Before you start shopping for a new robot vacuum, you should consider what you need from it and how much you’re happy to spend. Here are some of the most common features you can find in robot vacuums.

The only thing it had trouble on was kitty litter on carpet, but even its worst score of 83% is solid in the grand scheme of robot vacuums we've tested. Outside of a little more prowess on carpet, the Shark PowerDetect 2-in-1 is nearly perfect.

iRobot’s Roomba j7+ is one of the best Roombas because of its obstacle avoidance technology. With this, it can essentially detect everyday objects, such as cables and socks and steer clear of them. The main benefit of this feature is the bot’s ability to avoid pet poop. In fact, iRobot is so confident in the Roomba j7+’s intelligence that it’s introduced the Pet Owner Official Promise (P.

And a capable robot vacuum could really be worth the investment if you're finding it tricky to stay on top on manual cleaning.

That model sits in the premium price bracket, though, so if you're on a tighter budget our top recommendation is the Proscenic Floobot X1, which punches well above its relatively wallet-friendly price tag.

We also found this robot vacuum would dock regularly for mop cleaning, which isn't necessarily an issue, but does extend overall cleaning times. It will automatically empty and refill its onboard water tank, and it can clean its Top 3 Automatic Vacuum Cleaners own mop pads too.

Alistair is a London-based journalist who has been writing about tech for over a decade. He has tested numerous robovacs over the years for TechRadar, from brands like iRobot, Eufy and Roborock. His favourites match intelligent navigation with smart design.

And considering there are cheaper models that perform better, this was a major downside. However, if you just need it for light cleaning, this is adequate, but you might want to consider other options.

The Roborock Qrevo Edge adequately handles regular cleaning, but this robot vacuum stumbles in the one area it should shine

Connected to the base of this robot vacuum is a handheld cordless vacuum attachment to tackle stairs and couch cushions. Like the bot, this Em excesso vacuum charges and self-empties right alongside the robot in the included self-emptying, self-cleaning, and self-filling Omni Station. There’s even a drawer built into the station that stores the hand vac attachments.

A big bin means you don’t need to empty it as often. The largest I’ve seen is 800ml, but anything over 500ml is decent. With many bots now pulling double duty as mopping robots, plus the popularity of self-empty dock / charging bases, it’s getting harder to find small robot vacs with big bins.

Carolyn Forté has tested and reviewed hundreds of vacuum cleaners, carpet cleaners, mops and other major (and minor) home appliances as executive director of the Home Care Lab. She oversees all testing done in the Cleaning Lab and recently tested all of the handheld, stick, upright and canister vacuums that were submitted for consideration in the most recent Cleaning and Organizing Awards.

We use industry-standard rayon fibers to simulate pet hair that we evenly spread on a carpet’s surface to see how well each machine cleans it up.

Why we love it: This two-in-one model sucks up both dry and wet spills and wash your floors all during the same cleaning session. Its edge-to-edge cleaning gets into corners and along baseboards, and a voice assistant provides cleaning and status updates.