Robot vacuums: Best Budget vacuum to purchase in 2021

Robot vacuums never get bored or distracted, and they don’t mind working every day. In most homes, they keep the floors tidy with barely any effort

Want to keep your floors clean without lifting a finger? Let a robot do the work for you. The options are more capable and affordable than ever, and we’ve rounded up the best robot vacuums to help you pick one that’s just right for your home. Let’s check out the best products.

The Best all-around robot vacuum

1. iRobot Roomba s9+ Robot Vacuum

As a matter of fact, The iRobot Roomba s9+ excelled on hard floors, and impressively picked up 99% of the uncooked oatmeal, sand, baking soda and small nuts and screws we spread on the floor. It spots cleaned a small area faster and more thoroughly than the competition. When Roomba detects its on carpet. It automatically pumps up the suction to clean deeper. Its onboard high-efficiency filter traps irritating allergens. While the corner brush reaches deep into corners and along edges to nab stray crumbs.

Robot vacuums can be messy to maintain, but Roomba’s double rubber roller brushes didn’t clog with pesky pet hair like bristle brushes did and its automatic dirt disposal system makes clean work of emptying the dust cup. Once cleaning is complete, Roomba returns to its charging base. This robot can collect all dirt automatically transferred from the robot into the bag-lined trash can without you having to touch the mess. It is large-capacity bags that will last through multiple cleaning sessions. iRobot Roomba s9+ can seal completely before you toss them so dust and the dirt.

One of the smartest robot vacuums. Roomba maps and remembers multiple rooms and floor plans, so it’s easy to direct just where you want it to via the app or by voice command. In addition, its battery is low, even in the middle of a large cleaning job. It’ll recharge itself quickly and go right back to where it left off, cleaning until the job has completed. Above all, it will avoid the spots which is already done.

Best Value Robot Vacuum

2. Eufy RoboVac 15C Max Robot Vacuum

One of the quietest vacuums. The Eufy robot is the top performing system. As a matter of fact, Eufy has two side brushes and roller brush action, and Eufy is packed with high-end features all at a price that’s hard to pass up. Making it a favorite with Amazon reviewers. Its sleek, super-slim design (just under three inches tall) means it can slip beneath low ottomans and couches to nab even the most difficult-to-reach dirt.

In addition, Eufy uses Boost IQ Technology to automatically increase suction power. When Eufy detects an extra-strength cleaning job is needed. Its large wheels helped it climb over door ledges and easily move from medium-pile carpet to hardwood or tile. With its advanced sensors, Eufy avoids any tumbles off ledges or stairs and bumping your furniture. There’s a remote control for spot cleaning or for cleaning just the edges of your rooms while the smartphone app lets you customize a cleaning schedule that suits you, and syncs with Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant for voice-control convenience. In our tests, it ran for almost two hours on a single charge, and the large trash can means less-frequent emptying. Like most robot vacuums, Eufy knows to return to its charging base when the battery runs low to fully recharge before the next clean

Best Wet/Dry Robot Vacuum

3. Ecovacs DEEBOT OZMO 950 Robot Vacuum

If you want a gadget that does double-duty, this Ecovacs DEEBOT OZMO 950 can’t be beat – it’s the only one of our winners that can vacuum and wet-mop your floors simultaneously, using an innovative electronic water pump, reservoir, and either reusable or disposable pads. And you don’t have to worry about your carpet getting wet while using the DEEBOT. Thanks to its carpet detection capabilities, the robot automatically avoids them. While vacuuming, the DEEBOT knows when it’s on carpet and automatically increases the suction to clean more deeply.

In our tests, the DEEBOT easily transitioned from bare floors to carpets and at 3.7 inches high, it maneuvered and cleaned exceptionally well under and around a love seat and end table and ran for an impressive three hours and 20 minutes. With its methodical vacuuming pattern, three levels of suction, and over three hours of run time, this vacuum is ideal for larger homes. Sensors prevent the robot from bumping into obstacles, or falling off ledges or down stairs.

Other cool features include its ability to create up to three different maps of your home’s floor plan while it navigates its way around. Then, through the smartphone app you can access the map to set up a custom cleaning schedule and set boundaries for the robot around where you do and don’t want it to clean. The app allows you to remotely start its cleaning cycle even before you get home and syncs with Amazon’s Alexa and Google Assistant.

The Quietest Robot Vacuum

4. Bissell EV675 Robot Vacuum

With its wonderfully quiet motor, we almost forgot the Bissell EV675 was maneuvering its way through our test rooms, running for up to 100 minutes before it needed recharging. It uses two edge brushes and a rotating brush roller to quickly clean pet hair and dry messes on bare floors, including along edges and in corners. Its low profile design helped it navigate into tight spaces and under furniture.

Though it’s not Wi-Fi connected, with the remote, you can direct the robot to clean only the edges, or do a quick spot clean, which it did very well. You can also easily set a future cleaning schedule to take care of your home when you’re away. Like others, the automatic sensors detect stairs and drop-offs and alert the robot to low battery levels so that it can automatically return to the docking station to recharge. The Bissell is a great starter robovac for those not into techy gadgets.

Best Robot Vacuum for Object Detection

5. Roborock S6 MaxV

The Robotic S6 Max V has been specifically designed to tackle multiple things. While initiating the app to control the robot, it asks if you have pets. This setting triggers the dual camera system to be on the lookout for small objects in its path, provided there is substantial contrast between the floor and the object. During our tests, the S6 Max V had no problem with avoiding dark objects on a light-colored floor, but it struggled to recognize the same object on a dark wooden floor and simply pushed it out of the way (not what you want if that was pet poop). Note that the object to be avoided can’t be smaller than two inches.

Robot vacuums usually struggle with pet hair, but enabling carpet mode made easy work of picking up fluff and embedded dirt as the S6 MaxV adjusted its suction when it recognized the carpet.

After vacuuming, use the S6 MaxV to wet mop with plain water only – water flow can be adjusted through the app, and the reusable mop cloth is washable. Using no-mop zones can prevent your carpet from being mopped, although it’s tricky to set the zone for an area rug. A moisture-proof mat at the charging base protects your floor.

The bottom line

While no robot can manage stairs, or tackle ground-in dirt and debris as well as a stick or upright vacuum (yet!), the top performers in our tests do have impressive pick-up scores on hard floors and low pile carpets. They sweep up fine particles, like sand and baking soda, heavier debris, like oatmeal, orzo pasta, metal screws and nuts and even fluffy stuff, like pet hair.

Consider investing in one if you absolutely hate this chore or want your home cleaned more often than you have the time or energy for. Robot vacuums are great maintenance cleaners. Send them out several times a week and they’ll nab all the dust and pet hair, lint, and surface dirt on your floors before it has a chance to build up or get ground in.

Another benefit is that these vacuums clean under the bed, behind furniture, along the walls and in the corners that you might often skip or your regular vacuum can’t reach. (All the vacuums we tested have brush rollers to lift away pet hair, were slim enough to clean under furniture at least four inches high, and most featured side brushes to help scoop dirt from deep corners and edges.) They’ll clean just the kitchen floor after dinner while you catch your favorite show or an entire floor of your home while you’re out of the house. Can you get it done faster with your regular vacuum? Sure. But the real question is, do you want to?