The best robot vacuum for vinyl plank floors Robot Vacuums

A good robot vacuum does most of the work and nabs pet hair, lint and dirt before it can stick to furniture or get ground into carpets. Many robot vacuums work with smart assistants such as Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant to give you a hands-free cleaning experience.

A lot of models come with mapping capabilities that allow them to create an interactive map of your house. This helps them avoid tumbling off ledges and navigating around the cords of devices.

What to Look for

Certain robots have advanced features that let you control them through the app and voice assistants such as Alexa and Google Assistant. These include smart mapping cleaning zones and spots, and the ability to avoid objects. These machines may also come with larger dust bins and longer-lasting batteries.

Find a model that has a an extended brush that can sweep up large debris and one that's small enough to fit under furniture. Find out if the vacuum is able to clean different types of floors without having to change the suction settings or brushes. This could reduce its cleaning efficiency and shorten its lifespan.

The most effective robot vacuums feature high-quality filters that trap tiny particles to safeguard the interior of your home and a large, accessible collection bin that allows you to clear it frequently. Certain robot vacuums come with an additional side brush that can sweep up pet hair or debris in difficult to reach areas like under and behind furniture. The bins are typically transparent, so you can see how much dirt is in the bin, and when to empty it.

In addition to scheduling your robot vacuum to operate at times when you're most likely to be at home, you can use the app to set the boundaries around your furniture and rooms that you'd like it avoid. Certain models also recognize the type of floor and alter their brush and vacuum settings to match.

You can also find robots that can recharge and continue cleaning right where they left off when their batteries are running low. Some robot vacuums have a camera built in that lets you see the route taken by your robot and what it has collected.

Some robots also let you control them with your voice, but not all do so as effortlessly as other models. Make sure that the model you choose is compatible with your voice assistant of choice, and test out how well it responds to different commands during the purchasing process. Some robots will even empty their trash bins and clean their docking stations, reducing your list of chores a bit. But this feature comes at an expense, as does a larger collection bin and a faster charging speed.

Cleaning Performance

While robots aren't able to replace a full-on vacuum or broom, they can provide an effective and efficient alternative to the daily chore of cleaning floors. The Best value robot vacuum robotic cleaners can pick up small debris like dust, pet hair, and crumbs, or larger items like metal shavings and wood shavings. They do this without harming furniture or floors.

Most of the time, they'll detect what type of surface they're cleaning and adjust their suction or brush features accordingly so that they can more effectively clean your floors. This is particularly important when you have various flooring types across your home. Many models offer the option to set virtual boundaries. This lets you tell your robot to stay clear of certain areas of your home. This helps to keep your pets and children from entering areas they shouldn't. It also ensures that your entire house is cleaned during every scheduled session.

Consider how much autonomy your robot will have. Certain models require you to be present and attentive, whereas others work on their own. They can change cleaning modes and schedules via an app on mobile devices or by voice commands using an integrated smart assistant. Some models can map and understand your space, allowing you to set up zones and tell the robot to clean specific areas of your home on a weekly or daily basis.

In our testing, the iRobot j7+ was the top "set it and forget it" robot. It was the best hybrid robot vacuum and mop in mapping, creating virtual boundaries and getting around obstacles better than the other robots we tried. It also has the ability to empty itself so that you do not have to manually do it. The side brushes help sweep debris from edges and corners which a vacuum can't reach.

Its slim design and infrared sensor allows it to clean under and behind furniture which allows it to perform better than the majority of robots. Furthermore, its advanced navigation system allows it to clean the entire floor of your home with just one battery charge. Even at its affordable price you'll find it hard to beat in everyday use.

Battery Life

A robot vacuum can make cleaning your floors feel like less of a chore, and more like a treat. Promptly nabbing tracked-in dirt, crumbs and shedding pet hair can make all the difference in how clean your home feels on a daily basis. While a robot of a basic design can keep up with most cleaning tasks, those seeking a bit more of a hands-off experience should look for a model that doubles as mop.

The Ecovacs Deebot T10 OMNI is one of the best robot mops for hardwood floors models for both as it is extremely efficient in both vacuuming and mop modes and can easily handle dirt debris, pet hair and even cat litter. Its object avoidance feature is particularly impressive, allowing it to steer clear of objects and not get stuck on them.

It comes with a huge dust bin and a long-lasting battery, so it can cover a lot of space in one session. It's also a smart vacuum, which means it can track your home, and it works with apps such as those provided by Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant to let you control the vacuum with voice commands.

The app that comes along with the robot allows you to set up schedules, designate rooms to be cleaned or suspend or resume sessions. It will alert you when its battery is running low and will return to the docking station to recharge.

The robot is also able to distinguish between hard floors and carpets and adjust its settings accordingly. This will prevent the machine from becoming stuck on one type of floor and causing damage to furniture. However, it is not yet able to detect high pile carpeting or the seams between rooms, so you will have to be cautious when picking up large objects.

All robot vacuums require a level of maintenance, for example getting rid of hair from brushes, emptying (and sometimes rinsing) the bin of dust after each cleaning session, and cleaning sensors or cameras between uses to ensure they are in good shape. The manufacturer will provide specific instructions for these steps as well as others, which can vary according to the model.

Cost

The top robot vacuums don't come cheap, but they're far less expensive than a professional carpet cleaner, or even an entire stand-up vacuum. They also need less maintenance than traditional vacuums and most require that you empty (and sometimes rinse) their dust bin after each cleaning session, and often cleaning their cameras or sensors.

Many robot vacuums have smart features that can make them more efficient for your home, such as mapping technology, which allows you to instruct the vacuum on the layout of your space by using an app, so it knows not to run into the stairs or under the furniture, where there might be the possibility of a mess. Other robot vacuums are able to detect the kind of flooring they are cleaning so they can alter their suction and brush functions to ensure the most effective results.

Some models feature objects avoidance, which utilizes sensors (or even a camera) to identify objects like toys and other things on the floor and instruct the robot to go around them instead of running into them. This is a great solution if your children or pets are prone to leaving toys around the house.

Voice control is another useful feature that you could find useful. It allows you to operate your robot using your voice, rather than the buttons on the board. This can be helpful for children who aren't quite old enough to be able to use the controls, or if you simply want a hands-free solution.

How often you should use your robot will depend on how much dirt or debris is accumulating on your floor. The majority of experts recommend using your robot vacuum at least once a week in order to keep your floors clean and remove pet hair, lint and dirt on the surface.

If you're working with limited flooring and don't intend to use your robot for other tasks, a low-cost model like our top pick, the Eufy 11S, is a good choice. It's inexpensive, simple to install and operate, and gets the job done with minimal noise disturbance while you watch TV or work.