But they're not just for people who are busy – they're also a great help to anyone with shedding pets, young children, the elderly or those with a physical restriction.

The Roomba s9+ also comes with a self-emptying charging base; while it's unfortunate that you'll have to purchase replacement bags for this base, you will only have to empty the container every 30 days. This will save you a lot of time versus emptying the onboard dustbin.

❌ You have space for a bigger robovac: You're paying a premium for the size here – there are bigger, better-performing bots in this bracket.

You can set them to clean just the kitchen floor after dinner or an entire level of your home while you’re out of the house. Can you get it done faster with your regular vacuum? Sure. But the real question is, do you want to?

Although the RS20 Pro did a decent job at maintenance cleaning, has plenty of settings, and a great app, it fell short on several other things. It couldn't cope well with heavy-duty messes, particularly when tested on cat litter.

The robot navigated tight spaces and cleaned under kitchen cabinet toe kicks without getting stuck. However, the LIDAR sensor on top makes it too tall to fit under some low-profile furniture. After methodically covering our test floors, the Shark returned to its dock and emptied every speck of debris it collected.

✅ You want a hands-off option: The dock takes care of a lot of mop maintenance, including emptying and refilling tanks, and cleaning the mop pads.

Most robot vacuum models can easily handle cleaning both carpets and hardwood, but some are better at cleaning one or the other. Higher-end robot vacuums such as the Roomba J9+ Combo can accommodate rapid surface changes by folding its mop pad atop itself and ramping up power whenever carpet is detected, and then throttling back down when it senses hardwood.

When not at his desk writing, reviewing or deal-hunting, he'll be relaxing with Japanese crime novels, bingeing some classic anime, strolling the countryside or at the gym listening to the heaviest metal Spotify has to offer.

Sounds silly, but yes, they do need to be emptied, and most likely on a more regular basis than your average hoovers.

Our dedicated in-house writing team comprises experts with extensive experience and a genuine passion for technology. Collectively, we have spent decades testing and writing about tech, leveraging our expertise in all our articles, advice pieces and reviews.

There's not much this hybrid vacuum misses with an overall 93 cleaning score. It excels in picking up cheerios and cat litter but like Top 3 Automatic Vacuum Cleaners our top pick struggled to remove pet hair from the carpet.

The T30s did very well on our cleaning tests, earning an average score of 93%; while that isn't tops among the best robot vacuums, that's still very good.

The WiFi-enabled Eufy RoboVac X8 performs excellently at cleaning bare floors as well as navigating test areas and picking up pet hairs. It’s also stellar at cleaning edges and corners, but our testers found it has a tendency to scatter debris. This affordable model has a lithium-ion battery and a one-sided brush, and it comes with an extra filter, a filter cleaning tool, and a docking station.