Can these clever household helpers really complete the task? This is what you need to know.
How must robot vacuums work?
Robot vacuums are built to clean your property with minimal help. Powered by a rechargeable battery, these cordless machines can learn their way around your living area using sensors and cameras.
They're generally in a position to dodge stairs and they are sufficiently little to vacuum under low furniture. After fully recharging your robot vacuum, you have to be able to let it start cleaning immediately.
It several goes before your robot vacuum can properly discover the layout of the room. They tend to 'feel' their way around by bumping into walls and furniture (some come upon things quite hard, although some slow on approach) so you should leave your living space as uncluttered as is possible - and without any any fragile vases!
How much do they cost?
You will find robot vacuums at different price points, with the newer models able to achieve tasks like self-cleaning, or detecting particularly dirty areas.
Are cheap robot vacuums anything good?
Our test results reveal a variety of performance scores at different price points, and there are some robot vacuums worth taking into consideration in case you are on a tight budget as some are excellent on hard floors. However, the cheapest robots might not have all the features you're after.
Are robot hoovers worth it?
After conducting our rigorous lab testing of robot vacs, we wouldn't recommend any of them as a complete option to a regular stick, barrel or upright vacuum, specially in homes with carpeted floors. However, they're great for in-between cleans and could be applied to an every day basis, especially if you will end up away from home.
Despite their autonomous nature, filters, dust bins and brushes will still regular cleaning and you should still need make sure your floor doesn't need stuff already there that could get caught within the robot vacuum, even though it can tell you he is in a position to detect the obstructions.
Robot vacuums apps
To have the most from your robot vacuum, we suggest downloading its related app.
Most robot vacuums now require an application to really make the most of its scheduling and mapping functionality.
All but the most basic models can hook up to your property Wi-Fi network, so that you can monitor and set your cleaning regime while using app.
And also this lets your robot vacuum accept firmware updates (this can be the software included in the vacuums) which could iron out bugs or include latest features.
Remember that after downloading the app, set-up involves setting up a free account making use of your current email address plus a suitable password, then following the steps for connecting your robot towards the app.
It isn't unexpected for technical problems to occur during initial set-up. By way of example, sometimes we had to revert to switching off our phone's mobile data temporarily because of it to detect the robot vacuum's Wi-Fi signal.
Privacy issues
See the app's online privacy policy to see what kind of information the robot vacuum collects and view the app's privacy settings.
For example, the robot may require location data to conduct tasks including room mapping. But there might be a setting to be sure the map is maintained on your robot vacuum and never returned towards the manufacturer.
For models with camera detection, you might want to keep them out of sensitive areas such as bedrooms and bathrooms by using the 'virtual wall' feature in the app, which lets you set no-go areas for the robot.
Cleaning performance on hard floors and carpet
Hard floors
A lot of the robot vacuums we've tested are extremely proficient at cleaning hard floors - albeit not always from the corners and edges.
For the house with mostly hard floors, most of the robot vacuum cleaners we've tested will do a reasonable job of keeping the floors clean when run using an every day basis, though an even more thorough clean with a standard vacuum (or possibly a broom) it's still needed occasionally.
Carpet
Despite sophisticated technology - navigation software, stairs detection, cameras to identify dirt - robot hoovers remain comparatively poor at removing dirt from carpet.
Robot vacuums can't generate the suction of an standard vacuum and even though they are able to leave carpeting looking clean, underneath the surface a great deal of dirt is left behind. As time passes, this will damage the pile.
In the home with carpeted floors, a robotic vac is ok for a tidy-up, though the carpet will be needing a regular going-over which has a standard vacuum to obtain the majority of the dirt out.
What about pet hair?
In your tests, we've found robot vacuums can come up up a good quantity of fluff (such as pet hair) with some dirt, but on carpet they also appear to push the remainder dirt even deeper to the pile.
Do robot floor cleaners get stuck?
The treatment depends. If you've got a mixture of rugs and difficult floors, they may sometimes have a little trouble travelling from one surface type to the next.
Tassels or fringes on rugs, home entertainment cables and deep carpet pile may be problematic because they could get tangled in wheels or brushes. Along with some preparation, you can avoid these incidents.
More info about Ecovacs Deebot have a look at the best webpage