Best robot vacuum of 2024

Every robot vacuum we consider for a recommendation is tested in our testing lab in Louisville, Kentucky. In addition to the testing floors where we conduct controlled pick-up tests, we monitor each robot vacuum in a special test room filled with mock furniture to measure how well it navigates around common obstacles. Next, we check each robot vacuum’s ability to eat up pet hair without clogging or leaving loose strands behind, take into account its mopping capabilities, and check to see how well it handles fake dog mess, too.

Let’s dig a little deeper into the key considerations, starting with our own Performance tests.

Power pick up robot vacuum

When it comes to vacuuming prowess, we want to know how effective each robot is against common crumbs and other debris, as well as how effective it is against smaller particles like dust, dirt, and sand. To find out, we use dry, uncooked black rice as a substitute for crumbs and sand as an analogue for fine particles.

In each case, we distribute a manageable amount across three test floors: low-pile carpet, medium-pile carpet, and hardwood floors. Next, we take the robot vacuum cleaner, empty its dust bin completely, send it to clean the affected area, and finally measure the weight of everything it has managed to pick up. This gives us a collection percentage of the full amount. From there, we repeat each round two more times and average the results.

Speaking of results, the chart above shows you how every cleaner we’ve tested over the past few years stacks up on hardwood floors. The iRobot Roomba Combo J7 Plus is our highest-tested cleaner on this surface, picking up an average of 98% of crumbs and a very fine 100% of sand. Right behind it is our top recommendation, the Dreametech DreameBot D10 Plus, which took a close second place on hard floors despite retailing for less than half the price of the higher-finish Roomba Combo J7 Plus.

Next are low pile carpets. In addition to the fact that the orange bars are much shorter (vacuuming sand is more of a challenge on carpet than on hard floors due to all the fibers that sand can stick to), note that the ranking of the cleaners is different, with our best mid-range pick Roborock S8, now leading the way. Different robot vacuums will have different strengths and weaknesses based on their designs, so our diverse range of tests helps us make the most informed and comprehensive recommendations possible.

Finally, we have the results for the middle carpet. Neato cleaned in this test, with the Neato D9 leading all of our cleaners tested by CNET overall, and the less expensive Neato D8 coming in third overall. Between them, the iRobot Roomba Combo J7 Plus comes in second place. As with the low pile tests, note that most of the detergents in the top half of the chart are all relatively close to each other—these bars won’t start to shrink until you reach the bottom of the pack. This is a good thing for you as a consumer, because it means you have a good selection of robot vacuums to choose from that all offer similar cleaning capabilities across different price points.

Another reminder: These charts cover the robot vacuums we’ve tested in the past few years. The robot vacuums we tested before that period used a slightly different test setup, so the data from those tests are not directly comparable. I made sure to point out previous products that are still worth buying, most notably the iRobot Roomba S9 Plus, which performed particularly well on medium-pile carpet and remains one of our top recommendations.

Robot vacuum navigation skills

Your robot vacuum will only clean your home as far as it can move around. The ideal cleaner will easily find its way from room to room and automatically avoid obstacles along the way, all of which makes automated cleaning convenient and low-maintenance.

We make sure to monitor each robot vacuum as it cleans to get a good idea of ​​how well it travels but to get the best comparison from one cleaner to the next, we take long-range overhead shots of each one while cleaning our dark test room, with glow sticks attached to the top of each one directly above Vacuum quantity. The resulting images show us light trails that reveal the robot’s path as it moves through the room and cleans around our imaginary furniture.

Now, compare that to the following GIF, which shows you three rounds of our top cleaning pick, the iRobot Roomba Combo J7 Plus. Notice the difference? The Roomba was less effective at covering the entire room, missing the bottom-left corner two out of three rounds, and had great difficulty providing adequate coverage around the legs of the dummy dining table as well.

In large part, it has to do with the technology used. Over the years, we’ve consistently noticed that robotic vacuums that use laser-guided positioning tend to be very good at mapping their environment and finding their way. Meanwhile, 3D mapping cameras with object recognition intelligence could give robot vacuums an additional ability to identify and adapt to obstacles in their path. The Roborock S8 Pro Ultra uses both technologies, which helps explain why it performs so well here. Meanwhile, the Roomba relies on cameras and sensors alone, leaving lasers out of the mix.

However, these cameras are certainly useful. Just watch the GIF above, which shows what happened when we tested the iRobot Roomba J7 Plus — specifically, its promise of identifying and avoiding pet waste. With an assortment of (fake) dog droppings spread around a small, enclosed testing floor, the Roomba did its best to vacuum the area without touching any of it. It worked, and he never ran into any of the disgusting test poo ever.

Now, compare that with the Samsung JetBot AI Plus, which also promises to use its cameras to detect and avoid pet waste. The result was not great. On each test run, it would eventually crash into one of our test piles. Thank God they weren’t real.