with Shark to promote their new PowerDetect vacuum.

Better yet, it might just be one of the best vacuums of 2024. According to the video, the 2-in-1 mop/vacuum is 'built to satisfy a clean freak.' In other words, it's not just clean – it's Monica clean. A level up from its predecessor, the Shark Matrix 2-in-1, the PowerDetect Vacuum is essentially self-sufficient, from the cleaning process to docking. Its NeverTouch design ensures that we, well, never have to touch the item. After each round of cleaning, the vacuum can return to its base and empty debris, refill the water tank, and clean the mopping pad to ensure it is ready for its next use.

It's a natural collaboration for Cox, whose Friends character, Monica Geller, was quite the cleaning fanatic. 'I am often linked with cleanliness based on some of the characters I’ve played, but my dedication to tidiness extends way beyond those roles, and Shark’s new PowerDetect line is an amazing new product for people who love to have a clean home,' Cox states of the robot vacuum in a press release. 'The new Shark PowerDetect line of vacuums have quicky become two of my must-have products.'

When it comes to Shark and Cox, cleanliness is of utmost importance and choosing a vacuum cleaner is a huge part of that. 'With the launch of Shark’s new PowerDetect Robot and Cordless vacuums, we knew we needed to partner with someone that had the same standard and commitment to cleanliness, and who better than Homecourt Creator and Founder, Courteney Cox,' continues SharkNinja CMO, Adam Petrick. 'We’re looking forward to highlighting the incredibly innovative PowerDetect line and its various uses with Courteney in the coming months.'

In terms of appearance, the PowerDetect looks quite similar to the Shark AI Ultra, which Homes & Gardens' contributing reviews editor Camryn Rabideau praised for its design, saying that it's 'one of the best robot vacuums you can buy today.' In her Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 Vacuum and Mop review she explains, 'While other self-emptying vacuums capture dust and debris in a vacuum bag, the Shark actually has a bagless design, saving you from having to buy replacement bags,' she explains in her review.

The PowerDetect measures at 18.8 in L x 14.33 in W, and like other iterations, comes in a sleek, black finish. Since emptying the debris from a vacuum is not the most pleasant of tasks, this one does it automatically every 60 days. Additionally, it is one of the best robot vacuums for pet hair, capturing up to 99.97% of dust, while Odor Neutralizer Technology keeps homes smelling fresh.

As far as upkeep goes, we recommend stocking up on some cleaner refill, which is available to purchase below for $11.99.

Though a single vacuum can't completely transform your cleaning routine, the Shark PowerDetect is the closest thing. It vacuums, it mops, and it even cleans yourself. If you want to be like Monica and Courteney, this is the perfect start.

Congratulations: you've just bought a home with a pool. It looks great, adds a bunch onto the resale value, and is perfect for entertaining family and friends. But before you start doing victory laps, spare a thought for your pool vacuum.

Pool vacuums are a tedious but essential part of pool ownership. Without one, all the chlorine in the world won't save you from dirt collecting up the sides and pooling in the bottom.

There are two options: a manual vacuum - which takes a little elbow grease - or a robot vacuum - which takes a lot of money. I spoke to a pool expert about the benefits and drawbacks of both types to help you choose.

What's the difference between a manual pool vacuum and a robot pool vacuum?

The difference between the two types is fairly straightforward. A manual pool vacuum is a suction pump on the end of a long pole, used to remove algae and dirt from the bottom and sides of a pool.

A robot pool vacuum does the same thing, but automatically. You just have to put it in the pool and it will work by itself, vacuuming the pool for you and saving the labor.

What are the benefits of a manual pool vacuum?

The biggest benefit of a manual pool vacuum is that it's cheap. Robot pool vacuums can cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars, and you can find pool vacuums for under $100.

Another benefit is that you can see your work and easily fix it. A robot vacuum can't 'see' what it's doing, and they often miss patches. With a standard pool vacuum, you have total control over your work and can quickly clean up anything you've missed.

What are the drawbacks of a manual pool vacuum?

Unsurprisingly, manual pool cleaners take a little elbow grease. Depending on your pool size, if you have overhanging trees, and how much chlorine you use in your pool, vacuuming with a manual pool vacuum will probably take half an hour to an hour of cleaning. It's not an everyday task, but you may find that vacuuming your pool by hand once a week is a little effortful and time-consuming when all you really want to do is swim.

Manual pool vacuums also run on the pump for your pool, sucking dirt and algae into your pool filter. In the short term, there's nothing wrong with this, but in the long term, you need to keep an eye on your pool filter and regularly clean it by hand so that everything is working effectively.

What are the benefits of a robot pool vacuum?

Robot vacuums take all the hassle out of vacuuming your pool. They do the work for you, saving you from a tedious chore. Pool expert Rafi Friedman told me that 'Robotic pool vacuums require much less time and effort to use effectively. Once you've set them up and programmed them, your work is done, aside from perhaps plugging it in to charge between uses.'

Unlike some hands-free suction vacuums, robot pool vacuums can clean the bottom, sides, and steps of the pool, saving you from the fiddly work on these surfaces. They're also almost silent, unlike manual vacuums which have to plug into the pump. This means you can run them early in the morning or late at night when you aren't using the pool, so it always looks at its best.

Robot pool vacuums also have their own filters and pumps, so you don't need to play around with the pump pressure on your pool or clean your pool filters after you use it. In fact, they are usually more powerful than a manual vacuum, which often makes for a better clean. All in all, pool expert Rafi told me that 'I definitely recommend robotic vacuums for those who can afford them. They're generally quite reliable, and they take a lot of the work out of pool ownership.'

What are the drawbacks of a robot pool vacuum?

Robot pool vacuums are very expensive, and prices tend to start from $500. It's a lot of money to spend when you could buy a manual vacuum for ten times cheaper and do the job yourself.

While it's great that robot vacuums have their own filters, these are small and quickly fill up with leaves, so it's another chore to empty them, too.

While these pool vacuums are less effortful than a manual pool vacuum, they're not entirely automatic. You still have to place them in the pool and fish them out when they're done, as well as rinse them off and put them in storage.

They also tend to take longer than manual pool cleaners, though if you run them in the evening while you cook or watch TV this shouldn't be an issue.

Pool vacuum FAQs

What is a suction pool vacuum?

Suction pool vacuums are like a hybrid of manual and robot vacuums. Like robot vacuums, they work unattended, but like manual vacuums, they work by using your pool pump to suck up debris. They're a hybrid of the two styles with all the benefits and drawbacks of both. You need to know what you're doing with pool pumps to get one working, but once you do it will clean your pool without you having to intervene.

For more help with your pool vacuum, take a look at our deep dive into why your pool vacuum may not be working.

Robot vacuums are the ultimate 'hands-free' appliance, doing the bulk of your floor care for you while you go about your life, especially when their docks empty and clean the robots for you.

But you still need to look after them. A dirty robot will lose suction power and spread germs across your home, not to mention the inevitable wear and tear on the precious materials.

Even the best robot vacuums require regular maintenance. Read on for how to clean your robot vacuum in six steps.

How to clean a robot vacuum cleaner

We spoke to Elizabeth Shields, operations manager of Super Cleaning Service, on the ins and outs of cleaning a robot vacuum to help keep your cleaning supplies clean and increase the lifespan of your automated appliance.

She begins, 'Each brand has its own way of designing and building its vacuums, and that can affect how you clean and maintain them. For example, iRobot and eufy are easy to use and clean with removable brushes, filters, and dustbins,' she explains.

Punteha van Terheyden, Head of Solved at Homes & Gardens has tested and reviewed several eufy robots, with two still operating daily in her home months later. She says, 'The eufy app, in fact, alerts you when a particular area of a robot or dock needs cleaning, and provides you with pictures and animations showing you the process, making it very easy to complete the cleaning.'

Other brands might not make it as easy to access the different parts, or know what to do, but will make up for it by using designs that are easy to take apart and reassemble or by including special cleaning tools or colorful markers on elements that can be removed.

Elizabeth warns against doing this infrequently, 'If you let dirt and grime build up in your robot vacuum, it can cause problems down the line. So, try to clean it after every few uses to keep it working at its best.'

Many of the best robot vacuums have great apps that will prompt you when cleaning or maintenance is needed.

To deep clean a robot vacuum, you will usually need:

• A trash bag, such as these extra strong bags from Walmart
• A clean, dry microfiber cloth, also at Walmart
• A small pair of scissors. Nail scissors, from Walmart, are usually small enough for the job
• Warm water with a few drops of dish soap, such as Dawn, from Walmart
• A screwdriver set, from Walmart, to remove and reassemble parts easily

1. Power off

Before you start disassembling or trying our cleaning tips, 'power down your robot and unplug it from the charging dock,' says Elizabeth. This simple precaution will help to avoid electrical hazards and accidents.

2. Empty dustbin

We all do this as part of our regular maintenance anyway, but it's important to make sure the vacuum's dustbin is fully empty before cleaning the rest of the robot. Neglecting to do so is one of the most common vacuum cleaner mistakes.

Elizabeth explains, 'You’ll usually find this compartment at the back or underneath your vacuum. When you’re done vacuuming, make it a habit to remove the dustbin and empty the contents into a trash bin.' Being able to skip this step is one of the top reasons why you need a self-emptying vacuum, such as the eufy Omni Pro S1, which we reviewed and awarded 5/5 stars.

Elizabeth continues, 'If you notice that there’s some residue sticking around in there, rinse it with some mild detergent and water. Just make sure it’s dry before you put it back in place.'

Many of today's robot vacuums, like Yeedi S14 Plus, empty themselves into the charging station. These will most likely be empty when you come to clean them, so you might just need a rinse like mentioned above. Remember to empty the station, too, giving the interior a similar dusting with a dry cloth to keep it in good working order.

3. Disassemble and clean parts

To deep clean your robot vacuum, it is best to take it apart, removing the rollers, brushes, and filters according to the manufacturer's instructions (you can often find these manuals online at iRobot, Shark, eufy, Dyson, Roborock, and Proscenic if you have lost the copy that came with your appliance).

Elizabeth advises, 'Then, take your time to inspect them carefully.' This is where you'll find trapped debris and tangled hair. Remove the clogs as carefully as you can using a brush or scissors if needed, trim away hair from the brushes, and be careful not to clip the brushes themselves.

If your robot vacuum doubles up as a mop, now's a good time to clean those parts too. Mopping pads can be washed with mild soap and water, or can be thrown in when doing laundry. As with washing microfiber cloths, avoid using fabric softener when washing these pads to ensure they remain absorbent for fresher floors.

Cleaning filters is usually straightforward, but it will depend on their material. Our guide on cleaning vacuum filters breaks down each type to ensure you don't damage this vital component.

4. Check the wheels and sensors

While you have your robot vacuum upside down, check that the wheels and sensors are not clogged with hair or grease. Before tipping it over, lay down a towel underneath if yours has a mop function to catch any residual water.

The wheels can easily get hair and threads wrapped around the axles, limiting their movement and forcing your vacuum cleaner to work harder, increasing wear and tear. You should be able to pull this away with your fingers, but you may need to cut through with a small pair of scissors or a seam ripper, which is the perfect hair wrap fix.

The sensors can be wiped over with a soft cloth to remove any film that could be hindering your vacuum's cleaning efficiency. Buff it dry to ensure watermarks don't lead to uneven cleaning, avoiding a common counter-productive cleaning practice.

5. Wipe exterior

Before you can reassemble, wipe down the exterior of your robot vacuum with a clean cloth dampened with warm soapy water and wrung out, suggests Elizabeth.

She explains, 'This will get rid of any dirt or residue that might be clinging on. Never use any harsh chemicals or scratchy materials that could damage the finish.'

Don't forget to remove dust from the charging station, too, for a clean home.

Then, to finish, Elizabeth says, 'Put everything back together, ensuring any washed components are fully dry, and reinstall any accessories or attachments that you removed while cleaning.'

With everything physically reset, check your vacuum's control app for any firmware updates for a thoroughly refreshed cleaning tool.

Now you've covered your robot's cleaning needs, learn how to clean your vacuum to update your other equipment.

Robot vacuums are supposed to be a dream come true. Letting a robot take care of this time-consuming household chore is marketed as though you're living in the future. You can head out for a coffee and come home to spotless floors – what's not to love?

Enter Dyson's latest robot, the Dyson 360 Vis Nav. Dyson claims that the Vis Nav has 2x the suction of any other robot vacuum. It’s equipped with intelligent navigation that includes no less than 26 sensors. The brand claims it intelligently prioritizes high dust areas.

However, historically, robots have been Dyson's Achilles' heel. Their robots have never dominated the market in the way their upright and cordless vacuums have, and the robots they have put out have often been far below the standard of iRobot, Roborock, and Shark. It will take a lot for the 360 Vis Nav to end up in our guide to the best robot vacuums, let alone the best vacuum cleaners.

Product specifications

Who will the Dyson 360 Vis Nav suit?

The Dyson 360 Vis Nav will suit anyone with a big budget looking for all the latest robot vacuum tech. But if you want a robot that’ll empty itself or mop floors, this isn’t for you.

It’ll work best for households where it can be scheduled to clean several times a week, to keep on top of that daily dust and dander. But if you’re expecting to ditch your regular vacuum, think again. You’ll still need to vacuum the areas it can’t, and do a deeper clean periodically.

Dyson 360 Vis Nav: Price and availability

You can buy the The Dyson 360 Vis Nav for around $1,199.99 at Dyson, Target, Amazon and Best Buy.

That price puts it above most other robot vacuums on the market. It's no surprise from Dyson (historically one of the most expensive vacuum brands), but the 360 Vis Nav is only their second entry into the world of robot vacuums.

The frontrunner in this market is iRobot Roomba. At the lower end, their models start from around $275 with the Roomba Combo Essential Robot, all the way up to $1,399 with the Roomba Combo j9+ Auto-Fill Robot Vacuum and Mop.

The Roomba Combo j9+ (review here) currently hails at the top of our tested list of the best robot vacuums and it's also able to mop and empty itself. Other iRobots we've tested, like the Roomba s9+ and the Roomba j7+, are both available for less than the Dyson 360 Vis Nav, while offering some of the best cleaning performance and home mapping we've seen from a robot.

Dyson 360 Vis Nav: Unboxing and setting up

As you’d expect from a high-end brand, the Dyson robot vacuum arrived impeccably packaged, although the truly eco-conscious won't appreciate the protective molded plastic in the box. Nevertheless, removing it and assembling the charging station was swift.

There were two parts to click together and a charging cable to plug in, and then I simply needed to select a convenient spot to place the charging dock. It needs about 20 inches of free space on either side so that the robot can easily navigate back to its starting position.

While the robot charged up, I downloaded the free MyDyson app, which is crucial to get the most out of the robot vacuum and access all its features. Connecting the robot to the app was a seamless process and took just a few minutes. It’s definitely the easiest robot vacuum I’ve set up in several years of reviewing them.

Once connected to the app, you can easily program a cleaning schedule, so that the robot will clean on certain days and times. You can also choose between the four power levels which are auto, quick, quiet, and boost.

The final task in setting up the robot is getting it to map your home. You can start mapping via the app, and during the process, the robot doesn’t vacuum, it concentrates on creating a map of your rooms including any obstacles like furniture. If you intend to use it in a split-level home, you’ll need to create a new map for each level.

I found the app intuitive to use and once the maps are set up, you can customize your floor plan by splitting it into rooms. Then, creating zones and no-go areas is straightforward. You can even set it to vacuum at a different suction level in each room.

Dyson has always been a floor-cleaning brand that focuses not only on performance, but also on the visual design of its appliances, and this Dyson robot is no different. The bright blue-purple color is a world away from the sea of black-and-white robot vacuums currently flooding the market. It also makes this robot easy to spot as it goes about its business. However, it will always need to be on display, so the vibrant color so it won’t be for everyone.

Dyson 360 Vis Nav: Design and features

The 360 Vis Nav is a more basic cleaner than other robots in the market. There's no cleaning station, no mop, no fancy camera to see what's happening in your house like with the recently announced Switchbot K20+ Pro.

It simply vacuums – and Dyson calls it 'the world's most powerful robot vacuum.' Our home tech editor Dan Fauzi visited the Dyson labs once and they based this label off rigorous, standardized tests and found that the 360 Vis Nav does have the highest suction of any robot vacuum at the time it was released.

This doesn't mean it's the most effective cleaner however. Other robot vacuums can clean more thoroughly thanks to brushroll design, floor mapping and how it decides to tackle each section of the floor.

The robot vacuum has a runtime of up to 65 minutes before going back to the charging dock. And like most robot vacuums, it has 360-degree vision for navigation and it's controllable through an app, in this case the MyDyson app.

Test 1: Carpet

To find out if the 360 Vis Nav is a great vacuum for carpet, I used our classic test method of scattering oats and crumbs around the carpet to see how well it could pick them up. Having read the marketing info from Dyson, I was hopeful that this might be the first robot vacuum I’ve reviewed that efficiently cleans the edges of a room. But sadly, it seems even Dyson can’t engineer a robot that’s as good as a human using a vacuum.

I found that my carpets were generally left looking clean and refreshed, with all visible debris removed. However, I scattered some oats and crumbs along the baseboards to test edge cleaning, and the spill was only about 70% removed when vacuuming the room on auto mode, which is in line with the results on hard floors.

Having said that, I could see from the dust bin that while it didn’t necessarily remove all the surface debris I purposely scattered at the very edges, it did remove other deeper debris and fluff that I couldn't see.

Test 2: Hard floors

To find out if the 360 Vis Nav is a strong vacuum for hardwood floors, I scattered a mix of flour and larger crumbs like oats onto hard floors and a rug. I specifically made some of the spillages in corners, along baseboards, and around chair legs to see how well it collected the mess from different spots around the room.

At times it avoided furniture with a kind of swift maneuverability that I’ve rarely seen from other robot vacuums. When it did bump into something, it was more a light touch than a knock.

However, this wasn’t always the case, as a low profile lamp base proved more difficult for it to detect and avoid. And on one occasion it mounted the lamp base and spent a while figuring out how to maneuver away. That said, in general, it didn’t repeatedly and aggressively bash into all the furniture like many robot vacuums I’ve reviewed. I also found that it maneuvered with ease between cleaning wood floors and cleaning a thick pile area rug.

It doesn’t clean the room in systematic rows like my usual robot, and I must admit this seemingly random pattern made me dubious about its ability to thoroughly clean every inch of the floor. However, at the end of cleaning, a quick check of its activity in the app, shows a map of my floor plan, that details the level of dust it encountered across the entire floor space, giving me faith that it had covered the whole area.

Once it had cleaned the room and returned to the charger, I checked the results. The debris along the baseboard and into the corner of the room hadn’t been 100% removed, probably more like 80% in some cases. And around the leg of a sofa, it was only partially collected. Even a light sprinkle of crumbs wasn’t fully removed from the fibers of a long pile rug. So, I had to grab another vacuum and do it myself.

What is it like to use?

It avoided falling down any steps during the several times I used it upstairs. What’s more, it didn’t once get itself stuck anywhere or wedged into a tight spot and require rescuing, which is rare for a robot vacuum.

When vacuuming in auto mode, I could hear the suction level automatically increase to boost mode as it reached the debris. However it’s worth noting that this higher suction level also increases the fan speed and can, at times, blow some of the debris around the floor, similar to what we've seen in other robots like the Eufy S1 Pro Omni.

To double check this result and give it the best possible chance, I set up this test again and selected ‘boost’ mode for maximum possible suction. The results were similar though. And shockingly, this high suction mode drained the battery within just 12 minutes, so it had to return to the charger.

Each charge took approximately 90-100 minutes before it regained enough juice to carry on the clean. It returned to the charger twice when cleaning my 18 x 16 ft living room on boost mode. So all in all, the total clean took a desperately long 3 hours 42 minutes, and that's just for the living room, begging the question if a robot vacuum is really worth it at this price.

Thankfully, if you’re in a hurry and need the floors spruced up quickly before guests visit, there is a ‘quick’ mode and this took just 14 minutes to clean the same room. Although it did seem to avoid cleaning all the way up to the baseboards during this speedy clean.

On average it spent 30-37 minutes cleaning the room on auto mode. And from my experience with this vacuum, auto mode seems to be your best option. It’s the best compromise between prolonging battery life and achieving a decent clean.

The vacuuming time you’ll get when in auto mode will vary depending on how much dirt it encounters on your floors. Dyson says the Vis Nav can vacuum for up to 40 minutes in auto mode, which considering it took 30-37 minutes just to clean a 290 square foot room in my house, still means it’ll have to return to the charger several times to fully clean the main floor of an average home.

Having said that, I timed it on floors that were already pretty clean and it managed to vacuum for almost 60 minutes on auto before it returned to the charger. And on this occasion it only spent 45 minutes charging, before continuing the clean.

My home is more split level than most, with small steps between various rooms. So I had to make a couple of different maps for the different areas, and this proved pretty straightforward. The first few times I took it to another floor I also took the charging dock too. However, when I took it upstairs and left the charger downstairs, I discovered that it’s not possible to initiate vacuuming via the app unless the robot is on the charging dock.

This means that if you don't take the dock to other floors of your home along with the vacuum, then you can only start cleaning via the button on the top of the vacuum. And you therefore don’t get to make use of mapping functions, such as restricted areas, or different suction levels for different rooms.

Cleaning and maintenance

The circular dust bin detaches at the press of a button and you can carry it to the trash with the pop up handle. Then by simply sliding the switch on top of the handle, it automatically ejects all the dust and debris. It can also be wiped with a damp cloth should it need a more thorough clean.

Cleaning your robot vacuum cleaner becomes an easier task if the parts are easy to disassemble. The washable filter should, according to Dyson, be washed once a month. Pressing the top of the filter unit causes it to pop up. Then it’s just a case of lifting it out and removing the filter. Sensors also need a wipe on a monthly basis so it makes sense to do both jobs at the same time.

The brushbar is equally easy to remove and is washable. Though you’ll only need to do this if and when you think it needs a wash. Thankfully, my long hairs didn’t get wrapped around the brushbar, which saved me the job of cutting them away. All in all cleaning and maintenance is straightforward, with all parts easily accessible.

How does it compare?

If you’re not ready to put your trust in a robot and you’d prefer to do the cleaning yourself, I’d highly recommend taking a look at the Dyson Gen5detect. Not only is it cheaper than the Dyson 360 Vis Nav, but unlike a robot vacuum it can be used all around your home, from floors and upholstery to shelves and dog beds.

Alternatively, if you’re looking for additional functionality, the iRobot Roomba Combo J9+ has plenty to offer. Not only does it vacuum, but it also mops and empties its own dust bin. What’s more, the wood-topped charging base can even be used as a side table. So fans of a more understated design will probably prefer it to the more garish, colorful Dyson.

Should you buy the Dyson 360 Vis Nav?

Okay, here’s the thing, the Dyson 360 Vis Nav isn’t perfect, but no robot vacuum is. We’re a long way off these little independent floor cleaners matching up to a full size vacuum. But in comparison to other robot vacuums, it’s up there amongst the best for daily cleans.

I particularly like the user friendly app and easy setup. And if you schedule it to clean frequently, it’ll do a great job at tackling daily dust and dander. It’s just not the best option if you spill a box of oats or need to do a deeper clean.

It’s most efficient when used in auto mode, boost mode drains the battery far too quickly. And despite Dyson’s claims about its impressive edge cleaning, I was underwhelmed. That said, it’s a decent robot. Whether the price tag is justifiable though, will depend on your budget.

How did the Dyson 360 Vis Nav fare over time?

I continued to use the Dyson 360 Vis Nav for around six months after I finished testing. But in the end I reverted back to my older Eufy model, the Eufy X8 Pro. I found the eufy model was less temperamental, gave a more efficient and thorough clean, and on the whole was more user friendly.

The Dyson was a bit too clunky, bashing into some pieces of furniture more than I would like. It took longer to clean, too.

How I tested the Dyson 360 Vis Nav

I tested the Dyson 360 Vis Nav in my own home for two weeks. My home has a mix of carpets, area rugs and hardwood floors so I was able to find out how effectively the robot vacuum is able to clean different surfaces.

To gain a fuller understanding of the robot's abilities, I scatted oats, flour and crumbs across the house in varying places, like near furniture and baseboards, to see how it handles tighter spaces and edge cleaning.

It might seem almost impossible to mess up vacuuming your home, but there are some common vacuum cleaner mistakes we might be making regularly that prevent us from having a truly clean home. 

Even the best vacuum cleaners and cordless vacuums need to be used correctly to pick up every speck of dust and debris from our floors, and using them incorrectly could even be making our spaces dirtier, experts warn.

This is what you need to be aware of when it comes to your vacuum, and how to vacuum correctly every time.

Vacuum cleaner mistakes

Using a vacuum correctly is the simplest and best cleaning tip any expert can offer – here’s how to avoid the most common mistakes, and get the most from your vacuum cleaner.

1. Not cleaning your vacuum

Cleaning your cleaning tools is one of the most overlooked home chores but not doing so could result in a far dirtier home than you realize, begins Diana Ciechorska, professional cleaner and general manager at Park Slope Cleaning. 

‘Lots of folks overlook a simple yet vital task – keeping their vacuum in good shape. Over time, this can make the vacuum less effective,’ she explains.

‘Make it a routine to clean your vacuum. When the dustbin is full or the bag is packed, clear it out. Those filter things? Clean or change them like the manual says. And don't forget to check for anything blocking the hoses or brush rolls. Regular cleaning means your vacuum keeps doing its job well.’

Diana reminds us to read the manual when it comes to general maintenance. ‘All the best tips and tricks are in there,’ she says. 

2. Not taking time to vacuum properly

‘Vacuuming properly’ involves a few steps, from knowing how often to vacuum to understanding what not to vacuum. Most importantly, however, it is about taking your time to vacuum and not rushing the job, says Vanessa Bossart, CEO and founder of Sparking Clean Pro. 

For instance, some people may run the vacuum quickly over every inch of their space and call it a day, or mistakenly push the vacuum forward quickly and drag it back slowly. Vanessa recommends maintaining a slow but steady pace both ways to give your appliance the best chance of picking up all the debris – especially when vacuuming and cleaning carpets.  

3. Using the wrong type of vacuum

'Vacuum cleaners all have the same purpose, but it’s important to choose one that suits the floors in your home, as using an overly powerful vacuum can sometimes do more bad than good,’ shares James Higgins, manager and flooring specialist at Online Carpets. 

‘For instance, upright vacuums are best for carpets, as they are typically more powerful than cordless vacuums. If you have thicker carpets or rugs, it’s important to use a vacuum that is best  suited for this type of surface, and allows you to pick up all dirt and debris within the thick fibers.’

You might also want to consider your lifestyle when picking a vacuum. The best vacuum for pet hair might be better suited to a home with cats and/or dogs, while a good robot vacuum might be a good additional cleaning tool if you are constantly trying to clean when you’re too busy.  

4. Vacuuming large or sharp debris

A vacuum is designed to pick up dust and debris so it is common to assume you don't need to pick anything up before you start cleaning.

David Bringer, CEO and appliance expert at Bringer Appliance Repair suggests that not doing some damage control before you start vacuuming could damage your machine and even scratch your floors: 

‘Vacuuming over hard objects like rocks might seem harmless, but it can damage your vacuum cleaner. Avoid this by picking up visible, hard objects before vacuuming. If you have hardwood floors, consider sweeping before vacuuming to prevent potential damage to your vacuum – even if you have the best vacuum for hardwood. 

‘It only takes one encounter with a hard object to send your vacuum for repairs or replacement.’

5. Not emptying the vacuum often enough

Vacuums all have a max fill line on the side of the canisters, and almost all of us are guilty of ignoring it at least every once in a while. This could be detrimental to cleaning your home, however, James King, cleaning expert and operations manager at Deluxe Maid, warns:

‘When the bag gets too full, its suction power decreases as there is less room for air to flow through,’ he explains. ‘The vacuum doesn't pick up dirt as well, and it may even overheat, risking durability and shortening its lifespan. 

‘The fix is simple here. Embrace the habit of checking and emptying the bag or canister when it's about halfway full. You can also keep spare bags or a clean canister ready for replacement.’

Doing so regularly will also stop a vacuum cleaner from smelling, too.  

6. Not using the right attachments for each job

Vacuums usually come with a wide variety of attachments and embellishments to help you reach every nook and cranny in your home – be it your stairs, under your furniture, or vacuuming upholstery. 

Millie Hurst, Solved section editor at Homes & Gardens reminds us that these attachments wouldn't come with the vacuum if they weren’t necessary:

‘The different attachments and vacuum heads are all designed to prevent you from damaging surfaces when removing dust in your home. The upholstery attachment, for instance, won't be as harsh on your sofa as the regular floor head, where the beater brush may pill fabric or scratch leather. 

‘Remember to swap them out whenever you start a new task,’ she says. ‘The manual will inform you as to what’s what if you are not sure.’ 

FAQs

No matter how well you look after your vacuum and avoid these common vacuum cleaner mistakes, your vacuum will eventually reach the end of its life. Signs it’s time to replace a vacuum include the suction not being as strong as it used to be despite regular cleaning, batteries not charging or lasting, overheating, or components failing and being difficult to replace. Continuing to use a vacuum like this is a mistake in and of itself, and it might be time to consider a replacement. 

If you've been wanting a robot vacuum to take some chore time off your hands, you might be curious whether a Roomba, the brand that's almost synonymous with the robot, is right for you.

I've spent around 1000 hours testing 30 vacuums over the past five years, and iRobot Roomba is easily one of my favorites in the robot market. They make some of the best robot vacuums, particularly the best robot vacuums for pet hair that money can buy, but this is reflected in the price tag.

I was given a sample of the iRobot Roomba Combo j9+ back in November of 2023 and I've been fortunate enough to keep hold of it since then for daily use. These are the results of my rigorous, lengthy testing and everything I've learned during this time.

iRobot Roomba Combo j9+: Specifications

Who would it suit?

This robot suits those in small homes and apartments with mixed flooring. It does a largely great job on all floor types and types of dirt, but it's very expensive, so it won't be suitable if you're on a smaller budget.

Setting up the iRobot Roomba Combo j9+

Setting up this robot was the best unboxing experience I've had with a robot vacuum, but it still took a while before it was running. It was a little tricky to wrangle the box upstairs to my apartment, but that's also typical for a vacuum of this size.

Once upstairs, I cleared a space for it and got to work. One of my criticisms is that you need a lot of clearance for the clean base. It needs four feet to the left and one foot to the right. It makes sense – the robot needs to be able to see where it's going – but it's a little frustrating in smaller homes. There's a corner of my living room that's the perfect size for this vacuum, but with the way the walls line up I couldn't place the clean base there. Instead, it's slightly awkwardly in the middle of the wall. It's something that's worth considering when choosing your robot vacuum cleaner; if you don't have this space, it won't work to its full effect.

Once everything was in place, set up took me about an hour. Aside from attaching the mop and putting the robot in its base, there's actually very little to do. The only big thing was filling up the water tank for the mop. But while the instructions were clear, most of my time was taken up with setting up the app.

Again, this is very simple, but there's a lot of hoops to jump through as you have to sign up for an iRobot account. It feels like a way to get my email rather than having any particular benefits, and a decent chunk of the app is dedicated to selling other iRobot products, which is frustrating.

The j9+ then ran a cleaning and mapping run for 39 minutes. The map didn't look quite right, so I then sent it out on another mapping run for 9 minutes. All in all, very easy to set up, if a little long.

What is the iRobot Roomba Combo j9+ like to use?

Over the many months I've been using this vacuum, I've found that the dirt detective function is really useful. It can tell which parts of your home pick up the most dirt; in our case, the entryway is dirtiest. The robot will then give that area special attention, and the map will tell you how long since it's been cleaned and how dirty it's likely to be. You can contrast that with the spots over by the window where there's rarely dirt, or the hallways, which doesn't need as much cleaning.

I've also noticed the robot becoming more and more efficient. The vacuuming runs are less and less erratic. At the start of using it, I found the robot moved in what seemed like random paths as it vacuumed. Now it takes simple, back-and-forth straight lines across the room. That's on top of the keep out-zones, which stop the robot going into areas it shouldn't. I have one for directly under the couch, where there's an extension lead that might gum up the brushroll (see our vacuum jargon buster for any new terms), and on the past weekend I set one for the Christmas tree. The robot will totally avoid these and it's excellent peace of mind.

The iRobot app is fantastic. It's a little slow sometimes and a little glitchy, but largely easy to use. The map is clear and accurate and it's a simple, user-friendly interface that anyone can use. You don't need to be a tech genius for this to work.

Sitting at my desk, it's fairly quiet; it averages at about 50db, which is pretty good for a vacuum, but you won't be able to listen to music or watch TV as it runs. Compared to any of the best upright vacuums or even the best cordless vacuums, this is nothing.

However, by far the worst feature of this vacuum is the noise of the clean base as it empties the vacuum. The automatic dirt removal is fantastic, but when it sucks out the waste the noise gets up to 80db. I promise I'm not exaggerating: it sounds like a jet is taking off. It's loud enough that you can't hear yourself talk under it, and because the base is on the floor and against a shared wall, I'm certain it's disturbing the neighbors. This is comparable to even the latest robot vacuums such as the eufy ones, which all have loud vacuum emptying functions. They don't last long though, around 20 seconds or so.

Test 1: Cereal

For its performance on carpet, I'd say it's 98% of the way there, so for a robot, it could certainly be considered one of the best vacuums for carpet. It's largely effective and the apartment always looks clean after it's vacuumed.

I set it running while writing this review (just in case I missed anything during testing) and I watched it knock cereal into its path and it easily pick it up. Not only was it good cleaning carpet, but it was good on an area rug, too. We have a rug that sheds a lot and this does an excellent job of getting rid of all the fluff.

However, like other robot vacuums, there is almost always something big that it misses; a scrap of a leaf, or a hair, or a crumb. It leaves behind the kind of dirt you would immediately spot and grab if you were vacuuming manually.

In this case, a couple pieces of cereal in the kitchen and the living room, as well as some paper from a notebook. To be fair, it was skirting close to a keep-out zone, but you'd still expect the vacuum to clean right to that edge.

The overall performance is fantastic and it gets most of the dirt, but when you look down and see a big a piece of lint, it doesn't feel that clean. If I know I have people coming over, I still manually vacuum the carpet with a cheap cordless. This is one of the reasons I ask whether robot vacuums are worth it, as I can always do a quicker job myself. But as robots go, it does an excellent job, even if not perfect.

Test 2: Flour and sugar

We test with flour and sugar on carpet and hard floors as a proxy for dust and dead skin.

This robot easily took care of it, clearing a path straight through the sugar and flour, which was most visible on the hard floor in the kitchen. Unlike other robots, none of the dirt stuck to the wheels, so it wasn't tracked through the rest of the house.

There's more on this below but it was especially great that this vacuum could mop the floors properly afterwards, too, as there was no left-over stickiness to the floor. It passed this test with flying colors.

Test 3: Hair

This vacuum is one of the best vacuums for pet hair I've ever tested for hair wrap. My partner has long hair and our usual cordless vacuum has pretty poor hair wrap, so I'm always cutting it out of the rollers. The Combo j9+, however, has two bumpy, silicone rollers that never gum up with hair. It always pulls hair out of the carpet and does almost as good a job as the Eufy S1 Pro Omni, our current best robot vacuum for pet hair.

Test 4: The mop

This robot also has its own mop. I love this function, as unlike other robot vacuums you don't need to swap any attachments. The mop sits on the back of the robot and automatically flips out for cleaning.

It's one of the most ingenious designs I've seen, as one of my biggest complaints with other models is that you have to swap out the vacuum attachments and fill up the water tank yourself, which defeats the point of a robot mop. Another great design point is that on other robots, the mop sits underneath the vacuum at all times, which then drags dirty water around the house. On this vacuum, it will never drag across the carpet, so everything is always dry.

It definitely makes a huge difference when this mops. I know I should do it more often but I can rarely be bothered to mop the hardwood floor in my kitchen. This robot does it every time it runs and the floor is shinier and cleaner for it. I also love that this vacuum can scrub. Unlike other robot mops, it can scrub at particularly hard dirt and areas it knows gets a lot of traffic. That means hard food stains come up pretty easily.

However, it struggles with getting into corners, which is a little frustrating, and here is where I found the biggest issue with its shape. To be fair to iRobot, that's not something that could be easily fixed, but it struggles to clean around our round trash can. A circle bumping into a circle means that is rarely gets up those small food stains that accumulate as you throw out waste.

iRobot Roomba Combo j9+: Cleaning, storage, and maintenance

Cleaning this robot vacuum is very simple. After more than a month of using this vacuum I haven't had to empty it or refill the water tank once. All the accessories, like a spare mop and the instructions, fit into the handy door in the clean base, so everything is compact and neat. You have to remember to dust the clean base and vacuum occasionally, but that's no different from having a coffee table.

How does the iRobot Roomba Combo j9+ compare?

For a long time, this was the best robot vacuum we'd tested. The suction is as good or better than most we've tested and two features really stand out. The clean base isn't an innovation, but disguising it – or at least attempting to disguise it – as a low coffee table makes this a much more attractive appliance than most.

The other is the automatic mopping. For example, take the Eufy X8 Pro. It's a combo vacuum and mop just like this. However, on the Eufy you have to swap out the mops yourself, and even wet the floor before hand, at which point you might as well do the job yourself.

But when you compare Roomba vs Shark, you can find these same appealing features in Shark's latest models, like the Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1. They also sell for much less than the Combo j9+, even if the cleaning performance isn't quite as good.

And until we finish testing the iRobot Roomba Combo 10 Max, this is better than all other Roomba products, too. It's less aggressive than the Roomba s9+, which we found did a great job cleaning, but often bumped into furniture, and a better job than its predecessor, the Roomba j7+.

Should you buy the iRobot Roomba Combo j9+?

If you can afford it, the Roomba Combo j9+ really is an excellent robot vacuum. Having it perform regular runs of my apartment means my floors never really get that dirty, even if the robot isn't able to pick up every last bit of mess. It really shines in its mopping abilities too, so if your home has lot of hard floors, this is one for you.

I've continued using the Combo j9+ for over a year since I first tested it, and while it still cleans relatively well, I've noticed as the filter clogs up, it's less and less able to pick up debris.

This points to the biggest issue: having to spend money on iRobot parts. You need to replace the bags ($19.99 for 3 at iRobot) and the filter ($34.99 for 3 at iRobot). It isn't that expensive but it's annoying admin to have to buy new parts for your vacuum every so often – most cordless vacuums have hand-wash filters, so you don't have any ongoing costs.

The bonus however of a bagged vacuum is you do not have to deal with any dirt, pet hair or dander directly as it is all sealed up in the bag. If you have allergies, this can be particularly useful and worth the intermittent cost of bags.

All in all, the Roomba Combo j9+ is worth every cent if you can afford it. But if you're willing to part with that much cash, it's worth considering spending a little extra on some of the robots recommended in the section above.

Even with a few snags, the iRobot Roomba Combo j9+ is still one of the best vacuum cleaners we've ever tested.

If you're someone who likes to treasure your weekends then the last thing you’ll want is chores clogging up your downtime.

The answer? Tackling your whole home to-do list mid-week with some smart cleaning tips.

We spoke to professional cleaners to learn how to balance completing midweek chores and enjoying a chore-free weekend to avoid cleaning overwhelm.

How to enjoy a chore-free weekend

Enjoying a chore-free weekend has more benefits than keeping your home consistently clean. It can leave your weekends free to reconnect with friends and family, partake in hobbies or days out, or simply let you sit back and relax for a well-earned rest. 

Here’s how to get it all done. 

1. Do a room a day

The different day, different room housekeeping schedule is nothing new, and it is relied upon by many as the best way to tackle household chores before the weekend rolls around.

‘We often advise clients to tackle different areas of the home on specific weekdays. For instance, Mondays for the living room, Tuesdays for bedrooms, and so on,’ says Lina DaSilva, professional cleaner and founder of Toronto Shine Cleaning. ‘It breaks down the overwhelming task of cleaning into manageable, focused sessions, ensuring a comprehensive clean without burnout.’

2. Invest in good time-saving tools

Automating your cleaning is one of the best ways to clean your home when you are too busy but still want to get everything done in the week. Michael Grotton, cleaning expert and founder of Germicidal Maids believes that investing in the best robot vacuum is a great place to start when making your cleaning smarter.

‘High-quality tools can significantly reduce the time spent on chores,’ he says. ‘Invest in time-saving cleaning tools like a robot vacuum, which can clean your floors while you relax.’

3. Ask family to help out

One of the best ways to get a lot of tasks done in a short amount of time is to divide and conquer, Lina DaSilva, professional cleaner, reminds us. Encouraging families to declutter and clean up after themselves is the best way to stay on top of essential chores, she says.

‘A team effort always wins. Make cleaning a family affair, where every member takes responsibility for a specific task or area. It not only reduces the workload but also instills a sense of responsibility and ownership. 

‘It’s not just about cleaning; it’s about building a home everyone is proud of.’

4. Declutter daily

Decluttering is usually built up into one huge task you are forced to complete when it becomes too much to cope with.

However, decluttering daily and working on smaller areas more frequently makes this a much simpler task that won't hog your weekend, says Karina Toner, cleaning expert and operations manager at Spekless Cleaning:

‘Don't wait for a big decluttering session. Dedicate a small part of your day to declutter one area, like a drawer or a closet. This gradual approach is less daunting and can be far more effective than doing it all at once.’

You can find extra time to declutter by trying out some low-energy chores you can swap for doom scrolling.

5. Set a timer and work within your limits

Just because you have a house to clean in five days doesn't mean you have to spend hours every night after dinner resetting your home. Angela Agranoff, professional organizer and founder of The Unclutter Angel, recommends setting a timer and challenging yourself to get everything done in under 45 minutes at most:

‘One thing that will make the week easier to manage is to tidy for a few minutes each day. Having less in your home will help make cleaning faster and easier without a doubt.’

Another great tip is to set this cleaning time for a period of the day when you feel most energized. For some, this might mean completing a closing shift routine each night before bed, for others, it may be the first thing in the morning to help wake yourself up.

6. Maximize on home storage

If you are dead set on enjoying a completely chore-free weekend, then it is essential to spend time streamlining your home storage before you start your new routine, Muffetta Krueger, cleaning expert and founder of Muffetta’s Domestic Assistants, advises.

‘Efficient home storage solutions can minimize clutter, making it easier to clean and maintain order. Utilize storage bins, baskets, and shelves to keep items organized and easily accessible.’

FAQs

If you are finding cleaning every weekday too much, then it can be a good idea to create a comprehensive cleaning checklist to help you keep track of what is still left to do so they can be prioritized the following week.

Be sure to settle on some good cleaning non-negotiables to tackle every day without fail, however, to be sure your home doesn't fall into complete disarray.

Pressing one button and then never having to lift a finger again is every robot vacuum owner's dream – I think the Eufy X8 Pro is getting pretty close. With twin turbine technology, a detangling brush roll, excellent mapping capacity, and a useful mop, it can cover a lot of dull household chores.

You've probably already heard of Eufy by Anker, especially if you're interested in home security. They're a well-established, widely trusted brand known for reasonable prices and exceptional quality. In our experience, they make some of the best robot vacuums on the market.

If you've got a house that's too tough for most robot vacuums to clean, you can get excited about the Eufy. It's extremely capable and actually quite beautiful too. I've been using it in my home and it's the best house guest I've ever hosted.

Should you buy the Eufy X8 Pro?

If you live in a home with pets or carpets, this is an excellent investment. It's also really useful when it comes to mopping floors well, so I would recommend this to most people interested in robot vacuums.

The Eufy can do an excellent vacuuming job without needing help, it's quiet, and it's stylish. It's so good that I could easily not have to touch another vacuum or mop again.

One year on: I ended up donating the Eufy X8 Pro to my brother as I'd moved to an apartment that was too small to warrant a robot vacuum. Here's what he told me after more than a year of use:

'I didn't realize how handy a robot vacuum would be and, one year after using the Eufy, I still love it. The mop is still going strong (I thought it would look gross by now) and it still nimbly moves around my house. It's really low maintenance, which I love, as it's so rare for me to have to empty the station myself.

'I still have to vacuum once a week, but what's left on my floors is nothing when compared to before I got the X8 Pro. My home has carpets, rugs and hard floors and the robot does a good job on all of them.'

Eufy X8 Pro: Specifications

Unboxing the Eufy X8 Pro

Unboxing the Eufy X8 Pro was effortless, a good indication of what was to come. The box itself is big but not particularly heavy. It comes in a few parts, so there's very little assembling and cleaning necessary before you can get started. Each part is wrapped in a plastic bag, some have scratch-resistant plastic covers too, which isn't great for the environment, but most of the box and cushioning was recyclable cardboard, rather than polystyrene, so I can't complain.

Once I had taken out the base station, vacuum, mop, and cover, I was struck by how slick and smart this looks. It's like a matte black pebble, poised and ready to glide across any floor. The station is equally stylish and subtle, so as long as the Eufy has the space to physically reach the base station, it can go anywhere.

The Eufy comes with some very basic instructions for getting set up, most of which are pictures. I needed to remove some tapes and pads and check the vacuum bag was pre-inserted into the base station (it was) before the Eufy could get started. It wasn't puzzling and took only minutes. If you need to troubleshoot or find out more detailed information, you'll find the instructions lacking. However, there's plenty of information on Eufy's website.

Eufy X8 Pro: Design and features

A new feature introduced with the X8 Pro is what Eufy calls Twin-Turbine suction. It hosts two motors that each generate a suction of 4,000 Pa, promising powerful performance especially when vacuuming pet hair.

If you consider the two turbines as working together to create a suction power of 8,000 Pa, this robot is as powerful as Eufy's latest models, like the S1 Pro Omni that boasts 8,000 Pa but costs almost three times as much. as the X8 Pro.

This is combined with an Active Detangling brushroll that is said to automatically detangle all vacuumed hair, minimizing how often you have to manually do so yourself. It does this using a comb, as the brushroll rotates one direction when picking up hair, then the opposing direction to remove it from the roller.

Like most robot vacuums in this price range, the Eufy X8 Pro also mops and comes with a cleaning station that holds up to 2.5 liters of dust (which Eufy says should keep you covered for up to 45 days).

Through the app, you can set virtual boundaries and no-go zones as the robot creates a detailed map of your home. This allows you to tell the robot specific rooms to clean, or create schedules that prioritize the messes in certain areas.

What is the Eufy X8 Pro like to use?

The Eufy came with plenty of charge, so when I had set it up (even though I hadn't connected the app), the vacuum made a start on clearing my floors. First, I let it roam around the floor. I didn't put any debris or obstacles in the way and it happily, and efficiently, navigated its way around my home.

It has a deft, methodical way of cleaning a room. However, even though it has sensors, I found that it occasionally collides with the walls. Luckily the bumper is sensitive, so it wasn't chipping or marking my clean baseboards.

Test 1: Flour, sugar, oats

I had to challenge the Eufy, so I scattered flour, sugar, and oats around my house, on carpets and hardwood floor. The Eufy didn't find these patches of dirt and debris particularly quickly, but as it does the rounds of every room it thoroughly sucked up almost all the flour, sugar, and oats.

The Eufy cleared sugar and oats from my carpet really quickly, but needed a few passes over the flour before I was satisfied. After it had been over one patch three times I had to bring out my Dyson V15 Detect stick vacuum to finish the job, but that's because my carpet is quite deep. In all fairness, the Eufy had picked up most of the flour particles, I was just being precious.

When it came into the kitchen, where I have a hardwood floor, I noticed a few things. The first was that the Eufy struggled a little to transition between carpet and hardwood (unlike the best multi-surface vacuums). I have a small ridge between my living room and kitchen which the Eufy needed a few minutes to vault.

Once it was in the kitchen, it cleared up the flour and sugar well. At first, the Eufy dragged a small trail of flour behind it when it first went over my dirt. However, it quickly turned back on itself and cleared this away.

When it tried to lift oats and cereals from my floor, the spinning brush at the side tended to shoot these pieces of debris across the floor before it eventually picked them up, but got them in the end.

Across its vacuuming journey, the loudest the Eufy got to was 74 dBA, which is quieter than most vacuums. I could still play music and watch TV; my washing machine is much louder.

Test 2: Hair

Over the course of testing vacuums, not just robots but any of the best vacuums for pet hair, I see lots of hair pick-up promises, so I'm always skeptical. This is one of the first truly effective technologies that I've tested. It reverse spins to remove and lift hair from the floor, which is perfect if you have long hair or any shedding pets.

I scattered some hair extensions around my home, on carpets and hard floors and the Eufy was not only effective at picking them up, but it detangled most of the hair by itself. You can see in the image that a few strands wrapped around the brushroll, but for such a small vacuum, I was impressed.

Test 3: Mop

A USP for this Eufy model is the mop. This attachment clips onto the bottom of the vacuum and it can clean hard floors at the same time that it vacuums. Eufy provides a mat, so that if your vacuum returns to the charging station with the mop attachment on, your floor won't get wet underneath it.

When I wanted to test how well it can mop the floors, I clipped the pad onto the back of the Eufy. Even though there is an integrated water tank at the back, I needed to wet and wring the mat until it wasn't dripping before clipping it into place.

On the app, I could select how wet the mop should be and how much it should be vacuuming, too. I used this on the marble in my bathroom and hardwood floor in my kitchen and was pleasantly surprised (and horrified) with the results. It picked up lots of dirt and was really effective, leaving my floors consistently sparkling clean.

The cloth easily comes off, so when finished you can place it in the washing machine. Don't use the mop on carpets, it won't do much except pull up fluff, but if you want to mop your kitchen, this is perfect.

Test 4: The app

As a home security conscious person, I felt a little hesitant with the app. Of course, I trust Eufy, but you have to give it access not only to your WiFi, but to the location of your phone, all the time (not just when you're on the app).

Putting these concerns behind me, I connected my app to the vacuum and my home. It has tons of functions: I could schedule cleans, choose 'No Go Zones', create a map of an upstairs and downstairs floors, choose different vacuuming intensities, and so much more. I was really impressed with how easy the app was to use. It's intuitive and strangely addictive.

Eufy X8 Pro: Cleaning, storage, and maintenance

The Eufy is independent, so I left it to its own devices for an evening. As it cleaned the house, I forgot it was there. Even as it got darker, the Eufy's sensors were experts at avoiding obstacles. Eventually, the Eufy returned to its charging station where it got some rest and relaxation. Not having to worry about charge levels is brilliant: you'll never be caught out with no charge as long as the base station is on. Which brings me on to my first night with the Eufy.

Every night, I turn off all the unnecessary plugs in my house to try and save electricity. The Eufy's station was one of those. Even though the Eufy wasn't in action and I'm pretty sure it was off, without being connected to the base station, the battery began to drain. A few hours later, at 3am, the Eufy announced to me (asleep in the other room) that it needed to be charged. Awake and very grumpy, I switched it off and hoped that it wouldn't call me again. It didn't, but it's worth noting that the Eufy can be vocal and very unaware of when it's acceptable to start a conversation.

Aside from this, I haven't been woken up by the Eufy again. I like how it looks in my living room: it's subtle, stylish, and incredibly low maintenance. Despite depositing handfuls of flour, sugar, and cereals around my house for the Eufy to clean, I haven't had to empty the vacuum bag. Online it claims to last 45 days before needing emptying and I'll update you on whether this is a fair claim.

The mop is probably the most high-maintenance aspect of the Eufy, because it needs cleaning after every mopping job. It's easy to put in the washing machine and saves me a mopping job, but it's still worth noting when considering how often you'll be cleaning your robot vacuum.

New Eufy models we've reviewed such as the Omni S1 Pro, and X10 Pro Omni, both have self cleaning and drying mops and in our view can make that extra spend worth it.

How does it compare?

Whenever people talk about robot vacuums, it's not long before the iRobot Roomba is mentioned. The Roomba j7+ is at a similar price point to the X8 Pro and has spent time topping our best robot vacuums guide. The Eufy rivals the Roomba j7+ in many ways. It's self-emptying and excellent at detecting objects and mapping out rooms. The Roomba j7+ can't set 'No Go Zones' once a map has been completed, but the Eufy can. The Eufy can also mop floors and has excellent anti-tangle mechanisms, neither of which the Roomba j7+ can boast. It also looks beautiful too, so I think the Eufy puts up a good fight against the Roomba j7+.

But where it falls down is in the performance, the mapping, and transitioning between rooms. The Eufy just doesn't do as good a job at cleaning as the Roomba j7+. It struggled a little transitioning between floor types and wasn't as thorough on the Roomba on hard floors. The Eufy, unlike a Roomba j7+, isn't Siri/Apple compatible either. However, if you're a pet owner, I would give the Eufy serious consideration.

When compared to newer robot vacuums, like the Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 or the Eufy S1 Pro Omni, the X8 Pro and its years-old tech is simply not as capable at cleaning. But the X8 Pro is still a formidable robot vacuum at a much more accessible cost compared to the fancy robots that dominate the market.

How we test

At Homes & Gardens we like to test all of our products before we recommend them. That's why one of our expert testers, Laura, used this in her home for weeks. This gave her enough time to put the Eufy through a series of our standard tests, whilst it also helped her to establish any day-to-day strengths or issues that you might face.

Part of our standard vacuum tests are how well it can handle flour, sugar, cereals, and hair. These cover most daily debris, dust, and dander that you're likely to experience in your daily life. These obstacles are placed on carpets, hardwood, and linoleum floors, so, whatever is in your house, you'll know what to expect. We use this to establish how the vacuums would cope and the Eufy did really well in Laura's home.

If you're interested in finding out more about how we test vacuums, you can read all the details on our dedicated page.

Consider one of the best robot vacuums for pet hair if you find yourself cleaning up after your furry friends a little too often.

Modern home life can get noisy, especially with kids and pets. The last thing you need is a robot vacuum and mop adding to the chaos. Narwal took this into account when they created their mop and vacuum combo product, the Narwal T10, 4-in-1, which features an automatic mop cleaning station. 

The product has multiple settings to ensure your entire floor is mopped and vacuumed, and that you don’t have to mess with dirty water post-mopping. Its ultra quiet feature means that you can do all this during a Zoom call, while a baby is napping, and more. 

But quiet comes with a disadvantage – the suction isn't as strong as competitors. If you want your vacuum to pick up every crumb, which, let's face it, every vacuum should, this might not work for you. Buyers should consider if sound or perfection is more important to them.

Product specifications

Unboxing

The unboxing process reveals a user-friendly product right from the beginning. There are tabs that help you remove the vacuum, and the company has invested in the aesthetics of the unboxing products, making it look cute, friendly, fun, and secure in the packaging. This is also where you might be pleasantly surprised to find they’ve included extras like the mop pads and more mopping solution for when you run out, making you feel set up from the beginning.  

Set up

During setup it becomes obvious that the company put effort into hiding the water containers that contain the clean and dirty water from the mopping process. None of this is visible without opening the larger machine, which is helpful if you have curious little kids around (it looks like a big boring white box, not a water table to play on). To mop, you have to put water in the container, which you subsequently change out each additional time you mop.

However, you first need to run a mapping cycle to help the robot determine what will be mopped or not (hardwood or laminate vs. carpet). After this process is complete, you can trust your vacuum won’t be trying to spray water on your favorite area rug. In the app, you also can determine certain settings like which level of power/suction you want the vacuum to use, where you want to clean, and more. The app is intuitive to set up, as is the vacuum, making it easy for most users to navigate at the beginning.

What's it like to use?

But while initially easy to set up, using the robot can be slightly frustrating until you are extremely used to the app, which offers quite a few settings, and requires some onboarding at the beginning to get your home properly mapped. This makes sense, because you don’t want your robot mopping your carpets on accident. However, the mapping process was a bit cumbersome, and took some practice to get the rooms perfectly labelled in the app. But once this was complete, the robot did know what was carpet and what really needed mopping, and was efficient and thorough in the mopping process.

It returns throughout the mopping job whenever it needs to empty its dirty water, and get new cleaner from the home base. This can take some time, but is worth not having to change it yourself. It doesn’t empty dirt into the home base from the vacuum function like some competitors do, so the ultimate improvement to this product would be adding that as a feature.

Storage and maintenance

The robot itself docks in a much larger home base and it requires a decent amount of room in an easy to reach place without any nearby objects. Storage might be an issue for people in an already crowded living space. While the all white dock and robot itself aren’t exactly an eye sore, and didn't bother me once it was set up, it's much bigger than some competitors.

The vacuum is high maintenance, and needs to be cleaned somewhat frequently as it's vacuuming. That's because the mop pads can be attached as you vacuum, but that means they get dirty quickly. In fairness to Narwal, you can just take these off, but let's be honest - who would be bothered to do this every time they use the vacuum? 

You also need to clean the filter periodically, which slides in and out of the robot like a cassette tape, but isn’t hard to clean.

How does it rate online?

On Narwal’s site, the product has 369 reviews, and 75% of those people have given it a five star rating. It has a 4.5 star rating overall. Users point to similar pros and cons as above, saying it takes a little time to get it up and running, with some citing a few attempts. 

More positively, however, one mom of three recommended it as she’s able to “wake up to a clean house.” It also seems to benefit pet owners (though we have a dog it doesn’t shed much), with one user saying they haven’t even used their brooms since purchasing the product. On Amazon, the product received 4 stars for “value for money,” 3.9 stars for “noise level,” and 3.7 stars for both remote control and suction power.  

How does it compare to similar models?

Similar models of this product from other brands feature a much stronger suction ability than the Narwal, but are also much louder. I often didn’t even know which room this product was in, because it’s significantly quieter than other robot vacuums I’ve tried.  

But compared to the more expensive Narwal Freo, this product needs modules replaced, doesn’t have DirtSense technology, and doesn’t use heat air drying. If those features are important, you might want the Narwal Freo instead.

Should you buy the Narwal T10 4-in-1?

You should buy this vacuum and mop robot if you highly value not having additional noise in your house, don’t have exceptionally high levels of dirt, and don’t mind helping it get unstuck occasionally. In particular, I have a metal-legged coffee table that it likes to launch itself onto, getting tangled up around the legs. It’s also not great at navigating around lamp cords or over medium-sized toys and socks, so clear the path well. 

If you find yourself not mopping as much as you should, and not really wanting to, this product is for you. It takes the legwork and guesswork out of mopping once you are set up, and does the dirty work for you with removing the nasty water from the robot and refilling. 

For proven, real-world results, we test vacuum cleaners in our homes, our dedicated test center, and in a local pet shelter that's full of cat and dog fur. It's our mission to find out exactly what each model is capable of in the real world, so we can provide accurate (and genuinely useful) recommendations, regardless of budget or household needs.

Our team of experts has 40 combined years of vacuum testing experience under its belt, so it's well-placed to offer trustworthy and tried-and-tested advice on which are worth the spend. We use standardized tests, so we can compare every vacuum objectively against each other to find out what really is the best vacuum cleaner.

We test cordless, upright, canister, handheld, and robot vacuums, as well as floor cleaners such as vacuum-mops and carpet cleaners. We evaluate every factor that a consumer needs to know, from hair wrapping nuisances to storage space required.

How we test vacuums at Homes & Gardens

Where we test vacuums

We test vacuum cleaners in our homes, in our dedicated test center, and in a local pet shelter.

In our test center, we vacuum standardized amounts of substances on low-pile carpet, linoleum, and hardwood floors (more on our vacuum tests below). This is how we assess each vacuum's cleaning performance, taking into account the suction power and efficacy of the floorhead and brushroll.

At home, we get a feel for how easily we can use the vacuum in real-world conditions. We gain an understanding over the longer term of whether it's a lightweight vacuum that can be easily carried upstairs, if it's maneuverable, what all the vacuum attachments do, and anything else a consumer would need to consider.

At Bristol Animal Rescue Centre, we can test each vacuum on large amounts of pet hair in a busy, real-world environment. Pet hair is vacuumed from low-pile carpet, medium-pile carpet, hard floors, and furniture. It's also a great opportunity to test each vacuum's ability to handle the messy conditions of a building with high foot traffic.

Our US testers don't have access to our test center or the pet shelter, but instead are tasked to test vacuums on a variety of floor types and genuine pet hair in their own homes. Whether in the UK or the US, we all run our cleaning tests in the same way.

What we're looking for

We consider a vacuum's performance from a consumer-advocate perspective, meaning we take into account every factor that could affect the cleaning experience provided by each vacuum cleaner without bias towards the vacuum brand. We are on the consumer's side and want to tell them everything there is to know about a vacuum's performance, and whether it's worth the price tag.

Firstly, we're looking for the best vacuums to have a strong cleaning performance. Whether that's picking up small debris, large debris, or pet hair, the vacuum must be able to clear different messes in as few passes as possible. The best cordless vacuums and upright vacuums clear our test substances in a single forward pass.

The most common issue among all vacuums is hair wrapping around the brushroll. We look for vacuums that can reduce or completely prevent this problem, using anti-tangle brushroll (our vacuum jargon buster has more info on this) designs to make sure you're not manually removing hair and fur each time you vacuum.

A good multi-surface vacuum cleaner can clean across different floor types, although we take note of those that excel on certain surfaces, as they inform our guides of the best vacuums for hardwood floors and the best vacuums for carpet.

Maneuverability and ease of use are important, too. We assess vacuums on how easily you can carry them around the house, how well they get under and around furniture, how lightweight they are, and how easily they can be emptied and cleaned. We consider cord length or battery life too, as these affect how long you're able to clean between pauses.

Filtration is key to maintaining good air quality in your home. Tight filtration means a vacuum is able to capture more particle sizes, so that what gets vacuumed stays in the vacuum. Otherwise, the super-fine particles and common allergens will be re-released back into your home, circulating into the air you breathe.

We always recommend the best HEPA vacuums for this reason: These filters meet rigorous standards to capture 99.97% of particles as small as 0.3 microns, which includes many allergy triggers like dust, pollen and pet dander.

Cleaning a vacuum cleaner is essential maintenance to preserve its lifespan, so we take vacuums apart to find out how easy they are to clean. This is usually easiest with cordless vacuums as the parts are modular, but other upright and canister vacuums are designed for regular maintenance, too. We also consider how much space each vacuum takes up in storage.

And if a vacuum has any unique or smart features, we test them out to find out if they're genuinely useful or exaggerated gimmicks. For example, the best Dyson vacuums have a green laser that does an incredible job of revealing dust that the naked eye can't see, but they also have a particle counter that, while helpful, isn't a necessity.

Vacuum tests

We carry out performance tests for each vacuum cleaner and repeat them across carpet, linoleum and hardwood floors.

Flour and sugar:
We scatter a half cup of flour and sugar across each floor type to see how well a vacuum can handle powders and small debris. Not only are these common messes on the kitchen floor, they also act as a proxy for dust and dead skin. Flour is a great visual test because we can see when it gets stuck in the floorhead or internal parts, left behind on the floor, stuck in floor gaps, or skipped over completely. We can also see if it clogs up the filters. The filters on robot vacuums tend to cope less well so we may titrate this down to a sensible amount vs the size of the bot, such as one teaspoon.

Pantry:
We scatter a cup of cereal and lentils across each floor type to find out how well a vacuum can handle debris of different sizes. The cereal poses the biggest challenge: Some vacuums crush them down, some vacuums suck them up whole, and some ping them across the floor. Across the flour and sugar and pantry tests, what we're looking for is for the vacuum to clear it all in one pass. The more passes it needs, the lower we rate the vacuum. If it doesn't manage to suction up all of it, we note that in our review too.

Pet hair:
We test vacuum cleaners in a local pet shelter and in our homes with pets, to vacuum genuine pet hair in real-world conditions and find out whether each model can be considered the best vacuum for pet hair. This is where we can observe a vacuum's anti-tangle performance. Almost every vacuum cleaner is branded in a way that boasts its seemingly flawless performance on pet hair, but very few live up to the claim. We also assess how easily they can vacuum pet hair from carpet, one of the trickiest tasks a vacuum has to do.

Performance metrics:
We test a vacuum cleaner's airflow using an anemometer, which measures the speed air passes through in miles per hour. Of course, this isn't the only factor determining a vacuum's cleaning performance, but it demonstrates the level of suction power that the vacuum is capable of – outside of a brand's marketing claims. We test this at the main inlet valve of the vacuum cleaner with no attachments.

We also test the noise levels of each vacuum using the DecibelX app, in the lowest to the highest suction modes. A loud vacuum can be off-putting to some, especially those in small spaces and with nearby neighbors.

Attachments:
We test every attachment that's included with its vacuum. The crevice tool and dusting brush are the most common types, and the crevice tool doubles up as an excellent tester for suction power, as we can observe how effortlessly debris is sucked into the small intake nozzle. We assess whether any of them are the best vacuum attachments for pet hair, as mini motorized brushes and upholstery tools can often be a huge help to stay on top of pet hair at home.

General testing:
Outside of our standardized performance tests, we use each vacuum around the house to get a feel for its usability. We look at weight, maneuverability, smart features, dustbin emptying, battery life, cord length, noise levels, filtration, and how much space they take up in storage. Some of our testers have chronic pain, so they help us take note of any accessibility or grip issues to consider if you're hoping to purchase.

Every single factor a consumer might wonder the worth of is then considered against the price when we give it our final mark out of five. If a vacuum is good but the price is too extravagant to justify it, we'll note this in our rating. If a sub-$250 vacuum has decent cleaning performance, we'll rank it higher as it's rare for budget vacuums to clean well. We compare each vacuum's performance against other models at a similar price point, across the same and different vacuum types, depending on who each model would suit best.

This is also why we tend to test a bunch of vacuums of a particular type, such as cordless, in one go, so we can see the difference immediately between their performances.

Robot vacuum tests

We test the best robot vacuums in our own homes with mixed floor types, real-world messes, and homes with pets. This gives us a genuine, complete understanding of each robot's capabilities and what they can bring to different households with varying cleaning needs.

We test a robot's vacuuming capabilities using a quarter cup of:

• Sugar: To test for fine debris
• Lentils: To test for medium debris
• Cereal: To test for large debris

Using these standardised tests shows us specifically how each robot handles certain materials, as we can see whether the debris gets vacuumed up smoothly, whether anything gets left behind, or whether the robot scatters it around with its brushes.

We also assess the robot's day-to-day cleaning, taking note of how often we need to clean up after it, and how the floors look and feel afterwards.

To find the best vacuum for pet hair, we observe how much fur each robot can pick up from hard floors, low-pile carpet and high-pile carpet. We use either our own vacuums or a carpet scraper to see how much hair is left behind, and we take note of whether fur wraps around the roller or not (a major challenge when keeping a home clean with pets).

For robot vacuums with mopping abilities, we create two stains on hard floors using ketchup and mustard, as they have different properties in how they stain and spread. We can see how long it takes to clean each stain, how much gets left behind, and whether the robot can clean itself afterwards.

Much like with vacuuming, we assess the robot's mopping abilities day-to-day over the course of two weeks, evaluating if the floor is wet or sticky afterwards, how well it cleans spills and stains, how long it takes to dry, and how often we need to mop the floors ourselves.

Outside of cleaning, we assess each robot's smartphone app (the hub for controlling and monitoring the robot), what features are on offer (and how well they work), how easily it can navigate and build home maps, and how data is handled.

We measure noise levels using the DecibelX app, when in normal operation and when self-emptying. We also assess the cleaning station's features and how much input is needed from us to keep the robot clean, well-maintained, and operating at its best.

Vacuum-mop tests

Our vacuum-mop tests include five substances with a variety of consistencies and properties. Cleaning substances of varying thicknesses shows what the cleaner's capable of as a vacuum-mop may be adept at cleaning thin sauce spills like vinegar, but awful at cleaning trickier messes like a broken egg. The best vacuum-mops can clean all types of substances.

We test using:

• 1 tablespoon of ketchup
• 1 tablespoon of mustard
• 2 tablespoons of chunky tomato and vegetable pasta sauce
• 1 egg, dropped from 5 feet
• 1 cup of milk and cereal

The broken egg and the cup of milk and cereal pose the biggest challenges for vacuum-mops and are a vital test. Who hasn't smashed an egg or fumbled a glass of milk at home before?

The combination of real-world solids and liquids tests the vacuum's ability to remove high volumes of mess, and the thick, greasy consistency of the egg tests how powerful the vacuum's raw suction is.

Similarly to regular vacuums, we test their usability, including how flexible they are, how easy it is to empty and refill the water tanks, how slippery the floor is left, and how long it takes to dry.

We note anything that might be difficult if you suffer mobility or pain, too, such as lifting a heavy vacuum to access an element, or bending down to fill up a water tank.

Carpet cleaner tests

We carry out two tests for our carpet cleaners: one across a set of substances, and another at the pet shelter. We carry out each substance test twice to account for old and new stains, as we let one set of them sit for at least two hours. We test:

• Quarter cup of red wine
• Half cup of cola
• Half cup of marinara sauce

At the pet shelter, we evaluate each models' performance when cleaning the messes caused by pets and high foot traffic. This is how we determine the best carpet cleaners for pets, as the most comprehensive models will be able to remove years-old pet stains and revive a carpet to its original feel and color.

And again, we evaluate each carpet cleaner's ease of use. These models come with a bit of admin, including removing solids trapped in the floorhead, washing out dirty water tanks, and avoiding leakage between cleans.

How long we test for

Often, we test a vacuum for two to four weeks in our homes outside of our usual standardized tests to get a feel for its abilities and any quirks over time. This gives us a deeper understanding of any snags that might show up after prolonged use, like if a vacuum cleaner loses suction as the dustbin fills or leaves a nasty smell too often.

How we update reviews

At least six months after we publish a review, we revisit the original author to find out how they've got on with the vacuum cleaner over time. This raises important points on durability, how easy they are to clean, and how they compare to newer releases.

If the author hasn't kept the vacuum, we'll retest it with our latest testing methodology, which we update at least yearly.

Our testing team

Our team of product testers has years of experience reviewing vacuum cleaners, as well as a wealth of products and appliances that can transform our day-to-day lives. We are not paid to test any product ,and each review is completely impartial.

Next, learn how to choose the best vacuum cleaner for your needs, to make sure you're finding the model that's a good fit for your home.

As a product tester and mom, I’ve tried and hated my fair share of vacuums. From ones without enough suction, to others with tiny storage bins that only hold as much debris as my kids produce in one meal, they’ve all disappointed. Until now.

The iRobot Roomba s9+ is more than a match for my messy household. This powerful robot has made it look like I’m doing way more housework than I actually have time to take on. The robot vacuum’s most attractive feature is a self-emptying process, that sucks dirt out of the vacuum after use automatically, into a storage container that doesn’t need to be emptied for a long while.

It also works seamlessly with an easy to use app for initial home mapping, so it can learn your space, creating schedules for automatic cleaning, stopping and starting. This is especially impressive given that my flooring is a combination of carpeted, area rug, and laminate flooring. This has the added bonus of securing your vacuum from kids and pets who might love pushing buttons.

The flipside is that it's exceptionally strong and noisy. It's the most aggressive robot vacuum I've ever tested. Unlike other robot vacuums, it isn't one to get itself stuck between dining chair legs, but will instead will push them out of the way and sometimes even topple them over. Its high suction levels means it’s a bit noisier than other options, especially when emptying the dirt into the bin. That said, if you are in a household or business with a serious floor dirt and debris problem, this will solve it quickly.

Product specifications:

• Model number: s955020
• Battery/run time: 120 minutes on one charge
• Number of settings: Eco, Standard or Turbo mode, entire floor plan, specific rooms, specific options, Careful Drive
• Bin capacity: 550 ml of dirt and debris. The disposal bag can hold up to 2 months of dirt.
• Bagged or bagless: Larger storage unit for dirt has a bag, but not the moving robot itself. The product comes with 2 dirt disposal bags
• Suction power: 40x the Roomba 600 series
• Weight: Robot 8.15lbs; clean base 8.51lbs.

Unboxing

The product and boxing felt high quality and professional, like you were about to use a well-thought through product that would drastically improve your life. The robot was well protected in the packaging, and set up was easy and painless. During unboxing, I noticed that the brushes seem much less wispy than competitors, and more strong and durable, like rubber material. 

Setup

Setting up a robot vac can feel intimidating, especially for those who aren’t the most tech savvy. Thankfully, setting up the s9+ is simple and intuitive; the app walks you through the directions you need. The easy-to-navigate dashboard and home screen on the app allow you to set up functions you want during initial set up, or wait until later for additional features like two thorough mappings of your whole space that are recommended, and more. 

What is it like to use?

 The simplicity of the product is one of its most attractive features, as it’s designed to do work for you, not create more work. Through a simple tap on the app, or by using your preset scheduled cleaning time, the robot gets started, navigating through your home, around objects that are stationary including furniture and walls. Its brushes work closely to the edges of cabinets and tight spaces, ensuring that even little corners where dirt gathers are clean in the end. 

You can also choose specific rooms for it to clean using the app, which is ideal for when your 4-year-old learns how to use scissors for the first time, but you don’t need a full house clean. After the robot returns to the home base, it docks itself, and then settles in to have all the dirt forcefully sucked out, into the storage bin. This is quite a loud process, and sounds like a jet engine taking off. Thankfully, it only lasts a few seconds. The product never lost charge mid job, and only got stuck once on a slightly larger toy that had a string on it, so charging time was never an issue with its self-docking and charging function. 

Cleaning

We didn’t have to empty the dirt container in the entire month we tested, in spite of substantial dirt and debris, and daily cleaning. There’s also an option to have the robot finish jobs even if they are full of dirt, or return to the dock to have the debris removed once full. 

Multiple times, I wiped down the top of the product itself, if it had encountered some dust under the cabinet areas, but overall it stayed quite clean on its own, with little maintenance. It needed very few cleanouts in the filter and brush areas, making it much more durable than other competitors I’ve tried, which required a few cleanouts per week.

The robot redoes missing spots, which is a function that contributes to a much more comprehensive clean, without a bunch of areas where you wondered if it even went there. It also has an excellent turning radius, so it isn’t missing dirt right underneath the product.

It detangles itself from cords and most objects that are too big to suck up, rarely getting stuck. The three settings — eco, standard, and turbo — help you control the sound issue a bit. Turbo mode is exceptionally loud, but works well for heavy messes, or if you need to deep clean one room, because it dies more quickly in that mode.

Storage and maintenance

The robot does take up a bit of vertical space at around 19 inches high, but it’s not exceptionally wide. It works best when it has some breathing room, and that’s where the space allocations can be a lot for some people in small spaces. For example, there should be 1.5 feet of free space on each side of the base, and four feet of free space in front, with an additional four feet from any stairs. So, it’s nestled in the corner of our dining room, but it might be difficult for some people to find a space this large to make a home base for the robot.

How does it rate online?

The product received 4.1 stars on Best Buy’s site, with users finding it easy to use, high quality, and a bit average when it comes to value. Many called out its ability to handle pet hair, a feature we don’t have to use much having a non-shedding dog, and admired its high quality cleaning ability. Like me, multiple users found it to get stuck periodically, and to be quite loud. Some had concerns about the price, which can be substantial compared to competitors at $799.00, though I believe it to be higher quality, reflected in the price tag. One user notes that it’s a huge time saver, though it doesn’t do well in cluttered areas. Another says it can’t replace a full size vacuum for a deep clean, though they have two dogs with lots of shedding.

How does it compare to similar models and its predecessors?

Previous iRobot products didn’t have the same capability to store dirt in a holding bin, and required emptying the bin on the actual robot frequently.  It has many more options than other products, such as the ability to make one or two passes through a room, or to judge the room based on its size, to balance cleaning time with battery charge and ensure it can do the job. It also has a careful drive option if you are worried about it bumping into walls and furniture, which could be helpful around more expensive or fragile furniture. 

According to an iRobot spokesperson, this vacuum is a new iteration of the originally released self-emptying base with the i7+ in 2018. This vacuum is also more powerful than its predecessor, with 40 times the suction from the entry-level robot vacuum. It also has an improved square front design meant to get closer to walls and corners than round models. 

Who will it suit?

This product is great for moderate to heavy messes, compared to other vacuums I’ve tried, such as earlier model iRobot products, an Eufy robot vacuum, and handheld vacuums. It also suits homeowners with multiple types of floor surfaces to clean, as it easily navigates between carpets and hardwood, and also is excellent at launching itself up onto higher rugs and surfaces, such as an orthopedic kitchen pad I have that is multiple inches off the ground. 

It is simple to use for both beginners and has enough features that more experienced robot vacuum users will appreciate, making it ideal for a wide audience. However, if someone is uncomfortable using an app to power their vacuum, they won’t get much use from the product. 

Should you buy the iRobot Roomba S9+?

I highly recommend purchasing this product for your daily home cleaning needs, or for businesses. It’s ideal for multiple types of surfaces, and offers extensive customization options to ensure the product works well for your needs. I’ve never been disappointed with remaining dirt laying around after using this, even in hard to reach corners. While other products frequently got stuck or clogged, this product doesn’t, and even pushes light furniture around, maneuvering around cords when needed, to get the job done. If you are sensitive to noise or have to have a very quiet environment, I’d recommend a different option, or strategically setting the time to when you aren’t home. You won’t regret your purchase the first time you see your dirt-free floors after purchasing the iRobot Roomba s9+.

There’s no shortage of robot vacuums available today, and that bar is continuously being raised in terms of technology and cleaning performance. If you’re going to shell out several hundred dollars on an autonomous cleaning machine, most people want high-tech features like smart home mapping, obstacle detection, and self-emptying dustbins, and the Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum with Auto Empty XL delivers all that – and more!

Sharks AI robot vacuum is decked out with all the features you could ask for, including an extra-large self-emptying dustbin, improved navigation, and even mopping abilities. Despite this impressive list of skills, the robot vacuum is reasonably priced, so we wanted to see if it’s actually as good as it seems. 

We put the Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum and Mop to the test over the course of several weeks, seeing how well it could handle everyday dust and dirt, pet hair, and more. In the end, we were really impressed with the robot’s performance and low maintenance requirements, which make it one of the best robot vacuums you can buy today.  

Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum Product Specifications

• Model: #RV2610WA
• Dust capacity: 0.26 gal
• Run time: 120 minutes
• Vacuum Dimensions: 12.9 x 12.6 x 3.5 inches
• Weight: 14.5 pounds
• Filter: HEPA
• Warranty: 1 year
• RRP: $699

Who will the Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum best suit?

If you’re looking for a robot vacuum that needs minimal intervention, the Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 is a great choice. Its extra-large self-emptying base can hold up to 60 days worth of debris, saving you from having to manually empty the dustbin after every run, and it has better obstacle detection than other vacuums, allowing it to avoid items like toys and clothing that might be on your floor. It rarely gets stuck or needs assistance while vacuuming, and overall, it’s one of the more self-sufficient options among today’s robot vacuums. 

The Shark AI Ultra can also be used as a robotic mop, which makes it a worthwhile choice for those with a lot of hard floors in their home. Unlike other 2-in-1 units, which simply drag a wet mopping pad across the floor, the Shark actually scrubs with its reusable mop pad, and it includes a bottle of cleaning solution for a deeper clean. 

Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1: Key features

Self-Emptying
Like many of today’s best robot vacuums, the Shark AI Ultra comes with a self-emptying base. If the vacuum’s onboard dustbin fills up during cleaning, it will navigate back to its base, empty out the debris, and then continue cleaning. It also self-empties after each clean cycle. The base can hold up to 60 days of dirt and debris, and it’s equipped with a HEPA filter that captures 99.97% of dust and allergens as small as 0.3 microns.

Precision Mapping
The Shark AI Ultra uses 360° LiDAR vision to create a detailed map of your home. Before you can start using the vacuum, the Shark app prompts you to send the robot on a preliminary run, during which it maps its surroundings. Once the map is complete, you can label individual rooms and set up No-Go and high-traffic zones for future use. 

Sonic Mopping
This 2-in-1 robot vacuum also features sonic mopping abilities. To mop and vacuum your floors at the same time, you can swap in the mopping attachment, which has a water tank built-in. The robot uses its mopping pad to scrub hard floors 100 times per minute, and for extra deep cleaning, there’s an Ultra Mop setting in the app that offers better stain cleaning in targeted zones.

Improved Edge Cleaning
To help the Shark AI Ultra Vacuum clean around room edges and corners more efficiently, the robot is equipped with CleanEdge Technology, which uses blasts of air to loosen dirt and push it into the path of the vacuum. 

Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1: Design

The Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum has a similar design to other self-emptying models. The vacuum itself is a roughly 13.5-inch circle, and it has a raised area on the top where the LiDAR operates. The Shark doesn’t have any onboard cameras, which may be appealing for those who are concerned about privacy in their home. 

The robot’s base is around 14 inches tall, and it has a port in the middle where it sucks debris out of the vacuum’s onboard dustbin. The base is plain in appearance with a matte black finish, and it has a see-through panel that lets you monitor when it needs to be emptied. While other self-emptying vacuums capture dust and debris in a vacuum bag, the Shark actually has a bagless design, saving you from having to buy replacement bags. 

As mentioned, the Shark AI Ultra also comes with a secondary attachment designed for mopping. Its dustbin cannot be emptied into the robot’s base—it must be emptied manually—and it has a small flap that opens, allowing you to fill the tank with water and cleaning solution. The vacuum also comes with two reusable mopping pads that you can clean in the washing machine between cycles. 

What is the Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 like to use?

Getting started
After unpacking the Shark AI Ultra, it only took me a few minutes to set up the base and get the vacuum in place to charge. The vacuum comes with a secondary dustbin for mopping, and I did have to find somewhere to store this extra component, as there’s no place to mount it on the base. 

The vacuum needed to charge for several hours before getting started. Once its battery was fully charged, the app prompted me to start a “mapping run,” which took the robot around an hour. It didn’t clean at all—instead, it simply drove around the second floor of my home, figuring out where walls and obstacles were located. 

The app then instructed me to edit the map, label specific rooms, create no-go zones, and indicate the locations of carpets to avoid when mopping. It was tricky to accurately mark carpets on the map, but the nice thing is that there’s a verification feature that has the robot drive around the edges you’ve marked. From there, you can adjust accordingly.

First runs
The first time I ran the Shark vacuum, I was worried it would drive down the stairs at the end of the hallway, but it avoided them without any issues, cleaning right up to the edge before turning around. It also did an impressive job crossing the higher-than-average thresholds in my house—something that other robot vacuums have struggled with. 

The vacuum was able to clean the upstairs of my home, which is roughly 500 square feet, in around 1.5 hours on its regular setting. I did notice that sometimes it pushes lightweight obstacles around—both the bathroom floor mat and a guitar stand were displaced after it finished cleaning. 

Overall, I was really impressed after the vacuum’s first run. It managed to pick up lots of dog hair from the hallway and corners of my bedroom, and the sound level was low enough that it didn’t disrupt me while I was watching TV downstairs. 

Cleaning Performance

I continued to use the Shark AI Ultra Vacuum over the course of a few weeks, and in that time, I experimented with its various settings. It offers Regular, Eco, and Max suction modes, and I found that Max is ideal for cleaning carpets. It’s definitely louder than the regular mode and tends to move little area rugs around a bit, but it’s able to pick up virtually all the debris from the floor. During one test, I spread some uncooked rice over the carpet to see how the robot would fare, and I couldn’t find a single grain left on the rug when it was finished! 

Another way to get a deeper clean is to use the vacuum’s Ultra mode, which is available for room or zone cleaning. On this setting, the vacuum increases its suction power and goes over the floor twice using a crosshatch pattern. I used this setting to clean up some potting soil, and the extra pass made sure that little dirt was left behind. 

The Shark vacuum also did a great job picking up pet hair. There are often clumps of hair from my two Golden Retrievers in the corners of the bedroom and hallway, and the Shark did a surprisingly good job picking them up. It gets close along the edges of walls, and it’s cool to watch it use the CleanEdge air bursts to blow debris out of corners. 

I will say that the Shark app itself can be a little confusing. It took me several tries to figure out how to select just one room for cleaning, and the difference between things like “Zone Cleaning” and “Room Cleaning” or Max suction and Ultra mode isn’t immediately clear. Overall, I think the app could use a little more finessing so it’s more streamlined and easier to navigate. 

Mopping Performance
When you want to mop with the Shark robot, you have to swap out the regular dustbin for the secondary mopping dustbin, which has a tank for water and cleaning solution. It was easy to fill up the tank, as there are marks on the side that make it easy to see how much water and soap to add. From there, I simply had to attach one of the reusable mopping pads, and it was ready to go. 

Because my robot’s dock was located fairly close to an area rug, I had to manually move the vacuum to the hallway before starting it – otherwise, it would have likely gotten water on the rug. 

The robot does a surprisingly good job mopping, as the pad moves back and forth with a scrubbing action. There was a stain on the hardwoods from someone’s snowy, salty winter boots, and the mop was able to completely scrub it off. It also did a good job getting along the edges of the walls and into corners. 

However, this setting definitely requires more maintenance than regular vacuuming. While the robot is able to vacuum and mop at the same time, it can’t self-empty the mopping dustbin, so you have to do it manually after each clean. The robot also had trouble returning to its dock after this cleaning cycle, likely because it didn’t want to drive over the rug in my bedroom. I ended up having to put it back manually. 

Obstacle detection
Many of the robot vacuums I’ve tested in the past, including the Neato D10 (link goes to our review), do a poor job avoiding everyday obstacles like power cords, dog toys, and stray socks—all of which are plentiful in my house. The Shark AI Ultra, however, had no problem working around unexpected obstacles, thanks to its 360° LiDAR vision, which uses lasers to detect and avoid unexpected objects.

The vacuum managed to avoid clothing, blankets, and toys that were left in its cleaning path, and the one time it did get tangled on a phone charging cable, it managed to extract itself without damaging the cord. In fact, the robot never once needed mid-cycle assistance throughout the whole testing process. 

Maintenance
If you’re just using the Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 to vacuum, it’s truly a hands-off process. I tested the vacuum for two weeks, and it never needed any assistance from me. When it’s finished cleaning, it empties the onboard dust bin into the base, which can hold up to 60-days worth of dirt and dust. Plus, because it has superior obstacle detection, the robot is able to avoid objects that get left on the floor, so you don’t have to worry about picking up before it cleans. 

There’s a clear panel on the front of the vacuum’s base that lets you see when the debris bin is full, and to empty it, you push the button on top of the base to release the bin, which slides out to the right. From there, you can just hold it over a trash can and press the orange button to empty it. 

Keep in mind that more maintenance is required during mopping mode. When equipped with its mopping attachment, the robot can’t self-empty its dustbin, and it can’t drive over rugs, which means you may need to move it around your house manually. You’ll also need to empty out the water tank after each use to prevent mold from growing.

How does the Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 compare to other robot vacuums?

The Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum is sold in a number of configurations. I tried the model with Self Empty, but it's also available on its own without the base. If the mopping technology isn't something you think you'll use, they also offer the Shark AI Ultra in a smart vacuum format. 

The Shark AI Ultra series appears to be the only Shark robot models being advertised directly on Shark, but other Shark robot models found at other mass market retailers include the Shark IQ, Shark EZ, and the Shark Ion. The Shark IQ is one of Shark's predecessors, and one of the original designs to feature the automatic dustbin but the technology, cleaning power, and navigation in the Shark AI Ultra are a big step up from this older design. The EZ series is another economical choice with the auto-empty feature that uses row-by-row cleaning but does not have smart mapping, while the ION is Shark's most basic model and does not utilize smart mapping. 

Shark AI Ultra vs iRobot j7+
The Shark AI Ultra offers several similar features to the iRobot Roomba j7+ (link goes to our review), one of our top-rated robot vacuums. The j7+ also offers advanced obstacle detection—it’s specifically programmed to avoid running over animal waste—but unlike the Shark, the Roomba actually sends you notifications when it identifies potential hazards. The Shark merely does its best to work around them. The j7+ also has a self-emptying base that can hold up to 60 days worth of debris.

One of the big differences between these two robot vacuums is that the Roomba doesn’t have mopping abilities. This added feature makes the Shark stand out, especially since the Shark is the less expensive of the two models—the j7+ retails for around $800, while the Shark is $700. Both can also be found on sale at times throughout the year. 

The other competition
Other popular vacuum and mop options include a variety of models from Roborock, which dedicates a large portion of its product line up to robotic models that both vacuum and mop. We quite like the S7 series, which also uses sonic mopping, but can differentiate between carpets and floors as well as lift the mopping pad to keep carpets dry. It can also re-dock if you're not home to empty out the water tank right away.  The base S7 is comparably priced, but the addition of an automatic-empty container significantly brings the price into premium territory, but it's said to be able to hold up to 120 days on dirt. 

The Ecovacs Deebot N7 (link goes to our review) also uses Lidar navigation and we like that we can monitor the robot's path in real-time, but the app doesn't feel super polished. It also doesn't have a self-empty option and only mops with water, but it is significantly more affordable, usually costing under $350. 

We've also tried the Proscenic M8 (link goes to our review), which has decent cleaning performance when vacuuming, its mopping feature felt very basic and its obstacle detection needs improvement. 

How does it rate online?

The Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum and Mop currently has just over 200 reviews on Amazon with an average rating of 4.3 out of 5 stars. Many reviewers note that the vacuum navigates and avoids obstacles better than other robot vacuums, and there are lots of pet owners who use it to pick up hair around their homes. 

However, several people do note that the vacuum’s base fills up more quickly than advertised. Shark says that it can hold up to 60 days worth of debris, but users note they need to empty it every few weeks. Other common complaints include the less-than-intuitive app design and mediocre performance on thick carpeting.

Should you buy the Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 Robot Vacuum? 

If you’re looking for a high-tech robot vacuum, the Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 is definitely a worthwhile option. We loved that this vacuum is almost completely self-sufficient, emptying its own dustbin and rarely getting stuck on obstacles. It offers a wide range of cleaning settings, including multiple levels of suction and the ability to target different areas of your home, and as an added bonus, it can even be used as a mop to scrub stains off your hard floors. 

The Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1 is on the more expensive side, retailing for around $700 at full price, but it’s still less expensive than the comparable iRobot Roomba j7+ (link goes to our review), which offers a similar set of skills. Overall, we don’t think you can go wrong with either model.

Shark AI Ultra 2-in-1: Where to buy

While most brands stick with classic round robot vacuums, Neato has broken the mold, thinking outside the box to create a vacuum that delivers better edge and corner cleaning – two areas where many robot vacuums struggle – thanks to their unique D-Shape design. 

The Neato D10 Robot Vacuum is the brand’s top-of-the-line model, featuring four cleaning modes, an extra-long battery life, laser-guided navigation, and a True HEPA filter. We wanted to see how this uniquely designed robot vacuum compared to other top robot vacuums we’ve tested, so I put it to the test in my home over the course of several weeks. I used the D10 for everyday cleaning, seeing how well it picked up pet hair and dirt from my two dogs, and I also put it through several challenges to see if it could tackle larger messes. 

The following is everything you need to know about the Neato D10, including how it compares to other popular robot vacuum models and whether it’s a worthwhile investment for your home.

Neato D10 Product Specifications

• Dust capacity: 0.7 liters
• Run time: 300 minutes
• Vacuum Dimensions: 12.71 x 13.22 x 3.99 inches
• Weight: 8.07 pounds
• Filter: True HEPA H13
• Warranty: 1 year
• RRP: $599

Who will the Neato D10 best suit?

Because it tends to be a bit finicky, the Neato D10 isn’t for everyone. We found that it works best when limited to one room with minimal obstacles to navigate around. It would likely perform well in an open floor plan, so long as there aren’t too many power cords or toys on the floor. 

The Neato D10 also performs well when picking up pet hair, as it’s able to get into tight corners more easily and has a HEPA filter to trap allergens. For these reasons, it would likely be useful for everyday maintenance in a home with pets – just keep in mind that you’ll likely need to empty its dustbin after every run. 

Neato D10: Key features

LaserSmart navigation
The Neato vacuum uses the brand’s 'LaserSmart SLAM technology' to navigate and map out your home. Using information collected on each run, it builds a map that you’re able to access through the Neato app, and because it uses LIDAR, or laser scanning, to navigate its surroundings, the vacuum is able to clean in the dark. This also means there’s no camera on board, protecting your privacy. 

Zone cleaning and No-Go areas
Once the Neato D10 has created a map of your home, you can use the Neato app to create special Zones for the vacuum. You’re able to create custom No-Go zones in areas that you want the vacuum to avoid, such as a pet’s food bowls, and you can also specify areas to clean more frequently, such as an entryway or other high-traffic location. 

Long battery life
The Neato D10 is designed for cleaning large homes, as it has an impressive 300-minute maximum runtime and can cover 2,700 square feet on a single charge. If it does run low on power during cleaning, it will automatically return to its dock and charge back up before resuming its task. 

Multiple cleaning modes
There are four different cleaning modes that you can select via the Neato app: Auto, Eco, Turbo, and Max. Auto is the default setting, and the vacuum will automatically switch to the best cleaning mode depending on the floor type. On Eco, the vacuum is quieter and uses less suction, helping to prolong the battery life. Turbo offers increased suction for more powerful dirt pickup, and Max is the highest setting, making it best-suited for deep cleaning floors and carpeting. 

HEPA filter
The Neato D10 is equipped with a True HEPA filter on its dustbin that captures 99.97% of allergens and fine dust particles as small as 0.3 microns. The filter has a mesh cover that’s easy to clean and helps to prolong the filter's life, and the brand also offers replacement filters with built-in fragrance pods, which help to freshen your home every time it cleans. 

Neato D10: Design

The design of the Neato D10 Robot Vacuum is what sets it apart from other robot vacuums available today. Instead of a classic round shape, the D10 is shaped like the letter D, with a flat front. This design allows the vacuum to get into corners and along the edges of walls. The vacuum has an attractive high-gloss brushed silver, and its charging base is extremely compact, so it won’t take up too much space in your home. 

On top of the robot, there’s a flap that lifts up, allowing you to access the dustbin for emptying, and it also features a power button and an information button. The D10 uses the Helix multi-surface brush to pick up dirt, dust, and debris from hardwoods, tile, carpeting, and more, and the brand claims the brush is 70% bigger than those round robots. 

What is the Neato D10 like to use?

Getting started
The Neato D10 came in a compact box, and the vacuum and its charging base were both wrapped in cloth dust bags instead of plastic. The box contained two extra filters, along with the one that was already installed in the vacuum, and on the back of the charging base, there’s a cord wrap and detangling brush to clean off the vacuum’s brush roll. The whole thing was extremely quick and easy to set up, and it only took a few minutes to pair the vacuum with the Neato app on my phone. 

First runs
I set the Neato vacuum up in my dining room, which is on the first floor of my home. The room itself is around 150 square feet, and it has doorways leading to a central hallway, as well as the kitchen. The first time I ran the Neato robot vacuum, it almost immediately exited the room, driving straight across the hallway into my office. It got to work cleaning the office, getting stuck once on a dog toy under the couch, and when it finished vacuuming the space, it returned to its dock and announced that it was finished cleaning. I thought this was a little weird, considering it didn’t even vacuum the room where it was located. 

I ran it again, and this time, it tried to clean the dining room (where it’s located), but within a minute or two, it was stuck underneath the bookcase and needed assistance getting out. Opting to give it one more try, I ran the vacuum a third time, and during this cycle, it exited the dining room and cleaned the hallway, then returned back to the base and announced it had finished cleaning. 

All that to say, the Neato D10 and I didn’t get off to a very good start. Maybe it’s because the downstairs area of my home has several different rooms, but the vacuum seemed to get confused or stuck every time I ran it. It also created a new map in the Neato app every single time, instead of just adding to its existing map as a Roomba does. 

I tried to use the D10 downstairs for several days, and it never once made it to every room. I decided it might be better off confined to one space, so I moved the vacuum to our upstairs master bedroom for further testing. It worked much better when it just needed to clean one room, and I’m sure it also helps that there aren’t too many obstacles to work around in the bedroom. 

One other observation worth noting is that Neato’s cleaning time often varied significantly. Sometimes it would take just 15 minutes to vacuum my bedroom, while other times it would need 40 minutes or more. I’m honestly not sure why there was such a large discrepancy between runs unless it was getting stuck on obstacles without me noticing. 

Cleaning Performance
In terms of its actual cleaning abilities, the Neato D10 performs much better on dust, dirt, and pet hair than it does on larger pieces of debris. I was impressed at how much dirt and dust it was able to extract from the carpet under my bed, and it did a surprisingly good job picking up pet hair that was hiding in the corners of the room. The regular Auto cleaning mode was perfect for this type of everyday cleaning, though I did find it to be quite noisy, as the vacuum makes a revving noise when it increases its suction on carpeting. 

I wanted to see how well the Neato would pick up larger debris, so I scattered some uncooked rice across the rug and hard floors. Sadly, the vacuum was barely able to pick up any of the rice – it mostly just spread it around the floor. I tried again with a handful of potting soil, which I figured would be easier for the vacuum to suck up, and it did a better job, picking up the majority of the dirt. However, there was still a small amount of soil left behind that the vacuum missed. 

Obstacle detection
Speaking of obstacles, the D10 wasn’t the best at avoiding them. It would regularly get caught up on power cords, dog toys, and stray socks – sometimes it was able to extract itself, while others it stopped its cleaning cycle and required assistance. If you want to avoid having to help out this robot mid-cycle, I think your best option is to simply pick up the floor before it runs. 

Maintenance
Unlike many of the best robot vacuums available today, the Neato D10 doesn’t have a self-emptying dustbin, or the option to purchase one as an add-on, and this means you have to regularly empty its bin manually. I found that the dustbin needed to be emptied every one to two runs in my bedroom, as it would quickly fill up with dust and pet hair. The bin also isn’t the easiest to empty – you have to remove the filter to get the debris out, and sometimes it requires a bit of force, causing the dust to poof everywhere.

I also noticed that pet hair does get wrapped around the vacuum’s brush roll pretty quickly, so I made a point to detangle it every time I emptied the dustbin. The brand does have a special Pet Brush that you can swap in for the multi-surface brush, but it seems like the design is simply meant to extract more pet hair from carpeting, not necessarily prevent tangling.  

How does the Neato D10 compare to other robot vacuums?

The Neato D10 is the brand’s latest model, but you can also purchase its predecessors – the D9 or D8 models. The D9 has a shorter 200-minute runtime per charge, and it doesn’t have a HEPA filter. Further, it lacks the D10’s Max suction mode, but it retails for $280, saving you more than $100. The D8 is another step-down, offering a 100-minute runtime for $230. 

We’ve also tested the iRobot Roomba j7+, an extremely popular model from the well-known brand. The j7+ has a similarly sleek design, and it offers smart mapping abilities, as well as a self-emptying dustbin for reduced maintenance. We were impressed by its obstacle detection abilities, which keep it from running over pet waste or getting stuck on cords, and it does a more thorough job mapping out its surroundings than the Neato D10. However, because it has a classic round shape, the j7+ isn’t as good at cleaning along edges or in corners. 

How does it rate online?

The Neato D10 Robot Vacuum was released in October 2021, and it currently has 181 reviews on the Neato website with an average rating of 3.76. It has an average 4.0-star rating from 44 reviews from Best Buy. While the product listing on Amazon has more than 3,000 reviews, the D10 is listed alongside the D7 vacuum, so the 3.8-star rating takes into account reviews for both models. 

While some users are happy with the performance of the vacuum, many have experienced similar issues to what we experienced—poor mapping abilities, erratic and incomplete cleaning jobs, and getting stuck frequently.  

Should you buy the Neato D10 Robot Vacuum? 

The Neato D10 Robot Vacuum is the brand’s top-tier model, and it retails for $430. This price is middle-of-the-road as far as robot vacuums go, but unfortunately, we think your money is best spent elsewhere. This vacuum proved to be quite frustrating to use – it got stuck on obstacles frequently, was unable to clean multiple rooms at once, and struggled to pick up larger pieces of debris. Additionally, it doesn’t have a self-emptying dustbin, which means it requires significantly more maintenance than models like the iRobot Roomba i7.

. 

Neato D10: Where to buy

As someone who tests and reviews vacuum cleaners for a living, I've seen all sorts of innovative cleaning technologies that transform our home lives. But when it comes down to it, Shark and Dyson pave the way in the world of floorcare.

Dyson's high-performing vacuums have led the market for years, but there's no denying the wide range of incredible, great-value cleaners that Shark continue to develop.

There's a world of difference between the best best Dyson vacuums and the best Shark vacuums. We've racked up hundreds of hours testing both brands' offerings in our homes and testing facility, so we know exactly which comes out on top.

Shark vs Dyson: Which is best?

Bottom line: Dyson vacuums perform better, whilst Shark vacuums offer better value.

Dyson is widely known to be the market leader. We've tested almost their entire lineup, and for years, their innovative vacuums top our best vacuums lists time and time again. Their range is now almost exclusively cordless vacuums that boast similar suction power to larger, corded machines.

But Shark vacuums still excel in our tests. The Shark vacuum range includes cordless and upright vacuums, robots, wet/dry vacuums, and carpet cleaners, so there's much more choice on offer. They're also more reasonably priced – although they're not usually quite as powerful as the Dysons, they do a thorough job of cleaning your floors without the eye-watering price tag.

Buy a Shark vacuum if you:

• Are looking for great value
• Want powerful suction
• Prefer upright vacuums or floor washers
• Don't want to swap floorheads when cleaning different surfaces
• Prefer a longer, five-year warranty

Buy a Dyson vacuum if you:

• Want the most powerful suction in a lightweight, cordless stick
• Enjoy innovations like a dust-revealing laser or particle sensor
• Need top-level, whole-machine HEPA filtration
• Prefer dedicated floorheads for different surfaces
• Want a vacuum with washable filters
• Have more money to spare

Shark vs Dyson: Which cordless is best?

WINNER: Dyson V15 Detect

The Dyson V15 Detect is our favorite vacuum cleaner in the world. It has amazing suction, stops pet hair from getting stuck, and we love the laser and piezo sensor, which lets you know exactly what you're removing from your floors and adjusts suction power as it detects floor type and dust volume.

The Dyson V15 Detect scored a perfect 100% vs the nearly-but-not-quite 90% of the Shark Cordless PowerDetect, but that's not to say the Dyson is necessarily best for your home. They're two very different vacuums, and while the Dyson has better cleaning performance, the Shark is sold for around half the price, and still has strong suction power and floor detection tech, as well as a set of features you won't find in a Dyson.

It can bend at the wand, allowing you to reach under furniture without straining your back. You also get the option for a Clean & Empty System which stores, charges, empties and cleans your vacuum for you, while storing any collected dust for up to 60 days, minimizing how often you have to do it yourself.

You might also prefer Shark's multi-surface floorhead. It uses two brushrolls so you can pass over carpets and hard floors without having to swap it out, while the Dyson Detect vacuums have separate floorheads for these tasks. It means they're better suited to each surface type, but it does require some effort each time.

The Dyson Gen5detect has the same features as the V15 Detect and performs even better, but costs $200 more. There's also the Dyson V12 Detect Slim, the smaller, more affordable sister to these two vacuums, but while it shares all the same features, its suction power doesn't quite match (150 air watts compared to the V15 Detect's 230 and the Gen5detect's 262). These are great alternatives if you're looking to either save money or want the absolute best in the world.

Shark vs Dyson: Which is the best upright?

WINNER: Shark POWERDETECT

While Dyson have held back on the release of upright vacuums to focus on the development of their cordless Detect range, Shark have dominated that corner of the market with unique, user-friendly upright vacuums with relentless suction power.

The Shark POWERDETECT is the best upright vacuum on the market. It overcomes the usual limits of an upright with a handy lift-away body that makes it easy to use on stairs. The odor-neutralizing cartridge is no gimmick, genuinely improving the usual smells of pet hair, and it has good anti-hair wrap, so you won't have to pick hair out of the brush roll.

It also detects floor type, dust volumes, and whether you're vacuuming edges to automatically adjust to the optimal suction power. This is why it's our best vacuum for carpet, as well as being an incredible multi-surface vacuum, passing from carpets to hard floors without having to adjust the brushroll.

The Dyson Ball Animal 3 is another good choice, annihilating pet hair from carpets and rugs with its powerful suction. However, this power is one of its weaknesses – it's so strong that it can be difficult to push on carpet. It's also missing those features that we love about Shark's upright vacuums.

Shark vs Dyson: Which is the best robot vacuum?

WINNER: Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1

Shark's latest vacuum, the PowerDetect Robot Vacuum and Mop, is a reasonably-priced and high-performing robot that vacuums, mops and self-cleans. And from our experience with Shark's older robots (the Shark AI Ultra and Shark IQ), we've loved how effectively they clean without costing the earth.

Dyson's only robot vacuum, the Dyson 360 Vis Nav, costs a whopping $1,199.99, and while we were fans of how well it cleans, it's already been outperformed in our tests by many others like the eufy S1 Pro Omni and the eufy X10 Pro Omni.

The Shark PowerDetect Robot Vacuum and Mop costs $200-300 less than the Dyson 360 Vis Nav and it comes with a mopping function, a more comprehensive cleaning base, and a more user-friendly app.

Robot vacuums continue to be one of Dyson's few weaknesses. Our head of eCommerce Alex tested their previous model, the Dyson Heirust, and said that it had 'weak pickup and poor room mapping.'

Shark vs Dyson: Which is best for pet hair?

WINNER: Dyson V15 Detect

Our tests found that the Dyson V15 Detect is not only the best vacuum and cordless vacuum, but also the best vacuum for pet hair. We found that it worked spectacularly on every surface, but that performance didn't stop when it came to pet hair. It managed to pick up all the hair from an old dog bed without tangling, while also restoring the bed's color in the process. That type of detangling is second-to-none.

But if the price tag puts you off, our runner-up in our tests is the Shark POWERDETECT Upright. This vacuum also excelled when we put it to the test against cat fur, and has amazing odor neutralizer technology that banishes pet smells before they start.

'With one pass, the Shark POWERDETECT had picked up every visible piece of hair (as well as litter near the litter box) from the carpet, filling the dustbin with an amount of hair equal to a second cat,' expert tester James wrote in his review. If you don't want to stretch to $700, the POWERDETECT is a smart alternative.

Shark vs Dyson: Which is better value?

WINNER: Shark

This one's an easy decision. Shark's latest cordless vacuum costs $400, their latest upright costs $300, and their latest robot costs between $600 and $1,000. They also typically come with a five-year warranty, compared to the 1-2 years of Dyson's warranties.

In comparison, Dyson's latest cordless vacuum costs $1,050, their latest upright costs $300 (same as Shark), and their latest robot costs $1,200.

Sure, these prices are justified by market-leading engineering and suction power, but in real terms, Shark's vacuums can achieve very similar results for a fraction of the price, while often having unique features not found in Dyson's vacuums. Whether it's a flexible wand to clean under furniture, an odor-neutralizing cartridge to fight unwanted smells, or a self-empty cleaning station – Shark's vacuums are designed to make life easier.

Shark deals are more frequent and can offer up to 50% off, while the biggest Dyson deals are usually around $200-300 off, and it tends to only be the major sale events where we see these discounts.

Shark vs Dyson: Which is more powerful?

WINNER: Dyson

When it comes to sheer air watts and therefore suction power on the floor, Dyson offer the most powerful around. Their vacuums use patented cyclone engineering that sets them apart from virtually all competitors.

The Dyson Gen5detect and V15 Detect are the only cordless vacuums that can match the suction power of an upright. And their upright vacuum, the Dyson Ball Animal 3, was so powerful that it occasionally got stuck to the carpet.

Dyson's laser vacuums paved the way with automatic suction power, where they'd sense the floor type and how much dirt there is to maintain the right suction. But Shark has since followed in their footsteps, so now you'll find this same feature across Dyson and Shark's best vacuums.

On test, Dyson easily wins this one, as seen in the video above. We've never experienced such effective cleaning as when using Dyson's latest cordless vacuums. They clean up all dust, small debris, large debris and even hair in a single pass. Shark's vacuums are great, but they're not quite that powerful.

Dyson makes different floorheads for different surfaces. The FluffyOptic floorhead is optimized for hard floors with softer fibers to rid floors of dust and a green laser to reveal invisible dust, while the detangling Motorbar floorhead digs deep into carpets, though still effective on hard floors if the fluffy floorhead is not included.

Shark doesn't do this, instead opting for multi-surface floorheads with versatile dual brushrolls to work seamlessly across different floors. This makes cleaning easier, but means they're not getting the specific treatment you'll find in Dyson's specialized floorheads.

Shark vs Dyson: Which has the best filtration?

WINNER: Dyson

All of Dyson's products carry advanced whole-machine HEPA filtration, emphasizing its five-layer filtration and cyclone technology that is the heart of Dyson's technology to keep dust and dirt trapped inside.

The dustbin is only the first stage in separating the particles visible to the naked eye. Dyson’s multi-cyclone technology, with up to 18 cyclones, depending on the model, maintains the velocity required to remove fine dust from the airflow. Pre- and post-motor filters are responsible for filtering the smallest particles, capable of removing 99.97 percent of particles invisible to the human eye as small as 0.3 microns.

It's easy to clean a Dyson vacuum filter as they're easily washable and help prevent the build-up of allergens or dander.

Most Shark machines feature their Anti-Allergen Complete Seal, which traps dust, allergens, and irritants and seals them inside, keeping them out of the air you breathe. Particles filter through the washable foam and felt filters. Some more of the premium models will also feature HEPA, but it will drive up the price.

Shark vs Dyson: Which has the bigger dustbin?

WINNER: Shark

Dyson was actually the first to engineer bagless dustbins, using the clear dustbin design to be able to keep track of how much dirt has been collected and a system that will never lose suction because the bin is full. At this point, however, both Shark and Dyson use bagless dustbins, making it easy to avoid overfilling your vacuum.

Both dustbins use an easy, one-touch propeller system designed to be hassle-free and hygienic. Dyson's dustbin opens and pushes the dirt forward, while Shark vacuums actually release the dustbin, making it much easier to clean your vacuum.

We've personally found a better emptying experience from Shark as we're not having to reach in to take out stuck clumps of debris, as has been our experience with Dyson. The bins can also easily be rinsed with water. Dyson's dustbins can typically only be wiped with a damp cloth, as they are connected to electrical components.

Within the dustbin, hair wraps around the filters inside on both the Shark and Dyson. Hair is easier to pull out of the Shark, but it's more difficult to place your hand up in the shaft of the bin. Dyson's dustbin utilizes a rubber stopper to push the dirt down and keep it going in one direction.

Plus, models like the Shark Cordless PowerDetect Clean & Empty System come with a self-cleaning charging base that automatically stores the vacuum's dust for up to two months before having to empty it yourself.

Shark vs Dyson: Which has better battery life?

WINNER: Shark and Dyson

Both Dyson and Shark offer comparable battery life. Both offer up to 70 minutes runtime for their best cordless vacuums the Dyson Gen5detect and the Shark Cordless PowerDetect, but typically all of their cordless vacuums have 60 minute runtimes.

For some models, you can buy replacement batteries at Shark and Dyson to give you double the runtime between charges.

Next, consider the best Dyson alternatives for impressive vacuums on a smaller budget.

Roomba have been in the robot vacuum market for longer than almost anyone. They produced the first commercially successful robot vacuum back in 2002 and have since become almost synonymous with the small helpers.

With that much experience, it's no surprise Roombas are among the most advanced robots available, but this also comes at a premium price point. That's why, in my experience covering deals and sale events, I always recommend waiting until they're on offer. They're usually discounted regularly enough to be able to save $100s.

I'm Homes & Gardens' home tech editor and I test, review and write about vacuums for a living. Of all the best robot vacuums our product testing team has reviewed, Roombas often come out on top thanks to their strong suction power and deep mop cleaning so it'll be worth the spend, especially at these prices.

Where to shop for Roomba deals

I've deep-dived the Roomba deals you can currently find online so use these Quick Links to head straight there.

• iRobot: Shop the full range of deals
• Amazon: $100s worth of savings on Roombas
• Best Buy: Deals on new and old Roombas
• Lowe's: Save up on select Roombas
• Target: Deals on a wide selection of Roombas with up to $300 off
• Walmart: Limited offers, save on our best-tested Roombas

My Roomba deal tips and tricks