How Do You Explain Good Robot Vacuum To A Five-Year-Old What to Look For in a Good Robot Vacuum

A robot vacuum can help keep you on top of pet hair and lint on regular basis. Many use apps that allow you to schedule cleaning times and set virtual boundaries or "walls" to keep them away from areas that you don't want to be cleaned.

This smart vac-mop will create an outline of your home's layout with its initial run. It then stores the area to help you with future cleaning tasks. It comes with a large dust bin that automatically emptys, as well as self-cleaning brush roll.

Object Detection

When choosing a robot vacuum cleaner, select one that can clean up big items such as lamps and toys and fine dust. This will ensure that the items don't get stuck in the roller brush or strewn across your floor. This feature is especially important if your robot will be cleaned regularly by pets or children.

It's an excellent idea to choose a model with strong motors and lots of suction power. This will help it to be more effective in eliminating pet hair, dust and lint from carpets and hardwood floors.

The size of your home is a different factor to consider. If you have a huge house, you may choose models with multiple cleaning zones that can clean the entire house in one go. Some models come with a mopping feature that can be utilized to keep floors clean and fresh.

Robot vacuums last a long time however they'll need to be maintained and cleaned regularly. Regularly cleaning the rotating brushes and emptying the dust bin, and wiping the sensors will keep your robot running smoothly for a long time. Many of the owners of robot vacuums we speak with have owned the same model for a period of 10 years or more (and have replaced motors, brushes and batteries as they went along).

A basic robot is less expensive than a large vacuum cleaner. They'll be able to do a fantastic job of cleaning the surface of dirt pet fur, lint and other debris. They're an excellent maintenance cleaner that you can distribute often throughout the week to keep your floor free of dirt. They don't have as much technology and are more prone to getting jammed or needing manual intervention.

Object Avoidance

The most effective robot vacuums make use of sensors, lasers or cameras to guide them around your home without getting stuck or falling down the staircase. Some models can return to their dock or base when their battery is depleted. They also can avoid obstacles such as furniture cords and legs. The ones that are more expensive usually have mapping capabilities that allow them to remember the design of your home and lessen the time you spend bumping into walls.

You don't have to spend a lot of money on the most expensive robotic vacuums. There are models that do an excellent job at picking up pet hair and dirt from hard surfaces, such as tiles, wood and low-pile rug. They can also handle larger debris such as nails that are rusty, metal screws or even toys that have been discarded. Some come with a base that automatically empty itself, which is a great feature when you don't need to empty it every cleaning session.

Some robotic vacuums have smart features that make the standard stick vacuum look outdated. These include zones-targeting, schedules, and the ability for you to control them through an app or voice assistant, such as Alexa. You can also set up cleaning zones and virtual walls to block off areas you do not want the robots to venture.

Some robotic vacs such as the Eufy 11S and my former top pick, the Roborock S8, have obstacle avoidance technology that keeps them from derailing by running into furniture or tangling with cords. Other models, like the iRobot Roomba j7+, have more advanced AI obstacle avoidance that utilizes a camera and processor-powered smarts to identify and avoid items like shoes, lamp cords, socks and pet waste. It is a little bit more expensive than the other bots I've tried, but it does a great job of avoiding obstacles and rarely gets stuck or derailed when I'm working on my floor.

The iRobot J7+ was a fantastic obstacle avoidance robot however it didn't always succeed at avoiding dirt or crumbs on my rugs. It also had a tendency to over-vacuum certain areas, resulting in lots of dust in the filter, and a less-clean house.

Smart Mapping


Some of the best robots vacuums come with an app that allows you to modify cleaning modes, make schedules, and look at a map of the floor area covered by the machine. This is an extremely useful feature that many competitors do not have. It allows you to create profiles that will automatically start the robot at certain times and run it regularly. For example, it could be cleaning the living area every morning or prior to dinner.

A good app will allow you to control your robot via voice commands. Some models support Amazon's Alexa or Google Assistant and can work entirely hands-free, meaning you can say "start a clean" or "change cleaning mode" without using the app.

For a truly hands-free experience, choose a model with a large dust bin that can hold numerous cleaning sessions before needing to be emptied. There are also models that self-empty which takes a portion of the burden of emptying the robot after each run of vacuuming.

If you're looking for a robot that is more than a vacuum, consider one that has mopping functions. These are typically larger than the robotic vacuums, and include a water tank in the interior that holds many cleaning sessions of dirt and other debris prior to needing to be cleaned.

The most advanced robots can create their own maps of your house and can even keep track of the arrangement between cleanings, which helps them avoid getting lost or trapped in corners. This can make a significant difference in the efficiency of your robot vacuum, since it won't have to return to where it was when it comes across walls or furniture.

Our test subjects found that robots that had this feature were extremely efficient. They could sit and watch TV or do other tasks while the robot cleaned. best self emptying robot vacuum employ laser navigation and can create an exact map of your house, which means you can program them to clean just the bedroom after dinner, or every room in your home while you're working.

App Control

It's best to choose the vacuum that comes with an app that is mobile if you want to customize the frequency of cleaning and select a cleaning mode. In the app, you can also monitor the condition of your vacuum and its dust bin. Some of the top vacuums that are robotic can be controlled with Alexa, Google Assistant, or Siri Shortcuts.

A robot that has a self-emptying bin and washable filters is easy to keep clean, particularly if you can easily access the filter and remove it to rinse it. A high-powered brush is a fantastic feature that allows you to reach into corners and along baseboards to remove hair and dirt. Certain robots are better in avoiding chair leg splinters than others. Others have a sensor that automatically cleans brushes to avoid clogging.

Certain robo-vacs come with navigational tools to aid them in navigating obstacles and learn your home. The most expensive models employ sensors and cameras to identify obstacles like stairs, furniture and cords. Less expensive models might use boundaries to mark areas you don't want to see it go. Object avoidance can be especially beneficial for families with children who scatter socks and toys all over the house. This helps your robot collect the items instead of scattering.

We're beginning to see more robots with mops, which are great for people who have hard floors and require to mop them regularly. These robots come with a reservoir of water built into their chassis or as a separate component that you swap in when they're ready to mop. They may need to be refilled more frequently than other types of robots, however they're ideal for homes with hard floors which aren't easy to clean using a vacuum.

We've seen some impressive technology in these small robots and they're cheaper than you expect. In fact, you can get a good one for under $200 that does a good job of getting rid of pet hair and crumbs off hard floors while also moving around the edges of light carpets or area rug. It is possible to schedule the robot to clean a room on a regular basis and it can be controlled remotely via the app or by pressing buttons on its side.