The Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo is the best all-in-one robot vacuum solution. It has the highest maximum suction of any robot vacuum in this ranking (11,000Pa – matching the maximum we see on any robot vacuum).

Its sleek design fits under furniture, tackling hard floors, pet hair, and carpets. Schedule cleaning sessions and enjoy a spotless home every day. The water tank and dustbin ensure thorough mopping and vacuuming. Self-charging feature guarantees it’s always ready for action.

A robot that maps your house will get into every nook and cranny better than one that bumps and rolls around. Mapping also lets you send the robot to clean specific rooms rather than the whole space and add virtual walls to prevent your bot from going where you don’t want it to.

Some still use that method, but our favorite robot vacuums use smart mapping features to make a map of your home before the first cleaning so they can clean more methodically. Mapping also allows them to avoid running into permanent obstacles, such as couches or door frames. Your robot vacuum will likely learn your space a little better each time it cleans your home. too. You can also direct the robot vacuum from your smartphone to only vacuum your kitchen or bedroom, if you need it to do a quick clean before guests come over or after a messy meal. Most of our picks have smart mapping, including our best overall pick (the one exception is our best value pick).   Can Robot Vacuums Clean Around Clutter? One of the biggest pain points of using a robot vacuum is pre-cleaning your floor before running your device. The latest technology allows for object avoidance, so they require less work on your part. If your vacuum has this feature, it will have a camera on the front that can identify objects, like a sock or a pack of crayons on the floor, and coach the vacuum to go around it. Obstacle avoidance is an especially great feature for pet owners, especially if their pets like to nap in a common, yet unpredictable area or are accident-prone. We love it because it keeps the robot from getting plugged up with socks or running over other objects and possibly making a bigger mess. This feature is a work in progress for many robot vacuums and will likely get better (and more precise) in the years to come. It's currently offered on four of our picks, but we've found performance will vary from model to model and object to object.

That’s the big selling point here; this bot is basically hands-free. Fill the S8 MaxV Ultra’s clean Top 3 Automatic Vacuum Cleaners water tank and empty its dirty water once a week and change out the dust bag every couple of months. The robot will take care of the rest.

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.

Most robovacs fling large debris about the room rather than vacuuming it up, so this is very impressive. Another area where many robovacs fail is on cleaning around the edges and into the corners of rooms. Again, the Freo X Ultra shines here: the side brushes get right up to the edges of rooms.

For certain people and households, very much so. I only used manual vacuums before I started testing robot vacuums for TechRadar, and now I wouldn't be without one. They have revolutionized my cleaning – I live alone, so I'm not dealing with loads of dirt and dust buildup, but I send the robot out once or twice a week and it just takes care of the vacuuming for me.

The app is easy to use and functions well. Our reviewer was also very impressed with the mapping – the X10 accurately mapped their apartment on its first exploratory outing – as well as the navigation and obstacle avoidance.

An edge-hugging mode makes the robot swing its behind into the baseboards to help mop edges. With its square-ish shape, it got into corners better than most of the round bots. But its 12mm mop pad lift over carpet wasn’t effective, resulting in its pads getting hung up in a few places.

Plus, the addition of a side mop and flexi-arm brush that extends from the bot helped with cleaning edges and corners.

While its vacuuming is good, particularly on carpet and tile surfaces, the single rubber / bristle roller brush lets it down and is a good illustration of my point that it’s not all about suction power; it’s also about the brushes and how you use them.

For even cheaper options, head to TechRadar's best budget robot vacuum guide. If you're in the UK, our favorite budget model is the outstanding Xiaomi X20+.

Narwal’s obstacle detection is also only okay; there’s no camera, and it routinely eats cables. Its three lasers can identify objects as small as a sock and move around them, and it did pass my fake pet poop test.