❌ You're on a budget: There are plenty of cheaper bots that'll do a good enough job for many people's needs.

If your priority is size, though, this is a solid choice. Our reviewer felt it would be a great choice as an 'upstairs' robot vacuum, away from the tougher challenges of kitchens and living rooms.

But they’re worth considering — especially if you have carpets and pets. I love self-empty docks, but sometimes you don’t have space for them, and if you like your robot to be out of sight (living under your bed or sofa), you’ll want a big bin and pelo dock.

The lack of a camera also means its navigation is spotty, and sending it to clean specific rooms wasn’t always successful. But if you’ve got a lot of hard floors to keep clean, it will do an excellent job.

❌ You've got lots of low furniture: The raised puck makes this a taller option in Roborock's range.

Roborock also recently released the $1,899 Saros Z70, the first mass-produced robovac to feature a robotic arm that can pick up objects like socks and tissues. It also boasts 22,000Pa suction power, supports Roborock’s StarSight navigation system, and features an AdaptLift chassis.

The Combo has a redesigned dock that’s very large — to accommodate two water tanks and a dust bag — but it doubles as a table.

Many of today's best robot vacuums are pretty pricey, but if you're on a tighter budget, check out the Narwal Freo X Plus. Where it really shines is its vacuuming performance. It packs 7,800Pa of suction, which is more in line with what I'd expect in a much pricier model than one on the cusp between budget and mid-range.

There are a few reasons why Roomba is a household name, and the Combo 10 Max is one of them. We're big fans of the features it brings to the table—or the floor, if we're being technical—and of its cleaning prowess. When a machine offers vacuuming and mopping, our expectations are doubly high. When it comes to vacuuming, details on the Roomba Combo 10 Max like the edge sweeper brush ensured that dog hair was successfully suctioned right up, and it performed equally well on both rugs and hard floors.

To determine the best vacuums, we pick models with the highest Overall Score in each category. The Overall Score incorporates results from our rigorous lab tests as well as ratings for predicted reliability and owner Top 3 Automatic Vacuum Cleaners satisfaction, which are based on survey data from our CR members.

It fared less well on carpet. However, in the app, I could set it to clean a room three times for each job, after which it had generally picked up all visible debris.

❌ You don't need a mop: There's no vacuum-only version of this particular model, so if you don't need the mopping capabilities, look elsewhere in the list.

This solves the problem of how to vacuum and mop without getting your rugs wet. The robot will do this procedure multiple times during cleaning to ensure carpets are vacuumed and floors are mopped. Genius.

) This saves you from having to pull out the bin after every few runs and empty it yourself. Instead, you’ll have to replace the bag (and buy new ones) when it gets full, generally about once a month. Many robots now have a self-empty dock option you can add later, although buying them together is generally cheaper.