15 Terms That Everyone In The Robot Hoover Industry Should Know

The Best Robot Hoover

The best robot hoover can clean and mop without requiring your attention, and will leave your floors spotless. Its affordable price and high-end functions (such as a dirt detector) are a plus.

Examine your robot's brush regularly for tangled debris as well as hair. Wash them if needed. Some models will also empty the onboard dust bin and place it in an additional bin located at the base. This reduces the amount fine dust that gets released into the air.

1. Roomba Q5 Pro

The Q5 Pro, and its more expensive counterpart the Q7 Max Series are among the most powerful robotic vacuums we've test. They are equipped with top-of-the-line motors which can pull up to 5,500 Pascals of suction force. Like other iRobots with premium features (including the most powerful model) they employ smart mapping to produce precise floor plans and eliminate household obstacles like furniture legs. They also feature a feature called carpet boost that boosts the robot cleaner's performance when it detects an abundance of dirt on the carpet, allowing it clean quickly.

Both the Q5 and the Q7 Max Series get very good scores in our tests on floors that are bare and are particularly effective in removing pet hair. There are some issues, however, that prevent them from being our first option. For one, the Q5's navigation doesn't feature AI-powered obstacle avoidance technology and is therefore prone to become entangled in socks and shoes and couldn't navigate rooms with a lot of people efficiently in our tests. It also doesn't have an image sensor that lets it see the corners of a room.

It's still a good value, especially if your office or home has a lot of bare floors and you're looking to save money. It's also very quiet and can be used while you're at work or school. The only thing it's missing that you can't find in the more expensive iRobot Roomba X30 is edge-to-edge vacuuming on floors that aren't clean. It's also less effective when it comes to mopping. It is dependent on disposable wet wipes that don't stick well and aren't able to deal with dried-on debris. The Q5 has a self-emptying dock, though. If you're required to, the mopping pad can be changed for a wet one in minutes.

2. iRobot Roomba

The iRobot Roomba X30 is a compact sleek and stylish vacuum cleaner that also has the ability to sweep floors. Its nimble navigation and intelligent cleaning maps make it simple to clean and effective at taking on larger particles, such as pet hair. It also features a powerful suction and a self-emptying bin. It's the most efficient robotic hoover for carpets but it falls behind some competitors in terms of deep cleaning.

This high-performing combination vacuum and mop makes use of advanced sensors to stay clear of obstacles and pet waste and it also learns the layout of your home over time to ensure more efficient cleaning. You can change the schedule of cleaning and even customize zones using the app that is well-designed. It has a battery life that is similar to other models.

You can instruct the X30 Ultra to remove its mop and extend them when in a carpeted room, which helps prevent cross-contamination. Its flex arm is perfect to get under furniture with low levels and along baseboards. However, it's not equipped with the same washboard performance as our other Editors' Choice picks, the Ecovacs Deebot Ozmo N8 Professional+ and the iRobot Combo j9+.

In the course of testing, X30 Ultra was the quickest robot vacuum/mop that could complete the task of cleaning a whole home with just 66 percent of its battery remaining. It did a decent cleaning job on different floors and rooms with different kinds of flooring, including some area carpets. Its obstacle detection was excellent and it stayed clear of fake dog turds and socks, shoes and bundles cables.

It's a bit more expensive than iRobot Combo v9+ or iRobot Roomba j9+ but offers superior suction and an onboard bin that is automatically empty into the base. It also supports voice commands via Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. It even cleans the floor after vacuuming this feature, which hasn't been seen in other robot vacuum/mop combos.

3. Roomba X40 from iRobot

With a sleek circular design that looks more like a normal Roomba than the competitors' compact models, this robot vacuum and mop combo is among the most attractive designs in our tests. iRobot’s latest flagship model is also the most intelligent. It features advanced features like enhanced dirt detection and future compatibility (another company’s robot that can wash mop pads autonomously).

It's also the only robotic vacuum/mop to score an absolute 10 out of 10 in our evaluations. This is due to the combination of high-tech sensors, including a structured lighting system, a camera and multiple lasers. The X40 Ultra is also the only robot in our tests that is fully self-refill and empty its base station and it has an industry-leading 12,000Pa suction and self-cleaning mop pads.

The X40, like other iRobot products, is easy to use. It has an easy mobile app interface that is compatible with Amazon Alexa and Apple HomeKit. The only drawback is that it's still quite loud that could be an issue if you use it in the morning prior to work or at night as you attempt to sleep.

It's also quite expensive however, not as expensive as the Ecovacs MaxV Ultra or the Roborock S8 Omni, which are equally capable and better looking. It's a dual-purpose vacuum that is very efficient, but it's more expensive and make more noise.

iRobot L20 Ultra

The L20 Ultra is the top-of-the best robot vacuum and mop. It has a range of advanced features that help you forget your chores. The L20 Ultra is a hands-free cleaning device like Ecovacs' top-of-the-range X2 Omni or Roborock's S8 Pro Ultra. It comes with a multi-function dock that will automatically empty the vacuum's bin and fills up the water tank, and cleans and dry mop pads.

The smart robot employs an array of LIDAR and structured light to map out floor plans and spot obstacles, navigating more intelligently than some of its premium rivals. It also comes with a front-mounted camera that can detect hazards in real-time however this was not completely foolproof in our tests, and could be confused with obstructions or power cords.

The vacuum cleaner comes with a maximum suction of 7,000 Pascals which is more than sufficient to do the job. It also has "Intelligent Dirt Detection", that regulates the amount of time the vac works and alters the frequency of cleaning for various areas of the house depending on how dirty they tend to be.

For bigger homes, it's worth opting for one with zone or spot cleaning modes that allow you to tell the robot to clean a particular area of your home using the app or voice commands. A stairway mode is beneficial if you have large furniture. For families with busy schedules, a recharge function and resume feature that allows your robot vacuum that mops vacuum to pick up where it left off can be very useful.

iRobot RX3

The RX3 is a smarter cleaner than you would expect from its price tag. It's a pro at vacuuming, removing 55% of the debris we found in our tests (it was second only to the Roomba Q5 Pro). It also mopses using only one pad and a rotating motion that cleans better that most mop cleaners for robots that we've tried. It's also self-sufficient with a full-featured app and a self emptying, washable base.

The well-designed iRobot app guides you through an initial mapping session that collects data about your floorplan as well as any "no-go" areas you have marked on the map. You can use it to create cleaning schedules, arrange a spot clean or to sort out your rooms with the most dirt for better performance. The app offers a variety of features, such as seasonal suggestions, custom mapping and advanced cleaning settings.

Its shape is more rectangular than most other robot vacuums, meaning it can get to corners and underneath furniture more easily. It has a powerful 8,000 Pascal suction, as well as sophisticated combs that remove pet hair. You can also set up a spot-clean which will thoroughly clean an area.

The Miele Scout RX3 Home Vision HD is a sleeker and cheaper alternative to the iRobot Roomba. It's more appealing, Dolce & Gabbana-esque design and its twin cameras resemble cute eyes. It does a great job vacuuming, but it's more likely to be caught in low thresholds. It is also louder than other top robot vacuums we've examined. It also has an app that is less intuitive, and a smaller base station that does not double as a bin for emptying.