Smart Home

The best robot vacuums in 2020: Roomba, Neato, iLife and Eufy tested

1. Shark Ion R85

The best robot vacuum overall

Cleaning Performance: 94 | Pet Hair Score: 88 | Average Cleaning Time: 1 hour, 2 minutes | Loudness: 59.2 dB | Bin Size: 625 ml | Smart Home Compatibility: Alexa, Google Home | Size: 12.8 x 12.5 x 3.4 inches | Weight: 5.1 pounds

Our best robot vacuum overall, the Shark R85 proved excellent at picking up pet hair and other debris around our home with a minimum of fuss. While it took about an hour on average to finish a run in our test space, it was much more thorough than all other robot vacuums. Our advice? Start it up, then leave the house to do some chores.

We also liked the notifications we received from the Shark Ion 85, as well as the ability to control it from our smartphone, as well as using it with both Alexa and Google Assistant. The R85’s dustbin was also very easy to empty — not a given with many robot vacuums — and you can purchase its charging base with an optional stick vacuum, so you can clean in between couch cushions and other spaces the robot vacuum can’t reach.

2. iLife V3s Pro

Best robot vacuum for those on a budget

Cleaning Performance: 97 | Pet Hair Score: 99.5 | Average Cleaning Time: 1 hour, 31 minutes | Loudness: 64.1 dB | Bin Size: 600 ml | Smart Home Compatibility: None | Size: 11.8 x 11.8 x 3 inches | Weight: 4.5 pounds

The iLife V3s Pro is the best robot vacuum you can get for less than $200. Despite its low price, the V3s Pro consistently outperformed other robot vacuums that cost three times as much. It picked up nearly all the pet hair in our lab tests, and was also good in our at-home tests, too.

There are a few caveats when purchasing a robot vacuum this cheap, though. For starters, the iLife V3s Pro is slow, taking more than 90 minutes on average to clean our test space. Also, it can’t be controlled from your smartphone, so you have to use the included remote control, and you can’t connect it to Alexa or Google Assistant to turn it on or schedule cleanings. We also found that it was a bit louder than other vacuums. But it’s great at doing the one thing it needs to do well, and that’s picking up dirt. For this price, its downsides are tradeoffs we’re willing to make.

3. iLife V5s Pro

Best robot vacuum and mop

Cleaning Performance: 94.8 | Pet Hair Score: 97.3 | Average Cleaning Time: 1 hour, 40 minutes | Loudness: 59.9 dB | Bin Size: 600 ml | Smart Home Compatibility: None | Size: 11.8 x 11.8 x 3 inches | Weight: 4.9 pounds

The second-best robot vacuum under $200 is iLife’s V5s Pro, which vacuumed nearly as well as the V3s Pro, picking up pet hair, Cheerios, and kitty litter with the same effectiveness. The main difference with the V5s Pro is that it has an added mopping feature. While this seems like a great idea — a vacuum and mopper in one — we found that the V5s Pro was pretty ineffective at mopping in our in-home tests, so this feature didn’t add that much value.

Like most budget robot vacs, the V5s Pro lacks a smartphone app, and doesn’t work with any smart home devices or virtual assistants like Alexa or Google Assistant. It’s also one of the slowest robot vacuums we’ve tested, taking even longer than the iLife V3s Pro. Still, for the money, it’s a very effective, and very inexpensive robot vacuum.

4. iRobot Roomba i7+

Best self-empyting robot vacuum under $1,000

Cleaning Performance: 90.4 | Pet Hair Score: 90.5 | Average Cleaning Time: 18 minutes | Loudness: 62.6 dB | Bin Size: 379 ml | Smart Home Compatibility: Alexa, Google Home | Size: 13.3 x 3.7 inches | Weight: 7.4 pounds

iRobot’s Roomba i7+ makes our best robot vacuum list because it has a base with its own dustbin, so you can go multiple cleanings without having to empty out the bin. It edged out the Shark Ion R85 on our pet hair test, picking up just over 90 percent of all the fur on the floor.

It has a number of other features, such as the ability to map multiple floors and create virtual walls. The Roomba i7+ is also fast, finishing a cleaning run in less than 20 minutes. Now that iRobot has released the Roomba s9+, the Roomba i7+ has come down a bit in price, but it’s still just as effective at cleaning.

5. Neato D4

Best for cost-effective mapping

Cleaning Performance: 91.3 | Pet Hair Score: 91.3 | Bin Size: 700 ml | Smart Home Compatibility: Alexa, Google Home | Size: 13.2 x 12.6 x 3.9 inches | Weight: 7.4 pounds

Neato’s entry-level robot vacuum, the Neato D4, isn’t as jam-packed as higher-end models, and isn’t as cheap as budget robot vacuums, but for its price, it’s a solid performer with some useful features. Priced at around $500, it’s half as expensive as the Roomba s9+, and doesn’t have a self-empyting bin, but it’s effective at cleaning up dirt and debris.

The Neato D4 also has mapping capabilities, but can only remember one floor of your house, and can’t do targeted room cleaning, as pricier models do (you can set up virtual “no-go” zones, though). Still, it did a great job of mapping our home and running its appointed rounds. This is a good model for those who don’t want to mortgage their house in order to clean it.

6. iRobot Roomba s9+

Best high-end robot vacuum

Cleaning Performance: 96.3 | Pet Hair Score: 99 | Bin Size: 0.4 quarts | Smart Home Compatibility: Alexa, Google Assistant | Size: 12.3 x 12.3 x 3.5 inches | Weight: 8.2 pounds

iRobot’s Roomba s9+ is the smartest and most thorough robot vacuums we’ve tested. It’s also the most expensive. The Roomba s9+ has advanced mapping, so it can record and remember a blueprint of multiple floors of your house after just a few trips; you can then specify individual rooms, and tell the s9+ to clean specific rooms on specific days. We suggest scheduling it for when you’re out of the house, as this is a noisy robot vacuum.

The Roomba s9+ also comes with a dustbin built into its charging base; while you’ll have to purchase bags for the base, you will only have to empty the container after every 30 cleanings. It you want to drop even more cash, the s9+ can also talk with the company’s Braava jet m6 robot mop ($499), and tell it to start mopping your floors after the s9+ is done vacuuming. That’s pretty neat.

7. Eufy Robovac G30 Edge

Quiet cleaning and basic mapping at a good price

Cleaning Performance: 88.9 | Pet Hair Score: 87.25 | Bin Size: 600 ml | Smart Home Compatibility: Alexa, Google Home | Size: 12.8 inches x 2.85 inches | Weight: 5.8 pounds

Not only is the modestly priced Eufy Robovac G30 Edge robot vacuum a very good cleaner, but it’s a very quiet one, too. We barely heard it as it made its rounds as is made its way through our rooms in a very methodical pattern. While not as effective as the top performers on our list, it still managed to pick up 88.9 percent of all debris laid before it.

An updated app made using the G30 Edge much easier than with previous Eufy robot vacuums. While the G30 Edge creates a map of your home, you can’t set up virtual no-go zones, or direct it to clean specific rooms.

8. Neato Botvac D7 Connected

Best for cleaning in a hurry

Cleaning Performance: 91.3 | Pet Hair Score: 89.3 | Average Cleaning Time: 10 minutes | Loudness: 66.3 dB | Bin Size: 600 ml | Smart Home Compatibility: Alexa, Google Home | Size: 12.5 x 13.2 x 3.9 inches | Weight: 8 pounds

The Neato Botvac D7 Connected makes our list of the best robot vacuums because it’s the fastest, and one of the smartest, robot vacuums we’ve tested. It finished our tests in an average of 10 minutes, 22 seconds, blitzing through pet hair, Cheerios, and kitty litter — and picking up a great deal of them, too. However, it wasn’t as effective as our top two picks, the Shark Ion R85 and the iLife V3s Pro, at collecting debris.

The D7 also has multi-room and multi-floor mapping, and can be controlled using Alexa and Google Assistant. We also liked how easy it was to empty its dustbin. At around $550, the Neato Botvac D7 connected isn’t the cheapest, nor the most expensive robot vacuum, but as a midrange model, it has all the features and performance that you could want.

9. iRobot Roomba 675

Best Roomba for those on a budget

Bin Size: 600 ml | Smart Home Compatibility: Alexa, Google Home | Size: 13 x 3.7 inches | Weight: 7.8 pounds

The Roomba 675 has many features you’ll find on the company’s higher-end robot vacuums, but at a more reasonable price. This Wi-Fi-connected robot was easy to set up and use, and we liked that we could connect it with Alexa and Google Assistant. It has a cliff sensor so it won’t fall down stairs, but lacks the mapping feature found on the Roomba i7 and S9.

The Roomba 675 proved to be a capable and methodical cleaner, but wasn’t as thorough as some other robot vacuums, especially when it came to pet hair. It did a great job with Cheerios and kitty litter, though. If you’re looking for an inexpensive Roomba, this is the one to get.

10. Eufy Robovac 11s

A very low-profile robot vacuum

Cleaning Performance: 87.9 | Pet Hair Score: 81.5 | Bin Size: 600 ml | Size: 12.9 x 2.85 inches | Weight: 5.7 pounds

One of the trickiest areas to clean is under furniture; thanks to its low 2.85-inch profile, the Eufy Robovac 11s can go where other robot vacuums can’t, and gets those dust bunnies lurking under your couch. At around $200, it’s also a very affordable robot vacuum, too.

While it’s not a “smart” robot vacuum, the S11 does come with a remote, which made it easy to control. Performance was pretty good for the price, as it picked up nearly 88 percent of all debris; it was less effective with pet hair though. We also found that emptying the 11s resulted in a little cloud of dust. The 11s also had a propensity for getting stuck on rug tassels as well as shag carpet; it wasn’t smart enough to avoid those obstacles. Still, it’s a capable and affordable robot vacuum.