Need to know
- Our latest testing reviewed 11 robot vacs from popular brands such as Ecovacs, Kmart, Dreame, Roborock, iRobot Roomba and more
- We assess how well robot vacuums clean hard floors, carpet, corners and pet hair plus how easy they are to use
- Consider joining CHOICE to see our full reviews and best performers across over 200 product and service categories
Robot vacuums promise to eliminate the burden of one of the most dreaded household chores, and they've certainly gained legions of fans whose bots have become valued members of the family.
But while we all fantasise about putting our feet up while someone else takes care of our filthy floors and carpets, the truth is that not all robot vacuums are the magic household helpers we hoped for.
Not all robot vacuums are the magic household helpers we hoped for
CHOICE tests show that while most models perform well on hard floors, there are many that give disappointing results on carpet, and also fall down in other aspects of our testing.
And they're not cheap. The robot vacuums in our latest review range in price from less than $200 up to almost $4000 for bots with fancy features, such as automatic self-emptying and mopping function with automatic carpet avoidance.
In our expert testing, each model is scored on its abilities on hard floor and carpet, and assessed for how well they clean pet hair, corners and edges, how well they navigate objects, and other key criteria, including how easy their app is to use and how easy the dirt receptacle is to empty.
We found some impressive units, and some woeful ones that are just not worth the price tag.
We let bots loose in our labs to assess how well they clean.
Robot vacuums with mopping functions
Generally, all of the robot vacs that come through our labs now have a mopping function, so we test that too.
Our expert testers spread coffee, red wine, mud, soy sauce and jam on laminate floorboards and let them dry, then release the robot vacs to see how well they mop up these common stains.
And since most people don't want their rugs mopped, we also check how well they avoid carpet – whether that's by us programming the robot to avoid defined areas, or by the robot detecting carpet by itself.
If you're interested in how a particular model performs at mopping, check our full robot vac reviews.
One of our expert robot vac testers, Antonio Bonacruz.
Robot vacuums vs traditional vacuums
They may do the dirty work so you don't have to but, unfortunately, our rigorous lab tests have found robot vacs generally don't clean as well as traditional barrel or stick vacuums.
Of course, given that you're not the one doing the cleaning, you might be fine with that – and you can always schedule your robot to clean more often to compensate.
"We've found robot vacuums are best for 'top-up' cleans in between more thorough laps with your stick or barrel vacuum," says CHOICE vacuum expert Adrian Lini.
"Overall, how effective a robot vacuum will be for you depends on your home's layout and things such as whether you have pets, and the main type of flooring."
Robot vacuums are best for 'top-up' cleans in between more thorough laps with your stick or barrel vacuum
Adrian Lini, CHOICE vacuum expert
Some models are clumsy at navigating objects and corners, and they can often get stuck.
On the plus side, robot vacuums are handy for getting into those hard-to-reach places such as under couches or beds – prime spots for dust to accumulate.
Bot manufacturers are constantly competing to improve their technology to make better, more intelligent versions.
And while we've seen some evidence of these advances in the stand-out performers in our latest review, we think you should steer clear of these low-scoring models.
We don't want you to end up with a dud, so here are the products that scored lowest in our lab tests. Consider becoming a CHOICE member to see the best performers.
The lowest rated robot vacuums
Kmart Anko's robot vac rated lowest in our test.
Kmart Anko Robotic Vacuum
- Price: $169
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 36%
- Hard floor score: 58%
- Carpet score: 9%
- Mopping score: 20%
This budget Anko bot may be dirt cheap, but it'll leave dirty floors dirty.
Hard floors, carpet, pet hair, corners and edges: it sucks (or rather doesn't) at cleaning them all. It has the lowest scores across almost every single test our experts ran.
It has the lowest scores across almost every single test our experts ran
When it comes to mopping, it's a wet blanket. It did laps of the edges of the room but didn't make it into the middle, and then left water all over the parts it did actually clean.
You might be prepared to accept less-than-perfect performance from a cheap appliance, but this vac doesn't even deliver that. Unfortunately you won't find a decent robot vac at this price, but you might be able to pick up a decent traditional vacuum on sale that'll do a far better job.
Read the full Kmart Anko Robotic Vacuum review.
This TP-Link bot will add to your workload, not reduce it.
TP-Link Tapo RV20 Max Plus
- Price: $499
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 55%
- Hard floor score: 87%
- Carpet score: 14%
- Mopping score: 40%
If you're looking for a robot vac for a home that's mostly hard floors, this isn't a bad option: its performance is up there with some of the higher-scoring models we tested.
But if you want any more from your robot vac, this isn't the one for you. It couldn't handle carpet, corners, edges or pet hair especially well, and it couldn't mop up the majority of stains on the hard floor in our lab.
While a robot vac is meant to make vacuuming easy, this one is quite labour intensive
While a robot vac is meant to make vacuuming easy, this one is quite labour intensive. Using the app is an involved process, and you need to manually block out carpet on the app or even put up a physical barrier so it doesn't mop your rugs.
And as for mopping, it's even more hands-on: you need to manually prepare the mopping pad and water tank beforehand, then clean the pads by hand afterwards.
Though to be fair, the robot vacs that take care of the mop prep and cleaning for you tend to be far more expensive. Regardless, it's a lot of work for an appliance that's supposed to reduce your workload, especially since it doesn't do the job very well.
Read the full TP-Link Tapo RV20 Max Plus review.
The Narwal: Cool sea creature, poor robot vac.
Narwal Freo X Plus
- Price: $699
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 58%
- Hard floor score: 86%
- Carpet score: 14%
- Mopping score: 35%
Narwhals are sometimes called "unicorns of the sea", but there's not much that's magical about this robot vac.
It's very good on hard floors – but then all the other vacs we've tested (bar the Anko) are too so it's not exactly a wizard in that regard.
If you're after an out-of-this-world clean, you won't be bewitched by this robot vac
It definitely doesn't work wonders on carpets, and it doesn't mix well with other animals, scoring a dismal 40% for picking up pet hair.
It is a hard worker, though: it'll keep going for a full 93 minutes, but with a water tank volume of just 260mL, it's ironically not great at activities involving water, such as mopping.
If you're after an out-of-this-world clean, you won't be bewitched by this robot vac.
Read the full Narwal Freo X Plus review.
iRobot Roombas
The name Roomba is synonymous with robot vacs, to the point that many of us refer to robovacs collectively as Roombas – in the same way that Rollerblades, Tupperware, Velcro, Post-its and Band-Aids have become generic terms.
But do Roombas earn their reputation as the face of robot vacs? Not in our testing. The two Roombas in our current review were equally disappointing, despite a huge $1000 RRP difference between them.
Here's how they performed.
Mediocre mopper: the iRobot Roomba 205 DustCompactor.
iRobot Roomba 205 DustCompactor Combo Robot
- Price: $699
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 58%
- Hard floor score: 98%
- Carpet score: 49%
- Mopping score: 20%
The Roomba Plus 505 is $1000 more expensive but delivers similarly disappointing results.
iRobot Roomba Plus 505 Combo Robot + AutoWash Dock
- Price: $1699
- CHOICE Expert Rating: 58%
- Hard floor score: 94%
- Carpet score: 30%
- Mopping score: 30%
For hard floors, these two are both winners: our experts rated them as 'excellent'. And the 205 DustCompactor is actually the best on carpet of all the robots in our review.
So where do they fall down? They're both mediocre (at best) moppers, missing large sections of the floor, they're no match for pet hair, and the iRobot app is frustrating to use – our expert testers say it's "buggy and unintuitive", complicated to navigate, inflexible when it comes to schedules, and it consistently freezes and requires resetting.
They're both mediocre moppers, they're no match for pet hair, and the iRobot app is frustrating to use
And at risk of anthropomorphising these appliances, the bots also seem to be quite neurotic. They often display multiple error messages, especially when placed in a new area, and refuse to map and clean new areas without the dock being nearby.
The more expensive model is also inconsistent and unpredictable. On some occasions it would mop carpet when it encountered it; on others, it would lift its mopping pad to avoid the carpet. And our testers described its mopping style as "sporadic" and "random".
Considering that the more expensive model claims to deliver "serious mopping", it's an especially disappointing effort.
The cheaper 205 DustCompactor Combo model was even less effective at mopping, missing quite a lot of the cleaning area. Along with the Kmart bot, it received the lowest mopping score of all models we tested.
If you're looking for the best bot for your budget, these two aren't it.
Read the full iRobot Roomba 205 DustCompactor Combo Robot review and iRobot Roomba Plus 505 Combo Robot + AutoWash Dock review.
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Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated.
