Connected to the base of this robot vacuum is a handheld cordless vacuum attachment to tackle stairs and couch cushions. Like the bot, this extra vacuum charges and self-empties right alongside the robot in the included self-emptying, self-cleaning, and self-filling Omni Station. There’s even a drawer built into the station that stores the hand vac attachments.

While the vacuum earns very good scores for data security, it rates as less than satisfactory for data privacy. Despite being a little noisier than many other tested models, this robot vacuum is powerful and designed for convenience. CR doesn’t have enough survey data to rate owner satisfaction and predicted reliability for Dyson.

So, ideally you will still want to run your regular vacuum every so often, while the robot vacuum helps keep dust down in the interim. By keeping on top of the light debris, you won’t need to use your full-sized vacuum so often.

Este.O.P), whereby iRobot will replace any j7+ that fails to avoid solid pet waste. This robot vacuum is constantly learning with every run too, making it one of the smartest I’ve seen. We dropped some fake dog poop in its path on test, and it didn't disappoint, swerving to avoid the mess. Although it didn't recognize larger objects, such as socks, shoes and dog toys at first — it should do this with time and software updates.

The eufy G50 Hybrid Robot Vacuum with Mop is a straightforward and compact appliance which utilises smart tech. It offers up to 4,000 Pa of strong suction to pick up food and dust and is thin enough to slip under tight spaces.

The robot navigated tight spaces and cleaned under kitchen cabinet toe kicks without getting stuck. However, the LIDAR sensor on top makes it too tall to fit under some low-profile furniture. After methodically covering our test floors, the Shark returned to its dock and emptied every speck of debris it collected.

Several of the top robot vacs below also double as robotic mops, but we didn’t evaluate mopping capabilities in our vacuum tests.

PrecisionVision Navigation features here. This ensures the Roomba will recognise and avoid objects. Plus, when it spots them, it will send you a photo so that you can tell it to avoid or clean around it in future.

Shark AI’s compact design and self-emptying bin make it a standout choice, especially for carpet cleaning (it's our best overall pick Top 3 Automatic Vacuum Cleaners in our roundup of the best robot vacuums for carpet).

Eufy X10 Pro Omni is the best robot vacuum for most people. This self-empty robot vacuum and mop checks pretty much all our boxes. The suction power is excellent, pulling all kinds of debris, fluff and hair and fluff out of our tester's carpet (although it did flick larger debris about rather than sucking it up – a problem with almost all robovacs). It's relatively quiet in all but it's very highest vacuum setting, too.

If you have a bit more cash to play with, the s9+ can also talk with the company's Braava jet m6 robot mop, with the two working as a team, vacuuming floors, followed by a mop. Ultimately, this robot vacuum comes at a steep price, but it leaves little room for improvement.

The pay-off of the small base station is that it can't self empty, so you'll need to take a trip to the trash every time the small onboard bin gets full. It'll be fine for smaller homes or light cleaning, but might be annoying if you're regularly dealing with lots of dirt or pet hair.

❌ You're dealing with high levels of dirt: This robovac doesn't self-empty dust, and while the onboard bin will compress dust so it can hold a surprisingly large amount, you'll still have to empty it more than you would a traditional self-empty model.

It happens, even with all their sensors and crazy abilities, your robot vacuum can get stuck sometimes on their route.