Our pick
The i4 EVO is better than competitors at getting pet hair out of rugs, and its nimble nav system helps it consistently and thoroughly clean large spaces. Like any iRobot Roomba model, it should be durable.
This is the Roomba i4 EVO packaged with a charging dock that automatically sucks all the debris out of the robot after a cleaning session. It works—and it makes owning a robot vacuum even easier.
The iRobot Roomba i4 EVO works well in most homes, large or small, because it drives in orderly, back-and-forth rows, keeping track of where it has or hasn’t been, so that it doesn’t miss any big patches of flooring. It also has smart mapping, so you can tell it to clean or avoid specific rooms.
The Roomba i4 EVO is sturdy and repairable—you can reasonably expect to own it and use it regularly for years.
It’s also better at cleaning rugs than most other bots, and hair doesn’t get tangled in its brushes as quickly.
You can remotely turn the robot on or off and optionally set an automatic cleaning schedule. The downside is that it doesn’t work quite as fast as some competing models.
Another neat option: The iRobot Roomba i4+ EVO adds a charging dock that automatically sucks the debris out of the robot and stores it in a disposable bag.
iRobot also sells a few models that are very similar to the Roomba i4 EVO and are worth buying instead if you find them on sale, including the iRobot Roomba i3 EVO and Roomba i3+ EVO (with dock), which are identical to the i4 EVO and i4+ EVO but have smaller batteries, and the older Roomba 900 series.
Also great
This bot is slightly smarter than our pick, with better mapping, easier app navigation, and more reliable voice commands through Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant. But it can’t clean rugs as well as a Roomba model, and it may not last as long.
This is the Roborock Q5 packaged with a charging dock that sucks all the debris out of the robot after a cleaning session. It works well automatically and on-demand through the app.
Like our top pick, the Roborock Q5 can map multiple levels of your home, so it knows where to clean and where not to clean. Its maps are slightly better than our top pick’s.
The Roborock app is easier to use, and it has a larger dustbin and a battery that runs more than twice as long as that of our pick.
But the Q5 is a slightly weaker cleaner than our pick, especially on carpet.
The Roborock Q5+ performs exactly the same as the Q5 but comes with a charging station that can empty debris from the robot right into a disposable bag.
Budget pick
This tried-and-true robot vacuum is much more durable and repairable than similar bots from other brands and is better at cleaning rugs, too. It’s a nimble navigator that rarely gets stuck, though it works best when it has to clean only a few rooms at a time.
This affordable robot vacuum is quieter and fits under more furniture than most models we’ve tested. While it works best in small spaces, it rarely gets stuck, and it does a good job on bare floors and short-pile rugs. It’s not as durable as our other budget pick, though.
Some models of the Eufy RoboVac 11S, purchased between April 1 and August 10, 2023, may contain a faulty lithium-ion battery pack that may overheat. Eufy’s website has information about identifying and replacing the impacted batteries.
Cheaper robots usually have semi-random navigation systems. (We like to call them bump-and-run bots.) That’s fine for cleaning three or four rooms per session (or a little more if you’re patient), though the bumbling aimlessness gets on some people’s nerves and makes such models inconsistently effective at tidying larger areas.
The iRobot Roomba 694 is our first budget pick, but really, any model in the Roomba 600 series is a good choice, since they are all strong cleaners, especially on rugs, thanks to the dual-brush and dirt-detection systems. They are also sturdier than any bump-and-run models from any other brand we’ve tested, which more than offsets the Roomba line’s slightly higher sticker price. The Roomba 694 is the most current model with Wi-Fi (for on/off remote control through a smartphone app).
Also consider the Eufy RoboVac 11S, which is so quiet and nimble that it blends into the background like no other robot (apart from the dozen or so clones from Eufy itself and other brands). This basic, bump-and-run bot sounds more like a desk fan than a vacuum—even if you’re home while it works, you’ll barely notice it running. It’s shorter than most bots, which lets it glide under more furniture, picking up plenty of hidden debris. The big downside is that the RoboVac 11S and other bots like it don’t seem to be built to last for more than a couple of years on average, and we’ve heard about plenty of unrepairable breakdowns that happen even sooner.
