You want to get your cleaning done while you’re out of the house or doing something else. Robot vacuums use cameras and lasers to map their way around your rooms, so they don’t miss a spot.

One of the big benefits of a Roomba is that they're relatively slim in height, meaning they can venture places other bots can't. On test, we found this one was especially good at handling pet hair, with its grippy rubbery rollers.

An automatic vacuum cleaner is a device that cleans floors without human help. It uses sensors to navigate rooms.

We noticed that it's better at picking up more granular materials like pet hair and kitty litter compared to Cheerios — this is usually the other way around. So it works better for collecting smaller debris.

For this price, its downsides are tradeoffs we're willing to make. That's why it's also one of the best cheap robot vacuums.

You have minimal storage space. Most are slim enough to stash in a corner or closet for speedy clean-ups. They come corded or cordless, and in our Cleaning Lab tests, we’ve found rechargeable ones usually run up to one hour, so you’ll need to keep them plugged into an outlet to keep them fully charged and ready to go. Second batteries are also helpful so you always have a backup.

Price-wise, it's not cheap – although we couldn't fault the build quality or engineering, and these kinds of do-it-all docks do always come at a price. But if you have lots of hard floors and mopping is your priority, it's worth the investment.

✅ You just want to do whole-home cleans: It can struggle with more specific instructions, but it has pelo problem with regular whole-home cleans.

After at least two weeks of testing, we consolidate our findings and use them to judge who (if anyone) we'd recommend the robot vacuum to. We also compare the features and build quality to the price, to assess if the robot vacuum is good value for money.

Robot vacs are best suited to convenient, little-and-often cleans, so if you send yours out daily, it'll help you stay on top of your pet's hair and stop it from building up in the first place. You'll likely still want to supplement this with the occasional deep clean with a manual vacuum, though.

If your home has an equal ratio of hardwood floors to carpets then iRobot's hybrid robot mop and vacuum is tough to beat. You get a thorough clean with a mopping pad that automatically retracts atop the vacuum.

First, your robot vacuum can literally self-empty, so if the onboard dustbin is filled mid-route, it can empty itself and then continue cleaning uninterrupted. A self-emptying base saves you from the chore of emptying the dustbin so often as well, with most bases able to hold a minimum of 45 days of dust.

That level of smarts means a high price tag, although our tester felt it was justified by the build quality Top 3 Automatic Vacuum Cleaners and featureset. If you're looking for a truly autonomous cleaning solution, the Roborock Qrevo Curv will deliver.

This isn't a cheap bot, and while I think the featureset and performance justify the price, it'll be out of budget for some. We have more affordable options in our roundup of the best robot vacuums for pet hair – although be aware that if you really want something up to the task, you will likely need to spend a bit more.