Bagless Robot Vacuums

Robot vacuums are designed to automatically clean your home according to a schedule or when you ask them to action. They are powered by rechargeable battery and usually sit on a dock, even when they are not in use.

Some robotic vacuums can also sweep your floor. We tested models that feature a self-emptying base to see how well they transfer debris from the trash can to the recycling.

Self-Emptying Base

A self-emptying base is a great addition to any robot vacuum that is compatible for those who suffer from allergies or dislike emptying the trash bin. It does away with the necessity to manually empty the bin but also reduces the chance of introducing garbage from the bin to your home. This is especially useful for those who have a big home.

Self-emptying bases are becoming more common among robot vacuums, but are usually considered a premium feature. They can cost a few hundred dollars more than a regular robot vacuum and are usually required to be purchased separately. They could be worth the cost if you live in a big house and forget to empty the robot's dustbin.

Some models come with self-emptying bases that can hold weeks or months' worth of dirt prior to needing to be emptied. This allows your robot to be more efficient between cleaning sessions and reduces the need to empty it regularly.

A lot of the robots we tested are linked to smart homes, meaning you can control them using your existing devices like Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant. Some may come with additional features that make them an ideal option to your smart home. For instance they could be able to schedule cleaning sessions or set up no-go zones.

The most effective robots are outfitted with advanced features that allow them to navigate your home with greater efficiency. They'll feature a laser scanner which scans your floor to create an image of your floor and avoid obstacles and stairs. Certain models also feature smart object recognition that helps to avoid rogue wires, furniture, and other objects.

The most advanced robots have high-resolution cameras that are able to detect tiny dirt particles. This makes them more effective in tackling mess and removing pet hair. They also can improve air quality by reducing the amount dust and allergens they release into the air.

App Control

If you keep your robot in good condition, it can help you save time and effort. Cleaning the rotating brushes and replacing batteries as well as keeping the base free of clutter are essential for good performance. If you take care of your robotic vacuum, you'll be able to keep it for a long time. The manufacturer's website should list a projected lifespan of the unit and instructions for its care. Many of the owners we've spoken to have the same unit for a decade or more, with brand new wheels, rotating brushes and battery.

The top robots come with a wide range of features for navigation that will ensure that your robot doesn't bump into furniture and walls while working its way through the house. The more expensive models have built-in sensors which scan the room and map it out. This information is used to create an action plan for the next clean cycle, so that your robot won't hit the same obstacles repeatedly. High-end models can even recognize objects and can learn to avoid them over time.

Robots that have advanced mapping technology like 360 LiDAR can also work faster, completing room coverage in just a fraction of the time as cheaper models. You can choose a model that has a spot or zone cleaner to focus on a particular area of the room, like under the dining table, or you can establish recurring cleaning schedules.

When the robot docks at its base, it will usually automatically empty itself into a self-emptying base, without bags that could contain dirt and debris accumulated from several cleaning sessions. You can often see the progress in your app and hear an audible signal when it's full. These bases are more powerful than the charging stations on traditional robotic vacuums. If you're interested in aesthetics then you should be mindful of where you place them.

Some robots are compatible with smart devices such as Amazon's Alexa and Google Assistant, allowing you to start a cleaning process using voice commands. They can also sync with your phone to show a summary of every cleaning job including start and end times as well as the battery consumption and the duration of the job. You can also organize and delete old jobs if they're no longer needed.

Battery Life

The battery life of the robot should be enough to wash your entire home on a single charge. It's important that the robot has the capacity to recharge itself so that it doesn't lose energy during your cleaning session. The best robots can do this in less than an hour, while others require several hours for a full recharge.

You should be able to change the robot's power settings to maximize its performance for your flooring type. Certain robots, like the Ecovacs, which costs $799, Deebot Ozmo 8 AIVI and Roomba 690, which costs $499 from iRobot automatically increase suction power while vacuuming or mopping rugs. Certain models, such as the Shark IQ Robot Auto-Emptying Vac+Mop come with three power modes: Max Normal and Eco. The Max mode provides the most power, but it also drains the battery quickly, while the Eco mode has the lowest power but works the longest.

Some robots have "dirt sensing" and other advanced machine-learning features that assist keep their surfaces clean. Shark IQ Robot, for instance, utilizes an algorithm called Freo to make cleaning decisions. For instance, it might return to floors that are dirty and remop the floor. The iRobot Roomba 690 uses a similar algorithm known as iAdapt 2.0 to alter the pressure of its water jets based on the surface material, and uses more power when mopping tiles and less when mopping hardwood.

Laser navigation systems, like Roomba 690's from iRobot, allow robots to create maps in 2D and 3D of your home, even before they've completed cleaning. These systems allow the robot to navigate more efficiently, especially in dark spaces. You can also make use of the companion app to create virtual no-go zones and direct the robot to specific rooms.

Another robot we tried, robotvacuummops the Shark RV1001AEC Self-Empty XL Robot Vacuum - Wi-Fi-Compatible IQ Robot XL RV1001AE, uses Matrix Clean and Precision Home Mapping technology that provides amazing suction power to sweep and mop multiple floor types, including high-pile carpet. It also has a bagless base that can hold up to 45 days worth of debris and dirt. This is more self-sufficient than other robots with bags-style dustbins, which requires that you empty the bin after each use.

Obstacle Avoidance

The best robot vacuums can not only clean up dirt and debris but also stay clear of obstacles such as knotted cords, pet mess, furniture legs and other obstacles which could cause them to become stuck. That's why we put all models through our obstacle avoidance torture test. In this test, we set a series red and blue objects on a blue rug in a complex pattern to determine how each robot resisted the objects.

The most advanced models make use of a combination sensors to create maps and detect obstacles. The most advanced technology employs LiDAR which scans your surroundings and creates a 3D representation of the space. This allows the robot to understand its surroundings more accurately than other mapping systems.

Other mapping technologies include 3D Time of Flight sensors (ToF) and structured light. 3D ToF sensors emit infrared light that bounce off objects and determine their height, size and depth. This helps the robot know what it's observing and how far it is from those objects. 3D Structured Light also operates in a similar manner by projecting patterns and analyzing the distortions of those patterns to generate maps. It also detects transparent and reflective surfaces, but it has trouble with pet waste and other clutter.

If you are looking for a bagless vacuum, you should look for models that have advanced navigation and mapping capabilities. These systems are particularly important when you have a bigger house because they can assist the robot to navigate and clean the entire house without the need to re-map it each time.

A well-designed system can be the difference between a model which is able to effortlessly clean your entire home, and one that struggles to navigate and gets stuck frequently. It can be the difference between robots adept at avoiding pet messes and other household obstacles and those that aren't able to do this, causing damage and blocking internal components. Fortunately even at the lower end of the spectrum, there are still plenty of options that do an excellent job of avoiding obstacles.